It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is why you might have stepped into Asda lately and wondered if you entered Barbie World: everything is pink! You might even say Tickled Pink.
While wandering the aisles for your weekly food shop, you might come across a collection of items that have been repackaged as pink for October, including Diet Coke. It’s all part of the fundraising efforts by Asda for Breast Cancer Now and the Coppafeel campaign.
Why did this particular marketing campaign catch our eye? And what can we learn from Coca Cola x Asda’s marketing efforts? We explore this in this guide.
“Check Your Cans”
Perhaps our favourite part of the Diet Coke x Breast Cancer Now is the tagline that graced the promotion around the boxes: Check Your Cans.
Brillant. Direct, covers both aspects of the campaign, and who doesn’t love a pun?
This tagline was paired with pale pink Diet Coke cans, with the lettering changed from scarlet red to cherry red and a reminder that £1 would be donated to Breast Cancer Now for every pink pack bought.
Influencer engagement
But the real genius of the Diet Coke campaign is its use of influencers. If you have been scrolling through Instagram since October started, amongst all the pumpkin spice and Halloween content, you might have spotted a few “aesthetic girlies” putting away their Diet Coke cans in their fridge. It was a recurring theme for a while. The influencers that might ordinarily show off their homes that look more like a showroom they’re so spotless, the influencers that make content about unpacking and putting away their coffee pods, or organising pantries, they were all there and all jonesing for a can of Diet Coke.
A few partnerships with influencers had clearly taken place, and it was a smart move. It made a novelty item into an aesthetic choice, and targeted the same demographic that Coca Cola thinks are only drinking Diet Coke: women. Stylish, modern, feminine women.
Not just your cans
It wasn’t just Coca Cola that got in on the fun. There is an entire range of Asda-exclusive grocery products that have been painted pink for Tickled Pink. They include the Warburton’s toastie loaf, Fibre One cereal bars, Cushelle toilet paper, Weetabix cereal, and Heinz beans.
Missing the “Check Your Cans” pun and the additional influencer content (that we’ve seen anyway), the items are in danger of being reduced to pinkwashing. There is content, but it mostly comes down to marketing the campaign, rather than the concept of preventing breast cancer or raising funds, and ultimately comes down to “Look how pink everything is!” The only thing that saves it is the promise that a portion of your money on these items are going to Breast Cancer Now.
Education
Of course, with the fun of fundraising comes the less fun incentive for funds. As the Asda Tickled Pink campaign puts it “Every 10 minutes in the UK, another woman is diagnosed with breast cancer.”
Now, let’s face it, breast cancer doesn’t need awareness so much as it needs education. Everyone is aware that it is something that can happen to you, but with breast cancer in particular, prevention is more vital than cure. That’s why the Tickled Pink campaign also has “The Real Self-Checkout”, which shows women how to check their breasts for lumps in four simple steps.
It’s an example of using marketing for a net good in the world. Tactics like boiling your campaign down to a few key points, being straightforward and eye-catching with their taglines and imagery, and even having some fun with the concept, the Tickled Pink campaign has put across what you have to do to stay safe.
Exclusivity
It’s also important to point out that it might not only be Coca Cola taking part in Tickled Pink but it IS only Asda putting on this event. Asda, not Walmart (the US equivalent and parent company) nor Aldi, nor Sainsbury’s etc. If you want a pink can of Diet Coke or tin of Heinz beans, despite being in virtually every supermarket in the country without the pink packaging, you need to go to Asda.
If you want to give money to the Tickled Pink campaign, you have to start shopping in Asda. We’ve talked before about the power of exclusivity and this time it’s being used as a way to get feet through the Asda doors.
Conclusion
We love a marketing campaign that raises awareness. Heed the lessons of the Tickled Pink campaign, both the marketing tips and self-examination tips.
If you’d like to be a part of the Tickled Pink campaign and give to Breast Cancer Now, text “ASDA” to 70660 to donate £3.
