Coke Zero Utilizing Partnerships With ESPN, Shazam For College Football-Themed Ads

Coke Zero's "You Don't Know Zero 'Til You've Tried It" campaign "will be refreshed with 10 new football-themed spots" as part of a partnership with ESPN's "College Gameday," according to E.J. Schultz of AD AGE. Several commercials, via Ogilvy, N.Y., "include ESPN personalities such as Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit and will call for viewers to open the Shazam app on their mobile phone and hold it near the ad." The Coke Zero pouring on TV "will appear to pour into a glass on the smartphone and the viewer will be delivered a coupon for a free 20-ounce bottle redeemable at retailers including 7-Eleven, QuickTrip, Speedway and Domino's." A similar "'drinkable' ad, which first ran during the Final Four earlier this year, will also be put into rotation again this fall." As part of the football push, Coke Zero also "plans to bring back the 'drinkable billboard' that debuted at the Final Four in Indianapolis and station it at some of the college campus sites" hosting "GameDay." The 26-by-36-foot billboard is "made to look as if Coke Zero is pouring out of a bottle through 4,500 feet of straw, emptying into a real sampling station on the ground." New elements of the football campaign "include 'drinkable jerseys' that the brand will give to select college students at the 'Gameday' sites" (ADAGE.com, 8/31).

WHEELS TURNING: Herbstreit today in the Wall Street Journal appears in a full-page ad for private aviation company Wheels Up with a quote from Herbstreit that reads, "Wheels Up gets me from Saturday broadcasts to Sunday breakfasts with the kids" (THE DAILY).