Research released reveals that Great Britain is the most likely nation in Europe to opt for an abbreviation of our names or a nickname. Women are more likely to shorten their name (27%) whilst men prefer to opt for a nickname (15%, compared to 4% of women).
According to the findings, commissioned by Coca‑Cola as part of the Share a Coke campaign, we are most likely to be annoyed if someone misspells our name (41%) or shortens it without permission (16%). And a tenth of us would consider changing our name, because our name makes us feel awkward.
The survey also uncovered our obsession with celebrity culture – with over a quarter [24%] admitting to liking it when they share their name with someone famous, more so than other nations across Europe [European average: 18%]. Somewhat surprisingly, this trend is more common in men (29% vs 19% of women) with half of men aged 16 to 20 saying that they feel happiest about their name when they share it with someone famous.
The findings were part of a Europe-wide survey, commissioned by Coca‑Cola as part of its Share a Coke campaign, which is back for a second summer and is bigger than ever with more names available, including shortened or abbreviated versions and a selection of popular nicknames, for the first time.
In addition to the bottles of Coca‑Cola, Diet Coke and Coke Zero carrying over a thousand of Britain’s most popular names in stores across the country, this year, Coca‑Cola has launched a new exclusive online personalisation site where iconic glass Coca‑Cola bottles can be personalised with any of over 500,000 names.
“As we have removed our iconic name from Coca-Cola bottles for the second year running and replaced it with over a thousand more of Britain’s most popular names, we have been reminded about the sheer volume of conversation and excitement the Share a Coke campaign generates,” said Bobby Brittain, Marketing Strategy and Activation Manager at Coca-Cola Great Britain.
“What we have seen with the Share a Coke campaign is that everyone reacts differently to their name – some love theirs whilst others use shortened versions, nicknames or even change it completely. Above all, this research has confirmed that finding their name elsewhere makes people happy – and we therefore wanted to make sure everyone can get involved this summer by launching our online personalisation site and taking the Share a Coke campaign on tour around the UK.”
A Share a Coke personalisation tour is also making its way across the country, visiting selected town centres and Tesco stores.
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