Ad or song?: Product-less Coca-Cola Zero ad featuring NewJeans becomes marketing blueprint

Promo shot of NewJeans' new Coca-Cola Zero ad / Courtesy of Coca-Cola

By Lee So-ra

"Is it an ad or a new song?"

Fans wondered whether the new track, "Zero," that was released last month on the official YouTube channel of NewJeans was an advertisement or a new song.

Considering the quality of the music video, one might have been forgiven for thinking it was a new, full-length track that had been released by the girl group. However, it was clearly a jingle for a new commercial with lyrics that included lines like "Coca-Cola tastes good."

The music video was created in collaboration between Coca-Cola Korea and the company's global music platform Coke Studio, reaching more than 15 million views on YouTube in just two days after its release. The track also reached the top spot of the Genie Music chart, a rare feat for a commercial jingle. In addition, many convenience stores across Korea reported an increase in sales of Coca-Cola Zero products.

"By minimizing brand exposure and putting all of our focus on NewJeans, it appears that we were able to reduce the aversion to advertisements in some people," said Coca-Cola Korea marketing executive Kwon Jung-hyun during an interview at the company's headquarters in Seoul on June 1.

A scene from a music video for "Zero" by NewJeans / Captured from NewJeans' official YouTube channel

Breathing life into a story and leaving room for interpretation

Coca-Cola's marketing team singled out NewJeans for its groundbreaking role in introducing new sounds to the world of K-pop. They believed the image of NewJeans as a pioneer aligned perfectly with the direction of the company's latest project to create a new brand experience. Furthermore, they saw the potential of NewJeans to generate serious buzz among its global fans and boost Coca-Cola sales in other markets outside Korea. With Coca-Cola operating in some 200 countries, this collaboration with NewJeans was launched as a global project from the beginning.

The music video shows people walking through a red door to meet others, a nod to the company's "Real Magic" notion. Coca-Cola Korea's creative content manager Lee Jung-min explained, "The focus of the production was to tell a story that was easy to understand while letting viewers find hidden messages that are open to interpretation like an Easter egg hunt." For example, a bus seen in the music video is numbered 0722, which corresponds to the date when NewJeans made their debut on July 22, 2022. Some fans have even found a connection between the ad and the Japanese animated film "Suzume."

At the same time, the exposure of the Coca-Cola brand itself was kept to a minimum. The marketing team initially planned to feature the brand name on the red sofa that NewJeans members were dancing on, but it was left out to avoid drawing excessive attention. Close-up shots of Coca-Cola cans being opened were also omitted to avoid direct product exposure. Instead, the company relied on the natural influence of NewJeans to hammer home its message of "refreshment" and "positivity."

Kwon explained, "Instead of just pushing our brand into the advertisement, we wanted to express it in a more elegant way." He added, "We wanted to evoke the brand naturally by coloring sofas and other props in red to symbolize Coca-Cola."

NewJeans ad to target markets abroad

Considerable effort was made to tap into the formula that allowed K-pop to become the global sensation it is today. The company modeled K-pop's marketing approach by releasing the full audio of the track on the day of the music video's release, followed by a dance video a few days later. The music video was made exclusively available on NewJeans' official YouTube channel instead of Coca-Cola's platform, again taking the focus away from the product and fixing the limelight firmly on NewJeans.

Lee said, "Coca-Cola's famous jingle has been forgotten by many people in the younger generation, but NewJeans has helped us revive it." She added, "Now it seems to be establishing itself as something trendy rather than nostalgic." Coca-Cola is planning to edit the latest ad featuring NewJeans and re-release it in markets across Southeast and Central Asia, pushing the catchphrase "Coca-Cola tastes good" spoken in Korean. The comments section for the music video for "Zero" has already garnered more responses from non-Korean speakers, hinting at significant interest from global fans.

Typical localization strategies call for the use of voiceovers when using ads created in other countries. This isn't the case for NewJeans' music video for Coca-Cola, which is a rarity for a non-English language ad. Lee said, "This reflects the huge influence that NewJeans wields in markets abroad." Kwon added, "Coca-Cola offices from around the world are asking us if they can use the NewJeans ad that we produced here in Korea. It may not be long before we hear the words 'Coca-Cola tastes good' in Korean being spoken by people in other countries."

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola released another track in collaboration with NewJeans on May 31. Titled "Be Who You Are," it features five-time Grammy Award-winning jazz musician Jon Batiste, Latin pop artist Camilo and American rapper J.I.D. The music video of the new track reached 372,000 views on YouTube on the second day of its release, and it's expected to be the central component of Coca-Cola's extensive global marketing campaign.

Lee So-ra (wtnsora21@hankookilbo.com) is a reporter at The Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times. This article, previously published in The Hankook Ilbo, has been translated as part of a news-sharing program.