Source: TheDrum
Coca-Cola is centralizing its social media operations under the Publicis umbrella, TheDrum reports. In a move to consolidate its social media marketing for all its brands, Coca-Cola is creating the North American Social Center in a move The Drum calls “less a shift in the traditional agency model and more a course correction to how things should function as brands reach social media maturity.”
North American Social Center will have a staff of around 55, including in-house marketers from Coca-Cola and ad agency professionals from Publicis’ Moxie, Havas and Possible. This team will manage all tasks related to social media marketing for all Coca-Cola brands.
According to The Drum, Possible is taking the lead on the strategic side, utilizing its “empathy model” to measure social audiences’ reactions to trending events and help the brand respond in real-time.
“We are continuously looking for new and innovative ways to connect people with our brands. We recently adopted a global Coca-Cola system approach to how we plan, create and execute real-time social media marketing in the U.S.,” a Coca-Cola spokesperson told The Drum. “With our agency partners, we are growing our social media expertise in-house and centralizing operations.”
With this move Coca-Cola aims to ensure consistency of message across brands, and to cut its social media marketing costs. The move comes amidst rumors that its chief competitor, Pepsi, is reportedly taking its social media business in-house. It also arrives on the heels of Coca-Cola launching a review for its Diet Coke brand after Droga5 resigned the account.
