Mobile goes pop

Can Sprite bring all the boys to the yard?

What?: Coca-cola has launched a new mobile social network in order to promote their lemon-lime combo drink Sprite. The new service – entitled Sprite Yard – will be available as a free download application, which enables users to create profiles and exchange messages and photos via their mobile.

Coca-Cola’s senior vice president for marketing communications, Mark J. Greatrex, said the venture was “trying to establish an omnipresent, on-the-go, everywhere relationship with teens.”
The platform apes sites such as MySpace, but is unique in its direct to mobile approach. Coke has also said, however, that it wants to “expand the user experience” via Facebook.

The service is currently only available in China and comes to the US on 22nd June.

So what?: Some media experts have said the mobile advertising market could be worth as much as $5 billion in five years. This won’t have gone unnoticed at Coke headquarters.

Coke say they have chosen Sprite – a weaker seller than other Coke brands – as their focus because of its appeal to teenagers. However launching under a less popular brand smacks slightly of testing the water. Sprite is Coke’s emerging markets brand though, so this may be the reasoning behind the choice.

Does Coke have the necessary commitment required to run a social networking site, campaigns such as these require serious long term investment. BudTV attempted a social network site recently, but despite good intentions were left with a site void of any meaningful traffic.

Does the Facebook tie in grant Coke a quick exit strategy once they’ve had enough? And more importantly does anyone really want to hang out with Sprite in the first place?

www.thecoca-colacompany.com