Coke Brings 'Happiness' Franchise Online

NEW YORK In "Happiness Factory," an animated TV spot created for last year's Super Bowl by Wieden + Kennedy, Coca-Cola had an undeniable creative hit. Now, the beverage giant is exploring how far it can extend the concept with a foray into digital games.Coke shop AKQA has created a Web extension of "Happiness Factory" that invites users to experience the colorful, imaginary world inside a Coke vending machine and learn more about the characters introduced in the Wieden spot. Coke is housing the site at its Coke.com global hub, rolling out versions in over 40 markets worldwide."What we recognized is we had a great TV commercial that resonated," said Carol Kruse, vp, global interactive marketing at Coke. "We wanted to expand that consumer experience and where else can you do that but online?"To attain that goal, AKQA worked with "Happiness Factory" animation house Psyop and gaming company Shift Control to create a virtual factory where users could "apply" for work. As part of the effort, AKQA ran ads on employment sites inviting applications. Since the site is global, AKQA invented a "Happiness Factory" language translated into subtitles in each market.The site allows users to explore the jobs of four characters introduced in the commercials: Mortar Man, Chinoink, Kissy Puppy and Capper. Visitors assess the jobs by playing casual games. For example, users try to shoot Mortar Man over a giant Coke bottle.They can then apply for jobs, answering a short questionnaire to gauge their suitability. To submit the applications, users are asked to create a Coke account and invited to receive e-mail marketing messages.The site converts the rich animation that made "Happiness Factory" a hit into the digital realm, which required some technical shortcuts, said Lars Bastholm, ecd at AKQA in New York. One approach involved taking Psyop animations, converting them to Flash, then chopping them up to keep load times to a minimum. The aim was to retain the highest possible quality within the bandwidth limitations of today's Internet, he said."We didn't want to do what you've so often seen [online], which is to downsize the quality," he said.The result is an animated tour of the world introduced to consumers through a handful of TV spots and cinema ads. Those spots were highly lauded for their upbeat ingenuity, showing a make-believe wonderland factory that created the happiness embodied in a bottle of Coke. "Happiness Factory" won a silver Lion at Cannes last year and the Viewers Choice Award in a roundup of the year's top commercials by Firebrand, in conjunction with Adweek.The site is not the first virtual extension of "Happiness Factory." Coke debuted a three-minute version of the commercial in Second Life in June.Coke would explore further use of the franchise, particularly through digital channels, Kruse said. "We're not selling products online," she added. "We're about delivering engaging consumer experiences."

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Coke Brings 'Happiness' Franchise Online

Brian Morrissey

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Brian Morrissey