Coca-Cola is attributing a more than 2% jump in US sales to the Australian-originated “Share a Coke” labelling on its Coke, Diet Coke and Coke Zero.
The labels carry names of individuals, ranging from Adam to Sarah to Zach, as well as warm-and-fuzzy terms like “Friends,’’ “BFF’’ and “Family.’’
The campaign, which launched in the US in June, has been such a hit that, for at least a few months, it reversed a decade-long decline in Coke consumption.
The simple marketing campaign was always intended to be temporary, and the cans and bottles are now fading from store shelves as Coke switches back to its traditional labels.
The campaign seems to have appealed to everybody but especially young consumers. After falling 11 years in a row, Coke’s US soft drink volumes rose 0.4% for the 12 weeks through August from the same period a year ago. Over the same time period, volume and dollar sales fell at both PepsiCo and Dr Pepper Snapple Group.
Coke took the 250 most popular first names for teens and millennials and slapped them on the front of 20oz bottles.
The most-stocked names in stores were Chris, Jess and Alex.
In addition, the company printed out more than one million personalised 7.5oz cans across the US at roving kiosks where more than 100,000 names were available.
The campaign’s website also let visitors type names to make “virtual’’ Coke bottles that they could share on social media; more than six million bottles have been created.
Campbell Gibson for NBR Food Industry Week
Fri, 10 Oct 2014
Fri, 10 Oct 2014
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‘Share a Coke’ reverses sales drop
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