“It feels like a love letter to comics, which is great for Marvel, because the way we think about it at Marvel is that comics are the fuel that powers the engine,” said Hamilton.
The campaign is led by Gut with support from Coke’s dedicated agency WPP Open X, including VML, Oglivy and BCW along with Momentum and Forpeople. Partizan’s Antoine Bardou-Jacquet directed the spot, with other production support from Landia.
For Coca-Cola, the strategic underpinning of the campaign is in emphasizing “uplift” as a pillar of the Coke brand—authenticity and inclusivity are its other pillars, said Islam ElDessouky, global head of creative strategy and content for Coca-Cola. Coke considered many ways to relay this message before reuniting with Marvel.
“I think the brand is very keen to uplift humanity, uplift people—whether physically or emotionally or socially,” ElDessouky said. “This is very much an uplifting story.”
Like many Coke campaigns of late, technology plays a pivotal role. Coca-Cola Co. has poured tons of resources into AI-based marketing. This time, it’s an augmented reality play turning physical collectibles into digital ones. The virtual characters, as they are on the can, are rendered in Coke red. The digital characters in AR interact with the user, which creates “exclusive content that you wouldn't see on film or on social—the regular channels,” ElDessouky said.