The Coke Zero Game
- Brand
- Coca-Cola
- Year
- 2008
- Objective
- Awareness
- Industry
- Food & Drink
- Mechanic
- Mini-Games
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- North Kingdom
Objective
Coca-Cola Zero was pushing into the German market and wanted to ride the country's excitement for UEFA EURO 2008, where Coca-Cola was an official sponsor. The brand needed to link Coke Zero to football, action and adrenaline for young men aged 20–29 in Germany, keep them engaged on the promo site, and drive registrations for a ticket-and-prize competition tied to the tournament.
Solution
The player follows a guy named Tim through a live-action video story: he grabs a bottle of Coca-Cola Zero, meets three girls, and races to reach the stadium's VIP area before kickoff. At four points the video hands over control for a quick reaction challenge — timing a jump across a collapsing bridge, keeping a ball up, smashing through walls by striking a ball at them, and playing a giant pinball sequence. Nail the timing and the story cuts to a slicker version of the next scene; miss it and a lesser outcome plays out instead. Registering isn't required to play, but it unlocks extra video scenes and power-ups in the mini-games and enters the player into the EURO 2008 prize draw. The German-language version launched first, with an English version following shortly after.
Results
The game was completed 1,400,000 times, with visitors spending an average of 9.5 minutes on the site. The campaign went on to run in more than ten markets beyond Germany.
- 1
The game opens as a promotional website — originally in German only, later also in English — that launches straight into a movie-style experience rather than a traditional menu.
- 2
Registration is optional: the base version can be completed without it, but signing up unlocks additional video scenes and power-ups within the mini-games.
- 3
An opening video introduces Tim, who buys a bottle of Coca-Cola Zero and is approached by three women promising to show him the "real meaning of life and football"; the player's goal is set as getting Tim to the stadium's VIP area before kickoff.
- 4
Four challenges carry the story forward, each opening with an on-screen control tutorial before the video turns interactive and the player times taps to the action: sprinting and leaping across a collapsing bridge, keeping a ball aloft with kick-ups, striking a ball at targets to smash through walls, and a lengthy, fully Flash-animated pinball sequence that serves as the difficult finale.
- 5
Each challenge closes with a follow-up video showing the outcome of the attempt, with a strong performance unlocking an "Awesome" version of the scene in place of the standard one.
- 6
Once all four challenges are cleared, Tim walks through a door onto the stadium grounds and reaches the VIP area before the match starts, bringing the story to a close.
- 7
Completion feeds into a tie-in contest for UEFA EURO 2008, with players eligible for a "Super-Mega" prize package covering a trip with match tickets and related events.
