Three 'Happiness Ambassadors' traveled more than 275,000 miles, visited 186 countries in 365 days.
A mission that started with worldwide online vote to select three lucky people who will set out for a journey of their lifetime and visit countries all over the planet that sell Coca-Cola and seek what makes people happy around the world.
Tony Martin, Kelly Ferris and Antonio Santiago set out for an expedition on 01 Jan 2010 stocked with all necessary gadgets like laptops, video cameras and smartphones to document and share their journey on-the-go.
"With a journey that nearly matched the reach of the Coca-Cola brand, combined with the global adoption of social media, the Expedition 206 team was able to share the many moments of happiness they found in almost 200 countries they visited, with millions of people around the world." said Clyde Tuggle, senior vice president of global public affairs and communications at The Coca-Cola Company.
Their journey was regularly updated in various social media sites like: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr. On YouTube they've posted more than 360 videos and have about 950 subscribers, whereas on Twitter they managed to gain more than 1700 followers.
"We made the conscious decision at the beginning that this was a local activation. Equally as important were the relationships formed with influential bloggers and communities. We tapped into (areas) where we might not have led as strong of a presence previously...It pushed a lot of markets to start (new) relationships." said Anne Carelli, senior communications manager-digital communications at Coca-Cola.
Expedition received a great response as far as YouTube is concerned, whereas Twitter managed 1700 followers which seems like a small number considering Coca-Cola'a far fetched reach; both online and offline.
The trio also attended major world events like Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, FIFA Wirld cup in South Africa and Shanghai 2010 World Expo in China. Their social media presence helped them in gaining lot of useful information on where they should go, what they should do or who they should meet. Every time they updated their itinerary, their 'virtual travel agents' on Facebook or Twitter helped them in knowing and understanding a place and its people.
"We never knew what to expect. in some places we'd go eat with a family. Then, in the next place we'd hang out with a local, legendary surfer. Or, we'd show up at an airport and there would be these local traditions." shares Tony Martin, one of the 'happiness ambassadors'.
For more info visit Expediton206.com.
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