$60 Mil. Diet Coke to Wieden

NEW YORK Coca-Cola has expanded its relationship with Wieden + Kennedy, awarding the independent shop U.S. duties on its Diet Coke brand, a client representative confirmed.The estimated $60 million account has been with Interpublic Group's DraftFCB here since December 2002, when the agency won it from sibling Lowe.Coke's decision to move the business came after repeated attempts by the incumbent agency to sell through its next campaign, scheduled for the first quarter, sources said. While DraftFCB was struggling to come up with creative concepts, Coke asked Wieden's Portland, Ore., office to begin crafting ideas on the brand.Wieden handles the Atlanta-based client's Powerade sports drink out of Portland, and global duties on the flagship Coke Classic primarily out of its office in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. (Wieden won the global Coke Classic business in autumn 2005 from WPP Group's Berlin Cameron United. Its Amsterdam office came up with the current worldwide theme, "The Coke side of life.")"Light it up" is Diet Coke's current tagline. The most recent two spots from DraftFCB broke in the first half of the year and used the soft drink's bubbles as a source of inspiration. In one commercial, a woman gets a short haircut that enhances her appearance. In another, a man and woman have an awkward first-date parting; but the man rethinks his actions and runs back to his female companion.DraftFCB's last work for Diet Coke will run in print from January through March, the client rep said. Wieden's first work would likely break late in the first quarter.Coca-Cola has been increasing its media spend on Diet Coke in the last three years. In 2003, it spent $5 million in U.S. media, but increased its outlay to $30 million in 2004 and $50 million in 2005, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.In the first nine months of this year, the company spent $60 million in U.S. media on the brand.The client spent $130 million in U.S. media on Coke Classic through September 2006. In 2005, it spent $165 million. Its estimated global media spend on Coke Classic is about $400 million.The company has no global agency for Diet Coke, which is known as Coke Light in overseas markets. Representatives at Wieden were unavailable for comment.The Coke rep said, "DraftFCB has done some good work for us in the U.S., but we felt it was time to move in another creative direction."The incumbent provided this statement: "DraftFCB remains on the Coca-Cola roster and continues to work on several brand assignments in markets around the world. We're very proud of the work we've been doing on Diet Coke and the fact that our strategy and print work were bought by the client and will run in early 2007. Our commitment to Coca-Cola remains strong and we'll be discussing new opportunities with the client in the coming weeks."

Brand Marketing

$60 Mil. Diet Coke to Wieden

Kathleen Sampey

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Kathleen Sampey