Chris Schreiber of Sharethrough was in Cannes last week. He says one of the most compelling sessions he attended was “Liquid and Linked” from Coca-Cola execs who detailed the company’s global connections, a.k.a marketing, strategy.
Here’s the official description of the panel:
“Liquid and Linked” is a strategy that places a new emphasis on dynamic storytelling to connect with people across multiple connection points. These stories must be focused for each particular medium, whether it’s paid communication on TV or mobile, earned media on social networks, owned media channels like packaging and equipment or shared media in store. Engagement through one medium will entice people to another with a deeper, richer experience and an invitation to interact and co-create. Long gone are the days of flat, one-way communication. It’s a multi-dimensional world. It demands deeper interaction. This has brought a change in thinking, a change in staffing and an understanding that now, creating valuable and shareable content is the way to build brand love and value for the long term.
And here’s Coca-Cola Senior Vice-President of Coca-Cola, Wendy Clark, delivering the same message at IAB a few months ago:
It’s clear that Coca-Cola is on a mission. They want to sell twice as much liquid in ten years as they do currently, and they want to leverage the power of networked channels to help achieve those lofty sales goals.
“We have to participate, the days of controlling the message are over,” says Clark. In other words, content creators of the world must not only dream up compelling stories that support the brand, and the company’s overall business objectives, but we must inspire others to share our stories and to create their own.
May I ask, is this what you’re busy doing today? I hope it is, because there’s an abundance of information available at our fingertips, but there’s a scarcity of high quality branded entertainment.
Editorial disclosure: I produce branded content for a living. Contact me at david@bonehook.com if you want to discuss the topic in more detail.
