Coca-Cola: Personal Road

Coca-Cola has an ongoing global campaign that allows consumers to personalise bottles and cans…

Enjoy a Coke with Sunil

Building on the success of this campaign Coca-Cola Israel decided to take the idea further with personalised billboards.

A mobile app was developed where consumers could enter their name. Then using geo-fence technology, the Coca-Cola billboard displayed the name when it was approached. The consumer at the same moment also received a message on their smartphone notifying them that their name was up there.

Since its launch the app has reached 100,000 downloads and is currently ranked #1 in Israel’s app store.

Why this extension makes sense

  • It keeps the personalization promise. The name is not only on the package. It shows up in the world around you.
  • Location makes it feel “for me”. The moment you approach the billboard, the experience becomes uniquely yours.
  • Mobile closes the loop. The phone notification confirms the moment and turns it into something you can share.

The reusable pattern

Start with a personalization mechanic people already understand. Then add a single “surprise and confirm” moment in the real world, powered by location and a simple mobile action.


A few fast answers before you act

What is Coca-Cola “Personal Road”?

It is a Coca-Cola Israel extension of the personalised-name campaign that uses a mobile app and geofencing so a billboard displays your name as you approach, and your phone notifies you.

How does the billboard know when to show a name?

The app uses geo-fence technology to detect proximity, then triggers the personalised billboard moment when the user approaches.

Why pair the billboard moment with a smartphone message?

The message confirms what just happened and makes it easy for the consumer to capture and share the experience.

What is the key takeaway for location-based campaigns?

Make the rule simple and the payoff instant: one input from the consumer, one visible personalised output, and one mobile confirmation that seals the memory.

Chevy’s guide to hacking the Super Bowl

Super Bowl is the biggest TV advertising day in USA. With over 50 advertisers competing for viewers attention, it is really difficult for brands to stand out from the crowd.

With smartphones and tablets in people’s hands, Chevy devised a new way to own the day. With “Chevy Game Time” they gave viewers a live second screen experience, that successfully distracted them from their competitors ads while making them watch the Chevy ads again and again on multiple screens. 😎

On game day 700,000 app users interacted in real time with the Chevy ads. All for a chance to win a Chevy. Each time one of the ads aired, viewers were encoraged to answer trivia questions about the ad. This got entire Super Bowl parties to watch the ads very closely, multiple times i.e. first on TV, then in the app, then on YouTube.

In a unique integration between app and live broadcast TV, every app user was given a personal license plate; and if they spotted their plate in the ads, the car was theirs. 🙂

As a result, Chevy ranked #1 in the Super Bowl buzz and their “Game Time” app became USA’s featured app on both Android and Apple app stores.