Best of the Decade: Coca-Cola drops its name for yours on its bottles and cans

'Share a Coke' campaign from Ogilvy Australia sought to broaded the soda brand's market

Published On
Oct 12, 2011
Coca-Cola: Share a Coke

Editor's Pick

Creativity looks back on the brand ideas and campaigns that made the last decade. See the full lineup here

Best of the Decade

Coca-Cola captured our attention in myriad delightful ways over the past decade—those included witty outdoor and design ads, polar bears, singing kids from around the world and more. But arguably its most enduring idea was  the “Share a Coke” packaging revamp that replaced the brand’s logo with the names of everyday folks. The original idea came out of Ogilvy Australia for that market and then expanded globally. Subsequent iterations went on to add last names to the mix, monikers in Braille and even built on the idea in the form of personalized tunes. And it still lives on today —just check out the shelves of your local grocery stores.
 

 

Original Story

Coca-cola is creating some online buzz Down Under - after doing the unprecedented and replacing the Coke name on its bottles with a series of individual names.

The Share a Coke , project, conceived by Ogilvy Sydney, began by the company quietly releasing bottles into the market with a different name on each (such as Matt, Tom, Jess) in place of the brandmark, accompanied by a simple statement such as 'Share a Coke with Matt'. This sparked online speculation as to the purpose of the names, with thousands of photos and mentions on social media. One week later, Coke announced that it was releasing 150 different popular Australian names on its product.

Consumers can 'share' a virtual can online with their friends via Facebook, and Coke has even commissioned songwriters to create songs based on each name. Those with more unusual names can create customized cans with their own names via kiosks in malls, and participants can get their names emblazoned on a famous billboard in Sydney's Kings Cross. The project is set to continue throughout the Australian summer, across a number of different media.