In the Middle East, Coca-Cola is still competing for the position of market leader. In 2014, we set out to increase brand love amongst one of the UAE's largest consumer segments... South Asians. In a segment usually targeted with basic freebies and generic prizes, we needed an insight that our target could truly relate to.

We found that majority of the segment was made up of blue collar workers who leave their families back home and come to the country to work for a better future often on extremely low wages. So we created the Hello Happiness Phone Booths booths powered by Coca-Cola bottle caps to help connect these workers to their families more often.

The booths were installed in labour camps across the country and logged over 140,000 minutes, while an online video took the activation further with more than 14,000 tweets, 45,000 shares and 67,000 likes on social media. With over 820 million media impressions and an estimated PR value of more than 1.5 million dollars, Coca-Cola saw a 13.55% increase in brand love, as well as 6.7% more weekly drinkers amongst South Asians in the UAE.

Though the booths were placed in labour camps to speak specifically to our target, the online video helped contribute to the overall brand image of Coca-Cola, reaching consumers from multiple tiers and around the world. The brand promise of 'open happiness' was ignited in a unique and insightful way, and organically extended across a wide range of platforms.

The bottles were distributed at the Dubai International Airport on the 22nd December, and a video of the activity was shared online soon after. The video went on to spread the happiness even further, quickly getting noticed by online publications and on social media around the world.

100 bottles of happiness were given to passengers on their way home for the holidays to the Philippines, India and Pakistan – totaling in 2,500 kilos of free excess baggage. A video of the activation was then shared online, taking it even further on social media, especially amongst South Asians, with over 1 million views. Several local and international websites and online publications also covered the activity.