HP, Coca-Cola bring ‘Share a Coke’ to India

Coke cans and bottles are available with 20 special relationships printed on them, including Bae, Bro, Dude, BFF, Dad, Mom and Daughter, amongst others. Labels have been created in 12 languages, which are English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Malayalam, Oriya, Assamese, Gujarati, Punjabi and Marathi.

Each relationship is accompanied by a description, such as Grandad (Old School. Yet Cool), Grandma (Scolds me. Spoils me), Daddy (My teacher. My friend), Mom (Above the rest. Simply the best) Son (My devil. My angel), Sis (Supermodel. Super role model), Bro (Troublemaker. Merrymaker), Boss (Pushes me. Promotes me) and nicknames including BFF (Laughs with me. Cries with me) and Bae (Bugs me. Hugs me). A total of 110 million labels will be printed digitally using the HP Indigo 20000 digital press installed at Huhtamaki PPL in Mumbai.

Jay Bathija, director, colas, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia said: ‘We are delighted to partner with HP for the Indian spin of ‘Share a Coke’ , which takes a refreshing new look at relationships. This campaign aims to encourage Indian consumers to celebrate relationships that have evolved over the years and reignite them by creating a moment of happiness that comes from sharing a Coke.’           

Amar Chhajed, president of the labeling business at Huhtamaki PPL, added: ‘It is an advantage to have a sound customer with us as we made this significant investment. Bringing India’s first HP Indigo 20000 should be seen as Huhtamaki’s stepping stone into digital printing. And this investment into digital comes with a much bigger commitment and confidence.’

Explaining the complexities on the ‘Share a Coke’ label printing job, Chhajed commented: ‘The variable data printing for the job comprised of 32 relationships, 12 different languages, and five descriptors to each relationship, which summed up to 3,000 artworks getting printed simultaneously.’

‘Share a Coke’ campaigns have run in multiple regions around the world, notably in Australia, the US and across Europe.

A. Appadurai, country manager, HP Indigo Graphics Solutions Business, India said: ‘The campaign comes at a time when brands are increasingly focusing on targeted marketing campaigns to engage with customers on a personal level and this has resulted in the rise of customization and personalization. The changing tastes of consumers in packaging of goods has the potential to chip away market share of brands as customers value packaging with a personalized touch which adds to the overall emotional quotient of the customer.’

Michael Boyle, vice president, Graphics Solutions Business, Asia Pacific and Japan, HP, concluded: ‘As brands continue to look for ways to connect with their audiences, we are seeing a growing trend of mass personalized packaging, including desktop label printing campaigns in stores. The HP Indigo 20000 opens a realm of possibilities for flexible packaging converters, by enabling them to efficiently and profitably cope with changing market demands for shorter runs, more varied SKUs, and customized campaigns. HP Indigo is the only digital color printing process that matches gravure quality and is safe for primary food packaging.’