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The Digital Marketing Podcast
Reviving Fanta: How They Used Halloween to Engage Gen Z, with Ibrahim Khan
00:20:16
How do you revive a brand's iconicity? What's the best way to generate engagement amongst Gen Z? Do movie partnerships help drive sales? In this episode of the Digital Marketing Podcast, Daniel is joined by Ibrahim Khan, Global Vice President of...
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- [00:01]
Daniel Rolls
Welcome back to the digital marketing podcast. My name is Daniel Rolls and in this episode we are talking about engaging with Gen Z and global marketing campaigns. So in this episode we've been joined by Ibrahim Khan from Coca Cola company who is the global vice president of marketing and and essentially they have partnered with a film, so in this case Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice, which is a Warner Brothers film. And they've essentially gone through and tried to build a campaign to engage with Gen Z and to take a brand that maybe didn't have the visibility it's had in the last couple of years and to try and rebuild that brand visibility but do it in a way that works for that Gen Z. And I was really interested in this because first of all trying want to understand is co branding and marketing with a film the right way to reach that generation? How does that work now? Does that work in practice? How do you actually take a brand like this and then deliver that digitally in global locations? So how does that work in different locations? What's the relevance of a drink like this to those audiences? And really how are really big global brands trying to deliver their digital marketing? Because a lot of them using big agencies, how does that work in practice now? So Ibrahim talks about all of those things. But what was really interesting to me as well hidden away in this, which wasn't the core topic first of all, is there's loads of good insights about engaging with Gen Z, how partnerships work really effectively, how going through and thinking about activation of campaigns in different global locations, but also the transformation of how big brands are working with agencies, how those agencies are actually working in a much more agile way. So I think there's a lot to be learned whether you're a big brand, a tiny organization, work on the agency side of things. You're trying to look at how you engage with Gen Z. There's a lot to be learned from the interview in there as well and I got a lot more from it than I initially expected because I was interested in the Gen Z stuff. But actually there's some really interesting stuff about the whole large scale world of marketing agencies kind of shifting and changing as well. So bearing in mind the film has launched up, it's had really great reviews. They then started to activate this in lots of different markets, working with influencers and so on as well in lots of different markets across the globe. I think it's a great case study. So over to Ibrahim, any interview and I think you're going to get a lot out of this one.
- [02:45]
Ibrahim Khan
Okay, so let's just kick things off.
- [02:46]
Daniel Rolls
Why don't we just start off by.
- [02:47]
Ibrahim Khan
Why don't you introduce yourself and just tell us a little bit about the project and then we'll get into it.
- [02:52]
So my name is Ibrahim Khan. Daniel. I'm the global vice president for marketing on Fanta at the Coca Cola Company. Been on this role for a year. Been an interesting journey, the project on Fanta. Daniel, just to back up a little bit, earlier this year we launched our brand platform, brand positioning on Fanta, trying to bring it back under a global idea, trying to give it some scale, revive its iconicity, which I think we had lost the last couple of decades. And so that's really where this journey started. The latest campaign being the one we've done for Halloween with Beetlejuice, which has really left a mark and I think created a little bit of an impact. The beginning of hopefully something much bigger. The idea being bringing Fanta back into teen culture and making it cool and relevant to them again.
- [03:43]
So talk us a little bit about the practicalities of that, like how that worked with the film, the brand sponsorship. I know you did, you know, new packaging, those kind of things. And then there's some challenges around reaching Gen Z and so on as well, and how you think that kind of fit into that.
- [03:59]
I mean, I'll start with the second half of the question first, Daniel, because there are many challenges with reaching Gen Z, especially, you know, in marketing organizations like ours where we have had a lot of success in the past doing more traditional things like film and tv. And we all know that landscape has changed and reaching Gen Z now is. I mean, you really need to think differently, approach your channel strategies differently, your content strategy or branding differently. On Fanta. We've been doing Halloween as a cultural moment for the brand for many, many years. We've been doing it, albeit in smaller, localized executions across different markets and haven't really been able to give it scale or the kind of impact we want to. The vision right now, honestly, is to make Halloween for Fanta what Christmas is, to cope. So 10 years later, when people look back, Fanta will be synonymous with Halloween. And for that, Daniel, we needed to find a way of making global impact, reaching Gen Z globally meaningfully, which is not easy. So the first half of your question is the practicality of it are indeed challenging because you need to find a moment which is relevant around the world, which Halloween is. Our data shows us that it's second only to Christmas in its global footprint and it's growing. And not everyone has the Same cultural roots within Halloween. It's a US festival, but it's growing like crazy as far as Japan and Korea and Shanghai, where I live the last three, four years. And so we did find Halloween at that moment and then finding a way of activating it where everybody also resonates with it. Movie partnerships or collaborations in general. Daniel. Or tapping into teen fandoms, stuff that they love. In simple words works. A lot of brands are doing it very successfully and done right, it can reach a significant scale as well as the right level of affinity. You know, because on brands like ours, Daniel. Operating in 150 market, $17 billion in revenues, reach matters and then engagement matters. Right. So we can do small stuff that really means a lot to a small group of people, but it won't move the needle or the other way around. So, you know, having all of these objectives in mind, this thinking in mind, finding the right property. It's a combination of looking for the right thing and a bit of luck. We were indeed seeing, well, what kind of happens in Halloween. Naturally, you've got sort of the trick or treating culture. You've got costumes, which is something teens are really into the events. But this was a side of Halloween that struck us as a bit fresh and a bit of a space that no other brand was really leaning into, which is it is a release period for entertainment around the horror genre, or in this case the comedy horror genre. Beetlejuice 2, Match Made in Heaven, I think, you know, cross cultural cause generations. Incredible brand fit. We have a great relationship with Warner. Someone came up with the idea, we approached them, it worked. It's been in market now, I think eight weeks. And the results, I mean, it's not one of those campaigns. Whereas marketeers, we have to make up the numbers or make it seem bigger than it is. It's just there, you can feel it. Teams are resonating. There's a lot of organic content and great reviews for us on this.
- [07:26]
So, I mean, I know that the film has landed really well. The reviews have been really positive about that. So that's another great kind of step because there's obviously a risk in these kind of things as well. So how do you kind of go into it looking at that? And obviously it's a gamble to some extent, but obviously it's a very well calculated one.
- [07:42]
You know, I wouldn't say a gamble. I mean, obviously we do our due diligence on sort of. Does it have cultural cache? Are people waiting for it? Is it the right time? Is it the right fit? We Were very confident. We've got great partners at Warner. I think the collaboration has been incredible. We're already talking about future collaborations with them because there's a lot of trust in the equation. This worked out very well for both of us. The movie, thankfully, did really well. But, yes, there's always a risk. There is always a risk. If it doesn't do well, it can hurt the work that we're doing on the brand. But I also think even then, you know, the excitement that we've been able to generate would still be true, no?
- [08:26]
Yeah, yeah. And that's. That's where I was going to kind of go to as well. Because for Gen Z, if they're not necessarily going to the cinema as much, obviously when this comes out into streaming, then there'll be another big round of audience there as well. But how do you then leverage the places they are hanging out online? So the TikToks and all those kind of things of the world, the rough.
- [08:47]
Budget makes on this campaign annually, 70% digital.
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Okay.
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And probably like 20% out of home and only 10% is, you know, what you would call TV or film or in this case, digital channels. We've got a huge investment on ground experiences. And so to Your point, the 70% of digital first of all goes on. I mean, if you want to be where Gen Z are, you have to be on TikTok, because that's where a lot of them are. You know, then you build sort of activations around that on channels like YouTube, on our Instagram pages, wherever you find, you know, Gen Z and you can reach them. You will, on digital and then on ground experiences, one of which we are launching today. It's going to be massive. It's really big here in Madrid. We've got global influencers flying in. They're going to experience what we're calling the afterlife experience for Vinodrules, brought to you by Fanta, and hopefully talk about it as a second beat to the campaign. Our biggest asset, though, Daniel, and this is the one that obviously interests a lot of our partners, is our packs. We're distributed in 150 markets in six months. We were able to not only create a bespoke flavor for Beetlejuice, but distribute it on 50 markets and take over hundreds of millions of packs with their movie and their iPad. And again, that's great for them and also for us. And it reaches a lot of Gen Z. That's media, Daniel. Even if they wanted to buy, they cannot buy it. It's not on the market. It's a value for value exchange.
- [10:21]
Yeah. And I think that's fascinating because when you look at the distribution of Gen Z across the different social media channels, that physical experience of the packaging is actually, you know, we need something to take a photo of. We need something to physically have there as well. And leveraging that as a physical product, I think is a super smart way of kind of going about it as.
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Right, right.
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And you talked also about the kind of influencer side of things as well, kind of bringing those experiences. How important is that, that whole part to the campaign?
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It's at the heart of the campaign, Daniel. I mean, look, starting from our biggest asset, which is our packs, the idea is to make them shareworthy. If you, if you search Jenna Ortega Fanta right now, or be Fanta right now on TikTok, the content there is all speaking about her on the pack. There's actually a video of her and some of the other cast members speaking about that pack and how incredible it is to see themselves on a can of Fanta. And so the shareworthiness of that is really what starts the conversation. And then we lean into it. Then we lean into it on TikTok, we lean into it on some other platforms. The way we lean into it, Daniel, is also through influencers. So it is not a brand first activation. It is indeed through engaging influencers and using influencers, partnering with them to engage the audiences because that's where, where you'll find these audiences.
- [11:44]
And then the kind of customer base that you're picking up from this, are they existing customers that you're making the more frequent purchases, is it new customers? Is it a whole new brand for them? You know, for some of those people aware, the brand might not have been as front of mind as it had have been previously.
- [11:59]
I don't have the exact data yet, Daniel, because it takes a few months and we will review that. But the initial indications are naturally loyal Fanta drinkers are enjoying this. They're loyal to the brand. They're seeing the brand doing something cool, something trendy, and they're participating. But we are seeing a lot of new interest on the brand as well from people who haven't necessarily been part of the franchise. So my answer right now to that question will be both. And then the data determines how successful or not we were. The objective, of course, is always to bring new users, new customers into the franchise. That's always the intention. And I do believe with this one we will have succeeded with that, but we'll have to see the numbers and.
- [12:45]
Then maybe A slightly thornier question, but when you're talking about high sugar drinks, do you think that target audience has kind of changed their attitude towards those things or they're still seeing it as a tree or, you know, what's the, what's the kind of positioning with that?
- [12:58]
I think it's a great question. If you look at the Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice flavor that we launch across different markets, in most of our markets, it's either a no sugar product or a mid cal product. It's not a full sugar product. And having said that, then ultimately, yes, I mean, teens will make their own choice as long as we offer them that choice. I have seen to your point. Sugar is indeed a concern, as it should be, of course, beyond a certain threshold. But, you know, if it's a treat, if it's delicious, that small moment of indulgence is also important in life. In fact, our wanta platform is all about, you know, saying that sometimes it's okay to indulge because that's also important to life.
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Yeah. And I think the matching up with the Halloween piece is fascinating as well because that fits in so nicely with that as well. Is it's, you know, it's seen as that time of year.
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Daniel Rolls
Yeah, exactly.
- [13:48]
Ibrahim Khan
It's the one festive where you get to do what you want.
- [13:51]
That's it. So, so what are the, what are the learnings from the campaign so far? So how, I mean, I know you're only only partially way into this, but what are you kind of learning from it so far? And how do you think this might go forward? And I, by the way, I love the idea that, you know, Coca Cola's Owning Christmas and, and Fanta the Orange Halloween. Yeah, it's such a, it's such a perfect fit.
- [14:10]
I mean, the first learning, Daniel, is indeed going back to your original question around collaborations that are meaningful to Gen Z. This can work. Done right. It can work. Now the big question is what do you mean by done right? We have activated our packs with IP before and it hasn't quite worked as well as this one. My biggest reflection on that is if you do it authentically, then it works. If you're opportunistic about it or insecure about it as a brand, then it doesn't work. What do I mean by this? In the past you would have seen a movie collaboration like this full of product placements and logos, slap on everything you can imagine. You won't see Fanta in the movie, you don't see any character in the movie drinking Fanta. You won't see a logo of Fanta in the movie because the movie is indeed part of their passion and their fandom. And you don't want to commercialize that. You don't want to seem like you have an ulterior motive. But by taking something they love and amplifying it the way we did across, across our packs, across our marketing, bringing the experiences that you see on TV into real life, this is indeed authentic and value added to consumers. Daniel so if you do it the right way, it works. This has been the biggest reflection versus, for example, we don't really have a TVC on this campaign. There's nothing you will see on air. The ideas that I reviewed while the team was developing, you know, the work. Not once did I see, here's my script for 30 seconds and here's my script for it just, it just wasn't there. And that is indeed what works now. And I think, you know, it's part of our marketing transformation agenda as a company and this has been great evidence of how we're doing that at Coca Cola.
- [16:00]
So maybe talk to us a little bit about marketing transformation then. So what, what's the, what's the impetus behind that and where's that kind of going at the moment? Because that's interesting. I mean, you've embraced this fully. This wasn't something done that was half heartedly. You've actually gone into this really confidently, which is great.
- [16:16]
Well, we've been trying, Daniel, for a few years now to transform the way we're doing marketing, lean into sort of what is more of a digital marketing ecosystem than versus what we used to do in the past, beginning with our partnership with WPP and the OpenX sort of structure that we've built up, which is a one of a kind relationship we have with them where they're setting up integrated multifunctional teams for us across markets that enable this kind of activation, where we're training our marketeers in terms of thinking around digital and social and influencer marketing and also the watch out Daniel, because you know, you can go into this world and if you're not clear on what the guidelines and the watch outs are, you have to be careful about that doing, generating, starting from insights that are digital first, you know, because ideas live on channels these days. You know, in the past you would make a TVC and you would put it on 90 channels as far as you can reach. Now you come up with an idea that lives on TikTok and then yes, if it amplifies outside of that, fine. If not, it lives there. That's where it's native to, you know, or to a Twitch or to a YouTube. And so we've been embracing a lot of these principles, Daniel, in terms of strategic partnerships with the region, with the industry, in terms of the training and the thinking of our marketeers. And then of course, trying stuff. I mean, we're going to swing the bat a few times. We miss it most of the time. In this case, I think we hit it.
- [17:47]
Yeah, I think that's a fantastic approach and it's particularly when you're looking for global reach like this because we're talking about TikTok. But then if we look at the Indian market, Clearly there's no TikTok. So having these kind of much more nimble agency relationships and marketers that can iterate a little bit more is fascinating as well.
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Indeed.
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And I think it's interesting to hear like a big brand doing that because a lot of people talk about iteration in marketing, but a lot of brands are pretty nervous about, about doing that. And it does sound like that's been really fully embraced with this whole kind of approach as well.
- [18:17]
Yeah, 100%. I mean the cliche of, you know, fail fast and learn and move forward, you know, that is indeed being a embrace. And look, I mean, you spoke about India, so it's a big world. You know, I lived in China for three years, Daniel. None of these platforms exist.
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Completely different.
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Yeah, nothing but the ideas. If the insight is true, if the insight is universal, the ideas can travel and then the executions can be localized. We don't necessarily have to create the old world of one size fits all work. It just doesn't work like that. Even, even on channels like TikTok and these channels. It's not like the activation that we do in the U.S. will travel outside the U.S. no. You know, you have to partner with influencers across the world to really reach Gen Zs there. So it is a different model. It is iterative, I think, you know, we do, we do reflect, we do review our data in regular intervals. So I get for example, regular reports in terms of how our media makes an investment, is doing and then we optimize within days and we've set up our structure so that we're able to do that.
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Fantastic. Okay, well if people want to learn more about the campaign or anything like that, where's the best place for them to go?
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That's a great question. I would start with scanning the QR code on the pack and participating in the campaign experiences. But we do have information on our company pages and all as well.
- [19:40]
Yeah. And we'll put some links into the show notes, the audience as well. They can go and review all of those as well. Well, I think there's some, some really fascinating insights there for the audience in terms of understanding how big brands are navigating this. And that whole marketing transformation's like really interesting I think, for the audience as well. So thank you so much for joining us today. I know you've got a big event ahead of you today as well. So I hope the event goes very well. And then let us know the results when you get those. And we'll we'll build those into the.
- [20:03]
Daniel Rolls
Show notes as well.
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Ibrahim Khan
So thank you for joining us.
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Thank you so much, Daniel.
- [20:06]
Daniel Rolls
Thank you. For more episodes resources, to leave a review or to get in contact, go to targetinternet.com podcast.