First launched in 2011, the personalised packs delivered a sales uplift and engaged more young consumers, something Coke will be hoping to replicate.
Coca-Cola is bringing back its famous ‘Share a Coke’ campaign, hoping to introduce a new generation of consumers to the platform and offer digital experiences in addition to the personalised cans.
Share a Coke was first launched in Australia in 2011, and arrived on British shores in 2013. The campaign, which Coca-Cola calls “legendary”, involved the brand swapping out its logo for personalised names in its signature typeface. The campaign was credited with boosting Coca-Cola’s sales.
The brand’s volume sales (number of litres sold) leapt 2.9% year-over-year to 272.17 million in the three months after the campaign launched in the UK (year ending 23 June 2013), according to data from IRI (now known as Circana). Such was the scale of the original campaign that in 2014 Coke claimed its Share a Coke ads had been seen by 94% of the population 20 times over the summer period.
In particular, Share a Coke was credited with driving up consumption among young adults. The campaign encouraged “shareability” on social media.
Over a decade later, the relaunched global campaign will feature new digital and customisation features, designed to reflect “Gen Z’s desire for authentic experiences”, the brand explains.
‘We need to be humble’: Coca-Cola’s European CMO on effectiveness and ‘earning’ consumers’ attention
Those who remember the original campaign will recall the search for a Coke with your name on it in stores. This time around those who are not able to find their name will be able to scan a QR code on pack, allowing them to customise their Coca-Cola through an app.
Another digital aspect of the relaunched campaign is the ‘Share a Coke Memory Maker’, an interactive experience – again accessed through an on-pack QR code – that allows consumers to create personalised videos using their own content.
In addition to interactive digital experiences, Coca-Cola is bringing its Share a Coke campaign to life in more traditional ways, including an out-of-home campaign and an ad, entitled ‘The Magic of Sharing’, aimed at bringing the meaning behind the platform to life.
Coca-Cola refines innovation process to make ‘bigger and bolder’ marketing bets
According to Coca-Cola’s global vice-president for creative, Islam ElDessouky, “Real-life everyday moments” are central to the relaunched Share a Coke campaign.
“The iconic ‘Share a Coke’ is back and supercharged at a global level, celebrating the pure magic that happens when people connect,” he says. “It’s not just about likes and shares – we’re talking real-world moments, amplified.”
Personalisation in different forms has been a focus for Coca-Cola over recent years. For example, during its 2024 Christmas campaign, the brand enabled consumers to create a personalised, shareable snow globe animation based on a holiday memory.
Last year, the business also released personalised cans for the Diet Coke brand in the UK through its ‘Diet Coke Break’ initiative.
Rather than with Share a Coke, which replaces the Coca-Cola logo with a name, the Diet Coke initiative retained the logo, but also included the name below. The campaign aimed to connect the beverage with the break occasion. That specific initiative ran only across Diet Coke packs, whereas this new global campaign will apply across a variety of packs, leading with Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and featuring Coca-Cola Original Taste. The campaign will not run across the Diet Coke brand for the time being.
