Watch Drones Deliver Coke to Workers Building
Singapore Skyscrapers
Coke
Sent Care Packages to Migrant Workers; Sodas Came With Messages of
Encouragement and Thanks
A few weeks back, drones
buzzed up to high-rises under construction in Singapore and dropped off cans of
Coke to the migrant workers building the towers. Tucked into the care packages
were 2,734 messages from Singaporeans thanking the tradesmen for their hard
work.
The idea was to link two
communities that don't often come into contact – Singaporean nationals and the
migrant workers who travel far from their countries to build the city-state's
apartment buildings, offices and schools.
Ogilvy & Mather Singapore
and a non-profit, the Singapore Kindness Movement, worked with Coca-Cola on the
project, dubbed "Happiness From the Skies."
It's part of Coke's
international campaign called "Where Will Happiness Strike Next?",
bringing the brand theme of happiness to places that could use some cheer.
(Another Singaporean example from the campaign was a vending machine set up for
stressed-out college students during exams -- it dispensed Cokes if you hugged it.)
What happens when drones
deliver Coke to Singapore construction workers?
This time, Coke
approached Ogilvy and said, "we want to do something with the drone, which
is the harbinger of death and destruction -- so how do you take this technology
that does evil and turn it into good?" said Eugene Cheong, chief creative
officer of Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific. Ogilvy honed in on the idea of
using drones to reach migrant workers at building sites. Coming from places
including India, China, Bangladesh and Myanmar, guest workers make up about a
third of the workforce in Singapore, known for its rapid development and high
standard of living. The influx of foreign low-wage workers has brought societal
tensions and divisions."These guys are a community within a community,
they are walled off … and when they work they're usually up there in these
high-up places that are difficult to reach," Mr. Cheong said. "We
thought an appropriate use of drone technology would be to bring the messages
up to them. If you use the drones to just deliver the messages to someone on
the street, then it's a bad use of technology."
Hundreds of volunteers
from the Singapore Kindness Movement asked ordinary Singaporeans to write
messages of support to the migrant workers, then snapped photos of them holding
the notes.
The photos were tied to
Coke cans and delivered to more than 2,500 workers using several drones.When
the crafts landed, people weren't always sure how to react.
Special
delivery.
"There's that
initial kind of trepidation with anything that isn't a part of your everyday
routine -- you get skepticism, caution, you even get avoidance, and it always
takes one or two really curious brave individuals to take the initiative,"
said Leonardo O'Grady, ASEAN director of integrated marketing communications
for Coca-Cola Singapore. "Then it's like you open the floodgates."
The workers were
surprised by the notes -- for some, what meant the most was the sense of being
recognized, he said.Some of Coke's most memorable viral videos in recent years
have come from Asia: The brand sent overseas Filipino migrant workers home to
their families for Christmas (a real tear-jerker), and it used a
cross-border game involving vending machines to connect people in India and Pakistan. Around
the world, Mr. O'Grady said, Coke is "increasingly looking at what
cultural role our brands can play, rather than 'what's the communication
message our brands can deliver?'"
