Introduction:
Operating as a global brand and the largest beverage firm in the world, Coca-Cola is continuously running recurrent campaigns with different objectives. In the summer of 2013, the company ran a major campaign stemming from their Australian department called ‘Share a Coke’ (Moye, 2014). The main aim of the promotion was to create brand awareness and increase the organization’s market share. The company has constantly used the term ‘sharing’ in its promotional strategies. The firm has often sought to associate themselves to togetherness, remarkably dating back to their ‘Hilltop’ campaign back in 1971, which featured the hit song Buy the World a Coke. Share a Coke was unique from other previous campaigns because the motivation to share was designed to occur on social media platforms, instead of exclusively physically (Baker, 2013).
This report provides a reception analysis that characterized the success of the Coca-Cola social media campaign on its audience. More emphatically, how this audience was impacted and ultimately why most of them were inclined to actively participate in the campaign. Social media campaign assists a company establish a rapport and connect with their audience, in the fields of communication and marketing. Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, various blogsites and Foursquare are essential tools to forge a connection (Smith, 2008). The report below will focus on the use of Twitter as the main tool in this campaign, and its reception across the United States.
Objectives:
The campaign was launched in America in November 2013, and its primary objective was to boost sales and consumption of Coca-Cola. The second objective was to keep the audience in an online engagement, talking positively about the brand (Moye, 2014). This is mainly because social media campaigns mainly target online engagement of social media users. In the Coca Cola campaign examined, the term ‘value creation’ is essential in providing a theoretical framework that explains the motivational factors that contributed to the success of the campaign, through the social media platforms. It should also be clear that in their mission statement, the term value creation distinctly takes precedence: “To create value and make a difference.”
Strategy:
Coca-Cola adopted two strategies to achieve the objective of the marketing campaign. The first strategy was a multi-platform communication. The firm utilized TV, internet, social media, and conventional media to establish and sustain the Share a Coke campaign. Secondly, they used a customizable electronic billboard where friends could text names to the company and have them featured on the billboard for the public to see (Handerspeck, 2014). This multi-platform communication strategy offered an invitation to friends and families to “Share a Coke.” Ultimately, this strategy gave individuals an opportunity to share, find, and connect with their peers. As the campaign became popular, the company adopted some recommendations from Twitter (from the hashtag #ShareACoke) to put custom-made names on the bottles.
This campaign entailed the substitution of the usual Coca-Cola brand name with personal initial names of the countries concerned. These names carried a function of language, where the message “Share a Coke with” served as an imperative to a communication mode. Inherently, the core message on the bottles served as a significant emotive function that affected the level of connection between the Coca-Cola enthusiasts (Moye, 2014).
Picture 1: Coca-Cola products customized to different locale:
(Source: Twitter hashtag #ShareACoke)
Picture 2: Coca-Cola products customized to personalized names:
(Source: Twitter hashtag #ShareACoke)
Picture 3: Coca-Cola products customized to different product lines:
(Source: Twitter hashtag #ShareACoke)
Results:
Through the social media platform, Coke constantly paid attention to what the customers were taking about online. The company also encouraged online participation with the objective of stimulating further online conversations throughout the campaign period (Baker, 2013). Under the personalized name on the bottles, fans were motivated to share their experience with their friends online.
The teenagers were ecstatic with the iconic Coca-Cola logo featuring their names instead, and they were compelled to capture pictures and post them online. This sharing enhanced the conversations about the brand in a personal way. Initially, the customers were left to discover the campaign on themselves. The Share a Coke packs were availed in shelves some weeks earlier before the official advertisement. Right from the onset, individuals commenced the sharing experience, and pictures bearing names made entry into the various social media platforms (Handerspeck, 2014).
The campaign drew a historical social media interaction; by the end of 2013, over 120, 000 tweets had been shared about the personalized bottles and images. Substantial analysis affirms that the Coca-Cola Facebook page increased its followers by 870 percent. Forty-five of the tweets on Twitter were positive, while 50 percent of them were neutral, implying that only five percent were negative. The campaign received over 18, 300, 000 media impressions denoting that the event was viewed by about 94 percent of the United States population by the end of 2013 summer (Joseph, 2014). The impact of this campaign is that the product consumption rose by 7 percent among the young-adult population, which was the prime target.
Conclusion:
The “Share a Coke” campaign demonstrated that positive social media interaction is attainable. If companies and organizations provided their customers with convenient strategies to interact with their products, without being pushy, the firms would attain significant level of success in brands promotion. Firms should customize their promotional strategies in a fluid approach that is not assertive (Smith, 2008). Organizations should capitalize on personalized interactions, by taking into focus that they are not communicating with their customers on social media; rather they are talking to them.
Through this campaign, Coca-Cola was able to transform attitudes and perceptions towards their products. Teens were motivated by the fact that Coke was following this campaign at a close level and listening to their requests. The campaign rejuvenated the reputation of the company; helping its public relations and communication team fight against criticisms directed at the brand, from consumers and activists, such as obesity, unsustainability and poor advertisement strategies (Baker, 2013).
References:
Baker, R. (2013). Coke extends names on bottles to everyone. 9. campaign-rolls-out-in-the-us Coke eyes another sales boost after bringing back 'Share a Coke'. (2014). Marketing Week (OnlineEdition), 4.
Handerspeck, J. (2014). Where’s my Coke? Beverage Industry, 105(9), 86.
Joseph, S. (2014, Aug. 11). Coca-Cola sales not fizzing as too few ‘Share a Coke. Marketing Week, Retrieved 2/25/2016 from: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/sectors/food-anddrink/ news/coca-cola-sales-not-fizzing-as-too-few-share-a-coke/4011371.article
Moye, J. (2014, June 10). Summer of Sharing: ‘Share a Coke’ Campaign Rolls Out in the U.S. Persuasion, Public Relations, and Branding. Retrieved 2/25/2016 from: http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/summer-of-sharing-share-acoke-
Twitter (2016) “Share a Coke” Campaign. Retrieved 2/25/2016 from: https://twitter.com/hashtag/shareacoke
Smith, B. (2008). Creating Recognition for Employee Recognition: A Case Study on Marketing Persuasion, Public Relations, and Branding. International Communication. Association, 1-29.
