Coca-Cola™ Nigeria launches first new campaign since lockdown: “Open Like Never Before”

Coca-Cola Nigeria launches a new campaign, “Open Like Never Before”, its first since Covid-19 changed the world in so many ways.

Coca-Cola in Nigeria temporarily suspended all planned marketing activity in April, redirecting resources towards communities and supporting its most affected retail partners. Alongside its bottling partners and The Coca-Cola Foundation, the company pledged to donate more than $100m globally to organisations leading local relief efforts. In Nigeria, it has provided a grant to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to help curb the spread of COVID-19 across Nigeria. This partnership with the IFRC impacts 1.3 million people in Nigeria and other countries in the region.

Now, Coca-Cola is returning to air in Nigeria with a new campaign – “Open Like Never Before” which marks a time of cultural and social change. It begins with a manifesto written specifically for Coca-Cola by award-winning spoken word artist, George The Poet.

That manifesto is founded in the promise of new possibilities discovered through lockdown and calls on us all to be “Open, Like Never Before” and to appreciate all that we have around us. The words of George encourage us to be “open to change”, to appreciate things from a new perspective and to find opportunities in this ‘new normal’.

Speaking on the thought process behind the campaign, the Integrated Marketing Communications Director for Coca-Cola West Africa, Monali Shah said: “Open Like Never Before is founded in the belief that we do not have to go ‘back’ to normal. Instead, we can all move forward and make the world not just different, but better. It supports and celebrates our retail partners too, including local hotels, cafes and restaurants, many of whom will be reopening their doors to communities after a very challenging time for the industry, but who have always been at the heart of our social fabric.”

As part of this campaign, Coca-Cola is also running a #BuyNearby initiative in support of local stores, in appreciation of their role in easing the pressures of lockdown by staying open with everyday essentials

Also, through the ad generator platform, Coca-Cola will help these small businesses develop ads on digital to promote their restaurant, bar, or shop, using the creative message of the Open Like Never Before campaign.

Open Like Never Before is, therefore, more than a campaign. It is a manifestation of Coca-Cola’s belief that we can all emerge stronger. It is an extension of the brand’s purpose of uplifting people to unite and bridge divides across communities and societies.