For those who prefer their knowledge in condensed form, I’ve put down the seven lessons we can draw from the content plan put forward by the world’s number one brand.
1. Big Brands are Content Publishers – You don’t have to be a traditional “media” organisation to publish content. There is a historical precedent for this with brands from the likes of Nike (think the classic 1998 Brazil footie ad at the airport) and Pepsi (think the 1980s high-profile ads with Madonna or Michael Jackson), but it is now more commonplace, diverse and large-scale. A glance at the comScore rankings shows Walmart, Amazon and Sears in the top 50 US online publishers. Red Bull produces web TV, web radio, online games, news and much more across over 900 domains worldwide. Coca-Cola is not looking to follow the 1990s Nike model, but a more engaged, diverse and democratic content plan. Brands want to use content to engage with, not dictate to, their customers.
2. Engagement not Interruption – Marketing has moved from interrupting the audience – in the 30-second advert or the direct mail shot through the letter box – to engaging them. Content is at the heart of this transition, allowing big brands to build trust and awareness across their product lines.
3. Content is Collaborative & Complementary – The production process is not done in silos and traditional divides are dissolving. First, content is collaborative: the content team spans editorial, post-production, marketing, SEO and social media experts. It also includes the audience. Professionally produced content sits alongside user-generated material, while ideas and inspiration for content can come from inside or outside an organisation. Second, content is complementary. Different pieces of content are part of a wider vision and a broader structure. You might produce a video, publish a blog post on how it was made and run follow-ups based on the reaction on social media, but they all work around the central message.
6. Big Brands Still Think Strategically – If content is changing organisations’ make-up and, in some instances, their identity, it is not because Coca-Cola’s executive board had decided to wear flowers in their hair and set up a commune. Content is another tool to be used in corporate strategy. It is fascinating to see the language of engagement (“big audacious impacts”, “creativity”, “bravery”, “conversation”, “creative culture”) married to the language of investment (“resource”, “leverage”, “qualitative testing”). In their 70-20-10 analysis, which suggests 70 per cent of content is ‘low-risk’ ‘bread-and-butter-content’, 20 per cent is more innovative but still with broad scale, and 10 per cent is high risk, which is brand new ideas, Coca-Cola explicitly apply investment principles to content development. Content is part of a big brand’s corporate strategy, not something that exists outside it.
Read more about Coca-Cola’s content marketing strategy in the post Content Marketing Comes of Age: A Big Brand Message
Karen Webber is the head of marketing communications. She joined the team as a journalist in 2005, after working in marketing and media roles in South Africa and in the UK. 
What do you think?
One Comment
Very good round-up of Coca Cola’s strategy! I’ve just seen a youtube video with a new spot from them which demonstrates very well how the new content strategy works: http://youtu.be/auNSrt-QOhw
With a feel-good factor and a bit of controversy (using real footage from surveillance cameras to tell heart-warming stories of romantic, crazy or selfless people), it is just made for sharing and debating it online.