Five questions for Prinz Pinakatt, Interactive Digital Consumer Marketing Manager, Coca-Cola

As YouTube has evolved, marketers have changed the way they think about online advertising, especially around video and user engagement. Now more than ever, major brand advertisers are using YouTube as the hub for larger, integrated display campaigns that run across the web. Case in point: Coca-Cola -- the world’s #1 brand, according to Interbrand -- recently launched the “Longest Celebration,” a user video competition on YouTube, and the center of its online advertising campaign for the World Cup. Inspired by Cameroonian soccer star Roger Milla’s goal-celebration dance from the 1990 World Cup, Coca-Cola has invited users around the world to submit videos of their own dances to Coke’s brand channel, youtube.com/cocacola. As part of its campaign, Coca-Cola will run display ads across the Google Content Network, and point viewers to their YouTube channel in their television commercials.

In the latest interview in our Five Questions series, we spoke with Prinz Pinakatt, Interactive Digital Consumer Marketing Manager at Coca-Cola, about the World Cup, user uploads of famous Coke ads, and using YouTube to reach an international audience.

1. Why did Coca-Cola decide to make YouTube the center of its online advertising campaign for the World Cup?
We were looking for a global platform that people use to upload, enjoy and most importantly share engaging and entertaining video content.

2. The "Longest Celebration" competition is all about engaging the YouTube community to create videos for Coca-Cola. How did you come up with the idea for this campaign, and what inspired you to make user-generated content its focal point?
A spontaneous goal celebration is a very emotional and uplifting experience to have and to watch -- and it perfectly represents what Coca-Cola stands for. So, we translated the combination of goal celebrations and Coca-Cola in the context of this very special FIFA World Cup in Africa into an invitation to football fans all around to world to join one big celebration -- the "Longest Celebration.” And since the majority of the world is on YouTube it was the obvious choice.


3. Coca-Cola is a global brand, and the World Cup is a truly global event. Is there an international element to your campaign? How does Coca-Cola use YouTube to reach an international audience?
We have made the channel available in more than a 100 countries using their local languages. That itself shows how global this campaign is. To reach the YouTube audience itself we developed targeted Promoted Video campaigns as well as very impactful banner ads.

4. Many advertisers and content owners block user uploaded versions of their videos, but Coke consistently leaves them up -- from recent commercials to classics like "Mean Joe Green." What value does Coca-Cola see in allowing user uploads of their content on YouTube?
We believe that a user creating his personal version of one our ads shows the quality and the emotional engagement it created. In fact it's earned media as the user will distribute his personal creation.

5. Coca-Cola has been around for over 100 years. How has the company's approach to advertising changed over time, what’s been consistent, and how does YouTube fit into it today?
The question we always ask ourselves is how do we make sure that we communicate with our target audience in a meaningful (addressing the Zeitgeist), engaging (providing relevant content and messages) and contemporary (using the best tools) way. Today part of the answer is clearly YouTube given the role it plays in people's lives.

Posted by Dick Soule, Team Manager, Global Accounts, YouTube