For global brands talking to multiple audiences in many markets, branded content online is fast becoming the Holy Grail. It allows consumer engagement at a level that goes beyond the restrictions of traditional in-market channels and allows brands to push the boundaries of what actually constitutes 'brand communication'. Smart, digitally savvy consumers everywhere want content that they can read, watch, share and talk about - and that's what the best branded content now delivers, turning consumers into brand advocates along the way. However the only way for branded content to get to this coveted position, especially when for a global audience, is by harnessing a deep, universal human truth and using it to tell a story that’s as captivating to an audience in Tunis as it is in Taipei – i.e., by creating engaging creative content that’s cultural relevant to all human beings.

The content strategy was to drive people to our stories about ‘Crazy Masters’ from all over the world – people who do crazily kind things for others without expecting anything in return. We created unique pieces of original documentary content in three markets (US, UK , South Africa) and hosted each of these documentaries on the Coca-Cola website and YouTube channel. Each film was approx. 2 minutes long, and focused on telling the story of a unique ‘Crazy Master’. We then created a TV spot using the footage, which ran in multiple markets and drove consumers to watch the full original content online.

This documentary is part of the most successfully globalized campaign within the Coca-Cola system in recent years, having spread to over 60 markets within a year of its release and to be taken up by over 40 more.

Every market has been able to find and adopt local stories of ‘crazy kindness’ that have touched a nerve in their geographies, running localized executions that are building deep brand affinity for Coca-Cola. ‘Crazy for Good has driven markets crazy excited', says Cristina Bondolowski, VP for Coca-Cola TM globally. ‘Markets like Egypt have completely turned around their brand perception thanks to this culturally relevant initiative’. Guillermo Giménez y Brotons, Creative & Content Excellence Director of Coca-Cola México says, ‘when we touch upon strings such as social fear and inequality, and we leverage them in a positive way, something beautiful happens’. To him, this campaign ‘gives a purpose to what we do’ and indeed, Javier Sanchez Lamelaz, VP Marketing for Coca-Cola Europe, believes that ‘everyone at Coca-Cola has now become a Crazy Master’. Jackie Jantos, Global Creative Director at Coca-Cola, sums it up: ‘When a story inspires people in over 100 markets, you know you have something magical’.