Coke ups its Games drive

It is the first significant marketing push by the company’s Red Lounge marketing unit since last year’s high profile ‘One year out’ countdown campaign in Beijing.

The launch comes as Coca- Cola confirms its intention to continue working with Red Lounge - formed two years ago to consolidate talent from all mainland agency partners, including Leo Burnett, Starcom, Wwwins, Momentum and Heartland - after the Beijing Olympics.

While the exact details of Red Lounge’s activities after the Olympics remain unclear, Linda Kovarik, Coca-Cola’s regional director of creative strategy and development, said the relationship would continue.

Last year, Kovarik announced a review of the initiative’s effectiveness prompted by concerns over a lack of outside stimulus. Seeking to maximise the impact of Coca- Cola’s sponsorship of the Games and the Torch Relay, the new drive opened with a party in Sanya city, Hainan province, celebrating the arrival of the torch in the mainland.

The party set the stage for the unveiling of a new Olympic-themed television commercial, ‘Red around the country’, which follows a group of friends who lead the rolling-out of a red carpet to mark the path of the flame around mainland China.