The document discusses a case study where Coca-Cola commissioned research to better understand Czech teenage consumers and find a brand story relevant to their local context. Researchers spent weeks living with and observing natural "gangs" of teenagers to document their everyday lives and soft drink consumption habits through photo, video and music elicitation. The resulting report was a patchwork of insights using multimedia to portray teenage life in the subjects' own words. A short documentary was also produced to effectively inform business decisions around Coca-Cola's marketing and positioning with local teenagers.

1. Isthere a placefor Coca-Cola in the „Wild“? Helping Coca-Cola develop deep insight into the Czech teenage consumers 23.9.2010 www.idealisti.eu 1 Case study

2. 16.4.2008 www.idealisti.eu 2 Helping to embed Coca-Cola in the Czech culture Challenge Coca-Cola has been totally integrated into our everyday life. Street stalls, fast-foods, cheap pubs, expensive restaurants or local butchery – it is everywhere. However, in the last few years, walking on Czech streets you could hardly miss the rather overwhelming Kofola shadow hanging over Coca-Cola shiny identity As the measure of authenticity has become an important „I like“ criteria for teens as much as for their mums and dads than ever before, it turned to bea part of DNA of every brand. The authenticity is deeply connected to localness.Kofola, an authentic local brand woven into the cultural fabric of the Czech life, has been not even blurring Coca- Cola´s visual hegemony but also flooding out Coca-Cola´s bridge to hearts of the Czech consumers. “We need to find brand engagement builderrelevant to Czechteens.” Therefore, Coca-Cola was looking for its Charles Bridge to the world of Czech teenagers: a brandstory which would be relevant to the local context. How do the teens in theCzechRepubliclive their everyday life? Are there any regularities in the teenagers´ soft-drinks consumption? How should Coca-Cola live in the lavish semiotic world of teenagers and become its embedded element? Continued on the next page >

3. 16.4.2008 www.idealisti.eu 3 Solution To define Coca-Cola brand story relevant to the Czech teenagers, we decided to dig deeper into the consumer world through ethnologically designed research project. Literally, we packed our backpacks and went into the wild to live with Czech teenagers. We spent several weeks with natural "gangs" of schoolmates and friends who have sharedthe same leisure time activities such as chorus singing or theatre acting - not only Coca- Cola freaks but also Kofola fans. Also, we met teenagers´parents, to search more the gatekeeping system of drinking habits. To minimize the invasive dimension of the research, we leveraged the auto-ethnography as much as possible. Using photo- and video- cameras teenagers monitor their lives independently of us. These visual and audiovisual fragments of their lives were animated and turned into narratives through photo, video and musicelicitation. Of course, focus groups and observation in a pub and a bowling center were not missing. The Result A report featuring a patchwork of colorful and vivid insights using video, photos and lifestyle discourse. “The life has been offering to the teenagers constantly new stuff on daily basis. Coke is just a tiny part of this never ending flow.“ Continued on the next page >

4. 16.4.2008 www.idealisti.eu 4 However, to have the right tool for getting in sync with teenagers, a Powerpointpresentation is not enough. Thus, we produced a short documentary about the life of Czech teenagers in their own words, photos, videos and music. This ethnographic perspective proved to be very effective in both informing the business decision-makers as well as other stakeholders in the process of marketing planning: marcom agencies, trade partners, etc. About Idealisti Today's ideas will become tomorrow's world Not only we (still) have ideals but also we believe that most of what we experience today and what makes up our world has been here yesterday in a form of an idea. We believe in the transformative power of thoughts (in the form of brands, for example), in their power to move also very material and sometimes heavy things like pianos, buildings, cars, jars of face care lotions or even people. We help create and steer brands – ideas which have the ability to animate organizations, infuse consumption with meaning and bring about good things to life. We always do it in dialogue with those in charge of brands (which is just about anyone who has ever heard of the brand) and with the notion that all the ideas-brands will have to compete for their existence in the free arena.