Every month, the world spends 4 million years online. That’s 3 to 4 hours per person a day. And with 1.5 billion smart phone users worldwide, the internet is now accessed anywhere. This addiction is leading to a society that is less and less capable of living in the moment. Coca-Cola wanted to remind the world about something beautiful, which we have almost forgotten about: an undistracted, real moment shared with family and friends.

So we launched the Social Media Guard taking the social out of media and putting it back into life. A quirky device that prevents you from using your phone when you’re with someone else and a reminder for everyone to be more present in the moment. It wasn’t just a tool to be used, it was a communication strategy to wake people up and get them talking about a pressing sociological problem. We caught our audience in the act (40% saw the film on a mobile device) turning the viewing experience into an intervention. This engaged them to share their thoughts immediately on social platforms, which turned into big social debate online and offline in mass media.

Over night, the film became a phenomenon on social media and global news (TIME, CNN, The Guardian, Mashable, Huffington Post...) generating over 2.65 billion unpaid impressions. With 97% favourable sentiment on Facebook (370,000 shares) and twitter (30.2 million impressions), it reconnected people with the brand and made them remember the importance of shared real-life moments for true happiness.

We launched the Social Media Guard with a product film, sent dozens to the press/media/blogs, raffled hundreds off online and activated them on the ground with promotion teams. We wanted to catch our audience in the act with the film: 40% of all viewers saw it on a mobile device which turned the viewing experience into an intervention; our message became much more impactful that way. And it engaged them to share their thoughts immediately with friends on their social platforms, which turned into big social debate online and eventually offline. The Social Media Guard was not just a tool to be used, it was a communication strategy to wake people up and get them talking about a pressing sociological problem. The role of Coca-Cola as the custodian for happiness integrated seamlessly and strengthened the emotional connection with its audience.

Over night, the film made Youtube’s front page and stayed for days, viewed over 7,000,000 times in every country in the world and even shown in full length on Chinese National TV. The Guard became a phenomenon on social media and global news (TIME, CNN, The Guardian, Mashable, Huffington Post...) generating a total of 2.65 billion unpaid impressions. With 97% favorable sentiment on Facebook (370,000 shares) and twitter (30.2 million impressions), it reconnected people with the brand and made them remember the importance of shared real-life moments for true happiness (40% increase of google searches for “social media addiction”).