We’ve written before about how Coca-Cola is essentially a glorified marketing agency, given that it outsources most of its other activities to external parties.

But boy, it does do marketing very well.

To mark 125 years of the beverage company, Coca-Cola today launches a new multi-platform ad campaign that takes a somewhat nostalgic look back at the company’s previous advertising efforts.

This will be accompanied by its usual larger-than-life marketing tricks, such as giant glass bottles filled with bubbles at busy consumer locations, whilst Coke Zone will allow fans to superimpose pictures of their own faces into retro ads. There just had to be a social angle, eh?

Coke is a good example of how nostalgia and marketing can be combined to create a powerful brand. And with Coke’s latest TV ad associating the brand with a montage of many memorable events over the past century, it’s firmly positioning itself as part of the fabric of society. It will appeal to all ages and demographics…well, all ages and demographics that have ever watched TV.

Here’s a quick tour through Coke’s advertising history. Some you’ll recognise and some, well, you might not.

1900: Celebrity endorsement

This ad may be 111 years old, but it shows that celebrity endorsements aren’t a product of the television era – this illustration depicts Hilda Clark, who was a popular music hall actress at the time. In 1900, Coca-Cola was only available from pharmacies and soda fountains – Coke didn’t come in cans or bottles for years after this.

1930: commission the pros

Norman Rockwell was a popular American painter and illustrator. Coca-Cola commissioned Rockwell for six ads, including this one, which Ad Age voted as the third best tagline of the 20th century. It also showed that Coca-Cola really understood the power of effective marketing.

1931: Coca-Cola invents Santa?

A popular myth abounds that Coca-Cola invented the modern image of Santa Claus, but that is not true. The rotund, red-and-white imagery of Old St. Nick already existed, but Coke certainly did a lot to popularise the image. Santa Claus has been a major figurehead for the Coke brand since 1931.

1944: Coke goes patriotic

What better way to drive your brand upwards than to support the country’s war efforts? Coke set-up over sixty portable bottling plants in Europe, to ensure it could fulfil its pledge that all US soldiers would be able to buy a Coke for a nickel.

1971: Coke teaches the world to sing

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mOEU87SBTU

Coke had turned to TV advertising in the early sixties, but it was this ditty from 1971 that cemented Coke’s place in the world’s hearts. The song was written for the ads and, following a very good public reaction, the New Seekers were called upon to record the song properly, removing any reference to Coke and thus became a massive top-ten hit. It even became an anthem for peace during the Vietnam War. Quite an achievement for what was originally nothing more than a catchy TV jingle.

1984: Coke, sport and sponsorship

Coca-Cola had sponsored the Olympic Games since Amsterdam in 1928. This ad from the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles again highlights the brand’s US patriotic stance (notice the red, white and blue?). Coke is the Olympic Games oldest (corporate) sponsor.

1994: Coke goes futuristic

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jgf-_j_mZ8

Coca-Cola was an early adopter of computer-generated graphics in its marketing campaigns. This ad is an early example, and helps to show that Coke has always strived to be at the forefront of the advertising game.

Today, Coca-Cola is sold in over two hundred countries and is probably the best example of a true global brand. But it didn’t happen overnight. And this is a key lesson for other marketers out there – there are no shortcuts into the public’s consciousness. It requires persistence, innovation and just a smidgen of creativity.

So – are you looking to build your brand or create a truly global corporate design? Why not submit a brief, and our creatives will get on the case…

Big shiny and luscious, how long does your work take to complete?
Well, it’s really depends on my mood. Sometimes I’m just this crazy designer, who’s working on a project for like 8 hours without thinking, eating, drinking. Other times I’m a little lazy and I draw the actual design one day and finish it in the following 1-2 days. I like spending a lot of time on my designs though…but I have to take care of all the emails, messages and phone calls…so these things unfortunately steal a lot of time from my designs.

what meal would you choose if you had to eat it for the rest of your life?
Very hard question! I love to eat and I do love a lot of different kinds of meals. Probably I would choose Pizza, because I’ve eaten it like a million times but still love it. (By the way I was thinking about this question in the past 2 days, it was a hard one)

From crowd member Nicolas Moulet:
Quite simply; Mac or PC?
PC

you were recently in Advanced Photoshop magazine, what have you found are good ways of getting work seen & recognised?
I think every way is good way if it makes people see your work. This industry can be very hard sometimes and I think getting recognised is the most important thing. Not just because it feels amazing to see your work on the pages of magazines (yes, we all love that feeling, good for our ego), but because it can bring in good clients. I think the best way of course, is to get published, however it can be very hard if you’re just getting started. Another way is to do a lot of social networking, it’s good to have profiles on Behance.net, Blur-Designs.net, DeviantArt, Twitter and Facebook, although it can take a lot of time managing all of these profiles.

Do you think it’s important to brand yourself? (i.e. branded website//blog//CV//Portfolio) and why?
Yes, I think it’s very important. After all we are designers, we can make something look good so why wouldn’t we have highly stylized website, blog, CV, etc.? Clients usually choose and trust to those designers who can manage themselves and branding is the key. However I have to admit that my website doesn’t look like my blog, but it will once I’ve got the time to finish the new one. My new CV and blog do look very similar, almost have the same design and my new website will join the club too.

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Luca Molnar

Ingis

Ingis

Teddy Soegiarto

Ingis

Vjeko Sumic

Maurizio Piacenza

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Do you think of drawing as a hobby or work?
I think of drawing as a creative work.

Which media/process do you use mainly creating works?
Very simple: I usually start the drawings with the thick black felt pen, then I scan it and add colours with Photoshop.

Have you ever eaten a crayon?
Well, I think that question is for my little son Noah!
I haven’t eaten a crayon yet, but one day I mistook one for a cigarette.

Tell us about the Coca Cola project..
It’s was an animation for a TV spot (San Antonio, Texas) and managed by Productora de Video en Barcelona. They were looking for some Latin mood type of look imagery and so they’ve called me for the project. First I did a storyboard and once it was approved we animated the drawings in a frame by frame style according to the rhythm of the music they’ve sent me as a guide.

Which is more creative, illustration or animation?
Any of them is more than the other, both are creative the same.

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