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October 13, 2006
 Objectives:
Upon undertaking this project we knew the goal: create an innovative piece with big in-store stopping power. Summer is always a big promotional time for Coca-Cola. The product really lends itself to outdoor fun, so they always like to have an in-store summer spectacular to go along with the rest of the summer promotion. We wanted to emphasize the connections between Coca-Cola and summertime activities including grilling, road trips and various other outdoor activities under an umbrella theme of "All Out Summer."
The design team at Frankel came up with the idea of using the Coca- Cola Sun, an icon originally launched by Coca-Cola in the ‘90s, but brought back in a modern format for the All- Out Summer program. Consumer recognition of this icon is very high, as well as the association with Coca- Cola products and summertime. In addition, Frankel included in the design, images of happy people engaging in various summer activities, using a moray effect for the photographs and red rays extending out enhanced the overall summer feel of the piece.
Engineering:
The piece had to be engineered to create a durable display that can stand the rigors of marketing at-retail activities while also being an attractive means through which to convey the All-Out Summer brand messaging. Working very closely with Lauri Martin, the project manager for Coca-Cola, we brought this project to fruition. We decided that to create real stopping power in-store and take full advantage of the Coca-Cola Sun icon, we would create the sun as a vacuumformed plastic piece along with motorized rotating rays.
The vacuum-formed plastic sun face was made in two parts. The sun face was printed in four color process. The traditional Coke sun wearing shades and drinking an icy cold Coke was an opaque piece formed to accentuate his facial features. We also placed the Coca-Cola All Out Summer logo on the same plane, below the sun face, as part of the same form. We were careful to pull the logo close enough to the face to keep these elements no larger than a 27-inch x 28-inch sheet while still keeping it visually appealing. The second part of the vacuum-formed section on this display was the bright yellow transparent sun rays.
The vacuum-formed sun ray art was created in three process colors, taking great care to make sure the color, while transparent, would be vibrant not washed out. The molded rays piece extended out behind the sun face, to add even greater dimension, so that it would rotate freely on a motor behind the stationary sun face.
We also decided that the red rays extending beyond the sun on the corrugate background would be striking as foil pieces. We added dimension to the rays as well, adding more interest to the over all display. Frankel knew it was important to print the red rays on the base art in addition to the red foil ray lug-ons, because this helped pull everything together graphically, particularly when we printed the background graphic behind the in the All-Out Summer logo lockup. They also created a piece of art and key line for the foil rays with the water droplets in position which printed four color with the silver foil showing through on the highlights.
The more creative we got with this project, the more essential it became to be aware of the cost of each element of the design. As always the layout of the press forms were strategically planned to get the most out of our printing. We had to work very hard to acquire the best quality on each component for the best price in order to remain on budget. In the end, we did find a great balance between top notch production and budget, bringing the project in right on target, with the craftsmanship and durability apparent in the finished project.
Due to the weight of the vacuumformed Sun, motor, and foil lug-ons, my structural designer Jeff Davolt focused on making sure that the display would be stable enough to survive a little rough handling in the retail environment. In order to achieve this, the proper angles had to be determined and braces added to offer more support for the weight of the vacuumformed pieces and the motor.
Because there was so much going on, all of the elements of this display needed to really come together. For instance, the sun art was designed with the idea of hiding the area where the red foil rays would be attached to the corrugate backing behind the face. The rotating sun rays actually reflected a bit in the red metallic rays, adding even more motion.
 | | To create stopping power in-store and take full advantage of the Coca-Cola Sun icon, Ellie created the sun as a vacuum-formed plastic piece along with motorized rotating rays. |
Consumer and Retailer Results: The All-Out Summer Spectacular works in many ways at the retail level, offering more flexibility to the distributors and store managers to utilize the display. It works as a crown a for a lobby display or as an end-aisle display of Coca-Cola products. It also makes an eye-catching floor-level engagement piece at entry. These various uses really succeeded in creating stopping power in-store. The motion of the rotating vacuum-formed rays of the summer sun face and the reflecting quality of the foil lug ons proved to be a striking combination in-store and commanded consumer attention resulting in increased sales for Coca- Cola. The dimensional logo worked well as part of the vacuum-formed piece, adding to brand recognition. The moray styled photographs of summer events added to the fun of the piece and helped to connect the Coca-Cola product with summer fun.
The All-Out Summer program was an integrated consumer and customer program, with execution at retail (packaging, merchandise, and point of sale), in advertising (television and ROP ads), plus customerspecific programming in over 275 different retail chains. Under the All-Out Summer theme, Coke's customers could execute programs under three themes: Grilling, Road Trip and Outdoor Activities (all themes identified in consumer research as connection points between Coke and Summer). The photography for each of these themes, displayed on the All- Out Summer Spectacular display, was used throughout all activation elements to create a completely integrated campaign. Due to the originality of the display, orders for this piece in the Coca-Cola system were high and gained incremental displays at retail. Connecting Coca-Cola with summertime activities and innovative design combined with a well known icon allowed us to produce a display that created retailer and consumer excitement and interest in Coca-Cola brand, resulting in sales increase.
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