When you think of the longest-running sponsorship deals, Rolex’s 46-year partnership with Wimbledon springs to mind — as does Gatorade which became the official drink of the NFL in 1983. Theme park partnerships wouldn’t usually be part of the conversation but they should be. One theme park partnership has been running for longer than almost any deal in sport and casts an even more powerful spell.
Unlike sports events, there is little brand clutter in theme parks so the logos that are there get a better quality of exposure. Guests don’t expect to see brands in theme parks so when they do it makes them more memorable, especially as visitors are in a relaxed and cheerful state, receptive to whatever is thrown at them.
After hours of walking round and waiting in queues, theme park-goers soon need to drink and if you’ve bought one at a Disney outpost, chances are it was made by Coca-Cola. The beverage brand sponsors every Disney resort except for Shanghai, and this put it in front of nearly 130 million visitors last year according to the Themed Entertainment Association’s Global Attractions Attendance Report. That’s more than five times the NBA’s total attendance in 2023 and almost seven times the number of people who visited NFL games last year.
“Our relationship with Disney ensures strategic brand availability, placing our products right where consumers need them,” says Josh Nations, a 27-year veteran of Coca-Cola North America. The MBA graduate from the University of California’s Paul Merage School of Business started with Coca-Cola in 1997 as a marketing services specialist and rose up to becoming its global vice president of strategic partnerships.
The breadth of the exposure that Coke gets in Disney’s parks isn’t the only reason why it’s such a fairytale partnership.
Few brands have been as integral to the development of Disney’s theme parks as Coca-Cola. In 1955, Walt Disney himself enlisted the drinks company to help finance the then-gigantic $17 million construction cost of his first theme park, Disneyland in California. In return, Coca-Cola became a soft drinks supplier at the park and has also occupied this slot at its counterpart, Walt Disney World in Florida, since its ornate iron gates swung open in 1971. There is good reason for its loyalty.
Theme park goers aren’t just adults but children who are the consumers of tomorrow so sponsorship allows brands to build bonds from an early age. What’s more, trips to theme parks tend to be special and memorable occasions which makes the brands there even more likely to stick in the minds of the guests. It means that the quantity of the eyeballs in Disney parks is matched by their quality. Disney magnifies the impact of this even further by integrating brands into its stories.
At Disney World it has developed a sleek steel and glass Coca-Cola store which sells different flavors of its soft drinks from around the world. It reminds guests of the brand’s global presence and promotes the drinks it sells in their home countries. Guests can even try their hand at creating new variants by mixing classic Coca-Cola flavors with fresh fruits such as cherries, oranges, lemons and limes. To top that, Coca-Cola had to think outside the box. Far, far outside.
It got the opportunity after Disney paid $4 billion in 2012 to buy Lucasfilm, the company behind sci-fi movie series Star Wars. Since then it has released a string of new Star Wars movies and streaming shows along with cartoons, comics, a seemingly-endless range of merchandise and, of course, theme park attractions. Prior to the acquisition, Disney’s parks were already home to a Star Wars simulator called Star Tours but in August 2015 the company’s chief executive Bob Iger announced that a lot more was on the way.
In 2019, Disneyland and Disney World swung open the doors to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, one of the most intricately-detailed theme park lands ever created. Like the worlds in the the sci-fi saga that inspired it, Galaxy’s Edge looks like it has been lived in.
The rock-work is artificially weathered and there are full-size models of battered and rusty space ships standing next to shady souks with wires hanging out of the walls and dusty-looking boxes sitting in the corners of their rooms. The aim is to give guests the impression that they have actually been transported to an alien world and not just because the designers had a fastidious devotion to the source material. Making the land so immersive tapped into the growing importance of what is known as the Experience Economy.
Essentially, this involves Gen Z and Millennials preferring to spend their money on experiences, rather than products, as they can post photos on social media boasting that they have been to these locations.
Testimony to this, a survey last year from data analytics firm Experian showed that 63% of Gen Z respondents said they prefer spending money on experiences, such as concerts or travel, than investing it in their retirement. The Gen Z bracket is aged between 18 and 26 and although the Experience Economy becomes less important the older they get, it is still a significant trend. Accordingly, the survey showed that 59% of Millennials prioritize spending money on experiences over investing it in their retirement despite being aged between 27 and 42.
It has given a glow to the theme park industry as, unlike live music, it has no in-home equivalent. In summary, posting photos on social media from outlandish locations is becoming increasingly important for consumers, particularly Gen Z and Millennials. The more exotic the location, the more guests it attracts and the more photos they post of it online. This then drives more traffic and the cycle begins again. It is driven by attention to detail.
As with a movie set, it is essential that theme parks don’t shatter the illusion of being in a fantasy land as it could prevent photos taken there from going viral. Putting a hot dog stand or a phone booth on a landscape which is meant to be alien could attract criticism. Conversely, unique and intricate details can quickly become social media stars.
This is why Disney wanted to give guests of Galaxy’s Edge the impression that they are actually on another planet. It left no stone unturned.
It would look out of place if standard drinks bottles were sold in this alien environment so Coca-Cola, Lucasfilm and Disney developed a completely new one. It was their first collaboration on a bespoke bottle and the end result looks like something you would expect to see lying around an intergalactic junkyard. The orb-shaped containers are crowned with a cog-like cap giving them the appearance of a galactic grenade. The attention to detail doesn’t stop there.
The spherical bottles even have scuffed, rusted labels showing the Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite and DASANI brand names in Aurebesh – the written language of the Star Wars franchise.
The idea of translating the names of the drinks brands into the alien language came from a tour of the Coke Archives in Atlanta by Disney’s attraction designers who are known as Imagineers due to their imaginative use of engineering. They were fascinated by foreign versions of Coca-Cola’s sweeping Spencerian script logo and realized it would add to the authenticity if it was translated into the fictional language of the Star Wars films for the labels of the bottles sold in Galaxy’s Edge.
Staggeringly, just designing the bottle took about a dozen designers nearly four years and involved the creation of dozens of prototypes of all shapes and sizes. It was almost certainly the greatest corporate sponsorship activation in theme park history and perhaps the most memorable in any sector. It wouldn’t have been possible for any other beverage brand.
As Nations explains, Coca-Cola’s partnership with Disney “allows us to connect with consumer passions by being part of their most important moments. Together, we aim to amplify these experiences, creating magical and immersive moments that enhance the value and presence of both brands.” It has paid off.
The spherical bottles could only be found in Galaxy’s Edge and soon after the land opened they started appearing on Ebay for $45 which in turn generated coverage for Coca-Cola and for Disney.
Coca-Cola’s innovative approach isn’t even restricted to Disney. In 2022, it launched a groundbreaking campaign with theme park operator Merlin Entertainments which encouraged its guests to recycle plastic drinks bottles. Recycling a bottle in one of the machines at Merlin’s attractions in the United Kingdom gave guests a chance to win VIP experiences. It was so successful that it has been repeated for the past three years with four additional machines added in 2024.
In April, Coca-Cola even brought its know-how from Disney’s worlds into the real world with the launch of a campaign themed to the media giant’s Marvel super heroes characters. The campaign is centered on an advertisement about a comic store worker in need of inspiration. She accidentally unleashes Marvel characters on the real world who grab her a Coke before returning to the printed pages.
The ad was released alongside a series of limited-edition Coca-Cola can designs featuring 38 illustrations of Marvel characters. Not only did this make the cans highly collectible but it also continued the story of the ad. The cans could be scanned through an Augmented Reality extension on Coca-Cola’s website which made it seem like the characters on them had come to life. In turn, this also gave consumers a chance to win Disney and Marvel prizes including movie screenings and autographed memorabilia.
This followed the creation in 2021 of a bespoke Coca-Cola beverage for the drinks dispensers at the Marvel-themed Avengers Campus land in the Disney California Adventure theme park. The Marvel connection deepened the following year with a campaign featuring its space super heroes, the Guardians of the Galaxy. They promoted Coca-Cola Creations Starlight, a series of limited edition variants of Coca-Cola using non-traditional branding designed to appeal to younger consumers.
This year’s Coca-Cola and Marvel campaign was the biggest development yet and was the brainchild of Nations, aided by his hugely talented global head of creative strategy and content, Islam ElDessouky. It gave Coca-Cola’s partnership with Disney the kind of magic touch that other brands can only but dream of. As Nations explained to us, there may well be more to come.
Caroline Reid: What common brand values do you share with Disney?
Josh Nations: The Coca-Cola Company and Disney both believe in the power of storytelling to drive innovation and create unforgettable experiences. We’re committed to creating compelling narratives through our campaigns and partnerships, making sure each story connects with and inspires our consumers.
Reid: What are the key benefits you get from the partnership?
Nations: Our relationship with Disney ensures strategic brand availability, placing our products right where consumers need them. It also allows us to connect with consumer passions by being part of their most important moments. Together, we aim to amplify these experiences, creating magical and immersive moments that enhance the value and presence of both brands.
Reid: What is your target audience for the partnership?
Nations: Our target audience includes the emerging generation, young adults, whom we aim to excite with fun and innovative experiences. We also focus on supporting and celebrating adults by providing products and experiences that align with their family values and enhance their daily lives.
Reid: How are you promoting the partnership in 2024 and what has been your most successful initiative since it began in the 1950s?
Nations: In 2024, we are excited to launch groundbreaking initiatives like the first-ever global Coca-Cola & Marvel Heroes Campaign, bringing together our iconic brand with Marvel’s beloved characters.
Since our relationship began over six decades ago, we’ve had standout moments like the 2022 Coke Creations Starlight & Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy collaboration and the 2019 Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge packaging innovation. In 2021, we partnered with Disney and Marvel for the opening of their Avengers Campus at Disneyland to launch a bespoke beverage on our Coca-Cola Freestyle dispensers called Pingo Doce. It was a true partnership featuring innovation, creativity, and intentional execution.
Efforts like these, along with memorable experiences such as The Walt Disney World 50th Commemorative bottles, showcase storytelling that only our brands can do together.
Reid: Are you planning any further themed drinks bottles like the ones in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge?
Nations: We are always ideating and thinking of the next big innovation, whether that’s in packaging, specialty beverages or equipment to captivate consumers and elevate their experience.
Reid: Do you use the partnership to motivate and incentivize staff and, if so, how?
Nations: We’ve leveraged our relationship with Disney in various ways, benefiting not only our employees and bottlers, but also our broader network of partners. For example, we use Disney assets to enhance crew programming, drive retail traffic, and create engaging entertainment experiences for everyone involved. Recently, our Coca-Cola & Marvel Heroes Campaign included special initiatives to boost internal employee engagement and celebrate their contributions.
Reid: How do you measure the impact of the partnership and what are the latest results have you had?
Nations: We measure the impact of the relationship through various metrics, including impressions, transactions, volume, sales, and revenue. Our relationship with Disney spans several of their business units, with a key focus on theme parks and resorts. We’re seeing positive results with our co-branded programs and in-park beverages like Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and specialty beverages using many of our products. The Marvel Heroes program, in particular, has shown strong results across multiple metrics, including increased brand love, uplift, and market share for both Trademark Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar.
Reid: What has been your proudest moment in the partnership?
Nations: Our proudest moments include the inclusion of our orb bottles and Dasani in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and the Marvel Heroes Campaign. These initiatives stand out because we combined our creativity to create culturally significant experiences that deeply resonated with consumers. Notably, we scaled the orb bottles to both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, and the Marvel Heroes Campaign was launched in over 50 markets worldwide, marking a significant milestone in our relationship.
Reid: What is the secret to a successful theme park partnership?
Nations: Our collaboration with Disney is one of the successful relationships we have in the theme park space. Through these relationships, we’ve learned that the secret to success is understanding and respecting each other’s contributions, fostering authentic collaboration, and maintaining trust, transparent communication, and flexibility. These core values help both partners work seamlessly together to create engaging and memorable experiences.
Reid: What advice would you give to a prospective theme park partner?
Nations: To build a successful theme park relationship, it’s essential to understand the unique value your brand or company offers and how our goals align. Whether it’s about reaching a specific target audience, providing innovative technology, or increasing brand love, understanding these aspects is key. Additionally, prioritizing core values such as collaboration, trust, transparency, and flexibility is essential. These values will help establish a collaborative and successful environment that benefits both parties and fosters a thriving relationship.
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