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Coca-Cola opts for private messages instead of names on bottles as Share-a-Coke hits Taiwan

Coke bottle in TaiwanCoca-Cola has launched a new interpretation of its Share-a-Coke idea in Taiwan, introducing bottles that reveal personal messages when the drink has been drunk.

Taiwanese Coke bottles will feature 24 different expressions and private messages in the form of seven different icons, as well as a love shape icon with an open space for people to write on.

Gary Chi, MD of McCann Taiwan, the agency behind the campaign, said: “Taiwanese Teens are on a constant look out for anything that’s new, cool and innovative with their language, especially when connecting with their friends. They love to experiment with tools that enable them to deliver messages to their friends in a new edgy way; such as LINE Stickers or Facial Icons.”

The Share-a-Coke concept has produced some interesting interpretations in Asia since it was first introduced by Ogilvy’s Sydney office more than three years ago, when popular first names were added to the sides of bottles to encourage sharing of the product. In the Philippines last month, McCann introduced the idea of saying ‘thank you’ with a named bottle of the fizzy drink.

Roll-out of Share-a-Coke has not been easy for the drinks giant. Leonardo O’Grady, Coke’s integrated marketing and communications director for ASEAN, told Mumbrella last year that the challenge of introducing the idea to other markets was “one part marketing, two parts bottling.”

Working out what to put on the bottles has been tricky. “In Western cultures there are a few dominant names. But in countries such as China, Thailand or Korea it’s trickier to pick which to use, because there are so many variations,” he said.

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