A very merry Coca-Cola Christmas. Coke's marketing success.

You know its Christmas when you see those Coca Cola ads.

Remember that ad during your childhood with the truck going through the snowy village? The one that was forever implanted in your brain associated to Christmas. Yup, That one. Thats a good marketing team and a lot of caffeine.

Why is it so succesfully integrated with Christmas?

Whats Coca Cola's Primarty Colour? Thats right, Red!
Well theres psychological link #1

Link #2 is that Coca Cola has spent billions associating the brand with various festivities, So when we go shopping we think, Coke!
They've done this by publishing thousands of print ads and motion ads associating the brand with Christmas such as the 'polar bear' one, (Ya, remember that too?). It's all down to repetition at the end of the day, If you keep repeating a different ad with the same message as the last ad sooner or later the viewer of the ad will start remembering the message behind it. Thats marketing in a nutshell - Portraying a message exquisitely and repeating it over and over again. Thats Building a brand.

A little psychology about the colour red.

In general:

If you want to draw attention, use red. It is often where the eye looks first. Red is the color of energy. It's associated with movement and excitement. People surrounded by red find their heart beating a little faster and often report feeling a bit out of breath. It's the absolute wrong color for a baby's room but perfect to get people excited. Wearing red clothes will make you appear a bit heavier and certainly more noticeable (some studies show red cars get more tickets but that may be because the red car owners drive faster or the ticket giver notices the movement of the red car more prominently). Red is not a good color to over use but using a spot of red in just the right place is smart in some cases (one red accent in an otherwise neutral room draws the eye; a red tie with a navy blue suit and a white shirt adds just the right amount of energy to draw the eye (no wonder it's the "uniform of the day" at the seats of government). Red is the symbol of life (red blooded life!) and, for this reason, it's the color worn by brides in China. Red is used at holidays that are about love and giving (red roses, Valentines hearts, Christmas, etc.) but the true color of love is pink. Pink is the most calming of all colors -- often our most dangerous criminals are housed in pink cells as studies show that the color drains energy and calms aggression.

In web design:

Red is a stimulating, exciting color. It is associated with passion, power and sometimes anger. It can be used for warnings or to show danger, but it can also suggest strength, determination and boldness.

Warmer reds, like brick or maroon, and strong and comforting – good for sites that want to suggest the lasting qualities of a brick wall. Brighter reds, like true red or tomato, are great for youthful websites that want to suggest energy and eagerness to leap before they look.