Coke Zero’s ‘Unlock Your Inner Bond’ Skyfall Station Stunt Viral

Perhaps the most interesting element of Coke Zero’s Skyfall activation was its intriguing train station experiential Bond-style action stunt.

Centred on an ordinary looking soft drinks machine placed in Antwerp’s mainline railway station, the stunt saw each consumer who popped their coins into the slot to buy a Coke Zero faced with a digital on-screen message (rather than just the usual can of drink) which challenged them to unlock their inner-Bond by completing a series of tasks against the clock to win ‘Skyfall’ tickets.

The machine asked consumers to tap in their name on the digital display and then gave them a secret mission – get to Platform Six in just 70 seconds and win a ticket to the film’s première.

Unbeknown to each player, a series of action-movie style spoof challenges obstructed their way: ranging from an escalator blocked by joggers to an orange stall spilling its load on the floor and workmen carrying a pane of glass across the route.

And to create the Bond atmosphere, musicians were placed at various points along the route playing the classic Bond theme on a violin, beatboxing and on trumpets.

The final challenge on Platform Six asked the contestants to sing the Bond theme, at which point two tickets drop out of the Coke Zero vending machine at the end of their task.

This fun stunt, by Duval Guillaume was filmed and then seeded virally across the internet. Thus far it has racked up 8m-plus YouTube views since its 18 October launch.

It was part of the wider, European Coke Zero ‘Unlock the 007 in you’ activity promoting Coca-Cola’s partnership with Skyfall – which all ran under the ‘Make it possible’ strapline.

The stunt supported a central cinema and TV ad (by Publicis France,), which features a number of cinematic characters communicating only through the James Bond theme tune. The action follows a narrative, Bond-style story that sees the ad’s protagonist save a beautiful girl from a pack of villains and features a classic set of Bond icons – from Daniel Craig and an Aston martin, to the film theme tune and an action-packed chase scene.

Even the ‘Making Of The TV Ad’ online film has racked up solid viewing statistics.

The underlying idea behind the campaign  is to ‘unlock the James Bond’ in everyone – to push the boundaries and live with excitement and confidence (and drink Coke Zero).

The campaign’s digital presence if centered on www.facebook.com/cocacolazero, while the activation also includes other traditional platforms, and social media activation, as well as extensive PR and outdoor work and on-pack promotion (with new limited-edition Coca-Cola Zero bottles and aluminium cans feature the iconic Bond ‘gun barrel’ design).

Comment:

Amongst the other sponsors of the movie – such as the obviously visible Heineken and Sony and the more subtle Tom Ford product placements – Coca-Cola’s association with the Bond franchise began as recently as 2008 with the launch of ‘The Quantum of Solace’.

While some may feel the traditional media creative is a little lacklustre, the station stunt certainly shows enough originality and fun to drive word of mouth and viral spread.

Without more innovative elements such as the stunt, this campaign may have been pigeon-holed as another fairly clunky Bond product placement – along the lines of those so well parodied on other films such as Wayne’s World (1992) and The Truman Show (1998).

Yet the Bond franchise seems little damaged by such past associations missteps and continues to flourish at the box office and offer sponsors a level of longevity and reach unrivalled in the film business.

This looks set to continue – even in the new reality of a sponsorship world moving away from classic right package style placement deals and towards Red Bull Stratos.

Indeed, as with any partnership deal, genuine synergy, clear objectives and compelling creative can still make this kind of traditional film tie-in work well.

It may be a risk to align with a specific film when Hollywood studios consider themselves lucky to have one hit in every 10 films. But when it comes to Bond, box office is a close to guaranteed as it gets in the film business.

Links:

TV Advert:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vtz4qL4-hNE

Stunt Viral

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RDiZOnzajNU

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/cocacolazero