Many beer brands talk a good game when it comes to storyTELLING about “living the vibe”. But few back it up with “storyDOING” that brings the brand idea to life through action. One brand I recently spotted doing just this is Corona. The pack below jumped out and into my basket when shopping for beer last weekend. The brand’s Corona Island activation boldly turns its emotional promise into a physical reality, by offering the chance to stay on the brand’s very own desert island, 12 miles off the coast of Cartagena, Colombia.
Here’s how Corona created a promotion that doesn’t just shift units, but also builds brand meaning, using the key headings from our Activation Insight tool.
1. Tap Into a Powerful Passion Point
Corona drinkers crave more than just cold beer. They also want freedom, escape and connection with nature. The Corona Island activation taps directly into these emotional needs, turning an idyllic island fantasy into a real possibility. Importantly, the brand team have been more precise that just highlighting “holidays” as a passion point. They have narrowed their focus onto a specific angle of the passion point: island escapes.
The same passion point focus is used in the brand’s sustainability program, Protect Paradise, that I posted on here. Again, this activation is an example of Storydoing. Corona cleans up one metre of beach per 4-pack bought, rather than just donating an arbitrary amount of money per pack.
In a nice link to Protect Paradise, Corona’s island is “badged with marine conservation charity Oceanic Global’s three-star plastic-free Blue Seal for eliminating single-use plastics, making it the first and only island to do so,” according to The Drum (1).
2. Bring your Brand Story to Life
Corona’s long-running brand idea—This is Living—has always painted a picture of laid-back, beach escape. The Corona Island activation brings that picture into full colour. It’s a smart example of “fresh consistency”: same core story, told in a way that feels new, credible and compelling. Secondary prizes also bring to life the beach life brand world, with items including paddle boards and beer coolers.
3. Link to the category and driving sales
There is a direct link to the beer category with the activation concept. Drinking beer is strongly associated with beach holidays, especially in the case of Corona. Furthermore, Corona Island is grounded in a practical mechanic that drives business. You have to buy a pack to enter to win the chance of jetting off to the private island.
4. Create a replicable brand asset
The most powerful form of distinctive brand activation assets have two features. First, they are replicable over time, avoiding the need to re-invent your marketing plan each year. This also helps build distinctive memory structure. Corona Island was launched in 2022 and is being used again now. Second, Corona Island is a scaleable asset that can be run across multiple countries. This delivers return on investment but also “return on ideas”: get fewer, bigger, stronger ideas into more places.
5. Turn your activation into a revenue centre, not a cost centre
One intriguing aspect to the Corona Island activation is that you can actually book a stay there on major travel platforms, in case you don’t win the prize. Travellers worldwide can secure their stay directly on the brand’s dedicated website, LiveCoronaIsland.com or through Airbnb, Expedia and Booking.com. This turns the activation into an ongoing brand asset. It also means the idea is generating revenue to go towards the cost of leasing and running the island. It’s an interesting example of a brand creating a service offering that brings to life the brand world.
In conclusion, Corona Island shows how to go beyond equity-damaging price promotions to a proper brand activation that drives both: 1. Short-term sales (via purchase-linked mechanics), and 2. Long-term brand equity (by bringing the brand world to life)
P.S. Nice to see Corona “borrowing with pride” the brand island activation idea we helped fellow AB InBev brand Castle Lite create 10 years ago, The Republic of Extra Cold …. which was itself inspired by an Axe idea!
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