Coca-Cola infuses AR into CNY packaging bringing rabbit family to life

Coca-Cola is ushering in the new year with the launch of a new multi-touchpoint regional Year of The Rabbit campaign, celebrating the magic of togetherness and cross-generational connection that is synonymous with the holiday season.

This comes as the company saw that in recent years, Lunar New Year has gone through a transformation of its own, with younger generations reimagining some of these century-old traditions to fit their busy lifestyle and the hyper-digital world they live in. This shift has accentuated the generational gap between today’s youth and their elders, with a lack of shared Lunar New Year rituals. Therefore, Coca-Cola aims to be the common ground and show that while traditions define families, it is their evolution that magically brings them together.

Created by Ogilvy Shanghai, the regional campaign features a short animated film launched across eight markets in Asia, supported by an interactive AI-powered mobile activation, as well as limited edition packaging incorporating interactive AR elements. Shorter versions will be available in markets including but not limited to China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Cambodia, online and on TV. They will also be promoted via out-of-home advertising means, including billboards across major cities in Asia.

The film is centred around the message “Lunar New Year may change, but the unchanging tradition of celebrating it together is what makes it magical”, celebrating how the Lunar New Year table is big enough to accommodate every generation’s preferences and desires.

The campaign’s main film, “Grandma’s Jiaozi”, features the endearing story of a family of rabbits coming together despite their different approaches to traditional rituals and celebrations. This also symbolises the evolving journey of family reunion dinner over time, with quintessential Lunar New Year dishes full of symbolism and contemporary, urban-inspired flavours both finding their way onto the dinner table. 

Within the campaign video, the rabbit family’s grandson reserves the most important place on his modern New Year dinner table for his grandmother’s traditional dumplings. The grandmother and grandson then celebrate this gesture by raising a toast with a Coca-Cola. It is a symbolic common ground always bonding the two, that has remained unchanged over the years. 

In China, the campaign is enriched with a digital experience that turns every can of Coca-Cola into a portal for families to reimagine existing traditions and connect in playful, interactive ways, given one of the New Year traditions is organising a family photoshoot. However, it is often difficult to gathering everyone in one location when family members live apart. The magic capturer adds an interactive layer to traditional group photo-taking. By activating the camera, the mini-programme’s AI tracks faces, allows the virtual rabbit family to interact and give cues to the real-world participants to make fun family portraits in interesting and novel ways. The portraits can then be shared to extend the magic of togetherness for those who cannot physically be together over Lunar New Year.

To amplify the magic even further, Coca-Cola has added a unique twist to the usual gift-giving practices, with an AR animation integrated into the Year of the Rabbit festive gift pack. When scanning the QR code on the packaging, users can see Coca-Cola’s rabbit family come to life in 3D and generate a customisable virtual greetings card that they can share with loved ones.

“For the Year of the Rabbit, we wanted to recognise the generational differences and shift in celebration rituals, and inspire families across the region to rediscover meaning in traditions. This year’s Lunar New Year campaign continues to embody the Coca-Cola’s “Real Magic” philosophy, celebrating the extraordinary moments of connection that happen when we come together despite our differences and create new shared rituals,” said Charlotte Sng, creative director for Coca-Cola in Greater China and Mongolia.

“We are incredibly proud of this Year of the Rabbit campaign with Coca-Cola, which once again pushed new creative boundaries at the intersection of culture, innovative technology and storytelling. It is an invitation to come together through highly-engaging mobile experiences, and appreciate the special moments that make the Lunar New Year so magical,” said Wei Fei, group executive creative director at Ogilvy Shanghai.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Coca-Cola for further information.

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