Corporate Communication

Hassan Mohamed

Final Project

Coca-Cola

Preface

 Coca-Cola is considered to be one of the world’s greatest and most well-known cold-
beverage-soda drinks available in all markets of the world. Invented in 1886 by John
Pemberton in the city of Atlanta in the USA, and interesting enough, Coca-Cola started to
be sold in pharmacies until it made its way to almost every city in the world. Today,
Coca-Cola is one of the most well-known brands which is even considered to have what
some macroeconomists consider to be a duopoly where the two main brands in the world
market for this iconic soda taste are being dominated on a global level by Coca-Cola and
Pepsi. This paper can be considered as an attempt to identify and preview several of the
key factors that make up this extremely well-established brand. This paper will cover
Coca-Cola’s branding from many aspects such as sustainability, corporate social
responsibility, corporate communication, media relations, and more.

Coca-Cola’s Sustainability & CSR

 Sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are considered to be one of the
main aims for governments and societies to get big organizations and businesses to do.
This is because with more sustainable models and higher CSR, there will be a collective
benefit and welfare to societies, economies, and governments in general. These values of
sustainability and CSR are also incentivized by governments and promoted by movements
and organizations like the United Nations (UN) for example.
  Coca-Cola has been no exception when it comes to apply practical sustainable models or
campaigns. Likewise, Coca-Cola is also recognized for its efforts in CSR for years. For
example, in 2019, Coca-Cola has spent many expenses on the environment, community,
climate, and more. This has all been shown in its Coca-Cola’s sustainability report for
2019 where Coca-Cola mentions how it invests in many aspects of the society and
environment and even shares the percentages and details about that. This states the point
even more that Coca-Cola does pay much attention and money for sustainability and
CSR. More details can be found

Corporate Communication Strategy

 Since corporate communication is such an essential part of any successful organization,

leading companies tend to set concrete strategies regarding how they will communicate
with all its stakeholders, including their investors, customers, internal management,
suppliers, and more. This all works in the favor of not only the company, but also for a
healthier and better integrated market in general.
 Coca-Cola has been no exception to this. Coca-Cola has a very clear vision on how to
communicate with all of their stakeholders. For example, and as for their customers, they
know exactly which target segmentations they are most interested in. Moreover, and more
importantly in regards to communication, they know how to reach these customer
segments and how to communicate their brand to them in an efficient wat that these
customers can understand and take actions upon off. Furthermore, this does not only go
for customers, but it also goes for all other types of stakeholders where Coca-Cola
communicates its brand in an efficient way and through a relevant medium of contact
which will be mentioned in more detail in the next section of this report.
Strategy of Media Relations

 Media relations is definitely one of the key elements that translate and increase any
company’s brand awareness and identity not only to the company’s stakeholders, but also
to the general public. This aspect of external communication is key for building trust,
integrity, and openness about the company’s mission, vision, values, and more.
 Coca-Cola has indeed payed much attention when it comes to media relations and
transmitting its brand to the whole world. In fact, Coca-Cola even has it on its website
that if any media representative needs information that is not yet clear to the public, they
would be happy to contact him/her in order to provide the needed information. According
to Tian (2006), Coca-Cola was very successful in its media relations. Moreover, Tian
(2006) stated that Coca-Cola has showed respect and understanding when communicating
with its stakeholders, and he proved that by Coca-Cola’s noticeable effort on its Chinese
website.

Corporate Reputation & Image

 After briefly covering a few points in regards to Coca-Cola’s attention to CSR, corporate
communication, and media relations; it is safe to move to the broader picture of the
corporate’s reputation and image as a whole. Since all the previous points and aspects all
serve one main goal which is the corporate’s image, it would be nice to close this report
with this more general aspect. A corporate’s reputation and image can make or break the
company in the market. This is because a good corporate reputation brings more
customers and encourages trust and loyalty which is very important for the growth and
sustainability of any organization. On the other hand, a ruined corporate reputation repels
good consumers, suppliers, and investors. That way, the company won’t be functional in
the long run. And it is extremely difficult to build the trust and fix the broken image of the
corporation.
 Coca-Cola, despite many false and negative accusations that it has been faced with over
decades, has been able to maintain a very strong and prestigious corporate image. It has
 also been able to stick with its brand identity and core values. According to Dolphin
(2004), Coca-Cola was able to enhance its global reputation after showcasing its strategic
leaderships in many situations while globally expanding. Moreover, there is no better
proof of this then the fact that almost everyone worldwide knows and most have probably
even tried Coca-Cola, and it has been like this for decades and most probably will
continue to be since this long lasting corporation can still hold up a positive corporate
image for almost all these people.

Conclusion

 Finally, after briefly showcasing several different aspects in regards to the huge
corporation known as Coca-Cola while putting on the lenses of corporate communication,
it is safe to say that this brand has done very well and was able to sustain a very solid
image even though it had been established and running for over a century now. Coca-Cola
is definitely a corporation that many other corporations and organizations can learn from
in many aspects.

References

- Coca-Cola’s Business & Sustainability Report 2019: https://www.coca-

colacompany.com/content/dam/journey/us/en/reports/coca-cola-business-and-
sustainability-report-2019.pdf
- Dolphin, R.R. (2004), "Corporate reputation – a value creating strategy", Corporate
Governance, Vol. 4 No. 3, pp. 77-92. https://doi.org/10.1108/14720700410547521
- Neuez, S. (2003), “Coca-Cola Communication Plan in the UK”. Retrieved from: Microsoft
Word - Comm_strat.doc (free.fr)
- Tian, Y. (2006), "Communicating with local publics: a case study of Coca ‐Cola's Chinese
web site", Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 13-
22. https://doi.org/10.1108/13563280610643516
- Zaloznykh K., Kaimashnikova K. “Coca-Cola: A powerful brand”. Retrieved from: COCA-
COLA: A POWERFUL BRAND - AN EFFECTIVE MARKETING STRATEGY (core.ac.uk).