Coke builds up momentum for Olympics starring national swimming champion

The 'Journey' campaign is part of Coke's five-month-long marketing exposure ahead of July’s Olympic Games in London. The initial push began with the 'First Coke of the Year' campaign over Chinese New Year, starring track-and-field athlete Liu Xiang.

At the heart of the 'Journey' campaign is a 30-second TVC, starring distance freestyle swimmer Sun Yang. The commercial follows Sun as he journeys across China to arrive in London for the Olympic Games. Sun carries the mini-sized bottles wherever he goes, highlighting their portability.

Leo Burnett Shanghai's general manager for multinationals, Stefan Petzinger, said, "Coke’s new portable products compliment an on-the-go lifestyle. The commercial uses a clever technique to combine convenience and one of the biggest stars in Chinese sport.”

The agency's executive creative director Gordon Hughes added: “This could prove to be just the thing to open up distribution and increase consumption.”

Showing on national and regional television networks for the next four weeks, the TVC will be supported by outdoor advertising, grassroots activations, point-of-sale collaterals and digital media executions.

Credits
Title: Journey
Client: The Coca-Cola Company
Creative agency: Leo Burnett Shanghai
Executive creative director: Amanda Yang, Gordon Hughes
Creative directors: Alexis Mardapittas, Colin Lee, Joy Zou
Account management: Stefan Petzinger, Frances Kong, Wendy Tong
Film producer: Christine Chen
Production house: The Loft Films
Director: Karl Von Moller
Exposure: Television, outdoor, point-of-sale, digital, grassroot events