Coca-Cola ad “gives a little love” to MSN Homepage

Coca-Cola scored a major hit during half time at Super Bowl XLI in 2007 when it ran the “give a little love” ad, based on the popular Grand Theft Auto (GTA) game. The incredible ad turned GTA’s controversial gameplay on its head when the central character, Ray, became a fun-loving model citizen after drinking a bottle of Coke. For the UK, Microsoft® Advertising took the campaign one step further combining an engaging game with a refreshing homepage takeover (HPTO).


Creative Solution

A major component of the HPTO was the unique GTA-style game. Accessible directly from the 300x250 ad placement, the game challenged players to “give a little love” by handing out bottles of Coke to as many pedestrians as possible in 30 seconds. Points were awarded for every Coke given, adding a deeper level of engagement to the eye-catching execution. Gutters ran down both sides of the MSN® Homepage and consumers were treated to thrilling Coca-Cola creatives over the entire page, including Ray’s car blazing across the screen in a GTA-style street scene and the entertaining TV ad embedded into the HPTO.

Campaign Results

Research by Dynamic Logic highlighted the effectiveness of the campaign. Key metrics included:

• Exposure to the HPTO significantly increased online ad awareness by 11.2 percentage points and message association by 7.9 percentage points
• Compared with other soda campaigns, results ranked above average for aided brand awareness, message association, and purchase intent
• Among the target audience, exposure to the HPTO increased online ad awareness and message association by 21.3 and 10.9 percentage points respectively
• Relevant to target audience. Ad awareness increased 29.3 percentage points, message association increased 16.3 percentage points, and perception of the brand being “for someone like me” increased 20.2 percentage points among 16 to 34s with a games console
• Ad performance was strong in terms of branding, with 60 percent of respondents stating they would remember that the ad was for Coca-Cola against the pre-test norm of 22 percent
• The ad performed well in terms of viral potential, with 33 percent of the target audience stating they would send the link to others, and 46 percent saying they would tell others about it. This compares with norms of 21 percent and 32 percent respectively
• The ad performed well creatively and the ‘footprint’ pointed to a very engaging and unique creative