Coca-Cola have announced that they are to give away phone credits through their latest promotion on Dr Pepper and Sprite.

This is an interesting move, as it is the first time that a promotion has given away phone credit. Previously it has been difficult with the operators, as there has been no mechnaism in the UK to give credit to a third party. However, Coca-Cola have been able to make arrangements with the mobile operators to do this. It also makes it possible for other brands to follow. The offer for free phone credit may prove to be very attractive to consumers. It’s the next best thing to ‘free money’.

On the downside, the offer can only be redemed through traditional media, such as post or through outlets. Perhaps if Coca-Cola had used SMS as a method of redeming the credit (for example, by texting a voucher code to a shortcode number), they could have created one of the most successful campaigns of the summer. Maybe they should take a leaf out of Walker’s Crisps marketing books, who ran one of the most successful UK mobile marketing campaigns earlier this year.