Introduction

Coca-Cola, was invented by John Stith Pemberton in Georgia during his attempts to find a substitute for his morphine addiction. Originally the recipe was a coca wine and Pemberton registered the drink as a nerve tonic in 1885. In 1889, the recipe was bought and the Coca-Cola Company was incorporated. Today, the company owns over 500 brands for a wide range of products, including Sprite and Columbia Pictures. (M Ridder 2022).  Promotion has been a key contributing factor to their success making them the leading company in value in this very crowded market place and ensuring that they stay there  (Coca-Cola Website 2023). In 2020 they spent around $184 million advertising Coke alone. (M Ridder 2022)

Overview of Coca Cola’s Promotion

Coca-Cola follow an aggressive promotional strategy through advertising across multiple mediums and channels, such as TV, online advertising, print, branded merchandise and sponsorships. (CoSchedule 2023). They have also moved into having their own Coca-Cola stores where you can buy a range of branded merchandise.

Effectiveness of their Promotion to achieve marketing success

The marketing strategy employed by Coca-Cola has been hugely successful, keeping them at the market leader in their field. They have used many types of promotion over the years and in their sponsorship deals they are associated with successful teams which helps promote their positive brand status. They create a feel good factor around their product and although evolved, their messaging has been relatively consistent for over 100 years.

1904      Delicious and Refreshing

1956      Coca-Cola … makes good things taste better

1988      You can’t beat the feeling

2016      Taste the feeling

(Coca Cola website 2023)

How have Coca Cola evolved their Promotion over time

Coca-Cola has been around since 1885 and over this time has changed tactics slightly with their target audience, although the underlying message has always been the same – refreshing, great taste, the Real Thing.

Early on the adverts included pretty and elegant women to appeal to the upper classes but then evolved in the 1930s to appeal to the working class man as a drink to refresh them during a break. They also created the now iconic image we all think of when we hear Santa Clause – he wears a red and white coat, their branding colours, and invokes a general good feeling that you associate with drinking Coke. The most memorable promotional slogan they used was promoting Coke as The Real Thing­ -referring to it being first to market and trying to set itself apart from Pepsi as it’s main competitor. (KronosAnanthsimha 2019).

They have embraced the digital world that we live in today and have a strong presence on all social media platforms. Their Facebook page has over 100 million followers and likewise on LinkedIn they have over 7 million followers demonstrating their global presence and leadership.

Towards the end of 2021 they launched their ‘Real Magic’ promotional campaign with the aim to bring humanity together after the pandemic and have a positive experience with Coca Cola being the item that unites people and allows the real magic to happen. (CommunicateOnline 2022)

In April 2022 they opened their first new concept store in London – what better way to promote your product than have others pay for wearable merchandise and have them promote it for you? (Coca Cola UK website 2022)

References

Coca-Cola website 2023: About :: The Coca-Cola Company (KO)

Coca-Cola website 2023: History of Coca-Cola Advertising Slogans – News & Articles (coca-colacompany.com)

Coca Cola website 2023: History of Coca-Cola Advertising Slogans – News & Articles (coca-colacompany.com)

Coca Cola UK website 2022: Coca-Cola Opens First European Retail Flagship in London

Communicate Online 2022: The True Insight Behind Coca-Cola’s ‘Real Magic’ Philosophy (communicateonline.me)

CoSchedule: Coke Marketing Strategy: Their Recipe for Success (+5 Achievable Strategies) (coschedule.com)

KronosAnanthsimha Brief History – Evolution of Coca-Cola’s marketing campaigns – (kronosananthsimha.com)

M Ridder: Coca-Cola’s net operating revenues worldwide 2021 | Statista

M Ridder: Coca-Cola Co.: ad spend 2021 | Statista