Coca-Cola Launches Global Music Effort to Connect With Teens!

A year ago, the beverage giant unveiled its 2020 Vision, which calls for the company to more than double system revenue to $200 billion, as well as servings to more than 3 billion per day by the year 2020. To accomplish that, the company will need to attract teens -- lots of them.


 By 2020, one-third of the world's population, or 2.5 billion people, will be younger than 18. And in the next 10 years, teens in the U.S. will number 31 million.To that end, Coca-Cola is readying its largest teen-focused campaign to date, Coca-Cola Music. Given the rapid growth of the teen market globally, Coca-Cola plans to take the campaign to more than 100 markets. Six markets, China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan and the U.S., will house half of the teen population by 2020. Coca-Cola has been focused on making its efforts more global in nature, something it's done for its Olympics and World Cup efforts. The company views teens broadly as 13- to 19-year-olds, which requires the marketer to "look for the highest common denominator. In addition to 24hr Session, Coca-Cola has partnered with One Night Only, an emerging band in the U.K., and Taio Cruz, a British singer and songwriter. One Night Only has written and recorded a new track called "Can You Feel It," which features Coca-Cola's signature five-note melody. It will be the soundtrack for a new global spot from Wieden & Kennedy, Amsterdam. Mr. Cruz will be working with artists selected by teens in various markets on a track he has created.

"We are working hard at Universal to bring our artists closer to their fans through unique experiences, and we believe that Coca-Cola Music is the perfect, innovative platform to continue this," Andrew Kronfeld, exec VP-international marketing, Universal Music Group International, said in a statement. "The artists taking part in the program are all excited to be part of opening up the creative process to teens around the world, and allowing their fans an exclusive chance to get involved with making great new music. "Indeed, Coca-Cola execs across the board, including CEO Muhtar Kent, have been trumpeting the importance of teens recently. "Our success in growing our sparkling category today depends on our ability to grow and connect with teens, the generation of tomorrow," Mr. Kent said at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference last month.

source: http://www.adage.com