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Coke and Apple in iTunes move

Coca-Cola has agreed an alliance with Apple Computer to promote its iTunes digital music service on the soft drink company’s website in Europe.

The partnership is part of a broader push by the drinks group to find new ways to communicate with young consumers as traditional forms of advertising lose potency in the multi-media era.

Coke last week launched an interactive website that allows people to showcase homemade video clips, taking its cue from online communities such as YouTube and MySpace. The initiatives come weeks after Wal-Mart, the US discount retailer, launched an online competition for teenagers to create their own web pages linked to its corporate site.

“For Coca-Cola, it is clear that as consumers spend more time online and shift away from where they used to spend it we need to find new ways to become an important, relevant part of their lives,” said Tim Kopp, vice-president of interactive marketing for Coke.

Under the agreement with Apple, Coke will link its website to the iTunes site and give away millions of free music downloads and hundreds of iPod digital music players with its drinks in the UK and Germany starting this month.

The alliance signals an end to Coke’s ambition to develop its own presence in the online music market. The group has been offering music downloads through its MyCokeMusic site in Europe since 2004 but the service was closed this month amid fierce competition from iTunes and others.

Chris Burgraeve, marketing director for Coke in Europe, said the group had decided it made more sense to offer music in partnership with iTunes than go it alone. “Getting aligned with the iPod brand is extremely beneficial for Coke because there has not been a product since the Sony Walkman in the 1980s that has had the same power among young people,” said Gary Peterson, a consultant with Gap Intelligence, a California-based market research firm.

For Apple, the deal is the latest in a series of partnerships with consumer brands designed to promote its iTunes service and iPods.

In May, Nike and Apple launched a range of products that integrate the iPod into sports clothing, aimed at people who listen to music while exercising.

Companies including Gap, the retailer, and Pepsi, Coke’s main rival, have also run promotions offering iTunes downloads as prizes.

Mr Peterson said the partnerships would help Apple widen distribution of its download software but warned there was a risk of devaluing the iTunes brand if it struck too many.

Apple declined to say whether its deal with Coke could be extended beyond Europe or whether it precluded further promotions with Pepsi. The music-giveaway by Pepsi was blighted by glitches and generated far fewer downloads than expected.

As part of the deal with Coke, iTunes will offer downloads of live music from Coke-sponsored festivals and venues.

Will the New Nike+iPod Sport Kit Hit the Ground Running, or Hit the Wall?

Music, physical movement, technology and being cool have long gone hand in hand. Now, two iconic brands, Apple Computer and Nike, are collaborating on a new system of gizmos that take exercising and digital-music players to a new level. The Nike+iPod Sport Kit allows runners and walkers to listen to songs and to record, store and share information (such as speed, distance covered and calories burned) with others about their exercise sessions. The system also "talks" to runners in real time, providing information as they jog along. Members of Wharton's marketing department say it's a winning combination that will bolster each company's image and open the door to other co-branding opportunities. But they disagree as to whether the joint effort will actually sell more iPods and Nike shoes.