RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CA: Coca-Cola, the soft drinks giant, is using an "A-to-B-to-C" content model to ensure its official website tells engaging stories which its marketing cannot, or does not, focus on.

Douglas Busk, Coca-Cola's global group director/digital communications and social media, discussed this subject at the Association of National Advertisers' (ANA) 2015 Digital & Social Media Conference.

"If you're seeing a paid ad for us on the Super Bowl or the World Cup, that's 'A-to-B' content," he said. (For more, including further details of its approach to content, read Warc's exclusive report: Coca-Cola's Journey to online publishing platform.)

"That's our traditional mechanism that Coca-Cola has done so well with. We have paid, earned and shared for over 129 years."

But Coca-Cola Journey, the organisation's magazine-like official website, fulfils a distinctive purpose for the firm.

"We also have our own opportunity to tell another story that goes deeper. And that's 'A-to-B-to-C' content," said Busk.

Such material may span anything from details of product innovations to outlining what its sweeteners are made of and details covering its corporate social responsibility programs.

This output all tells stories in Coca-Cola's own voice, and without relying on press releases or other techniques which have usually been employed to push out news, stories and company updates.

"We tell the stories of the [Coca-Cola] people and the processes that pull back the curtain on the company," said Busk.

Often, this task involves answering questions which "nag at our consumers' - and even our critics' - minds", he revealed.

"Most frequently," continued Busk, "we find that the intriguing stories that have spreadability and virality, are, in fact, exactly those that our marketing teams aren't necessarily focused on.

"We need to be able to tell stories that our marketers can't, shouldn't, wouldn't or, frankly, don't," he added.

Data sourced from Warc