70's "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" Commercial

The likely objective of the campaign was to bring in something new for the fast changing generation. The late 60's brought plenty of changes not only in everyday social life, but in its political aspects as well. Richard Nixon won the presidency againsts Hubert Humphrey and became the voice of the nation. He promised to restore law and order and became the real thing to the people of the U.S. similar to how Barack Obama has now. Coca-Cola knew the American people were becoming wiser in what goods they wanted to buy and things they would support, so they chose the phrase "It's The Real Thing."

BRAND POSITIONING

The brand positioning for Coke was being the leader in refreshments. They wanted to stand out from the crowd and so the slogan read “It’s the real thing”. Coke is suggesting that all other competitors are not the real thing, meaning not true in taste. It’s trying emit an image that it’s true and pure in taste. When consumers think of Coke, it should be about the flavor and taste of the beverage. According to the VALs surreys, innovators would respond to this type of brand positioning because Coke is the real taste of cola. Believers would also be a good candidate since they favor U.S. products and they are loyal to their brands. Achievers would also react to this kind of brand positioning because they favor more established products. Experiencers would feel for this too because they want the “in” thing and at that time Coke was the “in” thing.

The Message

The message was clear in the ad for Coca Cola’s “It’s the real thing”. Coca Cola wanted to show unity among people but not just in the United States, but all over the world. The commercial starts out with a single person singing and then she is joined by others. These other people are dressed in traditional attire and they are all different nationalities. The company wanted to show unity and harmony with everyone. It also made Americans look compassionate about the rest of the world. Coca Cola’s approach was that they wanted to be different then their competitors and they did just that by involving the world. The message was heard by all, this became one of the most memorable Coca Cola commercials ever.

What was the unique about the campaign?

The television ad "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" was released first in Europe, where it garnered only a tepid response. It was then released in the U.S. in July, 1971, and the response was immediate and dramatic. By November of that year, Coca-Cola and its bottlers had received more than a hundred thousand letters about the ad. At that time the demand for the song was so great that many people were calling radio stations and asking them to play the commercial. Clearly, "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" had struck a chord deeper than the normal response to the advertisement of a commercial product, and Billy Davis asked Bill Backer to rewrite the lyrics without the references to Coke.

Because the New Seekers were initially unavailable to record the new version, a group calling itself the Hillside Singers recorded it with a country-and-western flavor and released it as a single. When the New Seekers began an American tour several weeks latter, they re-recorded the new lyrics and released a second single. Both version sold well in fact, at one point, the New Seekers version was listed among the top ten songs on the American pop music charts while the Hillside Singers version was number thirteen. Such successes were repeated around the world as the ad's popularity expanded. Recordings of the song and versions of the sheet music appeared in a variety of languages to fill an ever-increasing demand.

"I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" has had a lasting connection with the viewing public. Advertising surveys consistently identify it as one of the best commercials of all time, and the sheet music continues to sell more than thirty years after the song was written. Such is the power of television advertising that through the enduring popularity of this ad, at least, Coke has borne out something of Backer's ambitious claims for it, becoming a common connection among people.

The Fortunes Sing "It's The Real Thing" 1969 Coca Cola radio spot

The Industry Situation of the 70's

During the late 1960's, soft drinks were well on their way to becoming America's #1 beverage choice. Carbonated drinks had been trailing at #2 since 1967 behind coffee, but were quickly growing as a favorable beverage choice. Milk was the #3 drink of choice while beer, tea, juices, and distilled spirits followed.

There was a dip in soft drink sales for a few years after the ban of cyclamate in 1969. Cyclamate was the common sweetening agent used in soft drinks. Because of the ban on cyclamate, Pepsi-Cola launched Pepsi-Light using saccharin as their sweetener but quickly fizzled out as high fructose corn syrup was introduced in 1974. The introduction of high fructose corn syrup came at a time when sugar prices were incredibly high, making HFCS the best alternative as a sweetener.

Like many industries during the 1970's, the soft drink industry was also hurt by the economic depression. Private label soft drinks made a small peak of sales in 1972 but slowly drifted downward after that. Larger national brands used value-packaging in returnable containers as well as other packaging innovations to help boost sales.