MEDIA CHOICE: Coca-Cola advent calendar

In the words of the current commercials for IKEA, the important

thing is 'to win Christmas'.

For years Coca-Cola has been winning it, and 'The Biggest Advent

Calendar in the World' on Birmingham Town Hall is a shining example of

how to use ambient media.

It seems to me that the first company to exploit an ambient opportunity

gets the kudos, and subsequent users take on a 'me-too' look. So

Coca-Cola wins.

The Midlands has featured big posters before, such as the Ford Mondeo

building-wrap near the M6. But BlowUp Media has made a living poster,

and Coke is the perfect sponsor.

At 6pm each day a door opens to reveal the next festive display. I

haven't been there to see it happen, but even without the live element

it's an entertaining addition to the Frankfurt Christmas Market in

Victoria Square.

To create a piece of marketing which adds to an event, and becomes an

event in its own right, is something we'd all pray for. People are

talking about it.

My DJs on 100.7 Heart FM and Galaxy 102.2FM have talked it up on air,

and the typical listener responses are 'It's huge', 'It's really nice'

and 'How do they get the doors to work?'

Don't ask me, it just works.

This article was first published on Marketing