Abstract:

This paper will show how a project aimed at helping Coca-Cola GB better understand the older teen audience has lead to a significant legacy inside Coca-Cola in terms of ways of thinking about the role consumers can play in the business. It will show how approaching a classic insight question with a collaborative, open source mentality has allowed us to enter completely new spaces: find out answers to questions that we didn't even know we wanted to ask. Although the project in question was aimed at older teens, the method - online communities and co-creation - has been followed across other key audiences for Coca-Cola both in GB, and increasingly across the globe. The paper will also show how the project has evolved over time, bringing in new tools and techniques and adapting to the needs of the business to keep Coca-Cola completely in touch with their key audiences in the real world, and in real time.