Universal wins pitch for multi-million dollar Coke campaign

Universal Music’s Brand Partnerships Division has won a pitch for Coca-Cola’s latest campaign, recruiting Troye Sivan, Tigerlily and Cody Simpson for a series of ‘money can’t buy’ experiences.

The multi-million dollar Coke Come Alive campaign will give the three artists’ fanbases the opportunity to unlock one-off experiences, content and events via Coke’s new colour-changing packaging.

TMN understands the three artists were chosen due to their influencer status and the largely young demographic of their fanbases. Troye Sivan, Tigerlily and Cody Simpson have a cumulative Twitter fanbase of over 11 million and on Facebook have a cumulative fanbase of over 953 million.

Surprisingly, the major label’s Partnerships Division is label agnostic; the three acts chosen for the deal are not all signed to Universal Music. After five years with Warner Music Cody Simpson formed his own record label Coast House earlier this year and just days ago announced a band project of the same name.

UMA execs pitched the deal to Cody Simpson’s Australian representative, who then pitched it to Simpson’s manager Scooter Braun. Braun’s SB Projects firm also manages Brisbane band Sheppard, Ariana Grande, Carly Rae Jepsen and Justin Bieber.

The national campaign is youth-centric, with Coke’s South Pacific arm aiming to recruit a younger consumer audience. It follows the global drink juggernaut’s 100th anniversary celebration of its contour bottle – which saw an art exhibition tour over 15 countries – and the launch of its sugar free version Coca Cola Life.

Universal won the bid for Coke’s Come Alive campaign in a competitive industry pitch. The campaign is an evolution of Coke’s award winning #colouryoursummer push from October 2014, which Universal Music also worked on last summer.

Dianne Everett, Group Marketing Manager Coca-Cola Trademark, Coca-Cola South Pacific, said: “We are thrilled to launch the next exciting phase of the Coke Come Alive campaign. We believe it will provide a platform which will excite people about this iconic brand over summer.”

The Universal Music Brand Partnerships Division is also behind David Jones’ #ShotBySound campaign. The team-up between the retail giant and Daniel Johns is shortlisted for two BEfest awards for Best Use of Music and Best Branded Content Campaign. Winners are announced on Thursday night (November 5).

Other campaigns to come out of Universal’s growing Partnerships Division this year include last month’s Optus #BieberIsland, where 2,000 fans caught Justin Bieber on Sydney’s Cockatoo Island; the teaming of HP and Troye Sivan for the computer giant’s Bend The Rules campaign, streaming service Guvera’s partnership with The Voice (in conjunction with Nine and Shine) and with Jessie J and a competition for Wattyl paint to win VIP tickets to the Cold Chisel and AC/DC Tours.