Coca-Cola Aims to Connect With Teens on Tumblr

Coca-Cola enlisted singer Jason Derulo, the first of five celebrities, to design a Tumblr theme that can be shared and used by others on the social platform.

The campaign is intended to deepen Coke’s relationship with teenagers by offering relevant content that can install on their Tumblr pages, said Stuart Kronauge, senior vice president, Coca-Cola Trademark Brands.

“It’s one more reminder of Coke in their lives,” she said. “It’s almost like a dialogue.”

Coke has not yet determined which other celebrities will participate. But the idea is to tap famous people that connect with teens and music, she said.

Derulo’s theme launched May 24. It is available on Coca-Cola’s Tumblr and in the Tumblr Theme Garden. As of mid-day Thursday, it had eight downloads, three “likes,” and two “reblogs.”

Derulo (on the right) worked with digital marketing agency 360i to build his theme. According to 360i, Derulo provided input on things like his favorite city, beloved piece of clothing, and the significance behind his tattoos. The resulting theme is based on a feather and music notes from one of his tattoos. It also includes lyrics from his latest song, “Undefeated,” which was first performed during the American Idol finale as part of the Coca-Cola Perfect Harmony program.

Perfect Harmony asked American Idol fans to collaborate with Derulo to create a new song through four submission and voting phases. Thousands of lyrics were submitted. Following each submission phase, Coca-Cola and Derulo selected the top three lyrics and then fans voted for their favorite. The lyric with the most votes was then incorporated into the song.

Kronauge said “Undefeated” was downloaded 10,000 times in 16 minutes; 25,000 free song downloads were available. As of Thursday, the Perfect Harmony page on AmericanIdol.com was out of free downloads.

360i handles social strategy and community management for Coca-Cola. The initiative comes after Coca-Cola launched its Happiness is Tumblr feature in December 2011.