Coca-Cola unveiled a new global ad strategy on December 8. The company wants to change its image and increase profits. There is a new slogan: “Welcome to the Coke side of life.” It replaces the three-year-old “Make it real” campaign, which analysts say was unsuccessful, despite a billion dollars of advertising. Coke is returning to its roots with the new campaign. There is a strong focus on the iconic shape of the old-fashioned Coke bottle. There will also be different versions of the slogan to reflect cultural tastes and lifestyles. These will be fine-tuned to specific markets.

Coke CEO Neville Isdell said the new global ad strategy should return the company to its former glories within eighteen months. Coke’s shares have lost almost 20 percent in value under Isdell’s control. He admitted that Coke needed to be more innovative. He has created new drinks and appointed a new marketing chief, Mary Minnick, to help the global brand. She outlined three new themes to appeal to customers – enjoyment, comfort and nutrition. She said: “We want Coke brands to be…an integral part of consumers’ everyday lives.” In January, Coca-Cola Blak, a cola-coffee blend, will start Coke’s new strategy.

WARM-UPS

1. COKE SEARCH: Talk to as many other students as you about Coca-Cola. After you have talked to lots of students, sit down with your partner(s) and share your information. Tell each other what you thought was interesting or surprising. What do you think of the Coca-Cola Company?

2. COKE SLOGANS: Coca-Cola always changes its slogans. What do you think about these past and present slogans? Why were they chosen?

1. “The ideal brain tonic.” (1893)
2. “Universal symbol of the American way of life.” (1943)
3. “Hello Coke.” (1944)
4. “Coke time.” (1954)
5. “Coke... after Coke... after Coca-Cola.” (1966)
6. “It’s the real thing.” (1970)
7. “I’d like to buy the world a Coke.” (1971)
8. “Welcome to the Coke side of life.” (2006)

3. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.

Coca-Cola / slogans / profits / campaigns / roots / the bright side of life / Coke bottles / innovation / enjoyment / comfort / nutrition / coffee-flavored cola

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

4. MY COLA LIFE: In pairs / groups, talk about your history with cola drinks. Did you drink a lot when you were a kid? Do you prefer Coke or Pepsi? Are you worried about colas being unhealthy?

5. FAMOUS SLOGANS: Discuss these slogans with your partner(s). Do you like them? Why are they good? Would (Do) they work in your country?

1. “Don’t leave home without it.” – American Express
2. “Just do it.” – Nike
3. “The ultimate driving machine.” - BMW
4. “Think different.” – Apple Computer
5. “Heineken refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach.” – Heineken
6. “A diamond is forever.” - DeBeers
7. “Put a tiger in your tank.” - Esso
8. “Say it with flowers.” - Interflora

6. COCA-COLA: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with Coca-Cola. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	Coke’s new slogan is to help its image and increase profits.	T / F
b.	The new slogan is “Welcome to the fizzy side of life”.	T / F
c.	Coke is going back to its roots with its new ad strategy.	T / F
d.	Coke’s taste will be fine-tuned for the global market as a whole.	T / F
e.	Coke’s CEO said it would take 18 years to return to former glories.	T / F
f.	Coke’s CEO said the company has lacked innovativeness.	T / F
g.	Coke wants its drinks to be an integral part of consumers’ daily lives.	T / F
h.	Coke has produced a new cola-flavored coffee drink.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.	unveiled	installed
b.	increase	advertisement
c.	roots	mirror
d.	old-fashioned	revealed
e.	reflect	boost
f.	ad	launch
g.	former	basic
h.	appointed	origins
i.	integral	previous
j.	start	traditional

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

a.	The company wants to change its	roots with the new campaign
b.	unsuccessful, despite	to appeal to customers
c.	Coke is returning to its	a billion dollars of advertising
d.	the iconic shape of the	almost 20 percent in value
e.	different versions of the slogan	to its former glories
f.	return the company	marketing chief
g.	Coke’s shares have lost	image and increase profits
h.	appointed a new	old-fashioned Coke bottle
i.	She outlined three new themes	everyday lives
j.	an integral part of consumers’	to reflect cultural tastes

WHILE READING / LISTENING

WHOOPS: Delete the five incorrect words from the eight in bold in each paragraph. Think of better replacements.

Coca-Cola unveils new global ad strategy

Coca-Cola unveiled a new global ad strategy on December 8. The company wants to change its damage and increase profits. There is a new slog: “Welcome to the Coke side of life.” It replaces the three-year-old “Make it real” campaign, which analysts say was unsuccessful, despite a billion dollars of advertising. Coke is returning to its boots with the new campaign. There is a strong focus on the iconic shape of the old-fashioned Coke bottle. There will also be different verses of the slogan to reflect cultural tastes and lifestyles. These will be fine-tuned to space markets.

Coke CEO Neville Isdell said the new global bad strategy should return the company to its farmer glories within eighteen months. Coke’s shares have lost almost 20 percent in value under Isdell’s control. He admitted that Coke needed to be more innovative. He has created new drinks and appointed a new marketing chef, Mary Minnick, to help the global brand. She outlined three new themes to appeal to customers – enjoyment, comfort and nutrition. She said: “We want Coke bands to be…an integral part of consumers’ weekend lives.” In January, Coca-Cola Blak, a cola-coffee blend, will start Coke’s new strategy.

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Coca-Cola unveils new global ad strategy

Coca-Cola unveiled a new global ad strategy on December 8. The company wants to change its ______ and increase profits. There is a new _______: “Welcome to the Coke side of life.” It replaces the three-year-old “Make it real” campaign, which ________ say was unsuccessful, despite a billion dollars of advertising. Coke is returning to its _______ with the new campaign. There is a strong focus on the ________ shape of the old-fashioned Coke bottle. There will also be different versions of the slogan to ________ cultural tastes and lifestyles. These will be fine-tuned to specific markets.

Coke CEO Neville Isdell said the new global ad strategy should return the company to its ________ glories within eighteen months. Coke’s shares have lost almost 20 percent in value under Isdell’s ________. He admitted that Coke needed to be more innovative. He has created new drinks and ___________ a new marketing _______, Mary Minnick, to help the global brand. She outlined three new themes to appeal to customers – enjoyment, comfort and nutrition. She said: “We want Coke brands to be…an __________ part of consumers’ everyday lives.” In January, Coca-Cola Blak, a cola-coffee _______, will start Coke’s new strategy.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘global’ and ‘slogan’.

• Share your findings with your partners.
• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. WHOOPS: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. STUDENT “SLOGAN” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about Coca-Cola’s new slogan and the slogans of other brands.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

image welcome unsuccessful roots bottle fine-tuned

former shares innovative appointed integrated blend

DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
2. Do you think the Coca-Cola Company is good at marketing?
3. What do you think of the “Welcome to the Coke side of life” slogan?
4. Do you think Coke is right to refocus on its iconic bottle?
5. What makes a good slogan?
6. What are some of your favorite slogans and why do you like them?
7. What slogans in your own language do you think are good?
8. Can you think of any bad slogans?
9. How do you think Coke can make its brands “an integral part in consumers’ everyday lives”?
10. Why has Coca-Cola spelled its new product “Blak” - without the “c”? Do you think this is good?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What do you think about what you read?
3. If you had a slogan to market yourself, what would it be?
4. What do you think is interesting about slogans?
5. Do you think there’s an art to designing a good slogan?
6. Do you think good slogans can only be created by innovative and creative advertising executives?
7. Why do you think Coke changes its slogan every two or three years?
8. What does “Welcome to the Coke side of life” say?
9. Will you try the new Coca-Cola Blak?
10. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
2. Was there a question you didn’t like?
3. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
4. What did you like talking about?
5. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

FINAL SLOGAN: You are a marketing executive for the Coca-Cola Company. You must choose one of the eight slogans below to be Coke’s final slogan, which it will use forever. Discuss each slogan in relation to the criteria below.

1. “The ideal brain tonic.”
2. “Universal symbol of the American way of life.”
3. “Hello Coke.”
4. “Coke time.”
5. “Coke... after Coke... after Coca-Cola.”
6. “It’s the real thing.”
7. “I’d like to buy the world a Coke.”
8. “Welcome to the Coke side of life.”

Criteria:

1. A good slogan is memorable.
2. A good slogan includes a key benefit of the product or service
3. A good slogan puts the product in a higher position than its competitor products.
4. A good slogan makes people instantly recognize the brand name.
5. A good slogan gives the consumer positive feelings about the brand.
6. A good slogan cannot be copies and used by a competitor.

For Discussion:

• Change partners. Explain your choice and reasons for deciding on your slogan.
• If your choices are different, try to persuade each other to accept your choice.
• If your choices are the same, explain why the other slogans weren’t as good.
• Return to your original partner(s). Make a presentation on why you believe your choice of slogan is best.
• Give your presentations to the class.
• In pairs / groups, discuss the presentations and vote for the best one.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information on the Coca-Cola Company. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson. Did you all find out similar things?

3. SLOGAN CREATION: Make a poster explaining how to make a good slogan. Include examples of good and bad slogans from real companies to illustrate your points. Explain why the slogans in your poster are good or bad. Show your posters to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all think of similar things?

4. MY SLOGAN: Create a slogan to market yourself. Write your reasons for choosing the slogan. Show your slogan to your classmates in the next lesson. Do they think it’s an effective slogan?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. T

b. F

c. T

d. F

e. F

f. T

g. T

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	unveiled	revealed
b.	increase	boost
c.	roots	origins
d.	old-fashioned	traditional
e.	reflect	mirror
f.	ad	advertisement
g.	former	previous
h.	appointed	installed
i.	integral	basic
j.	start	launch

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	The company wants to change its	image and increase profits
b.	unsuccessful, despite	a billion dollars of advertising
c.	Coke is returning to its	roots with the new campaign
d.	the iconic shape of the	old-fashioned Coke bottle
e.	different versions of the slogan	to reflect cultural tastes
f.	return the company	to its former glories
g.	Coke’s shares have lost	almost 20 percent in value
h.	appointed a new	marketing chief
i.	She outlined three new themes	to appeal to customers
j.	an integral part of consumers’	everyday lives

WHOOPS:

Coca-Cola unveils new global ad strategy

Coca-Cola unveiled a new global ad strategy on December 8. The company wants to change its image and increase profits. There is a new slogan: “Welcome to the Coke side of life.” It replaces the three-year-old “Make it real” campaign, which analysts say was unsuccessful, despite a billion dollars of advertising. Coke is returning to its roots with the new campaign. There is a strong focus on the iconic shape of the old-fashioned Coke bottle. There will also be different versions of the slogan to reflect cultural tastes and lifestyles. These will be fine-tuned to specific markets.

Coke CEO Neville Isdell said the new global ad strategy should return the company to its former glories within eighteen months. Coke’s shares have lost almost 20 percent in value under Isdell’s control. He admitted that Coke needed to be more innovative. He has created new drinks and appointed a new marketing chief, Mary Minnick, to help the global brand. She outlined three new themes to appeal to customers – enjoyment, comfort and nutrition. She said: “We want Coke brands to be…an integral part of consumers’ daily lives.” In January, Coca-Cola Blak, a cola-coffee blend, will start Coke’s new strategy.

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