Share a Coke Campaign - Case Study Example

Case Study: “Share a Coke Campaign” Sherry Rodriguez CMST 301 6980 Digital Media and Society (2142) Prof. Radhakrishnan 27 February Introduction The digital space is a platform that has provided an opportunity for businesses to meet both current and prospective customers. Coca Cola is one of the companies that have adopted the use of social media to market its products. The soft drinks giant has devised various strategies to capture the market. The focus has been to both the existing customers together with the prospective ones. One major successful digital marketing strategy is the ‘Share a Coke Campaign.’ This was in need to evolve with the changing trends; the company needed to have both an online and an offline link with its customers as it attempts to broaden the customer base. The use of digital media made Coca Cola to deviate from the traditional strategies that would promote the product such as developing new products or extending the existing brands. Synopsis Marketing is an important aspect of creating a strong brand while helping to reach out to the existing and potential customers. Every marketing strategy faces three uncertainties that are supposed to be weighed before engaging; the fear of failure, the return on investment and the fear of the unknown. Investing resources in the digital media for marketing brings forth all these uncertainties. However, these uncertainties can be assumed based on the advantages that come with the digital media. First, learning from failure can help device workable strategies in the digital space. Second, the digital media exhibits a very rapid growth while the marketers get to understand it better day by day. Finally, digital media is less expensive, therefore, learning from it especially on optimizing the return on investment is worthy. Coca Cola opted to ‘go digital’, and take advantage of the huge online traffic. This was done through a simple social concept that encouraged customers to exhibit brand loyalty while encouraging others to join the wagon. In the summer of 2011, they devised the ‘Share a Coke Campaign’ (Coca Cola, 2013). It began with the customers creating a can for a special friend and then finding their names and having a coke bottle bearing the name to developing customized coke bottles with people’s names. This campaign has gone global and it is still in progress after it demonstrated that it can facilitate the strengthening of the brand as well as increment in the sales volume. Coca Cola’s Goal The campaign was focused on increasing the consumption of Coke during the summer of 2011 while bringing an appeal on the strength of the brand. Despite Coca Cola being known as a strong brand, they needed to connect with people so that they could have the urge to buy the product. They also wanted to capitalize on the increasing sales that are usually witnessed during the summer period. Strategy In order to ensure people purchase coke, a strategy had to be devised. The idea was to reconnect people and get to share coke together with friends and family. The campaign was launched in Australia where there was dwindling consumption of the product. Since most of the Australians use their first names to refer to one another, the customization of the coke label would use the first name. The strategy was to make the sharing personal and make the other person fell appreciated and special. Through the social media platforms, the company pooled the people together through connecting and getting to share a customized bottle of coke online. It all began with choosing a name of the friend to share the can or bottle with. For the sake of having convenience, they chose the most commonly used names, one hundred and fifty of them. The campaign was also focused on connecting with that had not met for long time. They adopted the use of a number of social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter among others. These platforms made it possible to communicate while sharing the customized cans with as many people as possible. In addition, these platforms provided an opportunity to find people, to connect with them and then to’ share a coke’. Though there were customized names, the campaign provided much flexibility; there was an opportunity to develop content that would target a specific target audience. The flexibility also allowed the use of various contact points as well as doing it in different ways. Whether an individual did it for fun or for a serious matter, the campaign gave a leeway for all that. While the campaign was ongoing, the marketers were busy analyzing the opinions of the people so that they would know the next step of action that would help them relate with the real product. They also focused on aspects that could further the campaign and keep it alive. So many people shared the product virtually which translated to sharing the real product as evidenced by the results. In addition, there were many requests that came up concerning the need to add the number of names that featured in the real product as well as the online ones. The execution of the strategy went a notch higher with the introduction of products labelled with the names of individuals. This aspect heightened the online campaign even before the campaign was officially launched. The fact that they used a number of digital platforms created a wide coverage and a huge audience. Individuals such as celebrities as well as media were provided with a personalized seeding kit that would having their name on a coke product. This could be shared to the followers, an aspect that aroused the curiosity and the participation of many people. Facebook provided the largest platform for ‘share a coke’ campaign. The process was quite easy and straightforward. It involved only two steps. The first one was creation of a virtue Coke can with the name of the person sharing with. Then one would make their own TVC that features the profile photos of the friend. The limitation of names provided a major challenge to the campaign with many requests being brought forward on the need to increase the names. Due to this demand, more names were added to the platform, which encouraged much more sharing. Measurable Success (Return on Investment) In the United Kingdom, the campaign was attributed to the increment in the profitability as well as the market share. During the period of the campaign, there was an increase in the retail sales. This was by a 2.9% compared to the previous year that had registered a negative growth. The IRI data indicated that the sales reached a record of £ 292.93 million within a period of three months. This was an indication that the sales had grown, the same report indicated that there was a 2.9% growth in the sales volume (Sebastian, 2013). This is a positive result especially with the brand having overcome the stiff competition by Pepsi that had registered a higher amount in the previous year. There was a reduction in the total sales volume of Pepsi, which is attributable to the rise of the coke consumption. In Australia, the campaign excited the entire population especially the social media users. Despite the sharing online, there are those who went ahead to share the product with others. The media impression that was left by the campaign was spectacular. It was estimated that the online traffic in the Coke’s Facebook page increased by 870% while the page views also increased tremendously. Over three hundred and fifty thousand customized Coke cans were sold in the course of the campaign. There was an increment in the sale volumes, which also demonstrates a return on investment was achieved. The consumption of the product was reported to have increased by 7% among the young adults (The Guardian, 2013). The campaign is ongoing and has a great following of Coca Cola all across the world. The number of page views has tremendously increased while the sales volume has also continued to widen. In the United States and South Africa, there are positive signs of the impact of this form of digital communication of the Coke product. Conclusion Digital media is a powerful tool in the 21st century of communicating a product or service to the public. Coca Cola has benefited greatly in creating a strong brand as well as improving its sales revenue through the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign. The campaign, which was launched in Australia in 2011, became a success story and prompted other Coca Cola regions to follow suit. The campaign involves making a can that bears a label with the name of a friend or relative and then sharing with them. Apart from this virtue platform, 150 names that are common in each region are used in labelling the product itself and sold in the retail outlets (Coca Cola, 2014). Many people have gone ahead to buy the product and share it with people that they know who have the names. In essence the goal of the campaign is achieved which is to promote the consumption of Coke. This would result to increased sales and hence increased profit. References Coca Cola (2013). Local idea goes global: Share a Coke. Retrieved from http://www.coca-colajourney.com.au/stories/local-idea-goes-global-share-a-coke Coca Cola. (2014). Share a Coke. Retrieved from https://www.shareacoke.co.za/ Sebastian, J. (2013). Coke’s ‘Share a Coke’ drive helps it pull clear of Pepsi in UK. Retrieved from http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/cokes-share-a-coke-drive-helps-it-pull-clear-of-pepsi-in-uk/4007411.article The Guardian. (2013). What the share a Coke campaign can teach other brands. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/jul/24/share-coke-teach-brands Read More