Share a Coke and a Word: How Coca-Cola Captured Millennial Through

Word of Mouth Marketing

Introductions
By sharing a Coke, thousands of people have unknowingly provided
Coca-Cola with free marketing. In an effort to appeal to millennial
consumers, Coca-Cola printed names on its cans with the hashtag,
#ShareaCoke. The global campaign brought people together by
facilitating the thought of a friend while walking by Coca-Cola products.
When consumers see their names or their friends’ names on a Coca-Cola
can, they are more likely to purchase it.

History of the Campaign

The #ShareaCoke campaign began in Australia in 2011 and then moved

throughout the world (Moye 2014). The campaign made its way to the
United States in 2014. In Australia, the campaign started with generic
terms and 150 of the country’s most popular first names. Because the
campaign started with so few names, Coca-Cola emphasized purchasing
the product for someone else, hence the term “share” a Coke. After the
initial launch, the company then allowed consumers to choose the next
names to be released (Moye 2014)

After Australia, the campaign moved to New Zealand, Asia, and then to
Europe in April 2013 (Hepburn). Each country promoted “sharing a
Coke” in a different way, but the campaign’s overall success can be
attributed to personalization. For example, in the UK, Coca-Cola
generated buzz around the birth of the royal baby (Moye 2014). Once
consumers in the UK market found out about the campaign,
personalization became the key factor in driving sales increase.

Celebrities such as Emma Roberts (see Figure 2) became opinion leaders

to initiate buzz, but the marketing push soon turned to consumers and their
relationship with the company’s product. Executives at Coca-Cola hoped
that the #ShareaCoke campaign would be a success, but did not prepare
for how much of a success the campaign would actually turn out to be.
After an initial release in 2014, Coca-Cola released 1,000 more names in
the United States (Moye 2015). Coca-Cola also allowed consumers to
order cans on a website, which made it easy for consumers to find their
name. At this point, the excitement of searching everywhere to find one’s
name ended as the campaign started to settle down. Instead, Coca-Cola
executives realized that they could drive more revenue by providing the
consumer with the desired item: a personalized Coca-Cola can.

Then, in April 2016, Coca-Cola re-launched the campaign by using song

lyrics (seen in figure 3) instead of first names.

Coca-Cola in Society

As a beverage product, Coca-Cola plays a large cultural role in many

countries. Americans, as well as consumers in other countries, love Coca-
Cola. Roberto Ferdman, a food economist journalist for the Washington
Post, states that Coca-Cola is “designed to sell happiness. They’re not
selling a drink. But on an emotional level you attach to it” (2015). As a
brand, Coca-Cola has a classic image, which encourages consumers to
drink Coke products.

Naturally, the #ShareaCoke campaign became part of social interaction.

Immediately after the campaign launched, people who found their names
shared the personalized Coke products on social media. Because the
campaign uses a hashtag, users can share the campaign directly. Hashtags
also allow the “spreadability,” a term used by Henry Jenkins, Sam Ford
and Joshua Green (2013), to be measured. As of April 2016, over 600,000
pictures were shared using the hashtag #ShareaCoke on Instagram. By
using personal names and spreadable terms, the campaign initiated
conversations around the Coca-Cola product.

The Rise of Millennials

The #ShareaCoke campaign is important to look at because it is one of the

first campaigns where a major corporation switched their main target
audience from baby boomers to millennials. Richard Fry (2016), senior
researcher at Pew Research Center reports that on April 25, 2016,
millennials officially outnumbered baby boomers. This generational shift
meant that Coca-Cola needed to attract a new consumer segment in order
remain leaders of the beverage market

Coca-Cola already held the brand loyalty of baby boomers, but the
company realized that they need to shift their focus on the next largest
generation (Moye 2015). By using popular names on products, Coca-Cola
attempts to show millennials that they care for their audience (Nguyen
2015). This is the first step in building a life long relationship with
millennial consumers.

This paper explores how customization of Coca-Cola products have

specifically impacted millennials. By finding out why millennials enjoy
“sharing” a Coke so much, marketers can understand the company’s
campaign tactics, as well as learn more about millennial culture and how
to best appeal to them. This can help guide corporate decisions related to
what marketing strategies to focus on in the future.

Background

Millennials

We must first understand who millennials are in order to understand the

campaign. According to the United States Census Bureau (2015),
“millennials” are people born from 1980–2000. As the first demographic
to grow up with the internet and new forms of communication such as text
messaging, this generation is unique. Dr. Lynn Connaway and Dr. Marie
Radford describe millennials as “impatient, practical, results oriented,
multi-taskers, with non-linear communication patterns” (2007). Knowing
who millennials are makes understanding Coca-Cola’s thought process in
their #ShareaCoke campaign much easier.

Connaway and Radford continue to say that “millennials prefer more

information choices and more selectivity, personalization and
customization of information, as well as convenience” (2007). The
#ShareaCoke campaign appealed to this by using personalization and
convenience.

Consumers could find #ShareaCoke products through many different

modes of distribution which became convenient for consumers.
Consumers found the product in stores, ordered it online, or customized it
using kiosks. The most convenient way for consumers to buy the product
was in stores. Coca-Cola appealed to this by using the most common
names, making it most convenient for the largest amount of people (see
figure 5). However, for people who could not find their name, ordering the
customized product online was easy. Coca-Cola also went around to
college campuses and malls with kiosks where people could customize
their own can, no matter the name.

This campaign’s success is impressive for the small amount of money the
campaign cost Coca-Cola (Fulgoni 2015). When consumers found
friends’ names, they shared a picture on social media. The product also
became the topic of many conversations as Coca-Cola used more generic
terms, such as “friend,” “mom,” and “superstar.” This allowed for word of
mouth (WOM) marketing, which, once initiated, was free to Coca-Cola.
The combination of customization and buzz-worthiness made the
campaign successful without needing to spend too much money.

Directly before this campaign, which started in 2011, Coca-Cola’s slogan

read “Open Happiness” (History). So, the #ShareaCoke campaign tells
consumers to share happiness with others. This concept allows consumers
to share the product, which is supposed to equate to happiness, with those
they love. Whether or not buyers actually do this, an emotional response
can be invoked, which helps consumers develop a deeper relationship to
Coca-Cola (Nguyen 2015). The consumer’s name in Coca-Cola writing
connects the consumer to the product, creating more of a customer loyalty.

Word of Mouth Marketing (WOM)

The campaign is a perfect example of WOM marketing, which is seen as
the most effective way to reach millennials. Millennials are typically
skeptical of information that comes from companies, so it is important to
create content that they will want to share on their own.

As Henry Jenkins, Provost’s professor of Communications at the

University of Southern California, Sam Ford, and Joshua Green say,
“success in the stickiness model has always ultimately depended on
audience activity that happens away from the site- in other words, from
spread ability” (2013).

Campaigns stick with people when the roles of marketers and audience
are not distinct. Instead, these two roles should work together so that
audience members become marketers, which is what happens in WOM
marketing. In order for WOM marketing to occur, the topic must be
spreadable.

In order for WOM marketing to be successful, brands must be authentic

and transparent. To be more specific, one type of WOM marketing called
viral marketing, or marketing that is designed to be spread from one
consumer to another, is extremely valuable (Nguyen 2015).

In order for viral marketing to occur, the content must be spreadable.

Spreadability “refers to the potential- both technical and cultural- for
audiences to share content for their own purposes” (Jenkins, Ford &
Green, 2013). If companies want consumers to share a message, it is
necessary to make it something that consumers would share regardless of
the message. For example, if a company video contained funny content,
people would watch and share because people enjoy humor.

#ShareaCoke initiated WOM marketing by producing spreadable content.

When people share a Coke with others, they also spread the word. Even if
consumers did not share actual Cokes, no matter the reason, they could
still customize an online Coke and share it with others. So, even if
customers are not buying the product themselves, they are still passing the
message along to those who may (Nguyen 2015).
Coca-Cola’s international presence is part of what made the campaign so
successful. This is because “consumers would like to see their name
attached with an iconic brand than an unknown brand” (Nguyen 2015). By
creating a link between the consumer and the iconic product by printing
the consumer’s name, Coca-Cola is appealing to young adult consumers.

In addition, #ShareaCoke spread because Coca-Cola quietly announced

the campaign and only released a limited number of names at the
beginning of the campaign. By quietly announcing the campaign,
consumers could “discover the campaign on their own terms and take
ownership of it” (Fulgoni 2015). People are more likely to share
something if they feel as though they are the first ones to know. So by
allowing consumers to find the campaign by themselves, they
immediately shared the campaign online with friends. Additionally,
because Coca-Cola only released so many names, consumers became very
excited and proud once they found their names so they almost had to buy
the product (Nguyen 2015).

Sharing: A Call to Action

Additionally, the campaign became successful because it calls

the consumer to action. The word “share” urges the consumer to do
something. Not only does the word “share” make the consumer feel the
need to actually go to the store to buy a physical Coca-Cola, but it also
puts the idea of the consumer buying a coke for someone else in their
head. Buying a Coke for yourself is something that is natural, but Coca-
Cola cleverly made consumers also think of buying Coca-Cola products
for others (Nguyen 2015). So, when a consumer is at the store and sees a
friend’s name or a bottle that says “Mom” they are more likely to buy it.

Importance of the Campaign

Exploring what made this campaign so successful in reaching millennials

is important because it is is relatively new and is a great example of WOM
marketing. Corporations have become so used to marketing to baby
boomers that it is necessary to find new methods to appeal to the new
largest generation: millennials. Marketing campaigns are all about
communication and one of the biggest ways that separates millennials
from other generations is the way that they communicate. Millennials are
the first generation to be more accessible through social media and email
rather than by phone call or even face-to-face communication (Radford
2007).

If the #ShareaCoke campaign never existed, Coca-Cola’s sales would not

have increased by nearly as much. Consumers went crazy over this
campaign and bought the product when they found their name, bought one
for their friend when customers saw someone else’s name, and increased
online orders from people who felt left out.

More importantly, without this campaign, Coca-Cola would still have a

disconnect from millennials. While millennials do drink the product, the
brand never really connected with this generation. Because of this,
millennials could easily replace Coca-Cola products with any other brand
(Nguyen 2015). However, this campaign made millennials feel like the
brand cared about them and evoked positive feelings, which they will
remember for years to come. By securing millennials with the brand,
Coca-Cola will continue to see results from this campaign.

The #ShareaCoke campaign will pave the way for other corporations so it
is important to find out from millennials why they reacted so positively to
#ShareaCoke. To do this, we must find out the motivations consumers had
when sharing a Coke.

Evidence
To analyze how millennials actually responded to the #ShareaCoke
campaign, I created a survey. I then emailed the survey to friends and
posted it on my Facebook page. The survey, which received 75 responses,
asked millennials questions about how they responded to the campaign’s
call to action, which was to share a Coke. The survey opened on April 4,
2016, closed on April 11, 2016, and was administered through Google
Forms. This allowed me to send out the link to different groups of
millennials.
I first asked, “How old are you?” to ensure that responses only came from
millennials. Any other responses were thrown out. In order to ensure the
precision of responses, I used a combination of multiple choice and short
answer responses so that I could tell whether or not people took the survey
seriously. Using an anonymous survey also adds to the precision, as
people do not have to worry about being judged for their answers. I
gathered a wide range of responses, which resulted in representative data.

Discussion
The survey results give an insight as to how millennials responded to the
#ShareaCoke campaign. As seen in Figure 6, 56% of millennial
respondents did not drink any soda in an average week. However, even
though responders do not drink much soda, Figure 7 shows that 56% of
responders searched for their names on a Coke product. This shows that
even people who do not drink soda, meaning that they also do not
purchase soda, still searched for a personalized Coke product. Most
people who found their name bought the product, even if they do not drink
much soda. For example, when Helen (from the follow up interviews) saw
her name on a Coke bottle, she had to buy it, even though she was not
originally planning on buying a soda.

Clearly, as evidenced in Figure 9, millennials, even non-soda drinkers,

love the Coca- Cola brand. Other than some people commenting on the
poor nutrition of soda, all responses to the question, “What do you think
about the Coca-Cola brand” were positive.

The positive attitudes toward the brand and the fact that non-soda drinkers
searched for their name even if they do not drink soda makes a major
statement for Coca-Cola. The brand is iconic and people think that it cool
to have their name associated with the brand. Figure 8 shows how people
reacted when they found their name. “great!!!! I was so happy and felt
important” said one responder.

In addition, Figure 12 shows that only 28.8% of participants would not

consider customizing a Coke. This is a low percentage, showing that
people want their name associated with an iconic brand. Figure 12 also
shows that more people would customize a can for others rather than for
themselves. Additionally, Figure 14 shows that out of the five participants
who have customized a Coke, four people made it for someone else rather
than themselves. This shows that Coca-Cola successfully got the sharing
aspect of the campaign across. This is much more valuable to them than
people keeping a Coke for themselves because of WOM marketing. By
sharing a Coke, they are spreading the word about Coca-Cola and
facilitating a relationship between the receiver and the brand when they
see their name in the Coca-Cola font.

Only 21.6%, or 17 participants, said they actually found their name on a

Coca-Cola product, as seen in Figure 10. However, Figure 13 shows that
25 of survey respondents shared a Coke with family or friends. Clearly,
there is more of a chance of consumers finding friends and family
members’ names rather than their own. Not only does this result in more
sales for Coca-Cola, but it also assists in WOM marketing, showing the
importance of Coca-Cola to emphasize sharing.

From Sharing Names to Sharing Songs

While Coca-Cola switched from using names to song lyrics in April 2016,
the same concept remained. There are millions of song lyrics that Coca-
Cola could have chosen from, but they strategically picked a certain 84.
Figure 15 shows how all of the words are linked together. The words
“I’m,” “like,” and “love” have the thickest connecting lines, meaning that
these words are the most connected. This shows that Coca-Cola has
succeeded in personalization. The lyrics emphasize sharing, which, in
turn, works with WOM marketing.

Millennials are connecting over the #ShareaCoke campaign. The

#ShareaCoke hashtag is huge on Instagram, which is a social media
platform most used by millennials. Figure 16 shows the most common
hashtags used in photos shared with the #ShareaCoke hashtag. Many of
the most used tags include asking for a follow or like. “Follow,” “share for
share,” “more followers,” and “shout out for shout out” are all-prominent.
Millennials are connecting with each other by sharing photos of Coca-
Cola products.
Conclusion

Coca-Cola won over millennials by using WOM marketing. Other

corporations have started using WOM marketing too, but the way that
Coca-Cola initiated it is what made the campaign so special. They used
personalization, something that millennials love, to encourage them to
share with a friend. By sharing a tangible object, it encouraged others to
drink the product and created a deeper brand loyalty. As 16–36 year olds,
millennials are in the stage of their life where they can be extremely
influenced in their buying habits. These habits will then most likely stick
with them for the rest of their lives.

For further research, keeping up with how people share the #ShareaCoke
bottles with lyrics would be interesting. The personalization of names has
ended, but because so many of the lyrics emphasize a positive message
from one person to the other, it is almost like a personal message anyway.
Music is something that usually unites people so it will be interesting to
see how millennials react to this.

In addition, the newest generation, pluralists, are getting to the age where
they can make purchasing decisions for themselves, too. Researching how
pluralists are reacting to the campaign can keep Coca-Cola, as well as
other major corporations looking to reach this new audience, one step
ahead.

The #ShareaCoke campaign is arguably one of the best recent campaigns.

Initiating WOM marketing is not easy, but Coca-Cola accomplished it
flawlessly. They researched their audience well, which was the key
element to the campaign.