Too often we talk about individual channels or properties rather than how they interact with each other. This entry shows that at the place where different apps (TikTok, IG and Food Service Aggregators) cross-over is a rich vein of insight and opportunity where brands can build competitive advantage.

It’s within these intersections that we were able to embed Coke into more meal occasions and recruit an increasingly hard-to-convert youth audience. Thai GenZ are becoming 'social foodies' where the conversation around food is as important as the meal. Coke turned these conversations into real-time consumption occasions to deliver

70% of drinking occasions in South-East Asia are associated with meals, yet only 1 in 10 meal occasions have a Coke in it. Finding a way to get a Coke into all of these occasions in Thailand represented an opportunity of 245 bn THB annually.

Given the average Thai Coke drinker is 35, we needed a new way to recruit GenZ, create moments of connections through food and elevate Coke’s role in that experience.

In response to the pandemic, Thai GenZ's dining habits have shifted towards home-dining, with a 22% increase in 2022. Recognising this trend, Coke looked to capitalise on the Coke with Meal moments through food delivery services to connect with this demographic.

The context of eating among Thai GenZ extends beyond mere meal pairing. Coke identified a significant cultural shift: Thai GenZ are becoming "Social Foodies." For them, the essence of dining transcends the meal or its flavours; it is about the joy of engaging in conversations that food and drink can spark. Food serves as a connector within Thai GenZ culture, fostering conversations, socialisation, trends, and shared moments online.

Therefore, Coke's strategy had to evolve from simple food-pairing to enhancing the dining experience by promoting the conversations that meals can inspire and bringing real joy to every meal.

Coke has historically been a popular choice during meal occasions in Thailand, particularly with Millennials and GenZ. However, the past year saw a decline in core equity measures such as ‘goes well with food’. This was due to a combination of a cluttered market, with brands going after meal pairing and a diversification of consumer tastes.

The objective was to boost the consumption of Coke during meals by reinforcing mealtime rituals among Thai GenZ, and to enhance brand engagement with this demographic.

Objectives:

- Strengthen the association of Coke with social dining occasions

- Increase brand engagement during meals

- Encourage the purchase of combo meals that include Coke

Social media has transformed a generation’s relationship with food. Food-related content is the third largest category across social channels in Thailand.

The inspiration they see on social from friends and influencers has created a desire to try new kinds of food on new occasions and fuelled the desire to be the first to try something new.

The speed of adoption of food delivery services (+8.3% user growth 2024-2023) has closed the gap between appetite and fulfilment with a population wanting immediate satiation.

This gave us an insight we could leverage: What if our consumers could truly experience the recipes they saw on social media? What if they were able to taste the food their favourite influencers prepared? What if we could make social media meals accessible to all?

The opportunity lay in dissolving the boundaries between consuming food content in a virtual setting and physically eating and savouring it.

Coke Kitchen enabled Young Adults and GenZ to experience the favourite recipes of social opinion leaders through a unique collaboration between Coke, Thailand’s hottest young stars, dark kitchens and food service aggregators (FSAs).

Recognising that Thai GenZ are becoming ‘social foodies’ who value conversations over meals, we collaborated with one of Thailand’s hottest up-and-coming stars to create their own special menus based on social conversation topics.

We did more than just publicise celebrity recipes though, we made their ‘Recipes for Magic’ available for immediate order via the world’s first cloud kitchen – aptly named Coke Kitchen.

Consumers were invited to order the recipes from Coke Kitchen via Thailand’s biggest FSAs, bringing our influencers’ creations directly to the home table.

Coke delivered a disruptive online-to-offline experience that sparked conversation and engaged GenZ through collaborations with seven influencers who embody various conversation topics. They created unique menus:

- Socialising over the meal: "Gossiping Spaghetti" enhanced the dining experience, pairing GenZ's favourite dish with joyful conversations among friends.

- Relationship talks: "Crazy in Love Ribs", a flavourful meat dish, brought relationship discussions to the table.

- Inclusivity: "Dare to be Noodle" by a renowned LGBT singer, encouraged diners to express their true selves.

- Trending topics: "Zombie Chicken Fried Rice" added zest to discussions about trending horror movies.

These were available to order from 19 Coke Social Kitchens, enabling quick delivery through Thailand’s 4 biggest delivery apps, taking the food from social media straight to the table.

This was amplified across influencer, paid social, digital outdoor and FSA promotion. It culminated in a live meet and greet with lead influencer PP Krit.

We made meals truly magical across Thailand with Coke Kitchen, turning social hunger into an unmissable eating occasion – delivered in just minutes.

In addition to the 114 million impressions delivered across Thai social networks, our 'Gossiping Spaghetti' became a social phenomenon as people tried and shared their own home-cooked versions inspired by the original recipe.

The dishes were so popular they sold out, with 28,000 orders placed for the combo set with Coke via food delivery, more than doubling the FSA incidence rate.

We more than achieved our sales objective with a +2.8% increase in GenZ consumption, and brand equity and association with meals increased by +30%, an unprecedented increase in the market. “Coke complements my food” consumer metrics grew to 29.8% Oct’23 3MMT (+7.4pts vs Oct’ 22).

And importantly, we truly delivered on our core insight - #ARecipeforMagic trended at No. 2 on X.