Coke and WWF launch polar bear initiative
Coca-Cola and conservation charity WWF are to launch a joint awareness and CSR campaign in a bid to raise funds to conserve the home of polar bears – the animals that have featured in the carbonated drink brand’s ads for nine decades.
The Arctic Home campaign will couple WWF’s scientific network and conservation expertise with Coca-Cola’s marketing weight to bring the plight of the polar bear “closer to home” for consumers.
Coca-Cola is also pledging €3m over the next three years towards helping preserve polar bears’ Arctic home, which will fund conservation planning for The Last Ice Area – an are of more than 1.4m square kilometres in northern Greenland and northern Canada.
An integrated marketing campaign will launch from 17 January, which will include a TV ad, print, digital and creative across Coca-Cola’s spot on the Piccadilly Circus sign. The new ad, created by Wieden+Kennedy, expands on the polar bear spot currently airing on UK TV.
Coca-Cola will also promote the initiative with polar bear imagery on more than 300 million Coca-Cola cans across Europe.
The two brands have worked together since 2007 to conserve and protect fresh water around the world as rising populations and climate change put increased pressure on this resource. By 2020 WWF and Coca-Cola aim to lead a global movement to conserve the planet’s natural resources, with a focus on fresh water through its Water+ commitment.
Zoe Howorth, marketing director of Coca-Cola Great Britain, says: “We believe that by combining our two organisations’ strengths and resources with the support and involvement of the general public, we’ll be able to go beyond what we each could achieve on our own.”
