Coca-Cola vs Orangina: same Social Medias’ strategy?

        Internet is for a long time included in the communications strategy of brands. But with the web 2.0 raise, a new way of using internet is born: direct connecting with your consumer. The idea is co-creation through games, missions, events, spread from a customer to another through the social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube… but also building a closer relationship with individuals. The aim of this kind of strategy? Not only an increase in your sales or the boom of your fans/followers’ number, but above all, the basements of your image.

        Coca-Cola and Orangina are quite active on these social media. Let’s do a comparison between two different ways of using communities.

        Thanks to Michal Donnely, the Coca Cola’s Group Director of Worldwide Interactive Marketing, “the home page of Coca-Cola is not coke.com but google.com”. And Facebook, FlickR, Twitter… as well. During his presentation at the iStrategy 2.0 conference in 2010, the director clearly showed the new web strategy of Coca-Cola: be everywhere through the trendiest social networks of our days.

Coca-Cola social communicaites (source: Mr. Donnely presentation)

        Today, the company fanpage counts 35,8 millions of likes (on November the 15^th )and is open so that customer may post information, comments, “happiness moments” with their coke bottle, suggestions and opinion. This is a co-storytelling strategy: the brand is owned not only by the company but also by its buyers who take part of the brand development. 

Customers' Quotations takken from the Coca Cola fan page in 2009

       This participative way of communication is also on Youtube (with the link to be followed shared on Facebook of course) where Coca Cola has its own channel (as music superstars do like Rihanna or Beyonce). Launched last year during the World Soccer cup, the aim of this page is to “share moments of happiness” (worldwide slogan of the brand since 2009), in the World Soccer Cup case: “celebrate each goal”.

         

Last summer, Coca-Cola continued to celebrate life and spread happiness through its Summer theme. Today, 538 videos are available on the channel, where it is some official videos or fans video.

        Interactivity, shares, links, ultra presence on social websites and building sustainable relationship with their consumers are the main words to describe Coca Cola web 2.0 strategy. But what about Orangina??

Orangina’s social media

Like Coca Cola, Orangina has a strong activity within the social media with its Facebook group, its tweeter account and YouTube channel. In France, Orangina is famous for its viral activity based on strong commitment within social media. Hugues Pietrini, CEO of Orangina-Schweppes Company -which hold Orangina, Schweppes and Oasis- realised the potential of social media as Oasis’s Facebook page quickly attracted more than 600 000 fans, few months after its creation. Thus, they decided to exploit social media’s communication in order to reinforce proximity with the customer and brand image.

An important Facebook activity:

Among Orangina’s social media, Facebook is the most important; indeed, it has become a strategic tool with the goal of creating a high proximity with the customer. For this, they publish at least 3 messages per week about different topics: last movies, match results of the French rugby team, or funny YouTube videos. All in all, they act like a real friend on Facebook, in order to be part of costumers everyday life.

Today, Orangina’s Facebook page is fully part of the strategy of the brand and it is used to launch new products. Indeed, Facebook fans are privileged as they see new products months before normal customers.

 Orangina’s Youtube channel, a great maketing intelligence tool:

As we treated in another article, Orangina’s last communication campaign using sexy animals was made to  to trigger people reaction, in a word, to create “buzz”. If you want to whatch the full video you can do it at Orangina’s Youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/orangina.  There, it is possible to "like" or "dislike" the video and post a comment. Thus Orangina’s Youtube videos already has numerous comments, mostly negative, where people express there misunderstanding of the TV ad, or say  they just found it funny. In fact, beside those negative comments, public reaction  on youtube appears like a great marketing intelligence of Orangina and a way to mesure TV ads popularity, (videos have been seen more than 4 million times).

Sources:

https://www.facebook.com/cocacola

http://www.youtube.com/user/cocacola?blend=1&ob=4

http://www.slideshare.net/iStrategy/coca-colas-social-media-strategy

Sensorial Branding: The brand of tomorrow?

« Most brands and products are now interchangeable.” Philip Kotler

As one of fathers of Marketing said, "more and more products are the substitution of another one". For the companies of these products, their challenge is to distinguish from the others. How? If products have noticeably the same functions and satisfy customers, the differentiation is made through the brand. Some brands do not hesitate to stimulate the consumers' 5 senses, in order "to enrich the brand experience and build up its uniqueness and personality,while ultimately paving the way to the consumers' affection, preference and loyalty.”

Be different, use Sensorial Marketing.

To do the difference, firms associate increasingly their brand to an emotional added-value, a solution to the consumer’s hedonist quest, mainly thanks to taste, sight, smell, touch, and sound. In traditional marketing (product marketing), firms often use sight, through colors and forms, to attract consumers. For instance, most brands have a logo to express their values and sensations that their product delivers. Then, taste and smell are obviously employed in organic products like food, fruits, drinks,…in order to make the product attractive for customers. Sound and touch are less used in marketing because it is harder for companies to symbolize values of the brand and inspire good feeling to people. We can diffuse music in shops and use soft raw materials in the cloth production but your brand is not directly relied on it.

Honestly, I think sensorial marketing can be a really good idea to emphasize the products and encourage customers to consume. Indeed, creating a cozy atmosphere may make people confortable, and therefore be more prepare to purchase. For instance, sound and smell are not used enough in outlets, especially in supermarkets, a place where many people hate to spend much time. At the moment, Sensorial Marketing is only a tool to increase sales volume and not to improve or to promote the brand image.

Coca-Cola and its new catching bottle catch the audience’s eye.

            For the brand Coca-Cola, Sensorial Marketing is not really new. It used it in 1916 when it decided to change the bottle. Coca-Cola wanted a bottle to everyone could recognize in the darkness through the touch. Thus, the original bottle represents the woman’s body with the brand written in three-dimensional. This bottle, called “The Dame with the sheath dress”, still symbolizes the brand. Coca-Cola succeeded in matching the brand image with the touch of the bottle.

In 2008, Coca-Cola repeats the experience for the launch of its new bottle. To express the idea that the new bottle is easier to catch than the last one, Coca-Cola and Marcel Agency launched Velcro poster campaign distributed in bus shelters. I think it is a very original idea to compare the “catching” form of the bottle to the Velcro sensation. In my opinion, it was a risky gamble because it might people do not understand the relationship between the bottle and Velcro strips. But, regarding volume sales’ figures, Coca-Cola succeeded in catching people’s eye. Indeed, in 2008, French volume sales increased by 3.8 % compared with the previous year.

Orangina, much more than a drink.

Orangina used also Sensorial Marketing through its bottle. Orangina was as subtle as Coca-Cola, creating a bottle which refers to the taste of drink. Indeed, Orangina designed a bottle looking like an orange which reminds the drink taste. Beyond the form, the Orangina’s bottle has the same touch as the orange skin. Here, I think it is a good way to promote the product itself whereas we have not consumed it yet. Only through the touch and the look, we guess what we are going to consume.

Sensorial Branding, the brand which differs from the other 

            In my point of view, nowadays, we cannot work in Marketing without Sensorial Branding. We live in the innovation and technologies Age where people still expect to be surprised by brands. Customers keep on wanting to feel new sensations. Sensorial Marketing could be the solution for brands to differentiate themselves and perhaps to inspire customers to be loyal towards a brand. But as a future marketer, in certain cases, I would hesitate to use it, because Sensorial Branding may manipulate customers through their senses, especially the smell in organic products.


I say "yes" for a Sensorial Branding which permits the brands to differ in the market but "no" for a S.B which lies to consumers! As marketers, we should be responsible for what and how we promote, especially if we decide to attract consumers thanks to their senses, something which is difficult to control!

XoXo

                                                                                              C.G.

Sources:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Sensorial-Branding---The-Future-of-Brand-Building&id=1412143

http://mathildemeyer.suite101.fr/le-marketing-sensoriel-a2074

http://www.journaldunet.com/management/dossiers/0606139marketing/controverse.shtml

The new coffee by Coca Cola And Illy Issimo : Why not ?!

Coca-Cola launched a new product with Illy issimo. It’s a cold coffee and a cold cappuccino bottle. Illy issimo is made with the finest natural ingredients that create the pure pleasure of coffee and awaken the senses while you’re on-the-go. Drink coffee became an usual think. Now we can drink coffee in a restaurant, in a bar, in a café, in a fast food… or take it away in paper cups with the openning of different coffee shop like Colombus café or Starbucks.

A lot of people drink coffee for different reasons:

- The great taste the drink brings

- The fact caffeine help us to “stay awake”

- Or the fact it “wakes us up” the morning
- In some countries such as Italy, coffee is a part of the cultural habbits

- Finally, coffee may be consumed for a break, especially at work for a coffee break.

Furthermore, I think drinking coffee is became stylish because when you drink coffee or when you have a Starbucks coffee cup in your hands it shows you are up to date.

With this drink, Coca Cola hopes to touch young workers who move a lot and who need one drink to help them to stay awake. But it’s a new product in France, there is no competitors at the moment. Only energizing drink like Red Bull, Burn… are on the same market. That’s why Coca Cola decided to align its product to RedBull prices (2,20€ to 3€).

For the distribution strategy, Coca Cola decided to choose selective distribution. They wants to spread Illy Issimo through words-of-mouth.

In my opinion, I think it could be a good product because I know a lot of students and young workers who drink a lot of coffee, not because they love it but because they need it to get awake. So I reckon that this drink is an opportunity for them to drink their coffee (like an energizing beverage) whenever and wherever they want. But it also can be dangerous because it’s cold drink so it’s like an energizing like Red Bull, Burn…

So what do you think about this new drink? Do you like this new idea? Do you want to try?

XoXo

C.R.

Sources:

http://www.lefigaro.fr/societes/2011/10/16/04015-20111016ARTFIG00170-coca-cola-lance-des-canettes-de-cafe-froid-en-france.php

http://tpe-cafe.e-monsite.com/pages/consommation/les-habitudes-de-consommation-des-francais.html