As a key sponsor of this year's Dubai Summer Surprises, Coca-Cola rolled out numerous campaigns to reach out to audiences in UAE. In an interview with the Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment media centre, Antoine Tayyar, Public Affairs and Communications Director, Coca-Cola, Middle East, says that this approach worked significantly well for the brand this summer.
Coca - Cola has stepped up again this year to support Dubai Summer Surprises, what were the reasons behind this strategic decision?
Dubai Summer Surprises offers a refreshing angle to the summertime in the UAE, and brings people together to enjoy their time and experience happiness wherever they may choose to go. This strongly reflects the Coca-Cola philosophy and is the main reason behind our partnership. Together we aim to bring happiness and the spirit of festivity to Dubai and all its visitors. DSS is a pioneer in the regions' festival industry, and we are delighted to offer our support and be an official partner.
How do you think this cooperation has benefited you?
The cooperation has opened doors for both partners, and has enabled us all to reach farther out into the UAE community with new activities and opportunities that will refresh the summer experience and add an extra flavour to the atmosphere.
Coca Cola has launched several campaigns in the past 2 years, such as the Happiness Campaign, the re-launch of the old-shaped bottle, the world cup campaign and others. How successful were these campaigns?
We have been fortunate in communicating with fans all over the region in our effort to spread happiness during the most important moments in history, whether that be during the summer or during the most important sports event of the year. We were delighted to touch the hearts of the region during the launch of the Open Happiness campaign in 2009, where we broke the record for the most bottles opened at one time, and again when we brought to audiences worldwide the World Cup anthem 'Wavin' Flag' or 'Shaga3 B3allamak' through Somalian artist K'naan and Arab superstar Nancy Ajram.
Has the global financial slow down affected Coca Cola sales world wide, and What was the strategy that was used by Coca Cola to face the economic slowdown?
Despite the Global slowdown we remained intently focused on working across our system to execute our key strategic priorities and to generate long-term sustainable growth. We are the most geographically diverse company in the world. We produce in 200 countries; our products are not exported which makes our business somehow different. We are fortunate to be in an industry which continued to witness growth and we can say that in today's environment, we still have a great business. We offer moments of pleasure and refreshment for cents—billions of times a day. We are not selling expensive luxury products where consumers might pause and think twice before buying.
