Carol Kruse, Chief or Coke Brands Global talks about taking its THERE.COM presence to new languages.
P: Coke recently revamped its virtual world, swapping out the old Coke Studios on its proprietary site for a new one, CC Metro, within There.com. Why?
K: We were a pioneer brand in virtual reality. [Coke Studios] was a very successful marketing platform and we learned a lot from it. We're now reinvesting to come out with the next great thing in virtual environments. We already have virtual worlds in South Korea, Spain and Mexico. Partnering with There.com could eventually produce versions tailored for Japan, Germany or other global markets.
P: Have large destination Web sites for brands become a thing of the past, at least for marketing or promotion?
K: I've come to the conclusion that in some cases it may be better to take our message to where our consumers are already spending their time. Those monolithic Web sites are expensive to build and maintain, and for some brands they just don't make sense.
P: How does that work in regard to a specific brand?
K: Take Sprite. We have the Sprite.com Web site. We have the Sprite Yard, which is a mobile program. Sprite is part of MyCokeRewards.com. And we have a Facebook page with an app, Sprite Sips. It doesn't matter whether the experience happens on the Sprite Web site, on Facebook or on a cell phone.
P: What are some of the global developments you're thinking about in your new position?
K: I'm especially taken with the Asian markets because they pose interesting questions. For example, in Japan we build great, engaging Web sites and find that 70% of our page views come over mobile phones. Meanwhile, in China we have a market where hundreds of millions of people have never tasted a Coke. So one of our marketing aims in China is trial — inviting people to try a Coke via a message, coupon or reward on their mobile phones. The interview here; http://promomagazine.com/interactivemarketing/cokes_kruse_control_coca_cola_interactive_0201/
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