SINGAPORE – Coca-Cola has taken to the skies in a first for the brand globally, using drones to deliver ‘Happiness from the Skies’ to Singapore’s large pool of guest workers.
Believed to be the first initiative of its kind in Singapore, the remote-controlled #CokeDrones dropped off red boxes filled with ice-cold cans of the beverage and words of encouragement to more than 2,500 guest workers atop the city’s high-rise construction sites.
Ogilvy & Mather Singapore conceptualized the initiative for its client Coca-Cola and supported by non-profit organization, Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM).
SKM volunteers had reached out to thousands of Singaporeans during an earlier activation phase to provide personalized messages of support, thanks and solidarity with guest workers.
A total of 2,374 photos of the individuals along with their handwritten notes were collected and attached to each can. Boxes of cans were then loaded onto custom-designed remote-controlled delivery drones, which were flown, in some cases, to as high as the 35th story of construction sites to deliver encouragement and refreshments to the unsuspecting workers.
“When Ogilvy came to us with the innovative idea of combining Coke with drone technology to connect two segments of the community, who rarely interact, to share a special moment of happiness, we could not resist the temptation to give it a go,” said Leonardo O’Grady, Coca-Cola Singapore’s ASEAN director of integrated marketing communications.
Ogilvy’s Asia Pacific chief creative officer Eugene Cheong said the campaign had forced “us to completely re-evaluate our perceptions of drones that are so often associated with negative news reports and violence” by using the technology in a new, creative and entirely unexpected way.
Regulatory hurdles have limited drone use in major marketers like the US but media and marketing are looking at ways to deploy the technology in delivering new ad formats or in campaigns.
