Coca-Cola Australia replaced its logo with first names and reversed a category decline

Coca-Cola in Australia was fighting a declining soft-drink category, with sales falling among the young drinkers it most needed.

Ogilvy Sydney replaced the Coca-Cola logo on 150 of the most popular Australian first names and told people to 'Share a Coke', pairing the cans with a TV campaign and personalisation kiosks.

Against a category decline of 0.7%, Coke increased volume sales, and the idea travelled the world as the global Share a Coke platform.

Replace the logo with a name so the product becomes a gift

A can with your name on it is a small gift, so it generates a purchase moment that a plain logo never creates.

Personalisation made the product self-photogenic, driving social sharing without extra media spend.

It let Coke reach teens and young adults with an idea about identity rather than a request to buy more soda.

Kiosks and virtual cans meant anyone, not just the 150 names, could hold a Coke that read as theirs.

If you cannot lower price or win on taste, hand the customer a way to personalise the product; a drink with someone's name on it is bought twice.

Share a Coke became a global Coca-Cola platform and one of the most awarded campaigns of its era. It won market-share and volume gains against a shrinking category and was followed by name-based executions in dozens of markets.