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Coca-Cola, along with partnering agencies Grey, WPP Open X, and Ogilvy PR, are back at it again with an exciting OOH campaign drawing crowds in Times Square.
"The Playable Billboard," the soda giant's latest installation, is exactly what its name suggests — a gigantic LED board right smack in Midtown Manhattan that serves as a video game screen, attracting passersby.
The billboard, which measures roughly 42x68 feet, was made using 1,800 LED modules that light up the night sky, making it unmissable for New Yorkers.
It houses a retro video game similar to "Pong," where two players must bounce a ball (like in table tennis) using their in-game 2D paddles and get 10 points to win.
Adorning the background are Coca-Cola's iconic logo and color, with its signature wave at the bottom of the screen.
Players who stumble upon the installation are given two joystick controllers to enjoy a classic match, with the citizens of New York as their audience.
Past and Present in One Billboard
While Coca-Cola's latest OOH advertising taps into nostalgia to draw in audiences, it also represents a step forward for the company, using public interaction as a jumping point.
In Europe, it launched "Magic Catch" with WPP Open X led by Ogilvy Paris, inviting users to "catch" the Coca-Cola bottle bouncing around an LED screen and post an image on social media with the hashtag #catchthecoke to win a free bottle.
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"Engaging with a digitally absorbed Gen Z audience on the streets is increasingly challenging, the onus is on us/brands to continually innovate and create an unmissable presence," Islam ElDessouky, Coca-Cola's global VP for creative strategy and content, said in a statement.
When it comes to choosing the location in the U.S., Grey Global Executive Director Hope Nardini believes that "Coca-Cola is an iconic brand and Times Square is an iconic place."
"Turning the Coca-Cola billboard into a digital game for all to play in the center of the city is a fun way to bring people together and an expression of the brand’s philosophy of Real Magic," she adds.
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In the past week, the soda giant also unveiled "Recycle Me," another OOH effort featuring billboards that showcase the Coca-Cola logo "crumpled" into different shapes and sizes.
Harping on the icon status of its logo, it encourages everyone to recycle their soda cans.
"Our latest executions were focused on 'value exchange,'" ElDessouky adds. "OOH is an accessible traditional medium and it’s for everyone, just like Coca-Cola but what are people experiencing from our brand when it's on the streets?”
Editing by Katherine 'Makkie' Maclang
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