‘Share a Coke’ yet to pay dividends as sales slip
The buzz around Coca-Cola’s pan-European “Share a Coke” campaign has yet to translate into sales after the soft drink company reported a decline in income across Europe and an unexpected dip in global revenue in its last quarter.
Sales volumes across Europe plummeted 4 per cent for the three months to 30 June, while revenue declined 1 per cent year-on-year to $1.5bn (£999.6bm). Global volumes fell 1 per cent over the same period and sales fell 3 per cent year-on-year to 12.75bn (£8.6bn) from $13.08bn (£8.6bn).
Coke is hoping its “Share a Coke” campaign, which replaces its branding with 150 of the country’s most popular names across 100 million packs, can spur demand as it did in Australia and New Zealand where it is said to have boosted sales by 4 per cent. In the earnings release for the second quarter the company says the inititave has received “positive” feedback from consumers to date. The summer push launched in the UK in May before being expanded throughout Europe. The company does not strip out UK sales but the campaign has lifted perception in the UK, according to YouGov’s BrandIndex.
Muhtar Kent, chairman and chief executive of The Coca-Cola Company, says the results were “below our expectations”, but backed the company’s upcoming marketing to drive growth.
He adds: “While we are not happy with our performance, we did gain global volume and value share in total non-alcoholic ready-to-drink beverages as well as in sparkling and still beverages in the quarter. Despite the headwinds in the quarter, we are committed to improving upon our results, with current dynamics leading us to believe that our performance will be better in the second half of the year.”
