Share a Coke

Share a Coke

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X8Bd3-G6IU

In 2013 and 2014, Coca - Cola swapped their famous logo with people's names, so that people could Share a Coke with others. Each of the bottles and cans carried #ShareaCoke hashtag to encourage people to promote the brand online.

The most popular UK names were selected and printed on labels and made even more available online. This marketing campaign was one of the company's most successful campaigns.

Marketing Director Lucie Austin and Creative Excellence Lead Jeremy Rudge came up with the idea for Share a Coke from offices in Sydney in 2011. After being presented with a standout visual - a wall of Coca - Cola cans stacked on shop shelves, each with different names on. The company found a truly shareable idea that made headlines and captured the Australian public's attention (Grimes, 2013). 

The campaign had:

• Over a thousand names on Coca - Cola bottles and cans
• 998 million impressions on Twitter
• 235,000 tweets from 111,000 fans using the #ShareaCoke
• More than 150 million personalised bottles sold
• Over 730,000 glass bottles personalised via e - commerce store
• 17,000 virtual name bottles shared online across Europe
• 65 experiential stops on the Share a Coke tour
• Young adult consumption increased significantly, up by 7%

Source: (Coca - Cola, 2015).

Since the UK campaign was launched in April, it became a big hit. From a social perspective, Coca - Cola saw it's Facebook community grow by 3.5% and globally by 6.8%. A study from YouGov in May 2013, using it's BrandIndex, Coca - Cola had also increased it's Buzz score, moving it from negative to positive (Grimes, 2013).

In April 2013, Coca - Cola released the first 150 names on bottles. Then sent a select few as gift to celebrities and then let the public discover them in - store for themselves, so they could be the first to break the news on social media (Coca - Cola, 2015).

Everyone loves something that's personal an unique to him or her, even if it is just a drink. It became apparent that personalised content is a core focus - 78% of consumers feel that brands that create unique and personalised content are more interest in building a relationship with them (Coca - Cola, 2015).

Coca - Cola's marketing campaign was an effective one as it allowed people to use social media to promote their product. When the company put names on bottles it give people a personal connection and interaction with the brand. 

References:

Coca - Cola. (2015). The Share a Coke story. Retrieved from http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/stories/history/advertising/share-a-coke/. 

Grimes, T. (2013, July 24). What the Share a Coke Campaign can teach other brands. the guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/jul/24/share-coke-teach-brands