Latest / The Marketing Funnel Podcast with Fexingo: Awareness, Interest, Decision, and Action Stages / How Coca-Cola Built a Global Funnel Without Digital
Transcript
- Lucas: So here's a question that got me thinking: how do you build a marketing funnel when your product is essentially identical to your competitors', and you're selling through third-party retailers where you can't control the experience? Luna: You're describing almost every consumer packaged goods brand on the planet. But I'm guessing you have a specific one in mind. Lucas: Coca-Cola. The classic example of a brand that built a funnel decades before digital existed, and it still works. I want to focus on one specific campaign that I think illustrates how Coke thinks about the funnel: Share a Coke. Luna: The one where they put names on bottles. That launched in Australia in 2011, right? Lucas: Yeah, 2011 in Australia. By 2014 it was in over 50 countries. And in the US alone, it reversed a decade-long decline in Coke sales — they saw a 7 percent year-over-year increase in volume for the brand. That's massive for a product that's been around since 1886. Luna: What I find fascinating is that it's not really a digital campaign. I mean, there was some social media, but the core mechanic was packaging. A physical object. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the key insight. Coke realized that in a world where consumers are bombarded with digital ads, the last truly interruptive medium is the product itself. You pick up a bottle, and instead of the usual logo, you see 'Sarah' or 'Mike'. That's a moment of surprise that cuts through. Luna: So they turned the bottle into the top of funnel awareness driver. But it also works at the decision stage — because if you're in a convenience store and you see a bottle with your name, you're more likely to grab that one over Pepsi. Lucas: Right. The funnel collapses into one touchpoint. The bottle itself moves you from awareness — 'oh, they have my name' — to interest — 'I need to find mine' — to decision — 'I'm buying this one' — all in about three seconds. And then the action is consumption, which triggers the social sharing phase. Luna: And they scaled personalization in a way that was almost unheard of at the time. Over a thousand names per country, printed on millions of bottles. That's a supply chain achievement. Lucas: It is. And the data behind it was surprisingly simple. Coke analyzed the most popular names by region based on birth records and social security data. They didn't need cookies or tracking pixels. They used government data. Luna: That's analog personalization at scale. And it worked because the names were real and local. In Australia, they had 'Jack' and 'Emily'. In the UK, 'Mohammed' and 'Olivia'. In South Africa, 'Thabo' and 'Naledi'. Lucas: Which brings up an important point about the funnel: you have to adapt to the local context. Coke's global brand is incredibly consistent — the red, the script logo, the taste — but the funnel mechanics change by market. Share a Coke worked because it felt personal in each country, not like a global template. Luna: But there's a risk, right? If you go too local, you dilute the brand. If you stay too global, you feel generic. Coke walks that line carefully. Lucas: Yeah, and they've messed up too. Remember the New Coke fiasco in 1985? That was a failure to understand the emotional attachment people had to the original. But Share a Coke was the opposite — it deepened that attachment without changing the product. Luna: So the lesson for marketers is: don't assume digital is the only way to drive the funnel. Sometimes the physical product itself is the best medium. And personalization doesn't have to be high-tech. Lucas: Exactly. And I think that's especially relevant right now, in May 2026, when everyone is chasing ai driven personalization and programmatic ads. Coke's approach is a reminder that the most powerful marketing can be low-tech, analog, and deeply human. Luna: And it's not just a one-off campaign. Coke has built a whole funnel philosophy around this. Even their traditional TV ads are designed to create top of mind awareness, so when you're at the shelf, you reach for the red can. Lucas: Right. The awareness stage is about brand recall. Coke spends billions on media to keep that red logo in your head. But the decision stage happens in the retail aisle, where the brand faces a sea of competitors. That's where packaging, pricing, and promotion matter most. Luna: And Coke has an advantage there: they control the supply chain. They own the bottling and distribution in many markets. So they can ensure their product is cold, visible, and priced right. Lucas: That's a structural moat. Most brands don't have that. But they can still learn from Coke's funnel thinking: identify where the real decision moment happens in your category, and design your funnel to dominate that moment. Luna: For Coke, it's the shelf. For a software company, it might be the free trial. For a subscription box, it's the unboxing video. Lucas: And the funnel doesn't end at purchase. Coke's post-purchase stage is about the shareable moment. You send a photo of your personalized bottle to a friend or post it on social media. That turns the buyer into a brand advocate, feeding the top of the funnel for free. Luna: Yeah, that's the flywheel effect. Each purchase can generate awareness for the next person. Lucas: So let's step back and look at the full AIDA model applied to Share a Coke. Awareness: you see the bottle with a name, or a friend posts about it. Interest: you start looking for your name or your friend's name. Decision: you choose the Coke over another drink because it feels personal. Action: you buy and drink it. Luna: And then you share, which loops back to awareness. Lucas: If these marketing conversations have sparked something you've actually used in your own work — or even just made you think differently about a brand you see every day — I'd love to mention that a small number of listeners help keep this show ad-free through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it's a simple way to support the kind of deep-dive analysis we do. No ads, no sponsors — just people who find value in the show. Lucas: And that support is genuinely what makes episodes like this possible. So if that resonates, you know where to find us. Now, back to Coke — let's talk about the limitations of this approach. Luna: Because Share a Coke isn't a strategy you can run every year. The novelty wears off. Lucas: Exactly. In fact, Coke has struggled to replicate the same impact with follow-up campaigns like 'Share a Coke and a Song' or the emoji bottles. The magic was in the surprise of seeing your name. Once that's gone, you need a new hook. Luna: So the funnel works best when it's fresh. But the underlying principle — making the product the medium — is durable. Lucas: Right. And Coke has also used other analog funnel tactics: vending machines that dispense free Coke for a hug, or the 'Happiness Machine' that gives out flowers and pizza. Each one creates a moment of earned media that drives awareness. Luna: But those are stunts. Share a Coke was a sustained campaign that ran for years. That's harder to pull off. Lucas: It is. And it required massive operational coordination. You have to print thousands of different labels, manage inventory across regions, and ensure every store gets the right mix. That's not something a startup can copy easily. Luna: So what's the takeaway for a small brand? You can't do Share a Coke. But you can find your own version of the product as medium insight. Lucas: I think so. For a DTC brand, maybe it's the packaging that gets reused — like a candle jar that becomes a planter. Or a subscription box that's designed to be Instagrammed. The question is: what physical touchpoint can you own that creates surprise and drives sharing? Luna: And then build the rest of the funnel around that. Awareness comes from the share, interest from the curiosity, decision from the in-store or online purchase, action from the unboxing — which loops back. Lucas: Yeah. The funnel isn't linear anymore. It's a cycle. And Coke understood that before most brands did. Luna: I'd love to see a modern brand try something similar. Maybe a beverage startup that prints local slang or jokes on cans. Lucas: Someone might be doing that right now. If they are, I'd bet they studied Share a Coke. And that's the value of looking at classic campaigns — the tactics may be old, but the psychology is timeless. Luna: Alright, next episode we'll look at a brand that took the opposite approach: all digital, no physical product. Lucas: See you then.