From 9 to 1.9 billion drinks a day all over the world. (Coca-Cola)
How did Coca-Cola became whatever that it is today?
Sales and marketing is the fuel and speed of every successful business(company).
On May 8, this year Coca-Cola will celebrate its 136th anniversary as one of the oldest company and brand in the world.
With a life span for more than a century, no doubt that such a company has seen and been through a ton of changes since it was first founded.
From selling nine drinks a day at Jacob’s pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States to selling more than 1.9 billion beverages in more than 200 countries all over the world.
Advertising Startegy
Coca-Cola still remains one of the popular brands in the world. Well, that wasn’t that case.
When the company first started in 1886, it used coupons for free drinks to raise interest in the product.
In the year 1892, Asa Candler purchased the company from inventor Dr. John Pemberton. At that time, Candler’s advertising budget was $11,000.
Candler used calendars, soda fountain urns, napkins, painted wall signs pencils, and clocks to advertise Coca-Cola.
In 1895, Coca-Cola reported that the beverage is sold and drunk in all over the United States and its territories, beginning its market saturation around the world.
From 1900 to 1950, the first celebrity to endorse Coca Cola was music hall performer, Hilda Clark in 1900. Ever since then, numerous celebrities such as Joan Crawford, Ray Charles and many others have attached themselves with the brand.
At the dawn of 1900, the marketing budget for the company have ten-fold to $100,00 and over.
The company also purchased a space in the National magazines for the first time in 1904.
The company continued to expand their advertising budget. By 1911, the company’s advertising budget had skyrocketed to more than a million dollars.
In 1920, Coca-Cola added outdoor billboard and radio program sponsorship to its advertising mix.
One of the Coca-Cola popular Christmas advertising campaigns was in 1931 with illustrations of St. Nicholas drinking Coca-Cola.
The brand continued to expand, created and spend more on the cornerstone of the success of the company(advertising).
From 1950 to 1990, they launched their first ever television commercial on thanksgiving day in 1950.At this time advertising was the largest portion of the company’s expenses.
In 1956, McCann-Erickson, Inc took over from D’Arcy advertising company as the official ad agency.
The latter had a history of more than 50 years advertising for the company, marking a shift in strategy. Outside the US, sales had already accounted for about 33% in revenue.
As we continue, in 1960 the company has began to diversify its product lines, acquiring The Minute Maid corporation. And they introduced Sprite in 1961. In 1971, the famous “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” television commercial was launched. Till present day, it remains one of the most popular and successful ad for the company.
From the 1990s to present day, one of the memorable Coca-Cola TV commercials was 1993’s “Northern Lights” marked the debut of Coca-Cola polar bears.
Don’t get too excited, not all of Coca-Cola’s marketing and advertising ideas have been smacked.
In 1985, an attempt was made to compete with Pepsi, the company decided to change the formula for coke for the first time in 99 years.
The new drink was called “New Coke”. The feedback to the new flavor was overwhelmingly bad, and Coca-Cola went back to the original recipe in 11 weeks.
And this article is getting overwhelming right? I call this the part of the Coca-Cola article.
In my next article, we will continue to the break and learn more about the history of the company’s packaging, logo, bottom like and a lot more interesting facts that we can apply into our businesses and brands today.
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