O&M Shanghai’s Fanta

 ASIA-PACIFIC – SHANGHAI, CHINA, APRIL 4, 2011 – In its most unified and largest global marketing campaign to date, Fanta brings fun to mainland China with the launch of Fanta’s 9th Class campaign – created in partnership with Ogilvy & Mather Shanghai.

 

The brand’s global theme "Less Serious” was first launched in New York in 2007, and in 2011 it will reach teens worldwide in regions representing 90 percent of the brand’s global sales volume. 

 

For the China market, Ogilvy Shanghai proposed the 9th Class idea as a way to engage students in the bubbly Fanta world after they finish sitting through eight long school lessons which are the norm in China. To bring this idea to life, Ogilvy transformed www.Fanta.com.cn into a wildly creative place where teens are invited to take part in unconventional experiments related to Fanta products, live on the internet. Learning continues but in a less serious way.

 

“Fanta 9th Class leverages the global creative assets whilst executing a local digital idea that is tailor-made for Chinese teens. We hope it will enhance our connection with our target audience on their own terms,” said Richard Wang, Brand Director of the Fanta brand at Coca-Cola.

 

The first experiment: how does an orange squeeze itself?

 

Teens across China will try to solve the experiment together, live, online. By clicking a button on the campaign site, Chinese consumers will see Orange Man throwing an orange into a giant bowl, an experiment on how an orange squeezes itself.

 

The goal is to make the bottom orange squeeze, and with the physics, geometry knowledge and life experience they have acquired, Chinese teens are to estimate the magic moment when inner pressure squeezes the orange.

 

Thousands of prizes will be awarded along the way at random to those who participate in the big fun guess. The Grand Prize – an RMB9999 scholarship (tying into the 9th

 

Class theme) – will be awarded to the lucky and smart student whose orange finally manages to squeeze the juice. A second scholarship of RMB999 will be given to the student who guesses the exact number of oranges it took to complete the feat. 
 

About the local approach, Chris Reitermann, President of O&M Group Shanghai and OgilvyOne Greater China, said, “We did not want to hang from the rafters shouting about Fanta’s new taste and formula. We wanted to create an environment that Chinese teens found intriguing and fun in an unconventional way – and they get the brand news through this live experiment. And most importantly, because it is relevant to their lives and emotions, we hope they will keep coming back for more.”

 

Even before the official debut, Fanta’s 9th Class campaign has already seen great success with its test website which launched March 25, 2011 and which already has more than 2 million page views.

 

Platforms include broadcast commercials, website, digital banners and in-store displays. The campaign will run in China until May 2011.

 

CREDITS

Project title: The 9th Class

Client: Fanta

Creative agency: Ogilvy & Mather Group/Shanghai

Video production house: sHot One Film Studio

Website production: ADTVC Production

Flash animation: Ogilvy & Mather Group/Shanghai