Invented by John Stith Pemberton in 1886, Coca-Cola was meant as a drink to impart good
health and stamina. Pemberton was a pharmacist from Columbus, Georgia who originally made
a cocawine called Pemberton’s French Wine Coca in 1885.
When prohibition laws were passed within his county, Pemberton set out to make a new, non-
alcoholic drink. What he created was a pleasant tasting syrup that could be mixed with
carbonated water and served at the soda fountain as a refreshing drink. He first sold this drink
for five cents a glass at his establishment, Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia. The average
sales for the first eight months averaged nine glasses a day. Another Atlanta pharmacist and
businessman, Asa Griggs Candler bought into Pemberton’s company, and in the following year,
Pemberton sold Candler his remaining interest in the company.
Asa Candler purchased exclusive rights to the Coca-Cola formula in 1891 and by the following
year, had increased sales ten times over. Sales were going so well that Candler sold his
pharmaceutical business and devoted himself fully to the success of Coca-Cola. His brother,
John, and Pemberton’s former partner, Frank Robinson, joined Candler and together they
formed The Coca-Cola Company.
Coca-Cola Wood Triangle SignThe trademark “Coca-Cola” was registered in the US Patent
Office on January 31, 1893. Candler continued to grow the business with aggressive advertising
and distributing thousands of free drink coupons.
In 1894 the popular drink was sold in bottles for the first time. Beginning in 1899, independent
bottling companies were licensed to bottle Coca-Cola – a practice that is still in use today by the
US soft drink industry.
In the early 1920s Robert Woodruff, then president of The Coca-Cola Company, demanded
strict standards at soda fountains where drinks were mixed, in order to create a uniform, quality
product. This “Quality Drink” campaign included having trained service people at the soda
fountains to ensure that Coca-Cola was served correctly.
In 1926 Woodruff established the Foreign Department, which in 1930 became a subsidiary of
Coca-Cola known as The Coca-Cola Export Corporation. Woodruff was determined to expand
the Coca-Cola Company internationally. Plants had already been built in France, Cuba,
Panama, Canada, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam.
Woodruff introduced the revolutionary new 6-bottle cartons that made it easier to take Coca-
Cola home. In 1928, bottle sales exceeded those at the soda fountain. In 1929 metal, top-
opening coolers were created to dispense bottles of ice-cold Coca-Cola in stores and filling
stations.
1930s Soda Fountain News Article
1930s news article for self-serve fountains
Automatic soda dispensers made their debut in 1933 at the Chicago World’s Fair when Coca-
Cola introduced the Dole Master Dispenser. This was the first soda dispenser that was able to
mix the carbonated water and cola syrup together automatically, which was then dispensed
merely with a pull of the handle.
When WWII broke out, Robert Woodruff was quoted as saying that he wanted “to see that every
man in uniform gets a bottle of Coca-Cola for 5 cents, wherever he is and whatever it costs the
Company.” During the war, 64 bottling plants were constructed as close as was possible near
areas of combat in N. Africa, the Pacific and Europe. Military personnel consumed more than 5
billion bottles of Coca-Cola during WWII.
In 1955 Coca-Cola was first put into cans for military personnel in Japan and the Pacific, but
bottlers did not embrace this new container until 1960. The now world-famous drink was also
now offered in 10-, 12- and 26-ounce bottles. The first plastic 2-liter bottle was introduced in
1977.
The Coca-Cola Company introduced Diet Coke in 1982. This was the first extension of the
Coca-Cola and Coke trademarks. In two years’ time, Diet Coke was the top-selling diet soft
drink in the world.
In 1985 the formula for Cola-Cola was changed and The Coca-Cola Company released a new
Coke. There was such a negative reaction to this change that the old formula was re-released
within 8 months with the name Coca-Cola Classic. On July 12th of 1985, the new Coke was the
first soft drink to be consumed in space, having been placed in specially designed cans just for
the trip on the Space Shuttle Challenger. These containers were called the “Coca-Cola Space
Can”.
Diet Coke became the first diet soft drink consumed in space aboard the Space Shuttle
Discovery in February of 1995. This trip marked the first time soda fountain equipment was used
in space.
Today, Coca-Cola produces nearly 450 brands in more than 200 countries and rates as one of
the most recognizable trademarks in the world, (and possibly, out of it?).
COCA COLA Strengths:
– Strong brand image
– Largest market share
– Strong brand portfolio
– High customer loyalty
– Extensive distribution network
– Investment in marketing and advertising
– High company valuation
The most important strength of Coca Cola is its brand image and the high brand awareness.
The brand is present in nearly every part of the world and enjoys a very high degree of
popularity. Coca Cola also holds the largest market share of around 48% in the beverages
industry. Another key strength of Coca Cola is its strong product portfolio. To match the
competition from the health drinks, it introduced Diet Coke to Coke Zero Sugar, Fanta Orange
Zero, Lilt Zero, Schweppes Diet Lemonade and Powerade Zero. It has presented low calorie
options for nearly all its major and well known products.
Coca Cola sums up its key strengths on its website in the following lines:
“The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world’s largest beverage company, refreshing
consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands and more than 3,800 beverage
choices. …., our company’s portfolio features 20 billion-dollar brands, 18 of which are available
in reduced-, low- or no-calorie options. Our billion-dollar brands include Diet Coke, Coca-Cola
Zero, Fanta, Sprite, Dasani, vitaminwater, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply, Del Valle, Georgia
and Gold Peak.. Together with our bottling partners, we rank among the world’s top 10 private
employers with more than 700,000 system associates”.
Source: Coca Cola Company
Coca Cola SWOT Analysis
Coca Cola ! Enjoy!
In this way, the coca cola company holds some significant strengths that give it a competitive
edge in the market. Its flavorful drinks enjoy a very high level of customer loyalty. A key reason
behind its impressive international presence is its robust distribution network. Coca Cola utilizes
unique marketing and advertising strategies. It has continued to make major investments in
marketing and advertising as well as customer engagement. From time to time viral marketing
videos to social media campaigns, Coca Cola has used all of them to attract customers. It also
gains publicity through sponsorship and other methods. Currently valued at $83.84 billion, Coca
Cola enjoys high brand value. An excellent distribution network is also an important strength of
the brand. These are the key strengths of Coca Cola and also the reasons behind its success.
– Weaknesses:
Competitive pressure from rival brand pepsi.
– Low product diversification
– Currency fluctuations
– Low presence in health drinks
– Water management issues.
The rivalry and competitive pressure against Coca Cola has kept rising. However, Coca Cola
did not make any major strategic move to beat the competition. It has continued to rely on the
popularity of its existing brands, apart from the introduction of a few low calorie options.
Recently, the brand increased the number of low calorie or calorieless options in its product
portfolio. Still, considering the growing presence of health drinks and sports drinks, competition
might grow further in future. The brand has already faced issues regarding over-consumption of
water. Its product diversification relative to its competitors has been low. Fluctuations in the
value of dollar have also hit Coca Cola hard, causing loss of profits. Last year (2015), Coca
Cola saw a drop in its revenue. The industry has seen customers move towards the health
drinks. However, this is an area where the brand presence of Coca Cola is relatively low. It also
faced lawsuits over product quality recently. The uproar over the use of pesticides is yet to die.
Continuing lawsuits and legal hassles also challenge its reputation especially in the growing
markets.
1. It started with a unique, market-tested formula.
After serving as a Confederate colonel in the Civil War, John Pemberton wanted to develop a
version of the coca wines (basically cola with alcohol and cocaine) that were in vogue at the
time. In 1886, Atlanta passed prohibition laws that forced beverage manufacturers to produce
non-alcoholic versions of their drinks.
Pemberton sent his nephew Lewis Newman with samples of his formulas to a local pharmacy
where people congregated to drink these early versions of sodas. Newman relayed feedback to
his uncle about the various concoctions, and by the end of the year Pemberton had a recipe that
was unique and tailored to customers' tastes. The original recipe is still locked in a vault in
Atlanta.
Cocaine was removed from Coke in 1903. Other minor adjustments have been made in the past
century or so, but beyond the "New Coke" disaster of 1985, the recipe has largely remained
unchanged. This decision helped the company scale, Butler writes, since it did not spend time
trying to tailor the taste to regional markets throughout the world.
2. Its logo uses a timeless font.
Pemberton's bookkeeper, Frank Mason Robinson, decided that Coca-Cola's logo should be
written in the Spencerian script accountants used because it would differentiate it from its
competitors. The company standardized the logo in 1923 and, like the recipe, decided that while
packaging could adjust to the times, the core logo was to be untouched.
It's resulted in a logo that has had more than 100 years to become imprinted in the minds of
people around the world.
The Coca-Cola Company
3. It was distributed in a proprietary bottle.
After the Georgia businessman Asa Griggs Candler became the majority shareholder of Coca-
Cola in 1888, he set his sights on making Coke the nation's most popular cola through
marketing and partnerships with regional bottlers.
By 1915, Candler was losing market share to hundreds of competitors. He launched a national
contest for a new bottle design that would signal to consumers that Coke was a premium
product that couldn't be confused with some other brown cola in an identical clear glass bottle.
The new bottle had to be able to be mass produced using existing equipment yet also be
distinct.
The Root Glass Company in Indiana decided to enter the contest and base its design off the
product's name. While combing through the dictionary for the word "coca" and words like it,
Butler writes, mold shop supervisor Earl R. Dean came across an illustration for the cocoa plant
that caught his attention. Coca-Cola had nothing to do with cocoa, but the cocoa pod had a
strange but appealing shape. He and his team got to work and were declared the contest
winners the next year.
Coca-Cola commissioned the bottle design as a piece of defensive marketing, but began
promoting the shape as much as the logo and product. Even after plastic replaced glass as the
standard means of drinking Coke in countries like the US, the company continued to promote
the image of the Coke bottle as an icon.
coca-cola bottle cocoa plant
Medicaster/Wikimedia Commons; The Coca-Cola CompanyThe cocoa pod inspired the Coke
bottle design.
4. It held retailers responsible for maintaining its high standard.
Ernest Woodruff's Trust Company of Georgia bought Coca-Cola from Candler in 1919. Woodruff
was focused on maintaining a standard of excellence as the company scaled.
The Coke team decided that its drink should be served at 36 degrees Fahrenheit, and would
send salesmen to new retailers to tell them the product should never be served above 40
degrees.
The tactic may seem a bit silly today, but the 36-degree standard was just another example of
establishing Coca-Cola as a premium product that was worthy of more attention than any of its
competitors.
5. It kept its consumer price fixed for 70 years.
It's common today for tech startups to begin by offering a service for free and then charging a
higher price to consumers and/or advertisers once they've become hooked. Before utilizing
networking effects became a standard practice, Coca-Cola used a similar approach to scale
across the US and then throughout the world.
From 1886 to 1959, a bottle of Coke cost just five cents.
6. It guided word-of-mouth advertising and developed a voice.
It became apparent after Candler took over early in the company's life that Coke was as much a
drink as it was a consumable brand, an idea consumers could feel good about identifying with.
Candler started a mass coupon initiative that resulted in 10% of all products from 1887 to 1920
to be given away in order to build brand awareness. He also provided retailers with Coca-Cola
swag like posters and festoons for decorations and calendars and clocks for customers.
According to Butler, Coke was a pioneer in affixing a brand to items unrelated to the product.
And finally, all national, and then global, advertising contained variations of "Drink Coca-
Cola/Delicious and refreshing" and fit into a standardized design style.
vintage coca cola ad
The Coca-Cola CompanyA vintage American ad.
7. It adopted a franchise model.
"Amid the soda wars that broke out in the 1880s, Candler's most significant business decision
had nothing to do with branding," Butler writes.
In 1899, two Tennessee lawyers, Benjamin F. Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead, approached
Candler and asked if he would let them bottle Coke. The drink was sold as a syrup that retailers
would mix with soda water, but it wasn't typical to drink cola on the go or bring it into the home.
Candler decided to hand over the bottling rights for just a dollar, which he never collected,
because he was content with maintaining the rights to the syrup.
This marked the beginning of what the company internally calls The Coca-Cola System, a
franchise partnership with bottlers that allowed the brand to truly take off. Today, there are more
than 250 independent bottlers around the world.
"The Coca-Cola Company isn't one giant company; it's a system of small companies," Butler
writes. "And this pattern helps it scale new products, new communications, new equipment, etc.
Designing for this pattern is critical; when it wants to scale fast, it can."
According to Coca-
Cola Company’s report (2006)
The name Coca-Cola is oneof the must popular brands in the world and the company is ranked
thelargest company in beverages industry today. This is so because the Coca-Cola Company
continuer to gain growth due to the prompt expanding acrossthe world, the Company operate
presently in more than 200 countries with
84,000 suppliers this makes 70% of the company’s turn over to be from other
foreign country.This is possible due to globalization; John Pemberton founds the company in
the 1880’s in United State of America with a good reputation
of consistencyand high quality, in the early stage storekeepers requested for an
attractivepackage with brand recognition. The Coca-Cola Company focus and meetsthose
requests with a brand name Coca-Cola and a red and white attractive package with a uniform
taste of product across the country, this becamesome of the foundation strategy of the
company.Globalization in Coca-Cola Company start
ed in the 1900’s w
hen bottlingplants where built in Panama and Cuba as military spread through thoseregions, this
spread prompt the rise in demand of the product. These plantsreduced the shipping cost of the
product in these regions, the success of theseplants swift the Company to build many more
across which includes Hawaii,Puerto Rico and Philippines. By the year 1926 the Company
established astrong foreign relationship with other countries around the world this gavethe
company a chance to continue on its quest of rapid expansion and massproduction of its
product across the world by the use of local branches andlocal partnerships. This expansion
continue to take place for severalcenturies until the end of World war II and Cold war that is
when thecompany was marked as a accurate global corporation
