Kevin Meany, CEO and Founder of BFG Communications, and who has worked extensively in the beverage category with both alcohol and non-alcoholic brands, told Loyalty360 that he’s a big fan of Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign, but is not sure of it translates to social media becoming an integral engagement tool for marketers.
“From a campaign standpoint, it’s a great model for the future,” Meany said. “It’s designed to get people talking after it started in Australia in 2012. This was pushed out globally to the U.S. and is gaining a lot of traction. The challenge is how do you tie that noise in the market to sales. Not everyone is convinced that social media is as effective.”
Since its U.S. launch in early June, the “Share a Coke” campaign—which features the sale of bottles whose logos have been replaced with popular names among teens and Millennials—has generated considerable online buzz. Coke has publicly said there have been more than 125,000 posts about the campaign across all channels from June 2 through July 14, and 96% of consumer sentiment toward the campaign is either positive or neutral.
“One of the true strengths is it’s easy for anybody to do,” Meany said.
But the power of social media and online sharing might not attract all marketers.
“At times, there’s a willingness to try, but not step in 100%,” Meany said. “It comes with unfamiliarity. We’ve worked with some brands and have focused 100% on digital and had very good results. Very few companies have marketing dollars to invest broadly across any platform.”
Social media analytics firm Networked Insights notes that the “Share a Coke” campaign is generating more brand conversation for Coke than the summer campaigns for beverage companies Coors Lite and Bud Light. What’s more, Networked Insights said 45% of consumer sentiment is favorable toward the Share a Coke campaign; 50% consumer sentiment is neutral; and 5% is negative.
As part of the campaign, 250 of the most popular names among young people are taking the place of Coke’s iconic logo, for sale in select stores. Customers may also customize mini cans with their names. Consumers can share pictures of their personalized Cokes with the hashtag #shareacoke.
“It’s a great program and an example of how powerful some of these programs can be to get people talking and sharing,” Meany said. “It’s all about smiling, getting people together, and developing chatter. It’s certainly making a lot of noise. It’s giving consumers the ability to generate content and a voice. It’s certainly gotten people talking.”
The big question, Meany says, is how long the buzz can last.
“I’m loving everything I’m seeing about it, and it’s a lot of fun,” he said. “I’m not sure how to keep the momentum going next year.”