It’s been 25 years since apartheid. While our country now recognises 11 official languages, the truth is, we still can’t say each other’s names. In 2018, Coca-Cola added the phonetics of each name from all the different cultures and languages to our cans - teaching South Africans to greet each other, by name, correctly.

The big idea: Coca-Cola introduces South Africa to South Africa.

Wherever there was a Coke can, there was an opportunity to learn. By adding the pronunciation to people’s names, a Coke can became much more than an acknowledgement of identity – it became a teacher and a change maker.

For a campaign about social cohesion and respect, we wanted to feature everyday South Africans and cast for names, not faces. We cast nationwide and those people were featured in over 30 pieces of TV and online content and across 800 outdoor sites across the country. Radio told stories about name mispronunciations, while highlighting the interesting differences in our languages. Our complex ‘click’ sounds, were broken down in online Sound Guides. These were further demonstrated in interactive Share-a-Sound Box Sets that used everyday objects like a pump, sandpaper, sticky tape and a light switch to help teach people. Our largest soapies picked up on the campaign and included The Phonetic Can in their storylines. People with the most difficult names took over a national radio station for the day. By telling a vending machine your name, you could get your own personalised can.

In 3 months we achieved the following:

-158% increase in brand love , in a context of declining love in the soda category.

-27% increase in consumption of Coke Zero (which was the hero pack during our campaign).

-5.4% overall Coca-Cola volume growth, compared with the same period in the previous year. This, in SA, which has over 90% penetration.

-3.2 billion impressions – engagement up by 195% compared to same period in previous year where a global-adapt campaign was flighted.

AmaCreatives said this about the campaign, “Coca-Cola gives power back to the people of South Africa.” “This is what we call a CREATIVE MZABALAZO!!” (creative revolution).