Coke’s “Together Always” Shows the Long-term Value of Good Ideas

A good idea need never die. Coca-Cola’s latest US ad with Wieden + Kennedy – “Together Always” – is a partial remake of an animated ad shown by Coke in Argentina for the 2006 Football World Cup. The concept is the same, but the specific execution and the animation style has changed with the times.

It still uses sport as its emotional springboard, though. The idea is that the joy when your team scores in a match can bring even rivals and natural enemies together. So we see an animated fly and flyswatter celebrating together, and a woodcutter and tree, a spaceman and an alien and a wolf and a sheep all putting aside their differences and hugging with joy. Finally we see that the game has even brought together the sun and moon. (And all our happy couples have Coca Cola on hand, naturally)

Togetherness is the emotional center of the ad, with Coke swapping the slightly naughty humor of the 00s original with a vibe that’s still funny and entertaining but is also a bit gentler and more heart-warming. As this ad’s not tied to a specific tournament, the football aspect is downplayed a little. The ad’s about football, but not tied to football, with the moments of togetherness being more important than the game which brings them about.

In Orlando Wood’s books on how the brain attends to and processes ads, Lemon and Look Out, these moments of connection – what he calls between-ness – play a vital role in creative effectiveness. The right side of the brain pays attention to relationships and context, and elements of advertising that catch its attention – like glances, gestures and dialogue between characters – are also associated with greater long-term business effects.

So it’s not too surprising that “Together Always” truly shines on the Test Your Ad metric which predicts long-term business impact (given the right investment) – Star Rating. Coke’s ad gets a 4.5-Star Rating, a dramatic improvement on the soft drink US norm of 2.6-Stars.

In our Compound Creativity report, we explore the benefits that creative consistency brings to a brand and business over the long term – including sticking with ideas, investing in assets and reusing successful concepts. New ideas are important, but a brand like Coke also has a vast catalogue of older ideas and concepts waiting to be rediscovered. “Together Always” is a great example – a concept from two decades ago getting a refresh in a new market and proving that it’s just as good second time around.