The understanding of the role of Sunday lunches as families nationwide gather around one "table", was the lynchpin of the campaign that drove this dual approach. The creative idea took this insight and focused on one simple strategic behavioural change - if we could get the nation to buy just one (more) bottle of Coke for their Sunday lunch, we would achieve all campaign objectives in one swoop. Happy Sundays was born.
Every week for eight weeks, the campaign saw the brand drop in on six lucky shoppers' Sunday lunches with a famous SA soapie star in tow to join them for their happiest Sunday. Understanding the role that these (female) soapie stars played in the lives of our target market meant we could elevate their normal Sunday lunches to a new level of happiness when shared with their idols and an iconic glass bottle of Coca-Cola. Each winner also received R10,000-worth of kitchen appliances to ensure the happiness went on and on.
Shoppers had to USSD their barcode each week with every returnable glass bottle purchased, to stand a chance to have their own Happy Sunday experience. Coca-Cola and a surprise soapie star would then visit winners for their happiest Sunday meal, all filmed live in urban and rural homes. There was no pre filming, scripting or in-home preparation as we shot six episodes live in homes across the country each week for eight weeks. The capturing of true human reaction and emotion was critical to driving more shoppers to purchase a coke each week in the run up for the following Sunday.
To execute the creative idea, 34 partnered with Quizzical Pictures to ensure high quality footage and logistically making the various regional shoots happen. Getting three soapie stars and three crews around the country, at only a few days notice to three regions simultaneously was no easy task!
During the campaign 34 and Coca-Cola visited 48 families across eight provinces and broadcasted 40 x 90" episodes on SABC1 and eTV (only days after it was shot), proving that content "for Africa" is a now a reality, and that TV is a critical medium in the path to purchase. In changing Coca-Cola's model, 34 proudly proved that no longer does "TV" have to mean a 30" pre-planned piece of "advertising".
The results exceeded all expectations and brand love scores surpassed the objective by 3%. The returnable pack decline was stemmed by 7,4% during the campaign period, and the shoppers told us it was an experience that would keep them buying Coke for "many years to come".
"This work epitomises how 34 believes promotional strategy should be conceptualized and run" states Morne Fourie, Managing Director of 34. "The work proves that an emotionally engaging, 100% brand building, and incredibly memorable prize experience will make a promotion the talk of the town (literally) and drive sales far beyond an "airtime promotion" (or similar) ever can. At 34 we don't believe shoppers are purely machines on autopilot. The volume/purchase-driven mechanic will always play a critical role, but the balance of this with an emotionally rewarding hook will allow brands to reward shoppers for purchasing in a way that lasts much longer than any functional 'prize' ever could."
34 and Coca-Cola are thrilled to be continually proving the validity of Shopper Marketing as a discipline that lives well beyond Point of Sale materials, and are excited to be continuing the campaign during 2015 with an even bigger and better "Coca-Cola Happy Sundays"!
