Kovarik, who joined Coca-Cola five months ago, noted that the unit, which combines talent from all of Coke’s mainland agency partners, requires a “deep look” once the Olympics are over. “Because they are so dedicated to brand Coke, are they not getting stimulus from working across different categories or different brands?” said Kovarik. “It was put together as a hot-shop to bring in the best talent - we’ll look at the original objective and make sure we are being true to it.”
Kovarik added that the change of management at Coca-Cola China earlier this year, which saw marketing director Ilan Sobel succeeded by Jean-Francois Dekimpe, was also a factor. “They have a different way of dealing with Red Lounge than the old team,” she said.
Kovarik’s comments come one year after Red Lounge was created, and shifted from management under McCann Erickson to Leo Burnett China. Other agencies involved in the initiative are Starcom, wwwins and Momentum.
