There's a saying in the news business, "Perception is reality." In other words, regardless of the story, it's how people perceive the story that can often trump the facts.
Case in point: A promotion by Coca-Cola and the WWF to increase awareness of what some claim to be the dwindling habitat of Polar Bears. Coke produced white cans with polar bears on them. Same coke, just a different can. Personally I thought it was a great promotion.
I was wrong.
So what went wrong? Plenty. Some consumers were confused that the white cans were diet Coke and not the regular flavor. Others claimed the Coke tasted "different" even though it was exactly the same as what was in the familiar red cans. Many of course, went online to complain.
So a can designed to keep polar bears from going extinct, may become extinct itself as Coke is replacing many, if not all of the white cans with the tried and true red cans.
A rare marketing misfire for Coca-Cola? Nope. But a classic case of how consumer perception is their reality. Regardless of what's true, it's what consumers THINK is true.
The campaign also brought out protests claiming Coke was spreading a disinformation campaign.
I attended a Social Media marketing seminar at Coca-Cola last year in Atlanta. You'd be hard pressed to find a more skilled marketing team. This was obviously a well-thought out campaign with the goal of saving polar bears, regardless of your stance on global climate change or whatever it's called these days.
But none of it mattered because ultimately it was all about consumer perception, and nothing to do with reality. For a lot of them, their favorite drink tasted different in a white can, or a bottle with a white bottle cap.
In this case, Polar Bears lost to perception.
Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
Case in point: A promotion by Coca-Cola and the WWF to increase awareness of what some claim to be the dwindling habitat of Polar Bears. Coke produced white cans with polar bears on them. Same coke, just a different can. Personally I thought it was a great promotion.
I was wrong.
So what went wrong? Plenty. Some consumers were confused that the white cans were diet Coke and not the regular flavor. Others claimed the Coke tasted "different" even though it was exactly the same as what was in the familiar red cans. Many of course, went online to complain.
So a can designed to keep polar bears from going extinct, may become extinct itself as Coke is replacing many, if not all of the white cans with the tried and true red cans.
A rare marketing misfire for Coca-Cola? Nope. But a classic case of how consumer perception is their reality. Regardless of what's true, it's what consumers THINK is true.
The campaign also brought out protests claiming Coke was spreading a disinformation campaign.
I attended a Social Media marketing seminar at Coca-Cola last year in Atlanta. You'd be hard pressed to find a more skilled marketing team. This was obviously a well-thought out campaign with the goal of saving polar bears, regardless of your stance on global climate change or whatever it's called these days.
But none of it mattered because ultimately it was all about consumer perception, and nothing to do with reality. For a lot of them, their favorite drink tasted different in a white can, or a bottle with a white bottle cap.
In this case, Polar Bears lost to perception.
Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
No comments:
Post a Comment