Coca-Cola x Santa, the Platinum Rule, my client gift guide, and more!

Thanks for reading the 4th edition of The CREATING SUPERFANS Newsletter. Don’t forget to subscribe through my?website?to get this straight to your inbox next time (and with more content!).?

You know those people who repeat the same thing over and over and over until it becomes kind of annoying? ????♀? Guilty! That’s because I want everyone to understand that superfans are created at the intersection of YOUR STORY and EVERY customer’s story. That’s why personalization is so important… and why the P in SUPER stands for exactly that!

Every. Single. Customer is unique, and wants to be treated as such. We’re all bombarded with media constantly, so it’s easy to tune out content that doesn’t speak straight to us.

According to Salesforce, personalization can have a significant impact on business outcomes, including:

• Increased site visitor engagement by 55%
• Improved customer experience by 55%
• Improved brand perception by 39%
• Increased conversion rates by 51%
• Increased lead-generation and customer acquisition by 46%?

In today’s digital world, brands are hyper-focused on using targeted marketing strategies such as personalized marketing emails and data-driven product recommendations. However, personalization doesn’t always have to involve big data, algorithms, or tracking pixels. Personalization can be as simple as connecting with your customers in a way that feels personal and human.?

You undoubtedly remember when Coca-Cola launched their “Share a Coke” campaign with popular names and words printed on their bottles and cans. Fun fact: my personal Facebook profile pic still features me with a “Superfan” can, even though anyone who knows me knows that Dr Pepper is my ride or die… despite not airing a decent television campaign in more than a decade.

This year, Coca-Cola — the O.G. Christmas soda that’s been buddying up to the big guy in red for almost a century — is rolling out another impressive initiative that’s firmly rooted in personalization.?

In September, the perennial holiday giant announced its new brand platform and global campaign, “Real Magic.”

“The “Real Magic” brand philosophy is rooted in the insight that magic lives in unexpected moments of connection that elevate the everyday into the extraordinary—a timeless learning that feels more relevant than ever in today’s hyperconnected yet divided world.”

Recently, Coca-Cola premiered its first holiday campaign under its new identity. Titled “Real Magic at Christmas,” Coca-Cola partnered with celebrity-side-hustle site Cameo to provide personalized messages from Santa Claus to its customers. Consumers can visit the Real Magic at Christmas platform to submit their video request for Santa, and Coca-Cola will deliver the videos randomly throughout the holiday season. In addition, Coke is hosting a public event with Santa to debut the brand’s 2:30 long-form holiday commercial, “Chimney.”?

This is yet another great example of how massive brands can still personalize and connect with their customers in a human way. Coca-Cola is connecting its brand story of “magic in the unexpected moments” to its fans by surprising and delighting them with personalized messages from Santa Claus. The best part? It’s a relatively easy campaign to execute (pretty sure there are a million old white dudes with beards brands can hire!) and it doesn’t require customer data. Or CGI polar bears.

What’s a creative way you can personalize your customers’ experiences in the coming months? (BONUS POINTS if it includes hiring a celeb on Cameo to do something fun, like Flava Flave reading client reviews or Carole Baskin reciting names of customers whom she absolutely did not murder.”)?

“Treat others the way they want to be treated.” — Dr. Tony Alessandra, in his must-read book, The Platinum Rule.?

It’s that time of the year… when people frantically realize that Christmas is just 10 days away and they need to scramble to send out gifts to everyone in their professional lives. Need some ideas to get you started? I put together this free guide to spotlight 20 of my favorite ideas.

Huge thanks to Zack O’Malley Greenburg for including me in his book, We Are All Musicians Now. I loved getting to talk about Superfans with him, and I’m so honored (and flattered!) that he chose to speak with me! Read Chapter 3: Rise of the Superfan here.

Have a SUPER week, and I’ll see you next week!