A Sneak Peek at the New World of Coke

By Odette Yousef

Atlanta, GA – Fans and tourists can get a taste of the New World of Coca Cola starting this week. It opens Thursday, and it's nothing like the old one.

The New World of Coca Cola sits right next to the Georgia Aquarium, downtown

[TAPE: MOVIE CLIP]

A short, animated film near the entrance of the building tells visitors rights off that this is no museum. Coke employees prefer to call it an attraction.

Mark Greatrex is Senior Vice President of Marketing Communications and Insights for Coca Cola. He says that today's consumers are looking for more than inert displays, which filled the old World of Coca Cola.

GREATREX: And the New World of Coca Cola is a response to those looking for a more interactive, a more engaging destination.

The old World of Coca Cola was, in many ways, a museum about the evolution of marketing and branding. The New World of Coca Cola is more like an amusement park. Away with history lessons, and hello to fun and games. Mark Greatrex provides one example:

GREATREX: Consumers can actually generate their own pop art, up in the Pop Culture Exhibit, and literally have that consumer-generated art displayed right next to an Andy Warhol.

The building is seemingly filled with small theaters. One screens Coke's television ads from around the world, like this one from Malaysia:

[TAPE: MALAYSIA AD]

And of course, there's the much-beloved tasting room - on steroids. Five continents each have their own, separate stations, with soda fountains. A separate tasting bar also samples Coke's non-carbonated products, like Odwalla Juice and Gold Peak Iced Tea.

The movies, the sounds, the tastes - they all draw the visitor into an interactive experience. Unlike the old World of Coca Cola, the new one doesn't walk visitors through Coke's history of marketing. It's an extension of the marketing, involving visitors in the product.