Coca-Cola® South Africa has launched an exciting summer campaign to embrace who South Africans are and celebrate the pride they share in their names whilst enjoying a refreshing Coca-Cola®.
A name is significant and in a country that has 11 official languages, it becomes even more important to pronounce a person’s name the way that person says it. This summer Coca-Cola® wants to provide the platform that gives South Africans the opportunity to understand where people come from, the special stories that come with each name and what they’re all about.
Previously, Coca-Cola® celebrated South Africans through publishing their names on Coca-Cola® packs. This time around the brand is levelling up by introducing an exciting conversation-starter for every occasion. Coca-Cola® has added a phonetic guide under the names on packs to encourage each South African to pronounce another’s names. This guide is not a scientifically proven way of saying someone’s name, but rather an easy to understand suggestion on how a name is likely to be pronounced.
“This system isn’t going to discern between some Candices’ saying “Can-dees” and some Candices’ who prefer their name to be pronounced “Can – dis” but it creates a conversation starter.” says Coca-Cola® IMC Manager, Justine Cullinan. “Coca-Cola® is hoping that by drawing attention to the importance of saying a person’s name correctly, we can encourage South Africans to try, fail and take correction from the owner of that name in a way that’s not embarrassing over an ice-cold Coke this summer.”
Being able to say someone’s name correctly is one of the authentic ways of helping communities connect in a diverse nation.
“We’re thrilled to bring this personalised campaign back in a new way. Greeting someone by name and articulating that person’s name faultlessly, honours everything that defines who they are and allows them to engage over something deeply rooted in personal identity.” says Michelle Cloete, Marketing Manager, at Coca-Cola® South Africa. “We continue to explore opportunities to provide platforms that will connect South Africans. We hope South Africans will embrace this initiative and engage with each other on the intrinsics of their names.”
With over 56 billion people across the country, it may be possible that some names will not be placed on a can and if that happens, one should not despair. Coca-Cola® encourages consumers who may find it challenging to spot their names on cans to simply visit www.coke.co.za and get their personalised digital Coca-Cola® can that can also be shared on social media channels. Coca-Cola® will also be traveling across the country encouraging people to “Share-A-Coke” and ensuring everyone gets their very own personalised can through a number of events and activations where on-the-spot can printing and vending machines will be stationed.
Visit www.coke.co.za for more details and to find out where the next Share-A-Coke events will be. Conversations can also be followed on Twitter: @CocaCola_ZA and Instagram: @CocaColaZA by using #ShareACoke.
