"Real Magic" Quest - A Story about failure | PART 2

If you didn't read till the end of Part I here is how it ended. And in case you missed it all, I really recommend to read it upfront, to get the greater picture of the WHY and HOW!

• The hashtag?#RealMagic ?being used over 6,000 times on Instagram which is good as Coca-Cola worldwide may just have approx. 5 Million Followers on Instagram
• The campaign got 1.4 million engagements on social media, which includes likes, comments, and shares across various platforms (as well included all negative feedback as comments)
• The YouTube video for the campaign received over 1 million views. Additionally, the video received almost, 8000 Likes and ore than 7,400 comments, indicating a high level of engagement from viewers - but let's face the comments section:

???????? Recognized this guy? NO! Then you better should check him out - Falk Ebert and he is speaking what everybody thought, but I am sorry Falk, Coca-Cola did involve a lot of people who claim for themseves they know how to advertise for Gamers BETC and Twitch and on the other hand we have to say, it is one failure in a lot of other successes.

• The Coca-Cola Twitch channel lost 4% of its followers during the campaign period, which is a significant drop for a brand with over 30,000 followers.
• While Coca-Cola did not release any specific sales data for the Real Magic campaign, it is worth noting that the company has been struggling with declining sales in recent years. In the third quarter of 2021, Coca-Cola reported a 2% decline in global volume sales, with declines in both developed and emerging markets. It is therefore possible that the Real Magic campaign was not effective in driving sales for the brand.

AND now let's get to the real thing, the pros and the cons.

可口可乐公司 "Real Magic" campaign, which launched in October 2021, aimed to reposition the brand for a new generation of consumers. The campaign introduced a refreshed visual identity and brand platform, alongside a global advertising campaign that included a TV ad, a digital film, and social media activations. While the campaign was successful in engaging non-gamers, it failed to resonate with the main target group of gamers.

Pros of the Real Magic Campaign

• Refreshed visual identity and brand platform: The "Real Magic" campaign introduced a refreshed visual identity and brand platform for Coca-Cola, which was well-received by non-gamers. The new branding aimed to reposition Coca-Cola as a brand that embraces diversity, positivity, and inclusivity.
• Strong emotional appeal: The campaign had a strong emotional appeal, with the TV ad and digital film featuring heartwarming moments of human connection and happiness. The message of the campaign was clear – Coca-Cola is a brand that brings people together and creates magical moments.
• Emotions: We all want to believe in this very big moments, this shared experiences, and that we have the power to change for the better. We all want the world becomes a better place. And this feeling is something Coca-Cola creates like just a few other brands, like 耐克 or now MrBeast .

From minute 12:28 onwards, you can listen to the opinions of the Managing Director of the Center for Innovation Hannah Leimert , and the Marketing Professors Marcus Sch?gel and Torsten Tomczak about "Real Magic" - but as mentioned upfront, it is a totally new brand platform, with a lot of various activations and other campaigns:

1. Coke Creations: A global innovation platform that creates new products through collaboration, creativity, and cultural connections. Four limited-time products resulted, including Coca-Cola Starlight, Coca-Cola Byte, and Coca-Cola Dreamworld, which generated double the engagement of any other program.
2. Coke Studios: A partnership with Universal Music Group that brings emerging artists from different cultures together to create unique music, including Ari Lennox, Griff, and Tri.be.
3. Made for Weekends: Coca-Cola partnered with 20 delivery providers in 30 countries to offer exclusive specials, resulting in a 3.5x increase in combo orders sold globally.

可口可乐公司 's shift towards experience marketing, as it recognizes that creating memorable moments is the key to building a lasting brand. By focusing on the Moment of Truth - that unique experience that stays with consumers - Coca-Cola wants to create emotional connections that go beyond traditional advertising, and thus not just plays out "normal" advertisements, but try to create something new with the community they want to activate and interact with.

Cons of the Real Magic Campaign

• Poor reception from gamers: The Real Magic campaign failed to resonate with gamers, who felt that the campaign was inauthentic and did not speak to their values. Gamers felt that the campaign was trying too hard to appeal to them, and that the message was not relevant to their interests.
• Lack of authenticity: Some critics argued that the Real Magic campaign lacked authenticity and was too focused on stereotypes. Critics felt that the campaign tried to appeal to too many different audiences, resulting in a message that was too broad and not authentic enough for any one group.
• Failure to understand the gaming culture: The Real Magic campaign failed to understand the gaming culture, and the unique values and interests of the gaming community. Gamers felt that the campaign was out of touch with their culture and did not accurately represent their interests.

It is not easy to understand and advertise gamers and with one little mistake you can blow it up. BUT, and there is a big but for gamers. As a mainstream brand, Coca-Cola may be seen as representing commercialism and corporate culture, which can be viewed as antithetical to the values and culture of the gaming community. Some gamers may view Coca-Cola as attempting to capitalize on the popularity of gaming without truly understanding or respecting the interests and values of the community. Furthermore, gamers and their community, are very sensitive in a lot of things - just thinking of the sh*tstorm about 雀巢 bought Ankerkraut GmbH .

Gamers and their Community per definition are not all the same, but the view who have an opinion are leading the opinion of the mass and one thing is - 可口可乐公司 and its brand with all its "badness", the capitalism, the commercialism, the plastic waste, and that it is pushing others aside, instead of let all coexist and value diversity within their peers.

You can advertise and tell what you want, but if you are true to yourself you better put principles to how you stick.

What does that have to do with Gamified Marketing

Gamified Marketing or at least how I and Stefanie [Stefy H.] Holenweg are seeing it, is based on emotions and how you want to make people feel. Seems the same what Coke is doing, right?! WRONG. We are looking as well into your principles and into the values, principles, and beliefs of your "target audience" - we tie this to your products, as every product is different, it is more than just something you sell. People identify different emotions with your products, as they have different experiences made. Gamified Marketing is not just to engage with your community, but build one, interact with them, and hopefully create something meaningful together. Key to all of this are insights of play and games in the mix of psychology, science and behavioral design - this is what we at RAW-R call Gamification!

__________________

So if you're looking for a new and innovative way to reach your target audience and drive results for your business, consider incorporating Twitch into your marketing strategy. Contact us. We are?RAW-R ?& we know Twitch by heart! We do live-stream, and we know Twitch and their partners.

Feel free to schedule a call with me!

Follow me on my journey through the design, gamification world –?let’s play!

Thanks for reading — I’m JayKays. Or just short Jay!

/// If you have thoughts on the article, share it with me. Thanks! ///

As well, feel free to follow me ?? on?Instagram ?or?Twitch

What I do or how to work with me, follow this link to my website?https://www.jasmin-karatas.ch/

Yours Jay

#marketing ?#gamification ?#advertisment ?#agentur ?#twitch