As it planned for its sponsorship of the upcoming Beijing Olympics, Coca-Cola made a significant discovery: When the brand was first introduced in China, its brand name in the Mandarin dialect was translated as "Delicious happiness."

The soft-drink giant tries to capitalize on that history—and the phrase—in a digital program, "Design the World a Coke," that focuses mainly on the social-networking space.

A social-media focus was important because, "We know the world is becoming smaller around teens and young adults in the way that they interact with people and form social groups to chat [with] and have fun," said Kevin Tressler, director of Coke's worldwide sports and entertainment marketing.

The Olympics has long been a brand-building platform for the Atlanta-based company, stretching back to the 1928 Amsterdam Games.

Although Coke wouldn't provide spending figures, Tressler called the company's overall commitment to the Beijing Games the "biggest" ever for Coke, encompassing efforts in virtually all measured media and communications spheres.

Digital is a core component of that larger strategy—and social networking by its very nature helps Coke connect with the "unity" theme of the Games and reinforce its positive message of happiness and refreshment.

"Design the World a Coke," which launched a month ago and runs through September, invites consumers to glam up virtual Coke bottles, working by themselves or co-creating designs with friends. Consumers can build their own bottle artwork galleries; showcase their designs inside a larger Coke gallery; vote for their favorite designs; and post their creations on their personal Web pages.



As Coke's iconic bottle is "core to the DNA of the brand," its use here seemed a natural application, Tressler said.

Coca has also created a program called WE8—which stands for "West/East" and adds the number eight, a symbol of good luck in China.

For WE8, the company commissioned eight graphic artists to create different designs based on themes such as perseverance, happiness and health. Their efforts grace a special collector's series of aluminum bottles. Eight musicians from around the world then composed songs around each design. Those songs and designs will feature prominently in a music tour that will play in eight global cities, including London, Paris and Rio de Janeiro. (The shows will visit numerous U.S. and Chinese cities, too.)

Consumers who visit a dedicated WE8 microsite can read about the musicians, such as New York-born pop artist Lucas Prata and Italian electro-music artist Benny Benassi. They can download the music as ringtones and the graphic creations as wallpapers.

To drive traffic to the microsites, Tressler said that the URLs have been prominently placed on Coke packaging in 44 markets. "Packaging is probably the best way to interact with consumers, because they interact with [some form of] packaging a few times a day," he said. "And packaging speaks. The more you apply design—communication—to packaging, the better it is."

The Olympics provide a sound platform to drive inspiration and brand engagement, Tressler said. But the strategy extends beyond the 17 days of the Beijing Games. "It's more about how to bring inspiration to people's daily lives and how we can drive everyday relevance off of those values," he said.