Analyzing 'share a Coke' campaign

1. Why “Share a Coke” campaign
was a huge success?
By : Alissar Abdo
ID: 163792195
Digital Marketing
MKM915SBB

2. Relevant Background on the Campaign
• The Coca-Cola is known for its innovative marketing
initiatives.
• In 2014, it launched its "Share a Coke" campaign, in
which it replaced its iconic brand name with one of the
250 most popular American names on the labels of 20-
ounce bottles.
• Consumers were encouraged to find bottles with names
that held personal meaning to them, share them with
friends and family, then tweet about their experiences
using the hashtag #ShareaCoke.
• The campaign began in Australia before it became a
massive hit and spread to 70 countries.
• It was a simple premise with spectacular results
• The “Share A Coke” campaign revitalised Coca-Cola’s
plummeting sales, leading to it’s first sales growth in
over 10 years.

3. Why this simple marketing initiatives turned
into spectacular results ?
The reason for this :
• names are one of the most personal things
we have.
• These labelled bottles delighted consumers
– because it’s a personalized bottle of coke
with their name on it!
• It also gave consumers an opportunity to
share that delight with their friends.
• Ultimately, this campaign worked because it
capitalized on the global trend of self-
expression and sharing on social media.

4. First reason for campaign success: Consumers were
Prompted to Create Online Media Content
• Coca-Cola empowered consumers to discuss
the product on social media platforms in a
way that puts the control in the hands of
customers
• By reflecting on their personal experiences,
consumers felt like their lifestyles were the
center of the narrative, instead of feeling like
they were mere tools in the company's
promotional machine.
• Consumers shared more than 500,000 photos
via the #ShareaCoke hashtag within the first
year alone.
• Coca-Cola gained roughly 25 million new
Facebook followers that same year.

5. Second reason for the campaign success: The Brand
Connects With Consumers on a Personal Level
• By putting the consumers personal
identification on the can it’s making a strong
appeal to the consumer’s value of individuality
and desire for human connection.
• For teens and Millennials, personalization is
not a fad, it’s a way of life. It’s about self-
expression, individual storytelling and staying
connected with friends.
• For those who have a unique name and can’t
find it on store shelves, not to worry. A 500-
stop, cross-country “Share a Coke” tour will
allow fans to customize a Coca-Cola mini can
for themselves and a second can for someone
special.
• There is also nicknames, such as “bestie,”
“star”, “BFF,” and “wingman”

6. Final reason for the campaign success: The slogan’s
language is a call to action with several implications
• The slogan “Share a Coke” is a call-
to-action phrase.
• A very cleverly designed phrase
because “Share a Coke” implies
both purchasing a coke to share as
well as to ‘share’ about coke via
social media.

7. Top three things I Learned
from “share a coke” Global
Marketing Success
1. Simplicity is powerful:
• Despite having grown into a massive
global industry with innumerable
products
• Coca-Cola has never strayed from its
timeless and basic ideals.
• Throughout the decades and multitudes
of marketing campaigns, Coca-Cola has
remained consistent when
communicating one strong and effective
message: pleasure.
• Enduring, simple slogans such as “Enjoy”,
and “Happiness” never go out of style and
translate easily across the globe.

8. Top three things I Learned
from “share a coke” Global
Marketing Success
2. Personalization is powerful:
• Despite its status as a global icon, Coca-
Cola understands that it must find a way
to speak to consumers at a more
personal, localized level.
• Each country’s offerings are customized
to its local culture and language, with the
most popular names of each region
printed on cans and bottles.
• This campaign is the perfect example of
effectively applying a localized
positioning strategy to a global market.

9. Top three things I Learned
from “share a coke” Global
Marketing Success
3. Socialization is powerful:
• Social media is one of the fastest-
growing tools for
effective international marketing ,
giving companies the ability to reach
consumers on a worldwide level
through a single platform.
• It is an effective localization strategy;
the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign
successfully utilizes social networks to
engage consumers and prompt them
to share their Coke experience with
others.

10. Reference
• Tarver, E. (2020, August 28). Why the 'share a coke' campaign is so successful. Retrieved March
17, 2021, from https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/100715/what-makes-share-coke-
campaign-so-successful.
• Heble, A. (2019, November 11). Case study on coca cola 'share a coke' campaign. Retrieved March
17, 2021, from https://www.digitalvidya.com/blog/case-study-on-coca-colas-share-a-coke-
campaign/
• 3 marketing lessons from the "share a Coke" Campaign: MayeCreate Design. (2020, June 29).
Retrieved March 17, 2021, from https://mayecreate.com/blog/3-marketing-lessons-from-the-
share-a-coke-campaign/
• Share a Coke campaign: 5 valuable marketing lessons. (2020, April 16). Retrieved March 17, 2021,
from https://mktoolboxsuite.com/share-a-coke-campaign-marketing/