30 Sep 2014 Personalised Coke a huge win for hamstrung US sales
The campaign ties together user-generated photos, social media, the chance to win prizes and physical Coke bottles emblazoned with names from Aaron to Zach and group names like “Family” and “Friends”; even nicknames, like “BFF” and “Wingman.”
The campaign, launched in the US in June, generated terrific interest and take-up, reports the Wall Street Journal and hailing its success in generating positive traction on Twitter and Instagram and asserting that it had reversed a 10 year decline in consumption in the US.
But other media, like Forbes and Marketing Week have been more critical lately because it hadn’t overall reversed Coke’s slumping sales. Businessweek featured Coke’s problems as a recent cover story.
A spokesman for the beverage giant said it was “pleased” with the campaign, which even saw bottles for sale on eBay.
Instagram was swamped with people posting more than 500,000 photos with the hashtag #shareacoke, including some from animal lovers who’d bought bottles for their pets.
When “Share A Coke” first ran in 2011 in Australia, consumption soared by seven per cent. It has now spread to about 80 countries and hit UK shelves in April.
In the US, Coke used the 250 most popular first names, with Chris, Jess and Alex, among the most stocked in store. It also printed out more than one million personalised cans with more than 100,000 names and sold them from roving kiosks.
Source: The Telegraph, Bloomberg
Related reading: