Share a Coke Campaign

One of my good friends works in Shanghai as an Integrated Marketing Manager for Coca-Cola and recently told me about the success of the Share a Coke campaign that he helped launch in China.  Leveraging the theme of mass personalization, the company replaced the usual branding on its beverage cans and bottles with the country’s most common names.  The idea was to give customers a new reason to purchase a Coke and share it with others through social media platforms.  When the UK campaign launched in April of 2013, Coca-Cola’s Facebook community grow by nearly 4% and its hashtag #shareacoke was used 29,000 times on Twitter. 

This is a brilliant campaign from a company that had lost some of its cache, particularly with the younger demographic.  With an injection of innovation in its branding and packaging, Coca-Cola was able to spark conversations and create emotional bonds through the simple act of sharing.  This is a true success story of how a well-established brand can leverage digital to change perceptions of the brand and quickly scale it to markets worldwide.    

http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/jul/24/share-coke-teach-brands