EXCLUSIVE: Silke Bucker unpacks Coke Studio

With 14 years commercial marketing experience under her belt, Silke Bucker is a brave leader within the marketing world. Currently the Coca-Cola senior director for Africa, she believes that brands have the responsibility to shape culture and that is only possible when marketers are agile and courageous.

Silke tells us more about the Coke Studio..

Tell us who you are and what you do at Coca-Cola Africa?

My name is Silke Bucker, and I'm the senior director for the Coca-Cola category for Africa. Along with an amazing group of people, we design and develop all the great Coke experiences that our consumers get to see on the ground across the continent.

Tell us more about Coke Studio and what does the platform aim to achieve?

Coke Studio is Coca-Cola's disruptive global music platform. We know that music is one of the biggest passion points around the world, so we understood that if we wanted to have a voice within this saturated environment, we needed to add value to the industry and to the fans. So, we thought about the role Coca-Cola can play in music, a role that is credible to the brand but also valuable to fans.

Introducing Coke Studio’s creative collisions – bringing together some of the most exciting emerging and breakthrough artists from all corners of the world to create "Real Magic" - music collisions that transcend geographical borders, backgrounds, and music genres to reach audiences worldwide.

Coke Studio builds on Coca-Cola’s prevalent role in shaping music culture by fostering surprise connections between artists and leaving music with real feelings with fans. Like music, Coke studio is constantly evolving and that is the most exciting part of it – it morphs music into experiences across all touchpoints, from digital to real-life experiences, in a way only Coca-Cola can.

Tell us what it means to be part of the team that’s working on Coke Studio.

Working on Coke Studio is an incredibly fulfilling and inspiring experience. As a team, we take pride in the fact that Coke Studio surpasses traditional advertising by fostering genuine connections between the brand, artists, and fans. Using music as a device to bring positivity into the world, we cherish the stories we get to tell and the artists we get to work with on this inclusive platform.

We are given an opportunity to create music not in the spirit of selling records (because we are not a record label) but in the spirit of disrupting the mundane and creating music with real feeling, born out of surprising connections – it is a visual and sonic representation of our belief that there is more that unites us than divides us and when we come together Real Magic happens. What an absolute privilege to tell that story.

How will Coca-Cola bring Coke Studio to life in Africa?

We know that the way consumers engage with music has significantly shifted. Therefore, Coke Studio this year will be digitally-led. Our Coca-Cola product will be the portal to the Coke Studio world – buy a participating pack, scan the QR code and get transported into a world full of music experiences. Content, prizes and access to music festivals – all in the palm of your hand.

Which African artists are part of Coke Studio this year, and why?

When we choose artists to work on Coke Studio, we collaborate with artists who align to our values– - artists who are different, innovative, and have a point of view. We have some amazing talent on this year's roster. From a global perspective, we are very excited to be working with Nasty C from South Africa and Afroto from Egypt as the two artists working with us on global collisions.

We are also excited to be working with Khaligraph Jones and Nikita Kering from Kenya, Rym Fikri and Zouhair Bahaoui from Morocco, Buju and Mayorkun from Nigeria. When I say artists doing things their own way, that is definitely what we're going to deliver this year.

What was/is the purpose behind collaborating artists from diverse backgrounds, genres, and cultures?

In developing the global ambition for Coke Studio, we have always had a clear objective: to make a positive contribution to music culture and the extraordinary talent we see all over the world by bringing that to fans no matter where they are. For us, the route to achieving that ambition has been by bringing diverse talent together to connect with new audiences and create unexpected musical collisions in a way that feels fresh and exciting.

As we evolve the platform from its initial 2022 launch, that ambition remains the same; we want to show what can happen when diversity is used to create Real Magic.

Which festivals is Coca-Cola sponsoring to bring music closer to fans?

As well as offering many digital experiences this year, Coke Studio will be bringing music closer to fans in the real world as a lead sponsor of several music festivals around the world, including some of the most famous festivals with a culture defining impact – Coachella Valley Music and Afro Nation. We have also partnered with Tomorrowland Belgium, which is one of the biggest and most influential music festivals in the world to host a Coke Studio live stream from the festival, enabling audiences globally to tune into live performances via the Coke Studio digital hub.

Who are the collision artists for Coke Studio 2023?

Our collision lineup consists of 18 chart-topping, international breakthrough artists. I have already mentioned Nasty C and Afroto representing Africa, Camilo from Colombia, NewJeans from Korea, J.I.D from the United States, Cat Burns from the United Kingdom, Imagine Dragons from the United States, Sam Smith from the United Kingdom, Diljit Dosanjh from India, Evdeki Saat from Turkey, Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles from the United States, Jessie Reyez from the United States, Shae Gill from Pakistan, Shreya Ghoshal from India, XIN LIU from China, and Zack Tabudlo from the Philippines.

What can we expect from season 2 of Coke Studio?

Coke Studio returns bigger and bolder this year with the release of its first-ever original anthem and video – Be Who You Are (Real Magic) - written by Grammy Award-winning American singer, composer and keyboardist, Jon Batiste and featuring Camilo, NewJeans, J.I.D, and Cat Burns. This year, Jon Batiste and 18 of the biggest breakthrough music artists that I mentioned earlier have come together to create new collision tracks and exclusive Coke Studio songs.

Coke Studio will run from May to September, and collision songs will be released to music fans on all streaming platforms in June and July and performed through a program of live festival shows. Musical content and unique digital experiences will offer multiple ways for fans to experience Coke Studio wherever they are in the world and engage with the epic line-up of international music artists.

On top of that, there will be prizes; there will be on-the-ground Coke Studio experiences; and there will be music – all unlocked through an ice-cold Coca-Cola.