by Craig Page-Lee (@cpl_ignite) Not the red of angry African skies at times. Not the red associated with the blood, sweat and tears of exploited migrant workers across the continent. Not the red of berets claimed by modern-day politicians. It is the wash of Coca-Cola RED covering the continent that I am referring to.
I say this after a recent trip to Nairobi, where the presence of the Coca-Cola brand was more apparent to me than in any other African country that I have travelled to previously.
Formats and coverage
When looking at the different forms, formats, application techniques and the extent of coverage representing the brand along the journey — on buildings, kiosks, signage, fasciae, walls, delivery vehicles, decals on cars and scooters, and not forgetting the traditional outdoor faces — and coupled with some of the amazing experiences that I’ve had with the brand in Africa, it’s fairly easy to make this statement.
This is a brand that is omnipresent and one that will continue to grow in stature for years to come. Whether through market-share growth, linked directly to increased sales on the back of improved economic opportunities for many of Africa’s population, or through improved brand reputation on the back of a host of incredible CSR initiatives that The Coca-Cola Company are implementing across the continent, the brand is here to stay for a very long time.
The biggest challenge will be delivering against the brand promise and consumer-experience expectations while understanding the need to articulate aspects of a globally mandated communications platform for local relevance — and not losing the essence of what the brand represents.
That said, the message will always be “red”.
Context
In saying so, it’s appropriate to set some context to the brand and share thoughts on a few interesting statements from articles that I’ve read and from trawling through the brand’s website.
To state the obvious, Coca-Cola’s positioning for many years was based around the promise of “refreshment” and this was represented throughout the world with ruthless consistency, as one would expect from any global brand of this magnitude. Through the various iterations and evolution of the brand’s positioning and communications platforms over the years, I do not think that the promise of “refreshment” will ever be excluded completely, or be too far from such a new positioning, including that of “happiness”, the most-recent such iteration.
I’m sure each and every one of us has a great story to share regarding an experience that has delivered the ultimate “refreshment” when consuming an ice cold Coca-Cola.
What struck me the most though, when trawling through the brand’s website, is the reference to a song from the 1970s — purely because I had not come across the post before and, believe me, I have spent many an hour immersing myself in this iconic brand’s website. The song includes the line “I’d like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company”.
Jingle of joy
The minute I read this, I immediately recalled having heard the jingle a million times in my youth and it again invoked a sense of “sharing, togetherness, happiness and joy”, which obviously brings us right back to the emotions invoked by a recent “Share a Coke” campaign.
Was this a stroke of luck, in terms of longevity built into a great campaign concept some forty years earlier, or again, the pure genius of a recent strategist identifying that the essence of the brand has not changed too much over this time and that we all long for that moment of being able to share a smile and transfer some happiness?
We may debate the health aspects of the various product lines ad nauseam, as well as interrogate the social-consciousness movements lobbying against the brand around the world. But, at the end of it all, a simplistic and incredibly successful positioning around “refreshment” transcended — and still exists today — to being one about “sharing and celebrating a commonality between all nationalities”.
It is at this point that I am again able to reference another great Coca-Cola experience while travelling on the continent.
The real deal
I was undertaking a week-long 4×4 trip in Malawi and was travelling along the edge of Lake Malawi from Monkey Bay to Livingstonia Beach Hotel. A distance before arriving at Malembo, we discovered a small reed-covered shack in the middle of nowhere (most of our journey was off the beaten track, so this was a great relief for us). To our delight, there was a traditional, voluptuously curved, bright-red, top-loading, slide-door Coca-Cola refrigerator, filled with the original frosted-glass bottles of the real deal!
We had to stand on the veranda and not move an inch further away as the exchange-value of the bottle was vitally important for the kiosk owner, since this guaranteed a continuous delivery supply by the bottlers. This was also probably why the price of purchasing the refreshing elixir was so cheap — sell the content, not the packaging, and allow the consumer to experience the product in a moment of sharing and engagement.
What stands out for me is that this kiosk was in a very remote part of Malawi where there’s no electricity, nor were we close to any major cities or developed infrastructure. Yet the kiosk is obviously an important stop along the journey for many, and it’s therefore gained some relevance and importance in the supply-chain for Coca-Cola, as the bottles were ice cold.
I asked the kiosk owner how he managed to keep the cooldrinks so cold and was pleasantly surprised to learn that large blocks of ice are delivered with the stock consignment, and that the old faithful fridge was insulated enough to keep the drinks on ice for a number of days. All I can say is power to the distribution chain and bottlers! The promise of refreshment was served up and enjoyed by us in every instance.
Tourism and brand ambassador
Furthermore, the kiosk owner was 100% engaged and interested in our journey, sharing stories and giving us input on the best route to follow and what to look out for — not only a self-appointed custodian of marketing his own country to tourists, but a brand ambassador of that ultimate moment of “refreshment”.
A simple kiosk, a warm welcome, the Coca-Cola brand emblazoned on the fascia, an old-world refrigerator stocked with the ice cold product. A sales point for the brand, a brand ambassador and a job created. I will never forget that moment and, each and every time I see the brand covering the walls, doors and other road-lining elements, I remember that the colour of Africa is RED.
Craig Page-Lee (@cpl_ignite) is the group managing director of Posterscope South Africa. He has over 21 years of working experience across the disciplines of architecture and retail design/brand communications and marketing management/advertising and media, across 11 pan-European and six pan-African regions. Craig’s monthly column on MarkLives, “Beyond Borders”, focuses on doing business in various African markets. Don’t forget to tune into his #eBizRetail slot on www.ebizradio.com.
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