Coca-Cola’s latest campaign by Wieden+Kennedy features illustrations and imagery with a hug at their heart

The first global campaign under Coca-Cola’s Real Magic platform, “One Coke Away From Each Other,” hopes to unite and uplift its customers, but with renewed relevance for the world we live in today. The concept was created by Wieden+Kennedy whilst the visual identity came from the agency Known Unknown, and North England-based independent design studio Kenyon Weston was behind the packaging system.

Rapha Abreu, global vice president of design at Coca-Cola, tells It’s Nice That: “This is the most diverse visual representation of the brand that we have ever had. And it was possible by leveraging the power of the creative collective, the breadth of the design community and engaging a diverse group of creators to craft this new visual language.” Abreu continues that multiple design studios, photographers, illustrators, filmmakers and animators from all over the world helped the drinks company portray the moments seen in this rebranding campaign.

The illustrations are a standout feature: varied in their styles, they give a dynamic effect when paired against each other across advertising materials. Katie Smith, for example, delivers retro and pop-inspired colourful illustration, whereas Xaviera Altena’s floating hugging figures offer something more simple and bold. At the other end of the spectrum, Claire Isaur brings her warm, hand-drawn doodle aesthetic to the campaign, while Rosa Viktoria Ahlers adds her charming line drawings to the mix.

Coca-Cola sees the younger generations as struggling with a virtual and divided world, so it wanted to evoke harmony and human connection, hence the hugging motif. Manolo Arroyo, chief marketing officer for Coca-Cola, said that, “The Real Magic philosophy is rooted in the belief that dichotomies can make the world a more interesting place – a world of extraordinary people, unexpected opportunities and wonderful moments. At the same time, it captures the essence of Coca-Cola itself: a real taste that is indescribable, unique, a touch of real magic.”

The refreshed visual identity, as well as a new perspective on the Coca-Cola logo, will feature across Coca-Cola marketing. The hugging logo lifts the curved Coca-Cola trademark on its bottles and cans, accommodating a visual signature to frame Coca-Cola moments viewed across marketing, like the images and illustrations of people hugging and sharing each other’s company in this latest campaign.

And the “One Coke Away From Each Other” campaign film aims to act as a metaphor that speaks to the belief that “what unites us is greater than what sets us apart and celebrates our common humanity”. Arroyo believes that “‘One Coke Away From Each Other’ has been built for, and with, a community that demands something different than what they may have come to expect from Coca-Cola.”