Creating a personalised experience for consumers is a key strategy for many brands these days. In its new marketing campaign, Coca-Cola is taking personalisation to a whole new level by printing 150 of the most popular names in Britain instead of its symbolic branding.
There has been virtually no media coverage of the move, as the company wanted to surprise consumers who were shopping for Coca-Cola products. Instead, social network users have been doing the hard work for Coca-Cola. On Twitter the hashtag #ShareACoke has been used, allowing consumers to tell their friends about the new packs. There is also a new Share A Coke UK website and an associated Facebook app, where people who cannot find their names printed on labels can create a virtual personal can, the company explained.
The personalised labels can be found on 375ml and 500ml PET bottles of Coca-Cola, Diet Coke and Coke Zero and the intention is to drive positive perception of the brand and to offer a fun and memorable experience for consumers, as they are encouraged to find a bottle for themselves, their family and friends.
A fully integrated campaign is set to follow, centred around a TV ad uses storytelling to explore the personalityies that young people admire. Coca-Cola said that the Share A Coke campaign will be its biggest ever in terms of budget, dwarfing even the massive Olympic Games marketing drive last summer.