Coca-Cola Christmas Truck

Christmas is a festivity that brings us joy and spreads happiness. We eagerly wait for gifts and spend time with our loved ones. Every family has its traditions and style of celebrating Christmas. And for many people, Coca-Cola plays a very significant role. Yes, you read that right! In some countries, the Coca-Cola Christmas Truck is a part of the Christmas tradition. It is also a genius marketing technique used by the company. If you are a fan of Coca-Cola and love Christmas, this will be an interesting read for you!

Coca-Cola Christmas Truck Marketing

The Coca-Cola trucks are iconic and have become integral to the festive season in the UK since 1995. Known as the "Christmas Caravan," the truck tours different parts of many countries, bringing the Christmas spirit along with it. It indicates the festive season and sets a joyous mood.

The campaigns have been consistent over the years, imprinting the idea of Coca-Cola Christmas trucks marking the beginning of the Christmas season. The advertisements that are part of this campaign always feature families and display togetherness. It shows how the company brings people together. The idea was to get people to start associating the holiday with Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola with happiness. For many, the Coca-Cola Christmas trucks have become a part of their Christmas.

Fig. 1 - Coca-Cola Christmas truck parades along the roads of cities during Christmas

Coca-Cola Christmas Truck Campaign

As a part of creating a seasonal marketing campaign, Coca-Cola came up with their now iconic Christmas truck idea. Let's take a look at Coca-Cola's Christmas truck campaign throughout the years.¹

Coca-Cola Truck Campaign: 1995

1995 marked the very first Coca-Cola truck ad campaign that stuck with people. The W.B. Doner advertising company created the campaigns for Coca-Cola. The visual effects company Industrial Lights and Magic were also a part of the campaign, as they helped create special effects for the advertisement and truck tours.

In 1995, Coca-Cola released an advertisement showing how their Christmas trucks illuminated the country as they traveled through cities while singing "Holidays are Coming." The trucks were decorated with images of Santa created by the artist Haddon Sundblom.

Coca-Cola Truck Campaign: 1996

As a part of its Christmas campaign, Coca-Cola introduced new Christmas packaging across countries like the USA, the UK, Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa, Singapore, and the Philippines. The new packaging had images created by the artist Haddon Sundblom. The new packagings were the highlight of the 1996 campaign.

Coca-Cola Truck Campaign: 1998

The Coca-Cola advertisement released in 1998 titled "Christmas Caravan III" is the most widely viewed commercial ever made. The ad was broadcasted over a hundred countries and viewed by millions of viewers. Today, these advertisements evoke nostalgia among those who grew up watching these advertisements and waiting for the Coca-Cola Christmas trucks to come around, marking the onset of the festive season.

Coca-Cola Truck Campaign: 1999

The advertisement released in 1999 as part of the Christmas Truck campaign titled "Journey" shows a Coca-Cola Christmas truck coming to life in front of a boy and his grandfather. The grandfather narrates the story of the Christmas truck to his grandson just before it comes to life and takes them in to view all the beautiful sights of Christmas. Coca-Cola shot this advertisement in Vancouver, Canada.

Coca-Cola Truck Campaign: 2001

From 2001, the Coca-Cola Christmas truck was more than just a fictional advertisement. Coca-Cola decided to spread its magic and raise the spirit of Christmas. The Christmas truck was out on the streets, for real, for people in the USA. The Christmas truck drove across the country during the Christmas season. This action helped people connect with the advertisement even more.

Coca-Cola Truck Campaign: 2010

After proving to be a massive success across various European countries, the Christmas truck appeared in the UK. Millions of people wait for the truck and follow its route from villages to towns together. For many, this campaign has become a ritual or way of celebrating the holiday.

Coca-Cola Truck Campaign: 2017

By 2017, the Coca-Cola Christmas truck had made more than 300 stops in various countries and traveled more than a million kilometers. In 2017, the truck also made its debut in Australia.

Coca-Cola Truck Campaign: 2018

Coca-Cola partnered with the Salvation Army in Australia in 2018. The truck covered over 10,000 kilometers.¹

Coca-Cola Christmas Truck Importance

The Coca-Cola Christmas truck plays an important part in many people's lives. It marks the onset of the festive season in numerous countries. For many families, it is a tradition to watch the Coca-Cola Christmas truck, meet Santa, and share a Coke during its tour.

The Coca-Cola truck plays a very significant role in boosting Coca-Cola's brand awareness. The tagline "Holidays Are Coming" still carries the Christmas spirit and resonates with the brand's customers. Coca-Cola has stuck to the tagline and the Christmas truck since 1995 to build customer familiarity. The truck is a strong brand representation of Coca-Cola, as it has been around for several years and is a unique feature of the brand.² It sets the brand apart and helps it be perceived as warm, fun, and jolly.

Coca-Cola Marketing Strategy

Coca-Cola's marketing campaign has proved to be a massive success for the company. The company's general marketing strategy has helped make it a market leader in many countries. Coca-Cola has adopted various strategies and made necessary changes to them when required. Let's take a look at some of Coca-Cola's marketing strategies.

Coca-Cola Marketing Strategy: Market Segmentation

Coca-Cola segments its audience based on age, family, income, and taste. Recently, Coca-Cola's advertisements mainly focused on generation Z (or Gen-Z). For instance, one ad shows a family that is short on money but can enjoy their moments together and make their time even more enjoyable with a bottle of Coca-Cola.

On the other hand, Coca-Cola had to rethink this strategy when considering Millennials in the market. Due to rising health concerns, the product was not very appealing to this market segment. When this problem translated into a decline in sales, the company launched a new product in the market - Diet Coke. This new version attracted Millennials, thereby raising sales again.³

Fig. 2 - Diet Coke to attract Millennials

Coca-Cola Marketing Strategy: Integrated Marketing

The company practices integrated marketing - the practice of using multiple marketing channels. Coca-Cola sends its message to the target audience using integrated marketing. As a global company, getting a consistent message across all markets is vital.

Coca-Cola Marketing Strategy: Creative Advertising

A creative advertisement - one that captures everyone's attention or one that everyone can remember - can help a company stand out in the market. There can be various techniques to make this work. However, it was Coca-Cola's jingles that captured everyone's attention. Coca-Cola's 2010 World Cup TV commercial is one of the most successful commercials of the company. Jingles are short and very catchy. This sound helps in making the commercial memorable.

Coca-Cola Marketing Strategy: Portfolio

Coca-Cola has a limited portfolio. It extends only to the beverage industry. Despite this fact, they have a beverage for everyone. People of all age groups enjoy drinks from Coca-Cola. When moving into a new market, instead of diversifying its portfolio with just any product to attract customers, the company adds native brands to its portfolio. This way, potential customers find it easier to connect with the brand and recognize it in the future.

Coca-Cola Marketing Strategy: Connecting Emotionally

Emotion is a powerful tool when connecting with a customer. Evoking emotion in a potential customer increases the chances of converting them into an actual customer, as they connect with the brand more deeply. Bonding emotionally gives the viewer a positive perception of the brand.

Coca-Cola Marketing Strategy: Brand Identity

Coca-Cola's most prominent identity is its iconic bottle. The company has been consistent with its bottle's design for several years and is effortlessly recognizable. The bottle shape has dramatically helped the company build and maintain its brand image. It also plays an essential role in making the brand memorable in the minds of the customer.

Coca-Cola Marketing Strategy: Personalization

As a part of its various campaigns, Coca-Cola allowed personalizing its Coca-Cola bottles. This strategy helps attract customers by giving them a different experience - to drink a Coca-Cola with their name on it. The campaign led to other fun activities among customers, such as going to stores to purchase a bottle with their name on it or looking for a friend's name. All such creative ideas promote sales.

Coca-Cola Marketing Strategy: Pricing

Coca-Cola's pricing strategy is very competitive and has helped the brand capture a big market. Offering products at a lower price when entering a new market is a strategy that has worked for Coca-Cola over the years. The prices are then gradually raised at the right time once the brand has become successful in the market. Understanding when to lower and raise the prices are crucial for market success.⁴

Coca-Cola Truck Marketing Campaign Analysis

The Coca-Cola Christmas truck marketing campaign is very nostalgic for plenty of people. The campaign evokes an emotion of happiness and togetherness and is one of the biggest reasons for this campaign's success.

The commercial Coca-Cola released in 2020 - The Letter - as a part of its Christmas promotions showcases escapism and nostalgia. The commercial shows a father trying to get his daughter's Christmas wish letter to Santa Claus despite the many challenges he has to face. The father, however, cannot complete his mission as Santa's doors were "closed for Christmas." He gets on a Coca-Cola Christmas truck to get back home. On reaching his home, the father is handed back the letter by Santa (who has been driving the Christmas truck). The father opens the letter to find out that his daughter just wanted him to be home for Christmas.

This ad brings tears of joy to its viewers. The campaign's tagline was "This Christmas, give something only you can give." The ad gave people a sense of power and a feeling that they could do something special for their loved ones. The sense of power gave them hope and comfort in times of the pandemic. This advertisement showed that Coca-Cola cared about the viewer and their family's happiness. It does not show anyone with a bottle of Coca-Cola, showing that the company is not asking people to buy its products; it just wants everyone to have a good time.

This campaign successfully brought back how Christmas used to feel for many before the pandemic.