In winter, Coca-Cola connects loved ones. In summer, it’s just a beverage.
- Role
- Strategist & designer
- Client
- Coca-Cola
- Where
- Greece, global summer sprint
- Output
- 70+ touchpoints
Summary
Headmint Global Strategy flew me to Greece as one of four strategists to lead Coca-Cola’s global creative and marketing teams through a summer-strategy sprint. As we led the teams through a week long working session, I designed in real time, turning our thinking into more than 70 touchpoints.
We were told Coca-Cola had a summer sales problem. The real problem was connection. The brand had never given people a reason to connect it to their summer experience the way they’d already connected it to winter over the last 50+ years.
The idea
Coca-Cola already knows how to own a season.
It spent decades building itself into winter, and it even helped shape the modern image of Santa Claus, dressing him in Coca-Cola red. A Coke at Christmas now carries the warmth of the holiday, and December sales are evidence of that.
One would think summer should be easier. It’s hot, and Coca-Cola is obviously best served cold. But the meaning was never built. Summer happens on road trips, at outdoor concerts at dusk, around a campfire on the beach, and Coca-Cola has never had a place there.
What the brand built into winter was belonging. A Coke earns its place by being there in the moments people care about, and that is what keeps it in their lives. Summer was 90 days a year with no such place.
A discount wouldn’t fix that, and a louder summer ad wouldn’t either. The strategy was to give people summer experiences worth sharing and put Coca-Cola inside them.
The anchor
Four of the concepts I designed during the sprint.
Each one is a different way for Coca-Cola to create that moment of connection.
01
“My Favorite Summer” app
Capture a summer memory and the app turns it into a shareable, Coca-Cola-branded keepsake for a postcard, socials, or a text. A way to keep your own summer story, with Coca-Cola endorsing it.
02
“Find a Coke, Find a Friend”
A code under bottle caps connects nearby strangers who share interests. Buying a bottle can turn into meeting someone close by and sharing a memory.
03
“Summer Drivers Wanted”
A fully branded Coca-Cola frozen-treats truck, built to be as recognizable as the Wienermobile, rolling into festivals and downtowns. The same ritual as the ice-cream truck coming down the street, and a first summer job for teenagers.
04
“Taste the Summer”
Fans submit and vote on new flavors, and the winners go into limited production. Co-creation that hands people a share of ownership in the brand.
