When Coca-Cola first launched its “Share a Coke’” campaign from Ogilvy in 2011, it was a masterclass in personalization. Essentially, Coca-Cola swapped out its logo with an invitation to “share a coke with” one of 250 of the most popular names in Australia. It worked like gangbusters. In 2014, the campaign moved to America, whipping up a consumer frenzy that not only led to an increase in sales, but was popular with the young folks, leading to a 7% uptick amongst the demographic and reversing a decade-long decline for the brand.
Eventually, even more names followed, with the campaign extending to multiple countries—then came the bottles that said “bro” or “bestie” because when you land on a marketing hit, the best thing to do is beat it into the ground and squeeze every last dollar you can from it.
