075: How Coca-Cola Created a Billion-Dollar Tradition

Hello, you lovely Creatives!

Welcome to Volume 7️⃣5️⃣ of Creative Cuts 🔪 - your weekly dose of creative strategy from your friends at Creative OS.

And today on the cutting board…

When brands today talk about "owning a season,"…

They usually mean throwing a few themed campaigns around Black Friday or Valentine's Day.

Coca-Cola did something bigger…

MUCH bigger. 

They didn't just advertise around Christmas.

They rewrote the emotional script of Christmas itself.

In 1931, Coca-Cola commissioned artist Haddon Sundblom to paint a new image of Santa Claus for their holiday ads. 

Before Sundblom's work, Santa was an inconsistent character—sometimes thin, sometimes tall, sometimes even intimidating. 

Sundblom reimagined him as the warm, jolly, plump, rosy-cheeked figure we know today. 

Always smiling. 

Always enjoying a Coca-Cola.

That one decision locked Coca-Cola into the emotional core of Christmas for nearly a century.

Today, we'll break down:

• Exactly why it worked then

• Why it still works now

• How modern brands can use the same strategy—if they have the patience to play the long game.

Let’s roll. 

Why It Worked Then

1. Cultural Anchor Point Creation

At the time, Christmas was less about emotional family gatherings and more about a mixture of religious observance and regional folk traditions. 

Coca-Cola stepped in and defined Christmas at a mass cultural level. 

They didn't just attach themselves to an existing feeling—they helped create the emotional infrastructure of the holiday itself.

Santa was FAR more than just a character. 

He became a symbol of abundance, warmth, and joyful giving at a time (The Great Depression) when people were desperate for those feelings.

2. Consistency Across Decades

Sundblom painted new Santa images every year for over 30 years. 

Coca-Cola didn't pivot every year for novelty's sake. 

They built consistency. 

Familiarity bred trust…

And trust bred tradition.

Each new generation grew up seeing the same visual cues—the red suit, the twinkling eyes, the glass Coke bottle—until it became impossible to separate the feeling of Christmas from the Coca-Cola brand.

3. Emotional Over Rational Appeal

During the Depression, logic didn't sell. 

People weren't interested in technical explanations about why Coca-Cola tasted better. 

They wanted comfort.
They wanted escape. 

Coca-Cola made itself a part of that emotional survival mechanism.

4. Owning a Season

By consistently showing up around Christmas with the same imagery, Coca-Cola effectively owned the season. They weren't just running "holiday ads."

They built rituals.

They made themselves synonymous with an entire month of emotional significance.

Why It Still Works Today

1. Timeless Emotional Anchors

Nostalgia is one of the few emotional levers that never loses power. In a world obsessed with newness, brands that can trigger genuine nostalgia stand out by feeling trustworthy and permanent.

Every December, Coca-Cola activates that nostalgia at scale. Even as tastes and marketing tactics evolve, the emotional pull remains untouched.

2. Tradition Equals Trust

In an unstable, fast-changing world, consumers look for consistency. Brands that feel "traditional" become psychological safe havens.

Coca-Cola's association with Christmas isn't just about fond memories. It's about the deeper human need for continuity in a world that feels increasingly unpredictable.

3. Multi-Generational Equity

When your brand becomes part of family traditions, you stop needing to "sell." Each generation passes the emotional connection to the next. Coca-Cola doesn't need to teach Gen Z why Coke matters during the holidays. Their parents and grandparents already did.

4. Emotion Before Product

Notice that the Coke bottle in Sundblom's paintings is never the focus. It's an accessory to the emotion being conveyed.

The hero is the feeling—joy, warmth, abundance.

The product simply inhabits the emotional world the brand has created.

How Modern Brands Can Use This Playbook

1. Find Your Emotional Real Estate

Don't just slap your logo on a holiday. 

Find an emotional moment, a psychological season, or a cultural ritual that aligns with what your product represents—then work to own it.

Example: 

Airbnb could own "first travel memories" for young adults leaving home for the first time. Imagine an annual campaign tied to sentimental, life-defining journeys…  not just generic vacation ads.

Example: 

Patagonia could deepen its ownership of "first snow" experiences….positioning itself as the emotional outfitter for rites of passage into winter adventures.

2. Create a Visual Anchor and Stay Consistent

Your brand needs recognizable, emotionally resonant imagery that stays consistent over time. Changing your aesthetic every few years for the sake of "freshness" dilutes emotional impact.

Example: 

Nike could anchor itself visually to "the first light of dawn" for early morning runners—simple, beautiful, recurring imagery that ties athleticism to a sacred daily ritual.

Example: 

Oatly could own whimsical, slightly absurd breakfast table illustrations to reinforce emotional warmth around morning routines.

3. Commit to Decades, Not Campaigns

Emotional ownership isn't won in a quarter. It isn't even won in a year.

Coca-Cola committed to their Santa campaign for over 30 years. Modern brands must adopt a similar willingness to play the long game.

Example: 

Chipotle could invest in an annual "harvest festival" tradition celebrating farmers and real ingredients, slowly building emotional capital over 10–20 years rather than trying to "win" every holiday season with one-off campaigns.

4. Make Emotion the Hero

When planning creative, start by asking: what feeling are we giving people? Not "what are we selling?"

Example: 

Peloton shouldn't just be selling exercise equipment. It should be selling the feeling of personal empowerment at pivotal life moments—new jobs, new cities, new relationships.

The product must exist inside the emotional world you build, not outside it.

Closing Thought

Coca-Cola didn't succeed because they had a clever Christmas ad.

They succeeded because they understood that great brands don't just ride culture. 

They become culture.

The brands that win the next decade won't be the ones who optimize seasonal discounts. 

They'll be the ones who build emotional ownership over seasons, moments, and memories themselves.

Just like Coca-Cola did, one brushstroke at a time.

Hope you enjoyed that :)

And until next time,

Chase

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