Coke Teams with YouTube on Holiday Videos

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The world's best-known brand has teamed with YouTube to let people create and distribute holiday video messages.

Available now through the first week of January on both YouTube and at Coca-cola.com, the Holiday WishCast allows users to create their own videos and send them to friends and family. Visitors can also select and send a classic Coke commercial or customize a pre-made video created by YouTube personalities such as Geriatric1927, Boh3m3, TerraNaomi, Renetto, TheWineKone and LisaNova.

While animated holiday greeting cards have long been a familiar staple of inboxes this time of year, this marks the first time video messages have been available and supported by such a large brand name, according to Petro Kacur, a spokesperson for Coca-Cola.

Kacur said, "We think this is the first time that a video-based greeting card has been done. You might see other e-mail cards and animation, but this is new territory."

While YouTube has been much in the public eye following its recent acquisition by Google and has increased its dealings with corporate sponsors, Kacur told ClickZ it's YouTube's ability to reach viewers that attracted the soft drink giant.

"We partnered with YouTube because they have global reach and a great platform for video. For Coca-Cola it's an opportunity to leverage that and bring new users to coca-cola.com," he said.

Coca-Cola recently revamped its Coca-Cola.com Web site to allow more user generated materials. It's a trend the company intends to continue.

"You're going to see a lot more of this from Coca-Cola," said Kacur. "We are still in the learning phase. There's a lot to understand about new technology, and new tools that are coming online... We see great value in connecting with our consumers through these digital experiences and will continue to find new ways to do it."