Coke Zero Bond Campaign

Challenge

To coincide with the 23rd installment of the James Bond series, Skyfall, Coke Zero came up with a genius cross promotion play to engage its audience to become James Bond using its vending machines. Set in Antwerp Central station, Belgium, unsuspecting customers use an typical vending machine to purchase their drinks, which turns into a Bond-like “mission” to win cinema tickets.

Insight

Coke has aimed the campaign at men; the message behind this campaign is that if you drink Coke Zero, you too can gain these Bond aspirations. Both Coke and James Bond as brands are well represented in the video, participants start at a Coke vending machine and finish at one. Throughout the obstacles, the Bond theme song is heavily featured by planted violin players, music box/beat box/trumpet performers and also the final challenge is to sing the main 007 song. The viewers watching this video knows exactly what brands are being represented.

Solution

The activity by Duval Guillaume was filmed in Antwerp. It targets Coke Zero drinkers who buy the soft-drink from a particular vending machine in the Belgium city's station.

The machine asks competitors to enter their name before being giving them 70 seconds to get to platform six. A series of challenges attempt to obstruct their way, including an escalator blocked by joggers, an orange stall and workmen carrying a pane of glass.

Musicians stationed at different parts of the journey play the Bond theme on a violin, beatboxing and on trumpets. The final challenge requires the contestants to sing the theme, at which point two tickets will drop out of the Coke Zero vending machine at the end of their task.

The work runs under Coke Zero's "Unlock the 007 in you" European marketing activity as it promotes its partnership with the latest Bond film, 'Skyfall', which opens this week.

Coke released a stunt-filled TV ad to promote the partnership last month, in which the latest Coke Zero "hero" rescues a girl from three men. All of the brand’s work has been produced under the umbrella brand strapline, "Make it possible".

The latest James Bond film is also promoted on Coke Zero’s Facebook page.

Results

The “Unlock the 007 in you” video went viral, with over 3.8 million views and counting within 5 days of its YouTube release on 18 October 2012