Some came especially to see the rainbows, bringing their children to play, passers by, stopped to enjoy the spectacle. It allowed people to mark the occasion of our 20 years of democracy and enjoy a little moment of happiness.

News of our rainbow was picked up beyond SA’s borders -had people talking on twitter, got #RainbowNation trending & was featured on hundreds of sites, radio stations, newspapers & TV-Stations around the globe.

Freedom day was 5 days ago and the billboard is still running, it is hard to gauge final ROI, but is already over 150% just counting PR.

We chose one of the biggest skyscrapers in the CBD to share our message.

But we didn’t just show the symbol of the nation, we created it – real rainbows that appeared above our building for the city to see -made by capturing the sun at a specific angle through a mist of non-drinkable recycled water.

On the road, where there was a billboard, there were rainbows too. Traditional billboards rigged with high pressure water spray-jets transforming our simple message to the nation into a something that people would want to delight in.

And because people have always wondered what’s at the end of the rainbow, we brought them down to the ground at a city square in front of the building. For over a week, these activations ran allowing the message on the giant billboard to be physically experienced, giving people the opportunity to come together & touch the rainbow.

In the lead up to Freedom Day in South Africa – Coke wanted to create a spirit of celebration in the city. Something that would entrench Cokes brand proposition “open happiness” marking 20 years of Democracy.

When Archbishop Desmond Tutu coined the phrase “Rainbow Nation” it was to describe the cohesive nature of our diverse people– The Coke brand is known as a social connector and this was opportunity to bring people or all cultures, races and ages together as a reminder of how much we have achieved.

We didn’t just show the symbol we created it – real rainbows that appeared above our building, for the city to see and above our billboards for those on the road. Coca-Cola aimed to stop and delight people by enhancing their traditional outdoor media placements in a way that became a spectacle and for this happiness to spread in media and on social platforms.