Why Coca-Cola’s “Share A Coke” Campaign Is So Effective
Coca-Cola’s “Share A Coke” campaign started in 2011 in the land down under — Australia. It’s a multi-national campaign that ditched the traditional coke branding and logo for a more approachable and fun persona. In place of the iconic logo, the slogan “Share a coke with” followed by a person’s name took its place.
The campaign gathered the nation’s most popular name, printing them on the bottles with the hopes that people would search out their own name, and share Cokes with their friends’ names on it.
It was a campaign aimed directly at engaging with youthful audiences. Younger generations looked at Coke, prior to this campaign, as a conglomerate in the business of creating unhealthy beverages, jam-packed with artificial ingredients and unhealthy substitutes. But this campaign wanted to change that negativity and engage with these younger, health-conscious audiences on a more personal level. And so the iconic brand turned to design studio Ogilvy to create this vast campaign:
Our idea was bigger than just a campaign - it all revolved around the iconic Coke logo. We changed our cans and bottles. We transformed the heritage-listed Kings Cross advertising billboard sign into an interactive site for the first time since ‘Coca-Cola’ bought it in 1974. We developed interactive kiosks that toured 18 Westfield centers, inviting consumers to personalize a ‘Coca-Cola’ can with any name of their choosing, with people queuing for hours to get a bespoke can. Additionally, we developed apps for people who desired to engage with the campaign even deeper. It was the breadth of innovative technology that kept ‘Share-a-Coke’ alive, relevant and engaging over the campaign period, as it fuelled word-of-mouth and social media amongst family and friends. Such was the success of the campaign it has now been rolled out in over 80 countries across the globe.
And it seems to have worked. According to Ogilvy, the agency behind the initiative, Coke’s market share grew 4 percent, and the consumption by younger consumers grew seven percent. It’s been seven years and the campaign is going strong, with a new initiative rolling out this summer.
The new initiative is still geared towards younger audiences, and it aims to promote engagement and interactivity. Through the use of codes embedded in the Coke labeling and smartphone label tracking, Coke is hoping to encourage sales by enticing people to buy, share and interact online in the hopes of winning a prize.
It’s a fun campaign with a playful, modern edge.
This Coca-Cola Commercial Takes Users On a Step-By-Step Tutorial Of The “Share A Coke” Summer Adventure
This dynamic, engaging commercial is a quick and powerful tool that shows users how they can interact with the brand and play along throughout the summer. It’s a commercial promoting the recent “Share A Coke” campaign, and creating an urgency for consumers to interact with now that summer is in full swing and consumers have more free time to spare.
This summer, Coca-Cola is embarking on an initiative that lets users play to win. All they have to do is buy a Coke, scan a code and enter to win a number of different prizes — from the theme park and concert tickets to another cold, refreshing bottle.
To create a sense of urgency and engage younger crowds, the brand went with an exciting and enthusiastic commercial that takes users on a step-by-step walkthrough of just how they can win.
This video is structured like a tutorial, breaking down complex processes into clear and simple steps that guide users towards achieving their desired goals. Professional video producers often maximize this technique to provide a seamless and easy-to-follow experience for viewers. And this video adds a playful twist that creates an atmosphere of happiness and adventure.
Each step of the process is clearly labeled by a big, bold number circled in the top left corner of the screen. It’s almost dog tagged in its appearance, grabbing attention and leading users seamlessly along their journey.
This decision choice is simple and effective, adding subtle context to the imagery and narration playing on the screen.
Coca-Cola’s Effective Brand Video Grabs Attention With Dynamic Transitions & Clever Iconography
Coca-Cola is a brand that’s always on the move. It’s always staying ahead of its game and providing users with powerful campaigns that are hard to ignore — and “Share A Coke” is no different.
But to add an air of excitement and wonder to this Coca-Cola commercial, the creative team behind this creation went with a slew of subtly, fun and creative design elements to add authority and a design talent that pulled users in almost immediately.
One of the first things you notice throughout the video is the clever and smooth transitions. They take users from concept to concept, and from step to step. They divide the vivid images and photography in a smooth, yet dynamic way.
These transitions zoom in from the upper right corner to the lower left corner and hang there — they look like sound waves on a monitor in their rigidity and geometric makeup. They are lines that bump and move almost with the music, and then they sit in the corner waiting to take viewers to the next concept that’s going to be explored.
This adds movement to the video which is almost entirely made up of still shots, save for the subtle animations that come from the branded illustrations.
This motion encourages movement on the part of the user. It encourages them to listen and watch, and it also encourages them to get out there, buy a Coke and play along with the game. Even if they don’t win, it’s the thrill of playing that’s worth it. And these visual elements promote that.
These transitions also pair nicely with the subtle animations that dance across the screen — whether it’s the motion of a smartphone or the drawing of the Coke logo — there’s a professionalism from the illustrations that reels you in and leaves you wanting more.
Coca-Cola Gears This Video Towards A Younger Audience With Modern Design Elements And Secondary Branding
Coca-Cola is the king when it comes to branding. It’s an organization that knows how to tell a good, consistent story and has done so for years. I bet it’s hard for you to think of Santa Claus and Christmas without thinking of the iconic Coca-Cola commercials and package designs.
And clever branding exists in this video. It’s embedded in the color scheme — the bright red that makes up the background and the transitional designs. It’s in the fluid and fun typography that comes with the elegance the Coca-Cola logo is known for. And it’s seen frequently and consistently.
This attention to branding elements shows how branding experts use recognizable color schemes and typefaces to instantly build a connection with the audience.
This video makes use of branding at every step of the way, but more importantly, it knows what audience it’s trying to attract, and knows to go with its less familiar, secondary and modern branding logo and identity to reach a different, younger audience.
This campaign is obviously geared toward a younger audience. You can see it in the characters that play throughout — these are younger adults going on wild summer adventures with their friends. These are not older professionals with families and careers. There’s a modernity here that is innately millennial, reaching out to this younger audience through strong messaging.
Most of the people who’d engage in this campaign would need to be smartphone savvy, making them younger by nature. And the Coca-Cola brand knows this. And to keep up with the fresh and fun times, it continued with its secondary “Share A Coke” branding in its final slides instead of the traditional, strong Coca-Cola logo.
This was a distinct design choice whose purpose was to inspire younger audiences and create a new generation of Coke drinkers.
The Coca-Cola Video Infuses Fun And Excitement Into Its Summer Campaign To Change Perceptions
Summer is a time of happiness and adventure — especially if you’re a young adult with the world at your fingertips. And the Coca-Cola brand knows this, catering this warm-weather campaign to its younger demographic in the hopes of spreading brand awareness, increasing sales and changing public perceptions.
The video is a simple, straightforward commercial infused with strong, secondary branding that appeals innately to a younger, more modern and fresh audience.
The tutorial-like layout of the video with the bold, strong lettering makes it very clear right from the start what users have to do to interact with this campaign, and the fluid branding throughout makes it obvious what brand consumers are engaging with.
The concept of the campaign follows the very popular “Share A Coke” initiative that was launched in the early 2010s, and its continuance today shows its strength as a tool for growth and innovation. It is aimed at a more youthful audience that has easy access to smartphones and has the leisure time to participate in a campaign such as this.
