In May 2014 Coca Cola initiated its “Hello Happiness” advertising campaign, rele
ID: 362167 • Letter: I
Question
In May 2014 Coca Cola initiated its “Hello Happiness” advertising campaign, releasing commercial spots in which underpaid South Asian laborers toiling in Dubai are shown communicating with their families after a long time via specially made “Coca-Cola” phone booths that only took Coca Cola bottle caps. While the ads seem to spread a positive message through the emotional images, many saw it as an attempt to use the terrible working conditions in Dubai for a PR opportunity. 1) Do you think the company took advantage of the plight of the workers to increase sales of coke?Explanation / Answer
Marketing, as an activity is basically undertaken to promote sales through various possible channels and media in order to convert them into returns. Based on this concept, the newer concept of ‘Social marketing’ emerged. It is such a concept used in the arena of marketing that attempts to create a favorable behavior in a consumers or to maintain the same in combination of the ideas of both, commercially viable marketing with that of the social sciences.
In case of the Coca Cola marketing, this type of marketing was essential because the Company might have felt that their product could be positioned in the society as a ‘revolution or a change’ thereby impacting the social behavior that could benefit the society at large. Here, the primary motive would have been to understand the needs and requirements of the consumers regarding a product and then accordingly, place a marketing strategy that would focus upon the consumers instead of persuading them to buy.
Having known the technicalities of the social marketing tool, I do not think that the Company took an undue advantage of the plight of the workers to increase sales of coke. Yes, indeed marketing is meant to increase sales but here, more than the concept of commercial marketing, the concept of social marketing played a larger role. What Coca Cola attempted to do is only to reflect the plight of the workers. It did not add anything to the woes of these workers nor exaggerated their condition. Rather, it took a genuine step and not a superficial one, for only showcasing the same on Commercials, to open telephone booths that would accept the bottle caps in the labor camps of Dubai. This step is rather an effort to bring some change in the existing condition of the workers in Dubai. Ignorance, in today’s world, is not bliss. If a commercial tried to reach out to the masses with an issue that could be concerning, then I do not think such a step is always to be criticized for it motive. Even if the motive is sales, at least the attempt is genuine and not a fraudulent one. Coca Cola did not attempt to cheat the masses in order to influence them to buy their beverages. It could be a positive PR step taken with no unethical practice associated with it.
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