Friday, May 15, 2015

If you can't find a Coke with your name on it, will you buy Lay's Chips with your photo instead?



Coca-Cola's "Share a Coke" campaign -- the one where they printed people's names on the cans, was such a huge international hit (and the first time in years that they have seen a sales increase) that it has been expanded this year. 

In addition to adding new names such as Desi, Sheena and Destiny, they are also offering nicknames such as "Sidekick" and generic words such as "Team." And for those of us with unusual names -- the chance to order custom bottles for the bargain price of $5 plus $5 for shipping. (Rooney, 2015)

Oh, and they didn't forget blind people either.  Yes, some names are available printed in braille.  (Nudd, 2015)

So along comes Lay's Chips to up the ante.  Thanks to an interactive tool called the "Lay's Summer Bag Creator," 10,000 chip lovers will receive an actual bag of  chips with their personalized photo and caption.   (Rooney, 2015)

What do you think?  Will Coke be able to build on last year's success?  Will chips with photos be just as popular?


Rooney, B. (2015, April 14)  'Share a Coke' is back with more of your names on bottles.  money.cnn.com.  Retrieved May 14, 2015, from  http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/14/news/companies/name-share-a-coke-bottle/?iid=EL

Nudd, T. (2015, May 11)  Coca-Cola is now printing Cans and Bottles in Braille for Blind People.  adweek.com. Retrieved May 14, 2015, from 

Rooney, B. (2015, May 12)  Want your face on a bag of chips?  Lays will let you do that. 
money.cnn.com.  Retrieved May 14, 2015, from 

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Coca-Cola's "Share a Coke" campaign was the leader in the personalization effort and as such they will most likely build on established success. As an iconic brand people respond affirmatively to seeing their name on the packaging and that only strengthens their brand loyalty. While Lays is also a powerful long-time brand their launch has a "me-too" sort of quality that diminishes its appeal. Adding a face may be appealing to some but as they say "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" so others may not respond to certain bags of chips.

Ezra J. Wibowo said...

Coca-Cola was the pioneer in promoting self-expression with their "Share a Coke" campaign and I believe that it will repeat its' last year's success this year. And I thought that Coca Cola's attempts on printing its cans and bottles in Braille are brilliant! As in for Lays, though people will respond well to their attempts on creating special, personalized bags of chips with photos and captions, (also knowing their well-established brand name) but in my opinion, I believe that people will get tired of them rather easily and their attempts are more likely to be a miss rather than a hit.

Anonymous said...

Like what Michael said, Coca-Cola's Share a Coke campaign was a great personalization campaign, but I don't think Lay's campaign will have the same amount of success. The article states that 10,000 chip lovers will have a personalized bag, but everyone else will get a digitalized version of their bag of chips. Does that mean they don't get any chips? And in turn, Lay's doesn't sell the product they're trying to sell? Coke's campaign succeeded because it made people want to buy a can with their name on it. Lay's campaign seems like they're trying too hard to emulate that.. Personally, I liked their 'Do Us a Flavor' campaign more

http://www.brandeating.com/2015/02/frito-lay-kicks-off-3rd-do-us-flavor-contest.html


Andrew Lam

Anonymous said...

I think this tactic will definitely increase sales for Lays and will reach a completely different market than the one reached by Coke's campaign. This is because while it is a very fun and interactive way to experience Lays chips, it takes more effort than the Coke bottles. Customers must go online and upload pictures for custom printing, and then wait for the bags to be delivered. I think a lot of the success from Coke was seen due to the immediate gratification from finding your own name or a friends name on a bottle. With Lays, I feel existing customers are the only ones who will take the time to upload photos. Or perhaps they know a die-hard Lays chip fan and want to surprise them. Personally, I bought the personalized bottles of coke for friends (and I am NOT a soft drink consumer), but would never go online to order a bag of potato chips for them. Lay's will see an increase in sales, but its only 10,000 bags and the campaign fails to attract new customers.
-Bradley Cockrell