Member Article

5 things Coca-Cola taught us about marketing

When it comes to marketing the guys at Coca Cola should be high fiving each other regularly, although they probably have their predecessors - back in the 1800s - to really thank for the brand’s long reign of sugary victory.

Established initially as a medicinal product (to treat patients with morphine addictions, indigestion and impotence), Coca Cola eventually reinvented its product into the popular soft drink we continue to enjoy now and some consider an integral part of their everyday diet.

Coca Cola doesn’t need to print out banners at Helloprint or pay big celebs to endorse the product because it is so well known – but it continues to do so even now and this is why it continues to enjoy such huge success. Here are a few things the famous brand has taught us about marketing:

1. Simple is sometimes best

When you first consider Coca Cola marketing you think of the Share a Coke campaign, which featured thousands of names printed on cans and encouraged people to search for their own and their friends. It was a simple marketing campaign that actually boosted US sales for the company for the first time in a decade.

The hashtag was well utilised on Twitter with people taking pictures of their cans and helping the campaign go viral. Coke then went on to print more names and get even more people involved, spreading the word further.

2. Consistency is key

We all know and love Coca Cola’s Christmas advert, starring the giant lit up truck featuring an image of a Victorian style Father Christmas and children celebrating the joy of Christmas while drinking a bottle of the product.

Many people believe that only when the advert has aired they know that Christmas is really upon us (there are even Facebook pages dedicated to the concept) which just proves that consistent marketing and building up a tradition is the perfect way of marketing a brand – of course you need to get that initial advert right.

3. Taking risks can pay off

This year Coca Cola revealed that it is planning to take a risk and bring together all of its brands under one master brand– and essentially the same audience. Until now each brand has had a different demographic as the company tried to attract a variety of people, for this new marketing to work the brand needs to ensure each variety is still clearly distinguishable

4. Use the brand’s 70/20/10 plan

The marketing team at Coke break their budget and campaigns up into three parts, 70% goes towards basic marketing such as utilising social media, video, creating content and storytelling. The next 20% goes towards innovative and new marketing products which should be highly engaging, this content won’t play out immediately but can be worked on for the future (the Share a Coke campaign probably falls within this percentage). Finally that 10% goes towards ground-breaking ideas that will take a long time to execute (the master brand merging more than likely comes under this section).

5. If all else fails, go green

Eco friendly is the new black and when Coca Cola brought out its new Life range with its green packaging and claims of using naturally sourced sweetener instead of sugar ears pricked up everywhere and the media coverage boomed.

The Life brand also piggybacked on Pepsi’s failed Raw product launch, which had to be recalled, so Coca Cola also teaches us to be coy and play off other competitor’s underestimations with great packaging and a campaign that inspires trust.

Coca Cola has taken its established name and become a soft drink powerhouse, taking out competitors and confirming itself as the No.1 brand across the world.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Rawlings .