Coke links with Levi's, Canon for youth blitz

The Levi's affiliation will see the Coke brand printed on a limited edition series of Levi's jeans. As well as co-branded jeans, a range of collectibles will be offered to consumers until mid-November, including T-shirts, boxers, caps and ironed badges. According to Shanghai-based Elsie Tsui, public affairs and commun- ications manager, China division, at Coca-Cola China, whose responsibilities have expanded to include Greater China, "Fifty pairs of limited edition 'Coke x Levi's' co-branded jeans will be given away through a lucky draw at 7-Eleven to consumers who purchase 20 bottles of 500 ml Coca-Cola products. "What this promotion does is really allows us to have the Coke brand on stylish clothing, which is considered hip by youths." Fickle teen consumers and fierce competition have also spurred the brand to sign a co-branding deal with Canon. "The objective of this Canon cross-promotion is clearly communicated from the promotion theme 'Capture your thirst'," said Tsui. "According to some consumer research conducted, digital and AV products are the hottest and desirable items among young people (aged 15 to 24). They see these products as edgy, cool and that's what Sprite's about." The Canon pact will allow consumers to get their hands on the latest digital products designed by local graphic designer, 'Godfrey', whose designs have gained a large following among the city's youth segment through street-wear label Junkie, which he founded in 2001. The promotion will also give away 200 Sprite x Canon Digital Ixus cameras, with two 'shell' or case graphic options available in black and white. "All digital cameras are preset with a screen opening icon (Sprite) and special sound effects similar to opening a bottle of Sprite. The promotion just launched and we already have had 40 cameras redeemed by consumers," noted Tsui. A collection of other items, designed by Junkie, including belts, bags and T-shirts, are also up for grabs. Coca-Cola is publicising the Canon partnership with a tag-on spot (10 seconds) to its Ogilvy & Mather-developed thematic 'Hip-hop underwater' television commercial, print ads and posters. "There has been a huge trend towards crossover partnerships over the last two years, and when two strong brands come together the whole is greater than the sum of its parts," added Tsui. "We have different expertise than our crossover partners but both sides are famous in their own rights and that's when these partnerships work best and they manage to reinforce each other." Last year, Sprite struck a deal with Adidas for a cross-promotion tie-up that saw it launch Sprite-branded trainers, as well as other collectibles.