“Open Happiness” says the new Coca Cola campaign. This time again, Nancy Ajram takes center stage and with a new song in store. Antoine Tayyar, Public Affairs and Communication Director for Coca Cola Middle East tells us a bit about the concept and reflects on the challenges for Coca Cola in the Middle East… according to him it’s smooth sailing.

iloubnan.info: In 2005, Nancy Ajram became Coca-Cola's star and official celebrity sponsor and spokesperson for Western Asia and North Africa. Why did you choose her and how does she fit with the image of Coca-Cola?
Antoine Tayyar: Nancy Ajram fits perfectly well the image and values of Coca-Cola, and we believe in local rising talents and we like to accompany them on their journey and contribute to their recognition and success. Nancy is one of the youngest Arab WMA winners and is an important icon of this generation's Arabic music. She has been a rising star year on year and is loved by millions of people across the Arab world. Nancy is appreciated by a large fan base and she represents fresh, young, optimistic, happy and successful messages all of them Coca-Cola values. 

What are the challenges of an integrated marketing campaign?
Integrated marketing communications (IMC) has in the last decade and is now more and more embraced by marketers across the world. IMC campaigns have become popular for many brands but do face many challenges to reach its optimal performance. To have a successful and effective IMC one should focus mainly on integration and cooperation between several different functions and avoid working in silos. The merging of the traditionally separate communication functions of marketing, advertising, and public relations in an effort to unify corporate messages is not always the easiest task. Some of the barriers in addition to the latter are in some cases: insufficient budgets, lack of experienced teams be it in house or on the external agencies side, and shortage in the existence of proper channels and tools to execute and realize the “big idea”. I firmly believe that Creativity is not the issue.

What are going to be the high points of the "Open Happiness “campaign?
‘Open happiness’ is a new concept and a platform we just launched in the Middle East, a call to action that invites people to welcome small moments of joy and happiness into their lives. It metaphorically asks individuals to open their minds and hearts to a positive outlook on life. On a literal level it can be interpreted as the physical opening of a bottle of Coca-Cola. The campaign is global but translated locally and adapted to fit with the local drives. We have seen so far several revelations and sides of the campaign since its launch in May: the special song of Iftah Tefrah by Nancy Ajram, which is gaining large popularity and is likely to enter top positions, to the breaking of a Guinness world record in opening contour bottles with “happiness”, to lately the launch of the summer Coca-Cola Light V.I.A. campaign to win a fully-furnished apartment in Dubai,… There is more to come as you will witness. 

Coca-Cola being a brand often considered to be an American symbol, How do you react to anti-americanism in the Middle-East?
Coca-Cola is over than 120 years old brand present in more than 200 countries and is part of the society, economy and history of all these countries. Though initially invented and launched in the USA, the Coca-Cola products are locally made and in many cases some new brands are developed locally and reflects the local heritage and taste. The Coca-Cola Company and our bottling partners across the world are part of the communities where we operate and we strive to strengthen communities around the world through direct investment, employment, and support for local organizations, communities and worthy causes. 

In the Middle East, The Coca-Cola Company is committed to grow its business both by expanding its product portfolio as well as expanding its business into new markets. The Coca-Cola Company is part of many Arab and Muslim countries a long time ago (in Indonesia since 1954, Malaysia since 1936, Egypt since 1945, Morocco since 1947, and Pakistan since 1953). Though Global we act local and are part of the fabrics of the communities where we operate.