Share-a-Coke began in Australia, the brainchild of advertising agency Ogilvy Sydney. This is its story:
Share a Coke from Ogilvy Australia on Vimeo.
“Coke has always been an integral part of people coming together. But in our digital world, the way we connect has changed. We had to jump start some real conversations – with people you may have lost touch with, or were yet to meet. And nothing reminds you more of someone than their first name. So we printed the 150 most popular Australian names on Coke bottles and invited Australians to share a Coke, once more becoming part of people coming together with the best conversation starter of all – your first name, ” Ogilvy explains in its case study.
The primary campaign objective was to increase consumption of Coca-Cola over the summer period. The secondary objective was to get people, and especially young people, talking about Coke again.
The campaign exceeded expectations with millions of Australians getting together and ‘Sharing a Coke’ either virtually or literally.
Young adult consumption increased by 7%, making 2011 the most successful summer ever. The campaign earned a total of 18,300,000-plus media impressions.
Traffic on the Coke Facebook site increased by 870% and the Facebook page grew 39%. In Australia, we were the number one most talked about Facebook page and 23rd globally. Seventy-six thousand virtual Coke cans were shared online and 378,000 custom Coke cans were printed at local Westfield malls across the country.
The campaign was expanded globally and the 250 names on special bottles in Europe led to a 10% sales increase immediate consumption formats across the Coca-Cola portfolio last year. This year, during the northern hemisphere summer, the campaign is being repeated with more more names, which CCE says will mean over 80% of the population will be able to find their personalised pack in store, as well as a selection of nicknames.
The expanded campaign includes targeted take home PET bottles across the range with various names included such as ‘Mum’, ‘Dad,’ ‘Mate’ and ‘Bestie’ and price promotion 500ml bottles. Consumers will be able to share a virtual bottle with friends or download personalised wallpapers for their computer desktop or mobile phone.
CCE is providing its retail customers with improved new display solutions that make it easier to display the personalised packs to help maximise sales. These include transparent dump bins in which bottles can be clearly displayed to help make it easier for shoppers to locate the specific personalised bottles they want.
Share-a-Coke was a huge success for something else too – digital printing.
In Australia, the campaign focused on the red Coca-Cola label. In Europe, Share-a-Coke involved three – Coca-Cola, Coke Zero and Diet (or Light) Coke. There were also vast differences in volumes. Australia produces 75 million labels a year while Europe produces more than 750 million.
Coca-Cola had to clear a number of hurdles to make Share-a-Coke happen in the northern hemisphere. This resulted in the group's partnering with a raft of companies along its supply chain, from printers to bottlers. Share-a-Coke had a lasting effect on Coca-Cola’s print supply chain.
Coca-Cola Europe packaging innovator Gregory Bentley explained at the time, “Europe is a very different beast. Australia broke all the rules putting names where the brand’s name would be. In Europe you have 35 countries, multiple languages and, in some cases, several languages on one pack. We have a huge supply chain with different bottling lines and equipment.”
At the time Share-a-Coke was the largest digitally printed label project of its kind and was backed by an enormous promotional blitz. “This is the single biggest Coca-Cola campaign the world has ever seen. The technology has delivered a brilliant marketing idea. Digital print is the enabler,” Bentley added.
HP provided that printing. The static content on the labels for this project was first printed conventionally on a 38-micron BOPP wraparound material and then personalised with the names using HP Indigo WS6000 series Digital Presses.
One of the legacies of the project is colour management, the colour red specifically. HP Indigo formulated the Coca-Cola Red Ink, and it became the benchmark for all conventional and digital printing for Share-a-Coke. It also became the permanent reference colour for Coca-Cola. Before this project, each country had its own version of Coke red.
