Building association between meals and Coca-Cola has long been one of the key drivers for getting more people reaching for 1+ more Coca-Cola each week.

In 2024, faced with the perennial challenge of getting more people to drink more Coca-Cola each week and growing market share, they needed to double down on being front of mind at mealtime. Their goal was to build positive association between meals and Coca-Cola, and drive engagement around the culture of eating out. When people were thinking about eating out, we wanted them to think of us, because they have a positive emotional connection to meals and Coca-Cola.

Additionally, the goal was to earn media impressions and create buzz on social media by creating a culturally impactful experience.

We turned an icon before the internet, into a food influencer of today. How? Just like any other food influencer. We started with a photo: Marilyn Monroe eating a hot dog at a food cart in 1957. Then, we posted it to our social channels and out of home across New York City.

Each post drove to a one-of-a-kind meal experience that used metahuman tech, music, dance, fashion, and of course food to bring the moment to life.

Influencers flooded the event and turned it into the next big food experience in New York, and made Marilyn Monroe, a 20th century icon, trend in 2024.

So the event could live on, we transformed the location of the activation into the newest landmark in the city. That way, people could continue to eat where Marilyn Monroe ate in the 50’s.

Our target audience? Moment Makers: Gen-Z and Millennials who pay attention to what's hot and what's not in culture and are always connected to the world around them.

For them, needs have shifted from a need for food to a desire for food experiences, and competition from brands to be front of mind at mealtime has become greater than ever.

Social is the cornerstone for moment makers’ new experiences. They look to influencers for inspiration for their next meal; their feeds are where they can become the stars of their own story.

Coca-Cola wanted to lead food culture and elevate the meal experience of people all over the world.

Our approach would be to inspire the world’s next food experiences with iconic food influencers unlocking the opportunity for fans to recreate iconic food and Coca-Cola moments for themselves, celebrating the inextricable link between Coca-Cola and meals.

How did we make Marilyn Monroe Coca-Cola’s newest food influencer? We started with a photo: Of the icon herself eating a hot dog at a food cart in 1957. Then, we posted it to social and OOH across NYC. Each image drove to an event at the same location the photograph was taken. The experience recreated Marilyn’s 1957 New York City through an immersive physical space, metahuman tech, music, dance, and food.

New Yorkers flooded the event, and Marilyn earned millions of impressions and primetime spots in the media, just like she did in the 50’s. The location became the city’s newest landmark, or as we call it a Foodmark.

But we didn’t stop there. We made three more of the biggest icons to ever live, food influencers in our biggest markets. Each with their own event, drawing in thousands and resulting in billions of impressions.

Marilyn Monroe became a food influencer in 2024, proving an icon of the past could influence consumers today. Her event was 100% sold out, earned 82 media placements, and received 99% positive sentiment on social media.

The effort was a part of a larger Foodmarks campaign, with over 1500+ new landmarks created in one month globally, resulting in 2 billion+ impressions. Time Out saw 1.4 million visits. Foodmarks saw a 4.5% engagement rate on content created by 500+ influencers (50% above benchmark).

Preliminary results show that the Meals Occasion share increased by .4% (vs - .1% competitors) - reflecting over $2B estimated market value. US YouGov BrandIndex data showed average buzz at 18.9, attention at 29.3, and purchase intent at 14.7. A year on year gain of 4.7% for buzz , 5.8% for attention, and 2.5 for purchase intent.