The One Show
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Category
Craft / Typography
Annual ID
OS25_PT046M
Background
The Situation: This project emerged as a response to the widespread presence of unofficial Coca-Cola logo interpretations found in bodegas, mini markets and mom-and-pop shops globally. In many markets — represented in this project by countries such as Australia, India, Indonesia, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, and more — these unofficial versions hold significant cultural relevance, reflecting the local communities’ creativity and connection to the brand. The decision to collaborate with these shops and celebrate their artwork was a strategic move to honor their contribution to Coca-Cola’s cultural landscape. Against the backdrop of a globalized world, this initiative underscores Coca-Cola’s commitment to authenticity and inclusivity, resonating with diverse audiences while amplifying the brand’s cultural relevance.
Brief: Strengthen the relationship with local markets and small shops by engaging with their local communities, while also highlighting them to a broader Coca-Cola audience.
Objectives: Foster brand loyalty, strengthen community ties and amplify brand visibility through collaboration with local shops.
Brief: Strengthen the relationship with local markets and small shops by engaging with their local communities, while also highlighting them to a broader Coca-Cola audience.
Objectives: Foster brand loyalty, strengthen community ties and amplify brand visibility through collaboration with local shops.
Creative Idea
The natural path for a brand as big as Coca-Cola would be to regulate these unofficial versions of its branding. Standardize them. Maybe even take them down. But Coca-Cola has always been about diversity, inclusion and communities. So we decided to take an unconventional path for these unconventional versions of Coca-Cola. We decided to embrace them. A mural that could be seen as an incorrect creation by some will now be viewed as a co-creation with Coke. We showcased them in our official communication as a way of highlighting this behavior and validating hundreds of Coke-Creations. Saying out loud that they are not only welcome — in fact, we appreciate the time and effort that these shop owners and painters have put into the Coca-Cola brand. After all, as one of the media headlines on the project stated, these informal Coke logos are “the ultimate user-generated content.”
Insights & Strategy
The natural path for a brand as big as Coca-Cola would be to regulate these unofficial versions of its branding. Standardize them. Maybe even take them down. But Coca-Cola has always been about diversity, inclusion and communities. So we decided to take an unconventional path for these unconventional versions of Coca-Cola. We decided to embrace them. A mural that could be seen as an incorrect creation by some will now be viewed as a co-creation with Coke. We showcased them in our official communication as a way of highlighting this behavior and validating hundreds of Coke-Creations. Saying out loud that they are not only welcome — in fact, we appreciate the time and effort that these shop owners and painters have put into the Coca-Cola brand. After all, as one of the media headlines on the project stated, these informal Coke logos are “the ultimate user-generated content.”
Execution
We searched for local shops around the globe, including in Australia, India, Indonesia, South Africa, Brazil and Mexico. And we partnered with them to validate and showcase hundreds of Coke-Creations through outdoor, print, and social ads.
We locally advertised them to their home audiences using media placements near the businesses. Then, in global markets, we showed to everyone — from our general audience to other small businesses — that it is OK to Coke-Create.
Newly designed Coca-Cola cans, with the informal logos replacing the official one, came to life and were also delivered directly to their original “creators.”
These informal logos generated a new design approach that redesigned the brand’s touch points: from fridges to vending machines, delivery trucks to merchandising — including a clothing collection.
Finally, we created a book with nearly 30 different Coke-Creations, with fine-art photography of the shops and their owners to recognize these unexpected designers.
We locally advertised them to their home audiences using media placements near the businesses. Then, in global markets, we showed to everyone — from our general audience to other small businesses — that it is OK to Coke-Create.
Newly designed Coca-Cola cans, with the informal logos replacing the official one, came to life and were also delivered directly to their original “creators.”
These informal logos generated a new design approach that redesigned the brand’s touch points: from fridges to vending machines, delivery trucks to merchandising — including a clothing collection.
Finally, we created a book with nearly 30 different Coke-Creations, with fine-art photography of the shops and their owners to recognize these unexpected designers.
Results
“Thanks for Coke-Creating" helped small businesses in a way they never thought possible. Moreover, it generated massive impact, garnering interest from top publications around the world such as AdAge and Fast Company, with a unique 3.78 billion reach, serving as a call to action to inspire everyone globally to continue Coke-Creating.
Coca-Cola's celebration of unofficial logo interpretations resulted in a 95% increase in positive brand sentiment, a remarkable 34% increase over Coca-Cola's social average, underscoring the profound admiration the local communities and the general audience had for the campaign, all while enhancing Coca-Cola's reputation and reinforcing its commitment to authenticity and inclusivity.
Interviews conducted with participants revealed that the project inspired shop owners to continue their creative expressions and fostered a sense of pride and ownership within their communities.
Coca-Cola's celebration of unofficial logo interpretations resulted in a 95% increase in positive brand sentiment, a remarkable 34% increase over Coca-Cola's social average, underscoring the profound admiration the local communities and the general audience had for the campaign, all while enhancing Coca-Cola's reputation and reinforcing its commitment to authenticity and inclusivity.
Interviews conducted with participants revealed that the project inspired shop owners to continue their creative expressions and fostered a sense of pride and ownership within their communities.
2025 Awards
Total Points: 3
Merit
Credits
Agency
VML / New York
VML / Kansas City
VML / São Paulo
VML Mexico / Mexico City
VML South Africa / Johannesburg
VML Australia / Sydney
Media Agency
EssenceMediacom / Mexico City
NÓS - Novo Outdoor Social / São Paulo
PR / Marketing Agency
Ogilvy PR / London
Agency In-House Production Company
VML / São Paulo
Production Company
BALIPROD / Bali
Glitch Productions / Mumbai
Mango Films / Guadalajara
Neto+Shookan Productions / Johannesburg
Sugarcane Filmes / Sao Paulo
Music / Sound Production Company
Raw Áudio / São Paulo
Post Production Company
Sugarcane Filmes / Sao Paulo
Art Director
Guilherme Possobon
Pedro Assis
Associate Creative Director
Breno Oliveira
Pedro Assis
Chief Creative Officer
Debbi Vandeven
Rafael Pitanguy
Copywriter
Daniel Thomer
Breno Oliveira
Creative Director
Guilherme Possobon
Daniel Thomer
Director
Diego Locatelli
Gabriel Duarte
Director of Photography
Heitor Pontes
Hugo Takemoto
Iván Aguila Orea
Executive Creative Director
Gabriel Jardim
Guto Monteiro
Film Director
Diego Locatelli
Igor Selingarde
Global Chief Creative Officer
Debbi Vandeven
Global Chief Marketing Officer
Manolo Arroyo
Producer
Anderson Rocha
Bianca Aguiar
Cleo Gonçalves
Dario Casso
Francisco Gutierrez
Ian Inglez
Nadia González
Reinaldo Brasil
Chief Creative Officer, EMEA
Jaime Mandelbaum
Director / Director of Photography
Eldon Van Aswegen
Executive Producer
Ankit Dahake
Rachel Rider
Paresh Shookan
Gongy González
Laura González
Global Chief Creative Officer, WPP Open X
Andrew Keller
Senior Executive Producer
Ashwin Dsouza
Senior Producer
Aborah Buick
Reinaldo Brasil
Senior Strategist
Alicia Garcia Carbonell
Account
Jessyca Lopes
Chief Creative Officer, Asia-Pacific
Paul Nagy
Chief Creative Officer, LATAM
Nino Goldberg
Chief Creative Officer, Mexico
Luis Enríquez Madruga
Client Engagement Director / Integration Lead
Kaylee Douglas
Creative Group Director, Coca-Cola North America
Amy Manganiello
Deputy Global Chief Creative Officer / Global Chief Creative Officer, The Coca-Cola Company
Rafael Pitanguy
Director / Director of Photography / Still Photographer
Romain Cailliez
Stefan Jose
Director / Executive Production / Photographer
Igor Selingarde
Director / Still Photographer
Dorian Ulises López Macías
Director Brand PR
Amy Selwood
Director Creative Strategy for LATAM
Mariana Manso
Director Frontline Marketing Brazil
Mariana David
Director Legal Counsel
Karla Rodriguez
Director of Marketing Effectiveness & Intelligence
Krysten Gibson
Director/ Director of Photography / Still Photographer
Akshay Nair
Executive Creative Director, Brazil
Roberto Rogoski
Executive Production / Production
Janaina Mesquita
Murilo Paiva
Jasmyn Asvat
Josh Patil
Frontline Marketing Intern
Sofia del Real Luna
Global Category Lead, Coca-Cola Trademark
Kyla Jacobs
Global Chief Strategy Officer, The Coca-Cola Company
Chase Cornett
Global Client Lead, The Coca-Cola Company
Stephanie DeCelles
Global Head of Production
Greg Lotus
Global Senior Director, Content & Creative for Coca-Cola TM
Chase Abraham
Global VP Creative Strategy & Content for Coca-Cola TM
Islam ElDessouky
Group Design Director
Dan Searle
Head of Production
Nicole Godoy
Violeta Lopez
Wendy Machanik
Head of Sales & Client Services
Gabriel Valença
Integrated Production Supervisor
Denisse Zeigen
Manager Director, Strategy
Claudia Reeder
Manager Media Real Time Amplification
Mauricio Ospina
PMO
Danielle Deschaine
Post Coordinator
Marcela Antunes
President, Global Coca-Cola Category
Selman Careaga
Production
Murilo Paiva
Production Coordinator
Lilian Destefani
RTVC Director, Brazil
Anderson Rocha
Senior Director Creative Strategy for Coca-Cola TM LATAM
Luciana Mendes
Senior Director Media Consumer & Shopper
Carla Dart
Senior Director Media Consumer and Shopper
Luis Pedro Estrada
Senior Editor
Matias Canelson
Senior Manager Frontline Marketing Mexico
Gonzalo Rodriguez
Senior Manager Media Planning
Felipe Rudd
Maria Luisa Kruel
Senior Manager, Coca-Cola Creative
Pauline Enahora
Senior Manager, Frontline Marketing Australia
Jack Basil-Jones
Senior Manager, Media Operations South
Karina Langley
Senior Production Business Manager
Betty Greiner
Bobby Ruple
Sr Content Director for Coca-Cola Global
Yugo Motta Aragao
Sr Director, Creative Strategy, Coca-Cola South Pacific
Adam Ross
Still Photographer
“Lenox” Fernando Siqueira Kunraht
Cláudio Lacerda
Vinny Campos
Kgomotso Neto
Videographer
Mustafa Khan
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