The archive · Marketing & Growth · Marketing decision · 2013
Coca-Cola China's 2013 'nickname bottle' puts social nicknames on the pack — sales up 20%
Leo Burnett printed web nicknames like '闺蜜' (BFF) on Coke bottles so the pack could speak for you; June–July 2013 sales rose 20%, beating the 10% target.
Coca-Cola China (可口可乐中国)
What it had to solve
In summer 2013 Coca-Cola wanted young Chinese buyers but had just shrunk the 600ml bottle to 500ml; Australia's 'Share a Coke' name-on-pack idea did not translate, because Chinese names were too numerous.
How it works
In summer 2013 Coca-Cola China launched its 'Refreshing Summer, Share Happiness' campaign, printing social-media nicknames such as 闺蜜 (bestie), 文艺青年 (artsy type), 高富帅 (tall, rich, handsome) and 纯爷们 (pure man) on bottles. Fifty-plus designs began appearing nationwide on 27 May, a localisation of Australia's 'Share a Coke': with Chinese names too numerous to print, Leo Burnett's research found young people loved giving each other nicknames, so nicknames became the pack.
The idea turned drinking Coke into finding, gifting and posting bottles: Mayday TV ads launched on 10 June, celebrity custom bottles circulated on Weibo, and an H5 microsite plus the Coca-Cola Quan app let users shake their phone, pick a nickname and share it. According to the iResearch case file, the microsite and app logged over 4.2 million visits with 2 million participants in the first month.
Coca-Cola (China) said sales of nickname packaging from early June to end of July rose 20% versus a year earlier, beating the 10% growth target the company had set. Consumers joked the pack had also successfully moved attention away from the 600ml bottle shrinking to 500ml — the redesign sold more despite the smaller size.
Why it lands
- Viral internet nicknames carried the message with near-zero paid reach
- A bottle became a gift and conversation starter, turning a purchase into a social act
- Fifty-plus nicknames let every social circle find 'their' bottle
- The result was attributable: same product and channels, only the pack changed, and sales rose 20%
What it did
Coca-Cola (China) reported June–July nickname-bottle sales up 20% year-on-year, above the 10% target; the H5 site and app logged over 4.2 million visits and 2 million participants in their first month.
What you can take
When a mass-market pack cannot hold individual expression, make the product itself the social prop — one word on the label lets the pack speak for the buyer, and users do the spreading.
Since then
The nickname bottle set up its own sequel: in 2014 Coca-Cola China launched 'lyric bottles' printing pop lyrics on packs, and content-on-pack became a template Chinese beverage brands reused every summer.
Sources
- 可口可乐"昵称装" 瞄准社交网络用户 (Coca-Cola 'nickname pack' targets social-net users)
- 可口可乐 畅爽夏日，分享快乐 营销活动 (Coca-Cola Refreshing Summer campaign)
- 可口可乐：昵称瓶夏日营销 (Coca-Cola nickname-bottle summer campaign)
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