• by June 11, 2004

Coca-Cola Co.'s C2 low-carb brand is featured today in takeovers of MSN and Yahoo!'s home pages. The one-day page takeovers uses Flash technology and over-the-page animation to playfully lure visitors to C2's low-carb proposition.

Coke says C2 offers half the carbs and half the calories of its regular beverage.

It's not the first time Coke has teamed up with Microsoft Corp.'s MSN. Last year, Coke placed a standard over-the-page ad on MSN.com and did brand integration on My MSN, to support its "Real" campaign effort. "Last year when Coke launched its 'Real' brand campaign, MSN delivered a high-impact takeover of the MSN Homepage and My MSN, resulting in more than 1 million consumers choosing to visit Coke.com to check out the new TV spots at launch," said Gayle Troberman, director of custom solutions for MSN.

MSN says today's page takeover represents the first time an advertiser's brand has been deeply integrated into the MSN home page beyond standard ad units. For example, Coke is integrated into MSN's channel bar, navigation, and the background of the home page. Consumers can engage with C2 without leaving the home page.

Clickable bars marked "Thrilling," "Stimulating," "Crisp," and "Refreshing" invite people to find out more about C2. Viewers can click on a 60-second TV spot for C2 on both the MSN and Yahoo! home pages. The C2 spot features the Rolling Stones song "You Can't Always Get What You Want." The MSN takeover invites viewers to the spot via animation featuring a character who parachutes out of a Coke bottle, surrounded by fizzy bubbles. Copy invites viewers to play the spot to learn more about C2.

C2's presence on Yahoo!'s home page features a different background and design, and a chance to enter a vacation sweepstakes.

"This is the biggest product launch we have done since Diet Coke, and we intend to make a very significant splash as Coca-Cola C2 begins to hit the shelves," said David Raines, vice president, integrated marketing, Coca-Cola North America, in a statement. "MSN's massive audience and unique ad integration allow us to break through the usual media noise and clutter to capture the attention of our target--particularly active adults--in ways that online makes possible."