A 20-year-old student from Hong Kong created a new image which is two hands in the shape of Coke’s iconic white ribbon passing a bottle. This design premiered this past weekend in bus shelters and elevators in Shanghai and is part of Coke’s global “Open Happiness” campaign.
“It’s got unusual, intriguing stopping power,” said Stephen Drummond, director-content and creative excellence for Coca-Cola in Asia Pacific. “Everyone’s responded with a sense of, ‘Wow, that’s a different, intriguing spin on something so iconic and so familiar.’ Just for that reason it engages people. Of course the message of connection and friendship with the brand at the center comes through very clearly.”
Jonathan Mak Long second-year communication design student at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, created the image. He previously created a tribute to Steve Jobs that went viral, featuring the Apple logo with Mr. Jobs’ silhouette making up the bite.
The image was reproduced in several British newspapers attributing it merely to a Hong Kong student. “Because we didn’t know the college, it took quite some time to get hold of him,” said Graham Fink, chief creative officer of Ogilvy & Mather China. “I had my assistant in Shanghai calling all the colleges in Hong Kong.”
“We went through his portfolio … his book was beautifully simple,” recalled Fink. “I said to him, ‘Look, we must keep in touch. I’d love to help you in any way that I can.’ ”
Mak was given an assignment that was simply called “Sharing a Coke” which he had also shared with Fink’s design team. “I think the way I approached the poster is quite similar to the Steve Jobs Apple logo,” Mak said. “I enjoy making visual puns. … I don’t want to say it’s my style, but I do enjoy combining elements together to create a joke almost. It captures people’s attention. These kinds of images are quite appropriate to advertising. It takes a second to get, and then there’s an ‘aha’ moment.”
Interestingly it was not a formal assignment from Coke. “Ogilvy took the initiative and totally surprised us,” Drummond said. “Sometimes these ideas pop up out of serendipity, it’s very much on-brand and on-brief. [Coke wants to be] open to ideas that come from anywhere and everywhere and embrace it.â€
“The way creative departments work these days, ideas can come from anywhere,” said Fink. “You want anything that makes people work better, faster. There are a lot of great people out there, especially in China. The whole country is learning about [advertising]. … There’s a huge opportunity for us to find these people.”
“I’m still a student, and I’d like to continue to see if there are other areas that interest me,” said Mak. “I just want to do good work that can affect people the way the Steve Jobs-Apple logo did. But my concrete career achievements I don’t want to think about that. I just want to do good work.”
Source: Creativity Online
