01/11/2023
In 2011, Coca-Cola was facing 10 years of declining sales.
They came up with an idea that marketing textbooks would advise against -- but was genius in practice.
This one stupid idea made them an estimated $2 billion...
Idea: Remove the most iconic logo with years of brand identity.
And replace it with the 150 most popular names in each country.
This one marketing campaign turned around Coca-Cola's 10-year slump.
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Insight 1 - Personalisation turns products into gifts
If it has your friends name on it, you can't help but buy it for them.
And if you've been having a rough day, it makes the drink taste better when it has your name on it.
Insight 2 - The best ads don't look like ads.
Millions of people uploading Coca-Cola bottles with their names on them.
It doesn't look like an ad -- which is why it's such a great ad.
Lesson 3 - Avoid Traditional Advice
"The opposite of a good idea can also be a good idea" - Rory Sutherland
They avoided the first rule of branding. They removed their logo.
But it worked.
We are now seeing people criticize Elon Musk for killing the Twitter logo.
The problem: If he took Twitter public tomorrow, it would struggle.
The solution: If he took X the Everything app public tomorrow, it 10x's the value overnight.
Reality shapes perception.
But perception also shapes reality.
