Our Role
Since 2021, Solomon Group has led Coca-Cola’s five-year project to revitalize its brand home: the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta. We integrated strategy, design management, and production execution to create a modernized space that represents the iconic brand while uniquely connecting with its audiences.
The Space
The 92,000-square-foot flagship in the heart of downtown Atlanta consists of multiple galleries and exhibits, each catering to a different sense, representing a specific Coca-Cola era, or interacting with visitors in an immersive and unique way. We collaborated with the brand to upgrade four of them:
Scent Discovery was the first exhibit we revamped. Inspired by founder Asa Candler, it invites guests to explore over 20 aromas, identify mystery scents, and use their scent to sample global beverages.
Beverage Lab activates visitors’ taste buds by letting them sample “New Coke” from the 80s, experiment with different flavors, create unique soda variations, make bubbles at the Carbonation Station, and share their feedback to possibly participate in developing future flavors.
Coke Stories, the most popular exhibit, tells the brand’s history through interaction. Guests can use AI to see what they’d look like as vintage Coca‑Cola ad models, test their movie trivia knowledge at the “Coke Theater,” snap a picture in front of a 1939 Coca‑Cola delivery truck, and more.
The Studios highlights Coca‑Cola’s influence on art, music, fashion, sports, and entertainment. Not only can visitors view rare objects, art, and memorabilia that detail how the brand became a cultural icon, but they can craft their own Coke-inspired track and customize a virtual bottle.
Solomon Group first joined the project to help bring Scent Discovery from vision to reality. Despite a tight deadline just four months away, we planned, scheduled, budgeted, designed, and produced an interactive exhibit that exceeded every expectation, prompting Coca-Cola to ask to extend our partnership and cover the rest of the revamp.
In every instance, from vintage installations to floor-to-ceiling screens that transported guests to different times and environments, we:
• Brought vision and creative execution to enhance the interactivity of the exhibits,
• Integrated storytelling with immersive elements at scale.
• Meticulously planned every detail to create a space that both reflected Coca-Cola’s identity and provided an engaging, visually stunning experience.
In addition to the public-facing exhibits, we collaborated with the company to create Coke Archives: a private historical collection featuring rare documents, artifacts, and memorabilia chronicling the brand's evolution. Accessible by appointment to researchers at the company’s headquarters, they preserve over 130 years of records, ads, and ephemera, distinct from the public exhibits.
The Results
World of Coca-Cola welcomes over a million guests each year. In 2026, it was ranked the fourth-best Pop Culture Museum in the US. A trendsetter in marketing, Coca-Cola quickly understood and acted on the power of showing up in real life. By transforming static gallery spaces into dynamic, multi-sensory activations, we helped the company create a unique connection with its audiences. With high interactivity, opportunities for personalization, and increased dwell time (90-120 minutes compared to an average of 15-30 seconds for traditional digital or TV impressions), audiences are much more likely to leave the space feeling stronger brand affinity and, as a result, to purchase Coke products in the future.
Stats:
5-year
partnership, extended after a very successful initial project
4
exhibits revamped: Scent Discovery, Beverage Lab, Coke Stories, and The Studios
130+
years of brand history preserved in the private Coke Archives
1M+
guests annually, and ranked the #4 Pop Culture Museum in the US in 2026
