Resources

Early Years 

So you probably know that Coca-Cola was originally invented as a health tonic by Dr John Pemberton back in 1886, but it’s Asa Candler who should be considered the real father of the soft drink juggernaut we all know today. Asa had a pretty simple revelation. In order to make a profit from his low-cost beverage he would need high-volume sales. So he began marketing aggressively.  

He wanted Coca-Cola to be everywhere, to be ubiquitous, and was one of the first to understand the value of a strong brand and sell a lifestyle to people, and not just a drink. In the early years he would encourage repeat business by handing out coupons and gave away a wide variety of promotional goods to get the brand name out there. 

Candler’s tactics were successful and soon the company faced a new problem. There were a whole raft of competition popping up. Not only were they calling themselves variations of the ‘cola’ name, but many were re-using old cola bottles and slapping on a new sticker. Asa knew he needed a way to differentiate the brand, and so a distinct bottle was created with the Coca-Cola logo forged within. This new shape made coke instantly recognisable and served as a stamp of quality against competitors. 

The three key ingredients of Coca-Cola’s success can be seen almost 100 years ago;  

•       Ensuring the product is available everywhere.
•       Selling a lifestyle and not just a product.
•       Aggressively marketing the product for maximum brand recognition.

Modern Challenges 

Today’s market wants more natural flavours, calorie-conscious options and low-sugar drinks. This has meant a major shake-up of the brand portfolio in recent times as Coca-Cola has traded off their well-known brand and diversified their product range. 

In the last twenty years they’ve introduced; Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Caffeine Free versions of the drink as well as flavours such as Strawberry Guava, Ginger Lime, Feisty Cherry and the launch of an energy drink. 

 No longer is their strategy about getting one drink in front of everyone but instead getting the right drink in front of the right person. The biggest casualty of this? It might be that original drink. We have already seen in that there has had something of soft re-position with campaigns placing original Coca-Cola it less as a drink for everyday and more towards special occasions. Perhaps the Coca-Cola drink we all know might only be a small part of the range in years to come. 

Wrapping it up 

We’ve now taken a whistle-stop tour of Coca-Cola’s 130 year history, but what have we learnt? When it comes to keeping in front of our customers, we can see the importance of having strong brand values over a sustained period of time. We can also see that even if you’ve got a few billion dollars to throw at advertising (wouldn’t that be nice) it is more difficult to get in front of customers than ever before. Your best bet is to stop trying to be everywhere and just be in front of the right customer. Which sounds easy. Yet is something even the world’s biggest brands are struggling to do.