Arctic Home: The Coca-Cola Company & World Wildlife Fund
As part of Coca-Cola’s “Live Positively” sustainability initiative, the ‘Arctic Home’ campaign was created in partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), to raise awareness of the polar bear’s plight and generate public funding for its protection.
Starting with WWF’s vision to help protect the polar bear’s Arctic home, Coca-Cola made an initial $2 million donation to the cause and agreed to match consumer donations up to $1 million through March 15, 2012.
A massive cause marketing effort by any measure, Arctic Home was a full-scale, deeply integrated program that reached target consumers through traditional and digital advertising, comprehensive media outreach and partners, stakeholders, company associates and customers.
Consumers were asked to text the code found on limited-edition white cans and products with white caps to make a $1 donation to Arctic Home that Coke matched up to $1MM. Coca-Cola worked with mobile carriers to lower text donation minimum from $5 to $1 for the first time ever.
In addition to generating millions of media impressions and significant buzz about the change in the iconic Coca-Cola cans, Coca-Cola volume and share were up from the previous year in November and December. In addition to the initial $2MM TCCC commitment, over $1.2MM was directed to Arctic Home in raised/matched donations.
Judges were impressed that Coca-Cola leveraged every available resource and every inch of real estate (including their can) to support a single ‘Save the polar bear’ message. Knowing how challenging it can be to work across divisions made this campaign all the more inspiring that it was successfully and wholly executed with such breadth.
