Situation:

There are over 200,000 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) living in Toronto, Canada. It’s a hugely culturally diverse country with a fair number of work opportunities. But there are some downsides of being in Canada, too: The cost of living especially in a big city like Toronto is incredibly high. And being so far away from the Philippines, shipping packages is expensive, especially during the holiday season.

Brief:

Coca-Cola’s aim was to understand their consumers all around the world and the role the brand could play in bringing their “Anyone Can Be Santa” platform to more markets. And by targeting the Overseas Filipino Worker community in Toronto, highlight a cultural tradition that doesn’t always receive recognition or representation.

Objective:

Because Coca-Cola is famous for celebrating the holidays, this year they wanted to help Filipinos living in Toronto connect with their families overseas.

Coca-Cola created ‘Balikbayan Magic’, a program helping Overseas Filipino Workers connect with their families during the holidays. To do this, custom Balikbayan Boxes were designed and created, and shipping costs for each box was paid for by the brand.

A film was made promoting the program telling the story of an Overseas Worker who grew up in the Philippines receiving Balikbayan boxes. Now living in Toronto, with our help she could send one back home. We filmed her story as she packed a custom box and spoke about how the program helped her connect with family.

To amplify the program, we shared the story on Filipino media along with an email address: Balikbayan@cocacola.com. We also reached out to the OFW community on social channels so they could join the program and receive a box. And we worked with Atin-Ito, a Toronto-based Filipino company to ship the boxes to the Philippines.

Data gathering:

Helping to alleviate holiday costs (29% higher than the rest of the year) at a time when the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was at an all-time high since 1991, rising 4.5% in 2023.

Target audience:

Overseas Filipino Workers in Toronto’s Filipino community who were preparing to send Balikbayan Boxes back to the Philippines for the holidays. The majority of Overseas Filipino Workers in Canada live in Ontario: three-quarters of the Filipino Canadian population (355,680 people). Toronto has the highest concentration of residents of Filipino ethnic origin.

Approach:

Created a program consisting of custom boxes and create a documentary explaining the program. Connect with the Filipino community on media and social channels so they could reach out directly.

Call To Action:

Overseas workers were encouraged to email an address we created, request a custom Balikbayan box, and arrange a pick-up from Filipino businesses in Toronto.

Implementation:

To implement the "Balikbayan Magic" program we created a supporting film that explained the program, telling the heartwarming story of Balikbayan Boxes and Filipino culture. We launched the program December 18th and broadcast the accompanying film on all social media platforms. On Filipino news outlets in Toronto, we invited members of the Filipino community to participate in the program and receive a box.

Timeline: December 2023

Placement:

-on Coca-Cola’s brand social channels: Facebook/Meta, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube

-FTV channels

-shared amongst Filipino influencers

-through social media of local Filipino businesses in Toronto

Scale:

Starting as a pilot program, two hundred boxes were created and distributed within the Filipino community in Toronto. Demand was so high for the custom boxes that we ran out in the very first week.

-1M Total Media Impressions with 15 Earned Media Placements.

-135 pieces of media coverage.

-Great visibility and engagement on social platforms; best performing post on IG (Coca-Cola Canada) since 2019.

-Global leaders of Coca-Cola have shown high interest in the project and recognized its relevance for the brand

-Balikbayan Magic is now becoming a global program for 2024 and beyond

-Great response from Filipino community: Demand was so high for the custom boxes that we ran out in the very first week