In fitting with the theme I set in
last week’s blog post, this week I’m going to delve deeper into Coca-Cola’s Twitter
feed and hopefully discover why I am physically compelled to ingest elephantine
levels of the stuff daily. This venture initially proved more complicated than
expected, as Coca-Cola has more than one Twitter account. Actually, that’s a
bit of an understatement. The company has more Twitter accounts than I could
have imagined, far more than just the expected pages for Coke and Diet Coke. This
includes separate accounts for The Coca-Cola Co., World of Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola
Music, Coca-Cola Racing, Coca-Cola Freestyle, and a few major variation on
their product from Coke Life to Coke Zero. Oh, but it doesn’t stop there. There
are also Twitter accounts for individual countries, so we have Coca-Cola Germany,
Coca-Cola France, Coca-Cola Great Britain, the list goes on. Not to mention
there are accounts for other Coke flavors in different countries, which gives
us pages like Coca-Cola Zero Chile, and Diet Coke Canada. I mean, damn. Coke
has went to great lengths to make sure that no matter what preference you may
have, or nationality you may be, there’s a Coca-Cola Twitter page for you. I understand,
people aren’t going to brain-wash themselves.
Now
that we’ve established Coke has more Twitter pages than there are stars in our
galaxy, the interesting part is seeing how each Twitter page is unique. Having so
many different Twitter pages has allowed Coca-Cola to target individual
markets, changing their ads to appeal to specific demographics. For instance,
the company’s main Twitter page is running an ad campaign right now using the
hashtags #NationalComingOutDay and #ProudToHavePride, attempting to appeal to
the LBGT community (or, you know, anybody who isn’t an asshole). The response
the ad is getting is very positive, and it allows Coke to associate itself with
social acceptance, but the ad also highlights an interesting trick to Coca-Cola’s
advertising. This Twitter page mostly focuses on American users, so it can be assumed
this ad wouldn’t be posted on a Coca-Cola page that targets a country with less
developed opinions on gay rights. Coca-Cola Russia for example. I went to Coke’s
Russian Twitter page and sure enough, the Proud to Have Pride ad is nowhere in
sight. However, I did find an ad celebrating Russia’s qualification in the 2016
UEFA European Championship. Of course, this ad didn’t run on the American Twitter
page because most American’s don’t watch soccer. Instead, the page has ads
promoting the FedEx Cup of the PGA Tour. I am not one of the people who can be
blamed for this switch however, as I will likely watch neither.
 |
| Translates to: Coke adds life, where there isn't any. |
The concept
from What Would Google Do? that really
stood out to me this week was the idea that the future of business lies in
great products and great customer service, not great advertising. Personally,
whenever I make a significant purchase, I check online to get an idea of the
products quality. I look up consumer reports, and if possible professional
reviews, to try to make sure I’ll be satisfied with my purchase. This principal
extends further than just large purchases. If my friends and I are trying to
decide what to get for dinner, we might search Yelp or Google reviews to help
us find quality food. And then we’ll end up going to Taco Bell because it’s
close, it’s open, and we hate ourselves. But the point is we try to take quality into
consideration, and I can’t recall the last time I made a purchase solely based
on the strength of an ad.
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