ASSOCIATES pressCoca-Cola plans to adapt its World Cup sponsorship and soften its celebratory tone in Brazil if unrest returns to the streets.
As the company launches its biggest World Cup marketing campaign, Coke
executive vice president Joe Tripodi told The Associated Press it would
react rapidly to any outbreak of protests in an attempt to reflect the
mood of the nation.
Demonstrations flashed across the South American country last year as
the Confederations Cup started, with Brazilians angry at the high level
of spending on the World Cup compared with public services. The protests
outside some matches, including the Brazil-Spain final, turned violent,
with tear gas floating into stadiums.
"That (World Cup) spotlight can act as an opportunity to tell a story of
happiness, but it can also be a spotlight to tell a story of grievances
and concerns that they (the public) have about the direction of the
country," Tripodi, Coca-Cola's chief marketing and commercial officer,
said in a phone interview.
A litmus test of Brazilians' current attitude toward the World Cup could
come when the trophy tour, organized by Coke, reaches its 90th country
this month and begins a six-week tour across Brazil.
"We hope there is no unrest," Tripodi said from Atlanta. "But we
recognize these things happen. You always have to be smart to have all
kind of Plan Bs, Plan Cs and Ds to prepare for any contingency. And if
certain things happen, you might have to change the tonality of your
marketing or communications ... to make sure our messaging better
reflected the mood in a particular country."
The same social media channels Coke uses to promote its products can quickly be used to create a backlash.
"The worst thing is you can be complicit by silence," Tripodi said.
"The world we live in now is full of massive disruption, frequent chaos
and change all the time," he added. "So as a company and as a brand if
you are not prepared to respond ... then you aren't going to survive."
Coke's advertising has appeared in World Cup stadiums since the
tournament was last staged in Brazil in 1950, and it has been an
official FIFA sponsor since 1978.
The latest marketing campaign features fans across the world, from a
Japanese region hit by the 2011 earthquake-tsunami to the West Bank,
collecting tickets.
Rival PepsiCo is relying on the allure of soccer stars, with Argentina's
Lionel Messi and the Netherlands' Robin van Persie performing tricks on
the streets of Rio de Janeiro in a campaign released Wednesday.
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