• by Tameka Kee , June 7, 2007

Move over, MySpace and Facebook. Coca-Cola's Sprite is debuting its own social network, called the Sprite Yard.

The brand's global interactive marketing team is betting that the mobile platform will set new benchmarks for consumer brand engagement.

Launched officially in China on June 1, with plans for a U.S. rollout to start June 22, users connect with the Sprite Yard through any WAP-enabled phone. After texting the word "YARD" to 59666 (LYMON), they are invited to register--and to create a tag name, a profile, and even an avatar. Members of the community can then share pictures, send "Shouts" to their friends, post "Scribbles" to a discussion board, and plan events on a shared calendar.

At the Sprite Yard, users will also have access to "Nuggets" of exclusive downloadable content, from mobisodes (short animated and video content created by Coca-Cola and other media partners) to ringtones. The branding tie-in is designed to drive sales as well as engagement, as content can only be unlocked by using a PIN found under Sprite bottle caps.

"We have some 10 billion bottles of Sprite single-serve worldwide," said Denis Sison, Coca-Cola's global brand director for Sprite. "By giving users access to ever-changing content, the bottle itself becomes part of the experience."

Although the company has not ruled out using traditional platforms such as TV or radio to drive campaign awareness, the program "is definitively mobile-centric," said Mark Greatrex, Coca-Cola's senior vice president of marketing communications and insights. "We are fully committed to transforming the expectations of what can be achieved through a full-scale mobile marketing program."

Measurement metrics have been built into the program, so Coca-Cola can optimize the effectiveness of the campaign in real-time, using statistics ranging from which features consumers are using most, to the volume of content being downloaded, to the direct impact on beverage sales. "And we can act quickly," said Nigel Morris, CEO of Isobar Worldwide, Aegis' digital marketing company which has partnered with Coca-Cola on various interactive efforts.

Input from Isobar was said to be key in ensuring that the Sprite Yard platform was built on mid-range technology that allowed both the widest penetration across carriers and handsets, as well as the scalability to stay in synch with emerging technology.

Coca-Cola saw several specific advantages in "going mobile" with the Sprite Yard community, including the chance to leverage mobile's potential for viral distribution, and fulfillment of Sprite's core consumers' desires for constant connectivity and instant gratification. "It's the perfect match for teens and young adults because we can develop content quickly and keep it fresh," said Shelley de Villiers, Coca-Cola's director of global brand management for Sprite. "But it's designed not to be overbranded. We don't want to alienate our teen advocates."

Coca-Cola has shown a willingness to explore a number of emerging interactive advertising platforms. Its Virtual Thirst campaign, for example, has mobile Web, broadband, and virtual world components.

"The Sprite Yard is not an in and out promotion," Greatrex added. "It's a campaign that we will build and enhance over time. Coca-Cola is pioneering the mobile marketing landscape with Sprite, and ultimately through other efforts with our entire suite of brands."