This audio is generated automatically. Please let me know if you have any comments.
The holidays are coming. This means a flood of seasonal advertising campaigns from major consumer brands and retailers. Leading the way is Coca-Cola, a brand whose advertising is inextricably linked with depictions of Christmas and Santa Claus, as it has for nearly 100 years.
But for the second year in a row, Coca-Cola is looking to cutting-edge technology to update its longstanding holiday advertising tradition. This week the brand launched a “new, optimized version” of “Holidays Are Coming,” an ad developed with generative artificial intelligence (AI) that debuted last year (a remake of the 1995 ad).
While the new ad is again facing backlash, Coca-Cola is committed to its AI-powered holiday approach, especially since the ad “did well on the charts” among consumers, according to Islam ElDessouky, Coca-Cola’s global vice president of creative strategy and content.
“Of course there is noise and people talking and criticizing, but this is one of the best tested advertisements of all time.” Eldesuki said. “The public, the audience, doesn’t necessarily have to look behind the technology. They just see and respond to the stories they accept.”
Using AI, along with achieving high scores on key metrics like relevance and transaction conversions, Coca-Cola has been able to leverage a “timeless and timely” framework that balances fundamental brand values with the desire to experiment and innovate. This risk-taking approach has been fueled by advances in generative AI technologies, such as OpenAI’s GPT-5, that did not exist last year.
“To be honest, we will continue to work hard,” ElDessouky said of AI, “because with AI you can get measurements, metrics, business results, and at the same time learn how to do things differently.” “If we don’t push ourselves and expand our comfort zone, people will just move on without us and we want them to move with us.”
Balancing Brand Needs
Along with the AI-generated “Holidays Are Coming” commercial, Coca-Cola’s larger-scale “Refresh Your Holidays” campaign includes a separate, more traditional 30-second TV spot that balances the brand’s three essentials: product focus, focus on holiday heroes, and connections to past holiday activities.
“A Holiday Memory” does all three, telling the story of a mother who celebrates the season reminiscing about past celebrations and rewarding herself with a classic Coke. The inclusion of a snow globe is a nod to last year’s campaign’s digital experience, which turned an AI-assisted “conversation” with Santa into a personalized snow globe asset for social media.
“We wanted to show (the snow globe) because it’s a brand that lives on every holiday season. Everything is continuous. We don’t necessarily leave an idea or leave anything. It’s all part of our big bank of assets,” ElDessouky explained.
“A Holiday Memory” will run in North America, Latin America and Asia South Pacific markets. It’s a global approach that demonstrates how Coca-Cola is working to personalize and localize campaigns at scale for both its flagship and other brands in its portfolio.
This approach requires deep listening to diverse market insights and human insights, connections and partnerships between media teams. Research has shown that while different groups have a connection to Coca-Cola and Christmas, they all have different needs and desires that need to be creatively combined. The brand then validates the creative execution before launch and analyzes sentiment once the ads hit the market.
“Does this actually translate into conversions, either deals or deals and associations? We prefer the latter, but even if you only get deals or associations, it’s still a step in the right direction,” ElDessouky said.
large scale marketing
Beyond TV advertising, ‘Refresh Your Holidays’ will be broadcast across online video, digital, out-of-home, social media, in-store and pack channels. The multichannel effort, developed by WPP Open
For holiday campaigns, culture includes public-facing venues and out-of-home advertising, while commerce is how the campaign comes to life in retail channels. Where communities or audiences get involved includes everything from CRM programs, creator collaborations, and experiential activations. The latter includes the brand’s Christmas truck tours in November and December, which ElDessouky said are particularly important in reaching younger audiences.
This executive said, “Truck tours are actually a good thing that only Coca-Cola can do.” “A lot of brands have assets that are synonymous with the brand, like trucks. If you don’t leverage that… it’s a crime because when you have an asset, you have to push it.”
From trucks to Santa Claus and polar bears, Coca-Cola’s holiday assets remain a core part of its marketing strategy, especially in the age of generative AI. The company sees this technology as a way to discover new insights and ways to engage that might not be found any other way.
“People are liking it so much that we may start working on something that will be our own Labubu,” ElDessouky said, referring to the viral plushie. “If you land on something like that, it can become your asset, just like we landed on Santa Claus and the truck. You’re not going to add more to the brand without pushing the envelope.”
