One of my favourite campaigns during lockdown is “Open like never before” by Coke. Coca-Cola [as I say] stands out with the right message. The product is always at the center but the brand never has a tagline telling you “Buy a bottle NOW”. Fergus from #OnStrategy interviewed the team at 72andSunny to find out the strategy behind this campaign. ECD Laura Visco and Strategy Director Armando Potter explained how in the middle of a global pandemic, this message should had to come from people, not from a big corporation. That’s how they chose George “The Poet”, a London-born spoken word artist who wrote a poem specifically for this campaign working alongside the agency.

The poem embraces change, the ‘new normal’, and invites to appreciate what was previously taken for granted.

And before you say… What else did they do? I thought exactly the same. It’s not enough just to say WORDS in an ad, brands need to DO something for the community, be socially responsible. Open Like Never Before came following a seven month pause in commercial advertising – the longest ever for Coca‑Cola – instead they redirected resources to support COVID-19 relief efforts around the world, donating advertising space, including the famous Piccadilly Sign, to charity partners, donated drinks to key workers, Coca‑Cola is now using 50% of recycled plastic, and created other initiatives to help local venues to get back on their feet. That’s what we call a 360° campaign today.

It doesn’t feel like 2021 came with a miracle. We are still in lockdown, venues are closed, kids are at home, and watching “Allegiant” last night, didn’t help. We never experienced something like this before, so we need to be open to whatever is next.