Coca-Cola Kicked Off World Cup Promotion in the Middle East

Images or text can be printed onto the beverage can tabs, either on top of the tab to be immediately visible to consumers or hidden underneath. Colored tabs can also be used to enhance differentiation and capture consumer attention on the shelf.

1/26/2011 --- Coca-Cola launched its 2010 FIFA World Cup promotion on beverage cans using laser-etched tabs from Crown Bevcan Europe & Middle East, a business unit of Crown Holdings, Inc. The promotion offered consumers the chance to win a range of football-related prizes that were only revealed once the can was opened. The promotion started a month before the World Cup and ran throughout the duration of the event on Coke and Fanta brands in countries in the Middle East including Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Crown’s laser-etched tabs gave a surprise instant-win to consumers, but only after they opened the can and pulled up the tab. Prize names were printed on the bottom of the tab and included an all inclusive trip to a World Cup quarter final match, as well as a range of footballs, vuvuzelas (a plastic trumpet or blowing horn), and McDonald’s vouchers.

“Working with Crown, we were able to develop a fun promotion that engaged consumers with our brands by capturing the thrill and excitement of the World Cup in every can,” said Arno Nortje, Mebu Supply Chain Manager, Coca-Cola. “Crown was the only supplier in the Middle East able to provide us with this unique technology and expertise to take our promotion to market.”

Crown’s laser-etched tabs offer a great tool for distinctive beverage can promotions and are ideal for co-branding campaigns, enhancing communications with customers, and driving website traffic. Images or text can be printed onto the beverage can tabs, either on top of the tab to be immediately visible to consumers or hidden underneath. Colored tabs can also be used to enhance differentiation and capture consumer attention on the shelf.

“This is the first time that laser-etched tabs have been used in the Middle East,” said Caroline Archer, Marketing Director, CROWN Bevcan Europe & Middle East. “Thanks to the successful cross-border coordination between the teams at Crown, we are able to offer similar marketing possibilities to beverage brands around the world.”