I don’t think anyone would argue that Coke is really good at marketing. Mastering sensory marketing is what they’ve been perfecting for decades. Over a century actually! They’ve been through multiple recessions AND depressions doing their thing so our current market situation is nothing new to this Goliath of marketing.
But how do they do it so well? What did they figure out that other brands still struggle with?
The Power of Emotion.
Coke doesn’t sell at you, Coke “emotes” at you.
Coke realized a long time ago the importance of getting to their consumer emotionally. They knew that if they could put a smile on their face or make them laugh, they’d have a brand advocate and a long term consumer.
Here are 5 amazing examples of Coke’s sensory marketing through the years. There are a LOT more but, for the sake of time, we’ll stick to just these for now.
Taste The Feeling
I feel that that this one went on for quite awhile and I can see why. What Coke did so brilliantly in this campaign was put a beverage (theirs obviously) into the emotion as part of the characters journey in life. Through good times and bad, Coke offered itself up as a peace-offering to make “everything better”.
Just like the ends of all 90’s sitcoms (with Roseanne as the exception) life doesn’t really work this way. But we’d like it if it did. So Coca Cola is happy to assist.
Coca-Cola- Taste the Feeling
Share a Coke
As with any campaign, this one had its share of controversy. However, the intent was clear. Share a Coke, spread happiness. As with all of these examples, Coke continues to share a little joy and link it to their product.
Would have loved to see a bit more diversity in this commercial example, but I digress.
Share A Coke- USA Commercial
Open Happiness
During the recession of the early 2000’s, Coke addressed it with “optimism and a bright outlook on life” with the Open Happiness campaign. The intention was all about emotion overstepping economical hardships etc.
Coke Telephone Booth Campaign
The happiness machine was a specific example from within this campaign.
Coca Cola Happiness Maker
I did not know about this one till I asked ChatGPT so thank you AI for this “eye” opener.
In 2010, Coca-Cola introduced the “Happiness Machine” (a part of their bigger Open Happiness campaign). They placed special vending machines in various locations. These machines were designed to surprise and delight consumers by dispensing not only Coke but, well, watch for yourself.
Coca-Cola Happiness Machine
The intention: bring joy to a few peoples day and associate that joyful feeling with, you guessed it, Coca-Cola.
Try Not To Hear This
This sensory campaign was extremely unique. It evoked all sorts of sensory stimulation with the support of only a series of photos and a catch phrase “try not to hear this”.
So….try not to hear this.
This was an excellent example of using sound to stimulate missing senses. For more great examples on that idea, I wrote another article specifically about it here.
Sensory Marketing is the Future
There are five senses. Sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. For some reason we are barely using anything other than visual in our marketing.
Why limit ourselves when the power of using the senses is literally right there for the taking. All it takes is thinking about your brand in less of a “thing” way and more as a unique human persona.
Once you can differentiate between your CEO’s tastes and the brands opinion, you are on the way to discovering what Coca Cola figured out a long long time ago.
Emotion in marketing equals longterm ROI and Goliath size marketing clout.
Let’s give the marketing world a Coke refresh and see what happens.
