The Brand Connection recently ran a successful activation campaign for Coca-Cola that encouraged community members to return their glass coke bottles to redeem their R3 deposit.
“The development of local and national activations has stolen the foreground since 2009 and shown much promise in offering the right kind of marketing for semi-formal and informal areas of the country,” says Simon Milne, The Brand Connection’s operations manager.
The Brand Connection’s activation for Coca-Cola, ‘bring back the bottle and get your R3 deposit back’, is a prime example. The campaign message encouraged consumers to bring in their 1.25 litre Coca-Cola glass bottles, to redeem their R3 deposit.
Activations, in its outside broadcasting units, saw a five-hour a day blitz with its team of brand ambassadors including an MC, two promoters, a driver and a DJ who spent their days travelling in branded Coca-Cola vans to taxi ranks, shopping malls, schools and populated areas in Kwazulu-Natal, the Northwest Province and Gauteng.
“Our MC vibrantly communicated the client’s message, in the consumer’s home language, and directed them to participating outlets, whilst our promoters reiterated the message with individual consumers at ground level,” says Milne.
“Our DJ mixed some magnetic tunes that drew and entertained the crowds, and five minute telephonic interviews with community radio stations ensured further reach by spreading the message to their entire listenership base,” he adds.
The response from the communities was overwhelming and the client’s objective – forwarding an authentic and applicable marketing campaign involving direct interaction, participation and promotion – was successfully achieved.
