I recently returned from a magical three day journey to the Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, having won the Experiencing Coca-Cola Sweepstakes via MyCokerewards.com. Some of my spoils: two nights hotel accomodations overlooking Olympic Centennial Park, chauffeur driven tour of the city, VIP tour of the Coke HQ (including a rare peek inside Coke's Archives where they keep brand item dating back to the 19th century), lunch with Coke employees, dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, breakfast at Ruth's Chris, VIP tour of the World of Coca-Cola, a huge duffle bag full of wonderful Coke stuff and a year's supply of soda.
I'll have a detailed post about my time at Coke. Suffice it to say it was a passionate consumer's dream come true, pushing the admiration and brand love I had for Coke to atmospheric levels (the picture is one of dozens of very large Coke inspired pieces of art from various countries at the Atlanta HQ). It also inspired me to host a social media contest, combining Twitter, this blog and an Open Innovation platform to see what kind of creative brand love others might have for Coke, and also see what can happen in a very short period of time if you put your mind - and the right tools - to good use.
You're invited to play along in my Brand Fan Contest. Go to TwitFizz.com, a consumer feedback-co-creation platform I customized in about a half day for this contest. It's powered by Fellowforce.com's Webforce Consumer Feedback & Co-Creation Engine, an off-the-shelf Open Innovaton product that can be customized to act as a Dell IdeaStorm-like platform for any business, government or organization. My goal was to take this contest from idea to creation and launch in one day, which I have. Ultimately, my hope is to show how new platforms that connect people and their ideas can be energized by the viral explosiveness of a social media channel like Twitter. This entire contest - and social media marketing experiment - will last about ten days **(UPDATE: Nov. 19 Contest extended due to more prizes being added)** from idea to creation to launch to the finish line. All you need to do is to go to Twitfizz, register, and submit a creative entry. What kind of entry? Glad you asked.
The full name of the contest is the Coca-Cola Talent, Jingle, Slogan, Poetry and Brand Idea Challenge. The rules are fairly loose: impress the community with an original slogan, poetry piece (Coke cans are red, etc), jingle (a video link to yourself singing, sure), marketing idea or just about any talent + Coke + idea thing you can muster. You don't have to love Coke as much as I do, but it has to mention or be about Coca-Cola or any of its products. It has to be tasteful, brand positive and G-rated. This contest is not sanctioned by Coca-Cola, but we are very friendly, and I'll be passing the results to Coke officials I've met. The Grand Prize entry with the most votes will win a Coca-Cola winter cap and scarf (red, handsome, from their Recycled line), a Coca-Cola Journal, six cases of Coke product (pictured) AND (Nov 19th update): A FREE Webforce Consumer Co-creation & Feedback application license worth more than $6,000!! (some integration fees may apply, see details at TwitFizz.com). Two runners-up will receive four cases of Coca-Cola related carbonated product AND (Nove 19th add): a FREE Premium Open Innovation Challenge on Fellowforce.com's global crowdsourcing platform ($495 value!)
The contest will end on Wednesday, Nov 26th (may be extended if more prizes appear, or a minimum number of entries has not been met). It's all about having a good time, impressing the community (and hopefully Coke!) with your creativity, and showcasing the viral power and brand/consumer connective possibilities of Social Media and Open Innovation. I'm asking friends on Twitter especially to help spread the word. Submitting a Twitter-length entry (140 characters or less) is encouraged, so you can Tweet it to your network over and over and over. Inviting friends to register and check out your entry and vote is encouraged. I want to mention one of my favorite blogs, CopyBlogger, which hosted it's second Writing Contest that utilizes Twitter (entries must be 140 characters or less). I entered the first writing contest, which was a hoot, and it helped inspire me to host a contest of my own.
Complete rules for the Brand Fan Contest are at Twitfizz.com. You'll see a couple of my sample entries (I can't win my own contest). You can vote for as many entries as you want, but the platform will only allow you to vote 'once per entry'. Please check out the other entries, vote for good ones and leave comments if you'd like. This is an UNOFFICIAL contest, conceived and launched in one day, inspired by my Coke Sweepstake trip ... and I'd like to pass some of that experience and loot to others. Check back for updates here and on my Twitter page. I'll also be doing mobile podcast updates via Utterli and connecting with folks via Linkedin and Facebook as well.
I can't say enough about the wonderful people I met at the Coke HQ in Atlanta. They treated my wife and I like family. They're the classiest, friendliest and most generous bunch you'd ever have the pleasure to meet, and I'll always have the fondest memories of my time in Atlanta thanks to Mike, Carlos, Adam, Helen, HB and others. I encourage everyone to stop by their fabulous blog, Coca-Cola Conversations, which taps into the magical (and bottomless) treasure trove of Coke advertising, memorabilia, artwork, products and historical items.
Good luck in the contest (and tell your friends to register and vote!).
Jeff
**** UPDATES*****
Monday, Nov. 17th, 10:30am ET: I just added the journal to the Grand Prize pot.
Wednesday, Nov. 19th, 3:40pm ET: I just added significant Open Innovation prizes, including the $6,000 Webforce license to the Grand Prize. Also, the contest has been extended until Wednesday, November 26th at 9pm ET. Additional Coke gear will be added as well, thanks for a friend at Coke HQ. As soon as I find out what is coming, I'll add it to the pot.
You don't want to see me singing, but as a pro writer I'll see if I can come up with either lyrics for a jingle or a standalone poem.
Cool idea.
Jeff
Posted by: Jeff Cutler | November 16, 2008 at 07:05 PM
Lyrics ... poem ... it's all good! Personally, I'd be a bit nervous singing on video too, so text would do just fine. Thanks for participating, and for the compliment.
Jeff C
Posted by: Jeff Crites | November 16, 2008 at 07:32 PM