Good News Fridays: The Share A Coke Campaign

By Nathan Young on August 1, 2014

This Summer, Coca-Cola is doing something very unique! If you get a Coca-Cola, Coke Zero, or Diet Coke product, do you notice a name on the bottle? Sadly, the name “Nathan” is not one of the 250 popular names chosen by Coca-Cola in the Share A Coke campaign. But, when I picked up a 2 liter Coca-Cola, the bottle said I should share a Coke with “friends”, how nice!

In June, the Coca-Cola Company launched the “Share a Coke” campaign which replaces the iconic logo with the 250 most popular first names among American teens and Millennials.on 20-ounce bottles of Coke, Diet Coke and Coke Zero. Bigger bottles and cans don’t have popular names, but have names like family, friends, BFF, Star, and other names!

Share a Coke packaging rolled out nationwide in June and will remain on the shelves through August. The campaign will come to life online and via social media, too. Fans can visit www.shareacoke.com to personalize virtual bottles and share them with friends via Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter and Instagram.

By using the #ShareaCoke hashtag, consumers can share their stories and photos for the chance to be featured on interactive Coke billboards across the country. And anyone with the free Coca-Cola Freestyle mobile app can scan a QR code on the fountain dispenser’s touch screen and send a friend a coupon for a $1 off a 20-oz. Coke. Coca-Cola’s campaign puts a modern, youthful twist on the brand’s 128-year legacy of bringing people together and making them feel special. And yes, for teens and Millennials, personalization is not a fad, it’s a way of life!

So far, the Share A Coke campaign on social media has been strong. I have seen plenty of pictures from people snapping a picture of a Coca-Cola bottle with their name on it and posting it online. For the ones who don’t have a bottle with their name on it, you can create a virtual bottle on their Share A Coke Website. And Coca-Cola is running a 500-stop, cross-country Share a Coke tour featuring traveling kiosks which will enable fans to customize a Coca-Cola mini can for themselves and a second can for someone special. The tour will satisfy fans who can’t find their names on store shelves.

Coca-Cola is doing something very smart here! Teens and Millennials like me love taking pictures and using social media. The Share A Coke campaign is a great way to increase the awareness of the Coca-Cola brand, and to hopefully increase sales in a market where sales have been declining. After the campaign ends in August, I hope Coca-Cola will bring back the Share A Coke campaign, and add some more names to the list. I would love to see a 20 oz bottle with the name “Nathan” on it!

Learn more about the campaign at: http://www.shareacoke.com/#bottle