Coca-Cola, the biggest brand in the world, was beginning to lose its grip on its core consumer – the youth of today and more importantly the generation after them, who simply don’t share the same emotional bond with the brand as the ‘baby boomers’.
In a bid to recreate this connection, Coca-Cola brought on board five design groups, from five different continents, and tasked them with re-integrating the Coca-Cola brand into the lives and lifestyles of the youth.
Dubbed M5 (The Magnificent 5), the project took the Coke brand back to basics. In the 1960’s, Coke, helped shape ‘The American Dream’ and artists like Warhol and Haring evolved the soft drink into a cultural icon using Pop Art as a vehicle.
In 2005, the members of M5 re-united the brand with the wonder of art, music, science and creativity – and in the process won the hearts and minds of the all important opinion leaders of generation X & Y.
The brief was simple – Link Coca-Cola to “a better world optimism” using the universal language of music and art. Coca-Cola gave the M5 designers carte blanch to re-invent Coca-Cola in the eyes of the youth – even to the extent that much of the work will remain completely unbranded. This demanded unprecedented logistics and some holy-cows have also been done away with.
Each design group created a Short Story to visualize their own unique perspective on ‘Better World Optimism’. These short stories came to life as Video – each in collaboration with different trendsetting musicians from all over the planet. The exposure of these short stories will be developing organically, until the end 2006.
Anonymous screenings on the most popular global music television channels, viewings at global Resfest gatherings, viral distribution via internet and mobile technologies, active projection in exclusive night clubs and stage screenings on tour with the music collaborators in Ibiza – all form part of this organic plan.
The M5 contributors revolutionised Coca-Cola’s most recognizable brand icon – the buddy bottle. Graphic artwork was designed for the new, limited edition, ‘bottles’ – constructed entirely from aluminium, to extend the gospel of a Better World onto these exclusive collectable items.
Signs that the biggest brand in the world was beginning to lose its grip was becoming more & more apparent. Its core consumer group is the youth of today and more importantly the generation after them, who simply don’t share the same emotional bond with the brand as the ‘baby boomers’ did.
M5 has taken Coke back to basics. In the 1960’s, Coke, helped shape ‘The American Dream’ and artists like Warhol and Haring evolved the soft drink into a cultural icon using Pop Art as a vehicle.
The members of M5 re-united the brand with the wonder of art, music, science & creativity…
and in the process they have delivered an experimental project which was proven successful with its target audience even prior to its world-wide launch.
The project is dubbed M5 and involves five design groups, from 5 different continents, tasked with re-integrating Coca-Cola into the lives and lifestyles of today’s youth.
