Why Coca-Cola Has Committed To AI This Christmas

Coca-Cola, the world's largest soft drink brand, has a rich history spanning over 130 years, especially when it comes to celebrating Christmas. A key staple of that annual moment is its iconic truck and its inevitable appearance each winter with the season-defining ‘Holidays Are Coming’ ad.

That campaign first launched in 1995 and saw a row of trucks making their way through the snow-swept roads surrounded by a sea of Christmas lights, all accompanied by its now classic jingle. And although the brand has recreated the ad over the years, this time, it has produced it entirely through artificial intelligence (AI).

The ad sees greater gatherings of people celebrating the arrival of the caravan of trucks, and even Santa appearing from the back of one truck while opening up a of Coca-Cola.

Javier Meza, president of marketing and Europe CMO at The Coca-Cola Company, speaking at the Coca-Cola Christmas Campaign launch believes that using AI in its iconic ‘Holidays Are Coming’ ad will elevate its creativity. 

“We recreated it by combining human ingenuity and human creativity with artificial intelligence tools to deliver the first-ever Coca-Cola ad, fully created with artificial intelligence," he explains. “It shows that we are willing to take this to move forward using technology to elevate human creativity for bigger input.”

The creative process behind recreating the ad and just how the AI technology was used to generate the content is something Coca-Cola has yet to reveal, however.

It’s another innovative move for the brand that aims to gather a lot of attention over the festive period while use of AI in the creative industries grows.

According to Islam ElDessouky, global VP of creative strategy and content for The Coca-Cola Company, it is important to note how the classic ad has been rejuvenated using the technology but no drastic change has been made from the original.  

“The ‘Holidays Are Coming’ [ad] is a piece of the 90s. It’s not versatile in terms of a piece to be used across the board in today’s world. Is it a classic? Yes. But did we change the aspect of it? No. We’re just recreating it so we can use it more again,” he says. 

ElDessouky uses the analogy of upgrading a home when referring to Coca-Cola’s use of AI in recreating the ad - specifically the act of upgrading a TV. 

“Does it mean that the previous TV is bad? No - we had memories, we enjoyed watching it, but there’s a new LED screen that can make the experience even better, so why not? I can still use the same content on it. So I look at AI and recreating stuff this way like it’s an unlock of how you can bring more modernity into it so that you can enjoy things even more.

“The aspect is, how can we keep redesigning and architecting these new experiences so that we can invite and have more consumers to really participate with us?"

An AI Legacy

This isn’t the brand’s first time working with the technology. Last year, the company used AI to allow consumers to send Christmas cards to loved ones. The initiative was so successful the brand has taken is several steps further.

This year, consumers can talk to an AI Santa and create their own snow globe on their mobile devices through a QR code, and also take part in their ‘Shadow’ experience - a technology that will allow users to walk next to the red billboard only for the words: ‘Needs more Santa's' to appear before their shadow begins to resemble the silhouette of Santa Clause. 

Such experiences, along with the much-anticipated return of The Coca-Cola Global Christmas Truck Tour, remain seminal for the beverage giant to drive brand growth. 

ElDessoukey explains how key learnings from last year showed how consumers are thirsty for more when it comes to interactive experiences. 

“You can talk to Santa, you have music, you have this multi-dimensional now versus the static card last year. Yes, people had fun playing with it, but this year we really wanted to focus on that.

“We wanted to fuse that and say: ‘Hey, the world needs more Santas, but it doesn’t need a Santa each time,’” ElDessoukey adds. “A truck can come and Santa can be in the sky and then you become the centre. You come to our events, and you share the kindness of others.”

He continues: “The timeless aspect to the reaction last year was so superb when it comes to the platform. It was very well received. It tested super well. The business results were amazing, so we’re like: ‘Consistency is actually the Holy Grail’. Everybody’s trying to be consistent, so let’s keep it consistent and just push all the effort on experiences.”

With this being the first time AI is responsible for one of its ads, the Coca-Cola team admit that it still has much work to do to be fit for purpose in the future. 

“We are learning,” says Maza. “AI is still at its early stages. It’s difficult to tell how much that’s going to change industries but it will change, and what we’re doing is really jumping in and doing things and learn, of course, with a lot of healthy debates on limits, boundaries."

He also believes that such learnings need to be embraced in order to help the brand elevate its experiences for both retail customers and consumers - whether communication-based or digital experiences. 

Alongside the ‘Holidays Are Coming’ this year also sees the return of 'The World Needs More Santas’, the TV campaign released last year. Developed by WPP Open X, led by VML and supported by Grey, Ogilvy PR, Essence Mediacom, Hogarth and JKR, the ad is being rereleased, to spread the message that Christmas is about acts of kindness and connection. Its soundtrack features a cover of ‘Anyone Can Be Santa’ by British singer-songwriter Celeste, available to stream on Spotify. 

It has been revived due to the popular reception it received last year based on consumer insights received by the company.

“The world is inspired by the inspiring people,” claims Elif Kaypak, VP of global marketing at The Coca-Cola Company. “We know that proven acts of kindness or helping someone or doing good for the community released oxytocin and serotonin in the brain which basically causes happiness. The campaign was super powerful… we received a lot of positive feedback. It was very relevant then, and it is still very relevant. That’s why we wanted to use the power of reference and evolving."

Alongside the TV ad, the global campaign, developed by WPP, led by VML, supported by Ogilvy PR and EssenseMediacom who worked on the new out of home messaging featuring within the 'Santa’s ‘shadow’ interactive experiences.

“We love OOH. We love billboards,” said ElDessouky when discussing the importance of the relationship between Coca-Cola and WPP Open X - particularly when it comes to evolving the brand. 

“You need continuity; you need critical experience, you need people to really breathe, live and absolutely drive the brand forward,” he explains. “The 80 per cent plus work done with WPP Open X allows for consistency within its messaging."

Coca-Cola exemplifies the impact of consistency while daring to create bold, innovative changes when embracing technology.