Did you Share a Coke with Alexa?

After years of global success, in summer 2019 the now iconic Coca‑Cola 'Share a Coke' campaign returned home to Australian shores. With an ever-expanding campaign portfolio including more names than ever before as well as the introduction of surnames and nicknames, the team at Coca‑Cola Australia were looking for unique ways to bring this season’s campaign to life. 

Enter ‘Share a Coke with Alexa’, a new and engaging partnership between Coca‑Cola Australia and Amazon, a first of its kind for the two. 

According to Mick Drew, head of e-Commerce, Coca‑Cola South Pacific, the success of this campaign has always come down to how well the brand can enhance the customer experience and this time round was no different. 

“The sensorial experience of taste, touch, smell and sight has always been a key focus of our team as we are always striving to create an uplifting and refreshing moment for fans of Coke,” said Mick. 

Making the idea a reality

In November 2019, a creative brainstorm held by the Coca‑Cola Australia team resulted in the idea of incorporating voice technology to the next ‘Share a Coke’ campaign.

Having worked with Amazon in the past, Mick and his team decided to leverage the opportunities with Amazon and Alexa.

“Our digital strategy team really encouraged us to test and explore how new technologies like voice-assisted platforms could help us create a new and unique experience for people,” Mick said.  

They designed an app on the platform, also known as a ‘Skill’ for Alexa. 

“We were really excited to work with Amazon’s Alexa on this project to create a fun, new and innovative way for Australians to share a Coke with their mates.”

“And their willingness to partner with our business to drive innovation and try something new really helped us get the new campaign across the line,” Mick said. 

In a world-first, Australians were able to receive a free personalised Coke delivered to their doorstep by simply saying, “Alexa, let’s share a Coke.”

Once customers activated the voice conversation with Alexa, they were sent a text message to their nominated mobile, directed to the Share a Coke website to design their personalised bottle. 

An overwhelming success

Throughout the campaign period, Australians asked to share a Coke with Alexa more than 12,000 times. It was an overwhelming response the team at Coca‑Cola Australia did not anticipate.

Two thousand bottles were planned for release throughout the entire campaign period. However, within the first 12 hours, all 2,000 bottles had been ordered and delivered. A further 4,000 bottles were added the following day and again allocation was exhausted within 48 hours.  

“We were shocked at how fast our customers got on board, how positive they were, and how comfortable they were sharing their experiences with ‘Share a Coke with Alexa,’” Mick said.

“We were expecting to give away 2,000 bottles, but when we saw how many of our customers missed out so early on, we decided to increase the number of bottles. By 9pm the next day, all 6,000 personalised Coca‑Cola bottles were distributed to our customers which was a fantastic outcome.” 

Mick says that by designing a customer experience that enabled as many Australians as possible to participate by simply using their mobiles and ‘at-home’ devices, Coca‑Cola Australia was able to see first-hand how e-Commerce can create a stronger connection with our customers.

“It was a great opportunity for the team to learn more about how this home-based technology could influence the shopping behaviour of our customers. We created an app that was simple enough to use, and put the customer journey at their fingertips."

Looking ahead to what’s next for Coca‑Cola, Mick is excited about the chance for this campaign to go global. 

“While ‘Share a Coke with Alexa’ has finished up here in Australia, I’m so excited to see how other countries across the world explore voice-activated e-Commerce to improve and continue to grow the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign.” 

Want to learn more about the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign? Find out here.

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