Coca-Cola is reporting a strong earnings boost that beat the street, as it continues to pivot ad dollars toward digital.

Its Q3 net income rose to $3.09 billion from $2.83 billion in the year-ago period. The company’s portfolio includes Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta but also Dasani, hard seltzer, Topo Chico and Powerade. Its net sales spiked 8% to $11.91 billion.

For the full year, Coca-Cola also adjusted its outlook for organic revenue, forecasting an increase of  between 10% to 11%, up from 8% to 9%.

In this morning’s earnings call, James Quincey, the company’s chairman and CEO, says its marketing transformation is making its brands more relevant.

Coca-Cola continues to be pivoting media spend from TV to digital. In 2019, for example, digital comprised 30% of its spend; now, it’s 60%, says Quincey. It is also seeing “tremendous engagement” for digital-first campaigns.

It will continue to reinvest in its brands, the company says, and in terms of its marketing, Quincey says it’s a “motor” to drive top and bottom line growth. “The leaning in is working,” he says, and concedes that it will pivot and ramp down spend if there are “global surprises” in store for 2024.

The CPG says it is effectively bringing generative AI into its creative. It is taking “bold steps” in AI through its “Create Real Magic” – the first platform of its kind to combine the capabilities of GPT-4, which produces human-like text from search engine queries, and DALL-E, which produces images based on text.

Coke Y3000 zero, its AI-powered LTO, billed as the “world’s first futuristic flavour,” was created with AI and the company says it’s been a success.

The company says that globally, it “continues to link consumption occasions with consumer passion points to build deeper brand connections,” citing by way of example, support for FIFA Women’s World Cup, the biggest female sporting event in history.

Coca-Cola said in its earnings statement, it “used the reach and relevance of its brands, including Trademark Coca-Cola and Powerade, to connect to the global soccer phenomenon by engaging with fans and players through digital storytelling and on-the-ground brand experiences.”

For North America, unit case volume was even, as growth in sparkling flavours, juice and value-added dairy beverages was offset by declines in other beverage categories.

In the region, it is seeing away-from-home outperform at-home.

Coca-Cola says it stepped up in-store activations in Sprite, which drove higher in-house penetration. Fanta, which overhauled its visual identity recently, grew 2 points in value share, as it innovated with a new Halloween innovation.