Coca-Cola music to tap social networking trend

Nicola Clark, Marketing, Thursday, 31 August 2006, 12:00am,

Coca-Cola is poised to develop online communities as part of its digital music strategy, following its recent high-profile deal with Apple.

The soft-drinks giant already uses its music website, www.coca-cola.com/music, as a platform for unsigned artists and to podcast branded events, but insiders say it now plans to expand the channel to connect music fans worldwide.

A spokeswoman for Coca-Cola said it will use the global reach of its website, created by AKQA, but will also work with local partners to develop market-specific initiatives.

Coca-Cola was the first FMCG brand to launch a music-download service, Mycokemusic.com, in 2004. However, it axed the site in June in order to tie up with Apple and launch the new Coke-branded music destination (Marketing, 28 June).

The site's users can currently download music from iTunes with promotional codes. Insiders claim that the service will be expanded to include an interactive community function at the end of the promotion.

Earlier this month, Coca-Cola relaunched its main website to tie in with its 'Coke side of life' marketing platform. The company said the site was designed to give consumers a more inclusive role in its creative process.

This article was first published on Marketing