Coca‑Cola Invites Digital Artists to ‘Create Real Magic’ Using New AI Platform

Digital creatives around the world can use a first-of-its-kind AI platform to generate original artwork with iconic creative assets from the Coca‑Cola archives. Built exclusively for Coca‑Cola by OpenAI and Bain & Company, “Create Real Magic” is the first platform of its kind to combine the capabilities of GPT-4, which produces human-like text from search engine queries, and DALL-E, which produces images based on text. 

Fans in the United States, Australia, select countries in Europe and elsewhere can visit www.createrealmagic.com today through March 31 to get access to dozens of branded elements – from the distinctive Coca‑Cola contour bottle and Spencerian script logo, to storied symbols from Coke’s advertising archives like the Coca‑Cola Santa Claus and Polar Bear – as a canvas for AI-powered experimentation and creative iteration. 

Through the “Create Real Magic” contest, artists can download and submit their work for the opportunity to be featured on Coke’s digital billboards in New York’s Time Square and London’s Piccadilly Circus. 

“Create Real Magic” is the first output of The Coca‑Cola Company’s collaboration with a new global services alliance launched by Bain & Company and OpenAI. Coca‑Cola is the first company to engage with the alliance, which combines Bain’s digital implementation capabilities and strategic expertise with OpenAI’s tools.

“We’re excited to unleash the next generation of creativity offered by this rapidly emerging technology,” said James Quincey, Chairman and CEO, The Coca‑Cola Company. “We see opportunities to enhance our marketing through cutting-edge AI, along with exploring ways to improve our business operations and capabilities.”

Pratik Thakar, Global Head of Creative Strategy and Integrated Content for the Coca‑Cola Trademark, said “Create Real Magic” signals the company’s commitment to move quickly to test, learn and scale ideas using AI. 

“It’s an experiment to see where co-creation can take us,” Thakar said. “We’re moving at the speed of culture with an innovative program that’s very tangible for the creative community. ‘Create Real Magic’ gives digital artists the unique opportunity to play in a custom-created sandbox, powered by GPT-4 and DALL-E, and democratizes both our brand iconography and highest-profile advertising assets.” 

Four AI artists – Emma Sofija (Europe), Chris Branch (Europe), Paul Parsons (Europe) and Ean Hwa Huag (Asia) – kickstarted the crowdsourcing campaign by creating custom art using the platform and Coca‑Cola assets. 

A group of 30 creators will be selected to travel to The Coca‑Cola Company’s global headquarters in Atlanta this summer for the “Real Magic Creative Academy,” a three day-workshop curated by Coke’s Global Design and Creative teams in partnership with OpenAI. The collective will co-create content that could be used for Coca‑Cola licensed merchandising, digital collectibles and more. Participants will be credited for their work.

The campaign is part of Coca‑Cola’s “Real Magic” global brand platform, which is rooted in the idea that magic lives in unexpected moments of connection that elevate the everyday into the extraordinary. 

“Real artists, actual humans, are using AI technology, which is algorithmic and mathematical, to create an output that’s truly magical,” Thakar said.

Coca‑Cola is still in the early days of assessing AI’s potential impact, said Manolo Arroyo, Global Chief Marketing Officer. “We’re just scratching the surface of what we believe will help create the industry’s most effective and efficient end-to-end marketing model,” he said. “We will begin to leverage OpenAI’s technology in our marketing function to re-imagine how we produce creative content, increasing the velocity from weeks to days. We see many applications of AI – including content creation and rapid iteration, hyper-personalizing content and messaging for consumers and customers, and driving two-way conversations with consumers.” 

The company is exploring ways to leverage AI beyond marketing – from internal knowledge management and workflows, to customer service and ordering, to point-of-sale material creation in collaboration with Coca‑Cola bottlers.