CASE STUDY OF COCA COLA

Introduction:

“Coca-Cola remains emblematic of the best and worst of America and Western
civilization. The history of Coca-Cola is the often funny story of a group of men
obsessed with putting a trivial soft drink “within an arm’s reach of desire.” But at
the same time, it is a microcosm of American history. Coca-Cola grew up with the
country, shaping and shaped by the times. The drink not only helped to alter
consumption patterns, but attitudes toward leisure, work, advertising, sex, family
life, and patriotism.“ -MARK PENDERGRAST, For God, Country, and Coca Cola

I can remember, as a child, drinking a cool glass of coke during the hottest days
of summer. My dad would be cleaning his car or doing yard work and he would
call out to me, “Go inside and bring me a glass of coke.” And inside I would go,
opening up a red aluminum can and pouring the caramel-colored liquid into a
glass.

Coke, or rather, Coca-Cola was a familiar sight in my childhood. My dad drank

coke, my mom drank coke, my friends drank coke – hell, everyone I knew drank
[Modest Beginnings: 1894-1909]

No, there was no bottle for it quite yet. It wasn’t until 1894 that a businessman,

Analysis: Package was a glass 6.4 fl ounces Hutchinson bottle. Not much brand
differentiation here, this bottle could pass off as anything (I mean, lemonade or
molasses looks right at home here) if it wasn’t for the barely there Coca-Cola
logo. The prominent red Coca-Cola color isn’t in effect either yet. All in all, this
bottle shows weak brand personality and differentiation. However, this is to be
expected since Coca-Cola didn’t really have a brand personality at the time – it
was simply a carbonated drink that was proved to be profitable to some people

The Start of the Trademark Contour: 1916-1940s]

 As Coca-Cola’s popularity began springing up, the company began to
worry about people being cheated out by imitators. So the company asked
various places like glass companies to submit ideas of how the new Coca-Cola
bottle should be.

Analysis: The classic Hutchinson glass bottle was changed to the

newly designed contour bottle (still 6.4 fl ounces). This is the first time we see
some brand differentiation and the beginning of a more contemporary Coca-Cola
bottle. Now the Coca-Cola is more distinguishable because it has a signature
look to it. When people see this bottle they automatically think – Hey, this is
Coca-Cola. In fact, researchers have proved people can still distinguish a Coca-
Cola bottle in the dark (The Coca-Cola Company, 2006). Thus, we are seeing the
beginnings of a growing brand personal

[New Brands Introduced: 1960s-90s]

Following the introduction of Fanta in the 1950s, these new brands were also
introduced:

Analysis: There’s a lot going on for Coca-Cola during this time in terms of its
brand growth. Now the company isn’t tied to just Coca-Cola but to other
branches such as Sprite. Notice it’s in 1962 that Coca-Cola decides to toy around
with its popular given nickname of “Coke”. Also, it wasn’t mentioned before but in

ever Coca-Cola uses red in its glass bottle designs.

[Contemporary Times]

Today we have a lot of brand differentiation with parity objects such as soft
drinks, but Coca-Cola manages to keep being a key player in the world of
beverages. Coca-Cola is always reinventing its package design, always churning
out new ideas to stay relevant in our culture. In other words as we grow, Coca-
Cola grows. Here are some contemporary designs of Coca-Cola:

Impact On Our Culture

Nevertheless, Coca-Cola has ingrained itself into American culture. As the quote
from beginning mentioned, it has grown up with us. It’s almost like a reflection of
our history. Let’s check out some of Coca-Cola’s impact on our culture.

Bottle Collecting A good question to ask is why do people put so much time and
effort into collecting something as trivial as a Coca-Cola bottle. The end profit for
amassing a huge collection of these bottles isn’t too enticing – so why? Well on a
study done by Terry Shoptaugh of Northwest Minnesota Historical Center she
offers the idea that collecting is based on a desire to remember and relive the
past (Franke, 2009). I think that hits home for Coca-Cola collectors.

I can use my dad as example for this one since he also is an avid Coca-Cola
bottle collector. During my freshman year of college Coca-Cola had this
promotion where they were releasing a limited-time only edition of coke. I bought
two, thinking of my dad, and he was ecstatic when I gave it to him. He began
showing me his collection once again, then held up this one bottle and began
telling me a story from his childhood that was linked to this contoured glass.
Coca-Cola Shaped Products

Ah…we’ve all seen them at one point or another. I’m not talking about print ads
or a logo on a pen, I’m talking about actual non-Coca-Cola related products
shaped like…well a Coca-Cola bottle. There’s not much an in-depth analysis
here, I just wanted to show you guys how much our country loves Coca-Cola.
I’ve collected a couple of images, take a look:

LAMP: It’s a Coca-Cola shaped lamp

COMPUTER MOUSE

FLASH DRIVE
SEVEN CHALLENGES
1. The medicinal challenge.

The first label for the new Coca-Cola syrup said in part: “This intellectual beverage and
temperance drink contains the valuable tonic and nerve stimulant properties of the Coca
plant and Cola nuts . . . a valuable brain tonic and a cure for all nervous affections: sick
head-ache, neuralgia, hysteria, melancholy, etc.”

NEW SLOGAN

“Drink Coca-Cola. Delicious and refreshing.”

2. The fountain challenge.

Four years later, two Chattanooga lawyers showed up in the office of Asa Candler who had
taken control of the company from founder John Pemberton. They wanted to buy exclusive
rights to bottle the beverage. And Candler sold it to them . . . for the sum of one dollar.

A bad bargain? Not necessarily. The two lawyers divided the country between them and
diligently recruited talented individuals to set up Coca-Cola bottling companies.

3. The cocaine challenge.

Before the arrival of the 20th century, cocaine was touted as the world’s newest wonder
drug, a cure for almost everything. One of its biggest supporters was Sigmund Freud who
wrote an article entitled Über Coca, “a song of praise to this magical substance.”

4. The bottle challenge.

With hundreds of bottlers selling Coca-Cola around the country, there was no uniformity in
how the product looked. There were many different bottle designs.

So Coca-Cola held a contest to design a bottle that could be recognized in the dark. The
winner produced the world’s most-famous package designs, the contour bottle

5. The Pepsi challenge.

There was one problem with the contour bottle: It held only 6.5 ounces. But strange as it
might seem, it took Pepsi-Cola 23 years to exploit this weakness.

“Pepsi-Cola hits the spot. Twelve full ounces, that’s a lot. Twice as much for a nickel, too.
Pepsi-Cola is the drink for you.” (The 1939 radio jingle that greatly increased Pepsi’s sales.)
6. The diet challenge.

Two years later, Diet-Rite cola hit the market. But this time, Coca-Cola reacted quickly. The
following year, the company launched Tab.

A year later, Pepsi responded with Diet Pepsi.

Tab versus Diet Pepsi. You might think a line extension of a famous name (Pepsi-Cola)
would outsell a new name with little or no meaning (Tab.) Not so.

Eighteen years later, the year Coca-Cola introduced Diet Coke, Tab was outselling Diet
Pepsi by 23 percent.

7. The second Pepsi challenge.

Seven years before the launch of Diet Coke, Pepsi shocked the folks in Atlanta with its
“Pepsi Challenge” advertising campaign.

What was even more shocking was that Coca-Cola’s own taste tests showed consumers
preferred the taste of Pepsi 58 to 42 over Coke.

A third shock occurred when Pepsi overtook

Coke in supermarket sales.
The Coca-Cola response.
“This is our surest move ever.” That’s what CEO Roberto Goizueta said at the launch of
New Coke. And he had reason to be super confident. In 190,000 blind taste tests, New
Coke won 53 to 47 over Pepsi. And 55 to 45 over regular Coke.

And when both formulas were identified, New Coke’s lead was even greater: 61 to 39 over
regular Coke.

Yet three months later, Coca-Cola brought back the original formula, now called “Classic
Coca-Cola.”

8. The sugar challenge.

Three years after the New Coke debacle, per-capita consumption of carbonated soft drinks
(mostly colas) reached its all-time high. Since then, it has declined every year for 14 years
in a row. On average, a decline of 1.5 percent a year. (About the same rate as the decline in
smoking.)
What should Coca-Cola do?
They should take their sugared colas off the market, drop the “Diet” name from their diet
colas and market them as “Coca-Cola: The real thing without the calories.”

What will Coca-Cola do?

If they are customer-oriented, they will do nothing. It’s customers who are leading the
country into obesity. Not companies. When you’re customer-focused, you cannot lead. The
customer leads. You follow.

Putting social pressure to work.

The customer is king, goes the thinking, so companies direct their marketing efforts at
individuals when often the best target is society at large.

If Coca-Cola did as suggested, media would hammer PepsiCo management with two
questions: (1) Why are you continuing to sell sugared colas? and (2) Why don’t you make
the switch like Coca-Cola did?

Marketing is like tennis or any other sport. If your opponent loses, you win. And vice versa.

Social pressure would create a “loss-loss” situation for PepsiCo. If they drop the sugar, they
will look like copycats. If they don’t drop the sugar, they will be considered socially
irresponsible.

“Advertising doesn’t affect me.”

That’s a common refrain. True, but social pressure does. We all are under enormous social
pressure in what we wear, what we eat, what we drink.

Years ago, smoking was considered a mark of a “sophisticated” person. Not today. Social
pressure has turned smoking into the mark of a “stupid” person.

Coca-Cola is a powerful brand. It easily withstood the substitution of high-fructose corn

syrup for cane sugar. And it can easily withstand the loss of corn syrup. This is especially
true today because of the availability of newer, better-tasting non-caloric sweeteners like
sucralose, stevia and monk fruit.

Perhaps Coca-Cola could launch a challenge of its own.

“Would you rather have high-fructose corn syrup in your cola or Splenda?”