Coca-Cola builds $300 Million Campain Around K'Naan

"Check out this pretty extensive article on Fastcompany about Coca-Cola’s huge $300 million bet on Somali rapper K’Naan. For those of you who don’t remember, or didn’t watch the World Cup, Coke built their biggest marketing campaign in its history ($300 million) around K’Naan’s theme song “Wavin’ Flag.” His Celebration Re-mix version has almost 8 million views on YouTube and the ad industry, including Coke has said the campaign was an overall success."

Shout outs to the boy K'Naan from Somali. Check the link in the quote above for a good little article. Heres a little excerpt which I thought was interesting:

"He passes it around to the other kids, who start tossing it to one another. They've seen grenades before and know they're safe as long as the pin's set. They're playing catch, laughing, taking a break from the tedium of washing. But then two of them tussle over the grenade, and the pin pops free.

K'naan throws the grenade away, fast, toward the wall of the school. The kids run like hell. There's screaming. Things go black.

Twenty years later, Coca-Cola will decide to build its biggest marketing campaign ever, a $300 million -- plus global adventure involving 160 countries and the greatest sporting event in the world, around that skinny child from that godforsaken country. The deal will go so well that Coke, which Interbrand calls "the world's No. 1 brand," will completely redefine the way it works with content providers. And, of course, it will change K'naan's life, although not in the ways you might expect."

Bonus: Wale - TV In The Radio (feat. K’naan)