Hasta La Creative!

Coca-Cola is looking for a new creative agency to work on its Diet Coke brand, AdAge reports.

“Several months ago, Diet Coke and Droga5 decided to part ways, and we wish each other continued success,” a Coke spokeswoman told the publication in a statement. “The brand will update its agency roster in the future. In the meantime, the Diet Coke ‘Get A Taste’ ad campaign continues to run in broadcast.”

That campaigned launched back in 2014 and includes a spot featuring Taylor Swift and a swarm of kittens.

While Coca-Cola is utilizing a one-brand strategy internationally, with ads typically featuring more than one Coke brand, it will continue to advertise Diet Coke separately in the U.S., according to a statement Rafael Acevedo, group director for Diet Coke, Coca-Cola North America made to AdAge earlier this year.  “You will continue to see future executions that will be completely based on Diet Coke by itself and communicating its own personality and really connecting with the loyal consumer base that it has,” he said at the time.

According to Kantar Media, Coca-Cola spent around $21.7 million on measured media for the Diet brand in the first six months of the year and $47.1 million in 2015.

The news comes just as we’re learning about Droga5’s newest client, The New York Times. Back in August, the agency picked up creative duties on A-B InBev’s Best Damn alcopop brand, resigning Strongbow and Newcastle in the process, as well as on unnamed future projects for Mondelez’s Trident gum brand earlier that month.

You thought Coca-Cola was getting personal when it rolled out 250 bottle labels featuring people’s first names. Well, Diet Coke just went and individualized 2 million bottle designs.

Coca-Coca Israel created the campaign, with help from Gefen Team, Q Digital and HP Indigo. (In fact, it was Indigo, which was founded in Israel, that helped Coke solve the enormous production challenges around the “Shake a Coke” campaign when it first rolled out in Australia in 2011.) For the Diet Coke project, a special algorithm led to a unique design technique that allowed millions of designs to be completely auto-generated.

The resulting product conveys to “to Diet Coke lovers that they are extraordinary by creating unique one-of-a-kind extraordinary bottles,” said Alon Zamir, vp of marketing for Coca-Cola Israel. (Dr Pepper, whose whole campaign is built around being one of a kind, is going to be pissed about this.)

The concept nicely extended to the ad campaign, which featured hundreds of uniquely designed billboards, as well as point-of-sale stunts that sold T-shirts and other merchandise featuring your specific bottle design.

The genius of “Share a Coke,” of course, was how personalized it felt, rather than how personalized it actually was. (Your first name isn’t exactly unique, after all—and if it is, it wasn’t on a Coke bottle.) Still, the Diet Coke idea is a conceptual and executional triumph—the designs look fantastic, on top of it all—and a brilliant stunt, even if it won’t generate the same level of buzz.

Check out more images below, along with a case study video showing the process.

Via PSFK.

What has Diet Coke been snorting?

In the way the tagline, "You're on," and logo are positioned, the brand's new ads seem to refer to drug use—appearing to spell out the phrase "You're on coke."

The campaign, by Droga5 in New York, has been building considerable, um, buzz in the media and from consumers flocking to social media with mocking comments. (Gothamist has collected some prime tweets along these, er, lines.) And while one imagines no such connection to cocaine is implied, you can understand the snarky reaction.

A commercial shows various people downing the product to get psyched up before speeches and performances. Taylor Swift takes a—how shall I put this?—hit backstage, then says, "Great. Let's go." Hey, that's nothing like drugs at all. In The New York Times, a Coca-Cola exec says the ads show how the drink provides "uplift for those moments when you really need to be on." Hey, that's nothing like drugs at all.

The campaign's wording is so obvious, I'd bet client and agency went this route on purpose. The ads are certainly getting extra attention, and it's not so offensive as to cause the brand harm. Plus, there's plausible deniability.

And here's a sobering thought: "Drogas" is Spanish for drugs!

I reached out to Coke and Droga5 for clarification. Oddly, they weren't on (no response yet), but I'll update this post with any uplifting comments they choose to provide.

UPDATE: Coca-Cola responds: "This advertising is one part of the new campaign for Diet Coke, which is called 'You're On.' It celebrates ambitious young achievers from all walks of life and reminds them that Diet Coke is there to support them in the moments when they are at their best. Every single day, young people around the world experience 'You're On' moments big and small. It could be a job interview or a national TV interview, a first date or a final exam, a presentation to your boss or a performance in front of thousands. The Diet Coke logo is the centerpiece of the ad campaign. Diet Coke in no way endorses or supports the use of any illegal substance."

Photo below: @david_j_roth

Primeiro foi o jardineiro bonitão. Agora, é a vez de Marc Jacobs se juntar às comemorações pelos 30 anos da Diet Coke. Mesmo não sendo a primeira vez que um estilista assume o posto de diretor criativo da marca – Jean Paul Gaultier e Karl  Lagerfeld já estiveram por lá -, o designer deverá ter uma participação maior nas campanhas durante a sua “gestão”. A começar pelo comercial rodando na internet desde ontem, que compara Jacobs ao legendário “hunk” da década de 1990.

No próximo mês, a Diet Coke também deverá lançar uma edição limitada de garrafas e latas que levam a assinatura do estilista.

É impressão minha ou está aberta a temporada de bonitões tirando a roupa pela publicidade? De qualquer maneira, pelo que pudemos ver até agora, as consumidoras não têm do que reclamar…

Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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