By: Katy Flanagan
I grew up in Atlanta where Coke is a staple in everyone’s diet and Pepsi is most definitely not okay. The World of Coke museum is downtown where you can taste all the Coke soft drinks from around the world and every restaurant serves Coke. Going to school at Furman University, a Pepsi only school, has made me crave the bubbly happiness of an ice cold Coke.
My love for Coca-Cola has developed over time from advertisements being played over and over in my mind. I am not the only one affected by Coke’s perfect ads. In fact, the whole entire world has been touched by Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola has immersed their message into the world. Their ads connect to the Cumulative Effects theory. This theory states that “nobody can escape either the media, which are pervasive, or the media’s messages, which are driven home with redundancy” (Vivian 192). By changing their ads on a regular basis, Coca-Cola is constantly adding to their campaigns and the effects of those campaigns accumulate in everybody’s minds making them want Coke and nothing else.
According to Forbes Magazine, The Coca-Cola Company leads the U.S. carbonated soft drinks category, with 44% market share, more than one-and-a-half times than PepsiCo. Coca-Cola’s industry and vast global reach has improved its marketing each year. Coca-Cola believes in expanding its consumer base through experiential marketing, which aims at creating an emotional connect with customers.
Taste The Feeling
Started in 2016, the “Taste the Feeling” campaign united all Coke trademarked brands into one global campaign. Marcos de Quinto, chief marketing officer, said “we are reinforcing that Coca-Cola is for everybody.” This campaign is said to emphasize that drinking a Coke, any coke, is a simple pleasure that makes everyday moments more special. The ad features universal storytelling with the product at the center to show all aspects of the Coca-Cola experience. Not only is the campaign pure genius in that the message is universal, but there are different versions of the same ad “with locally relevant casts and culturally relevant vignettes” to make it more personal to each place the ad is shown.
Share a Coke
In the summer, Coke releases it’s Share a Coke campaign. In 2018, the fifth year of the campaign, the campaign focused on the role Coca-Cola plays in special moments we share with other. Over the years, the campaign has evolved adding new names, song lyrics, and more Coke flavors in more packages. Fans can even visit ShareaCoke.com to buy a personalized glass bottle of regular Coke, Diet Coke, or Coke Zero. This campaign is in more that 100 countries.
Coca-Cola not only has worldwide universal campaigns but it also has country specific campaigns. One specific example is the selfie coke bottle. In Israel, Coca-Cola turned the selfie taking craze into profit. There is a device that attaches to the bottom of your coke bottle and as you tilt the bottle it takes selfies. It also connected Coke drinkers to social media because posting your selfie on social media and tagging Coca-Cola was all the rage. Danah Boyd in her book It’s Complicated shows how the media makes it seem like teens are addicted to social media. It is the idea that media “amplifies the notion that the current generation of youth is uncontrollably hooked” on social media and their phones (Boyd 78). Because of the media hyping this idea up, companies like Coca-Cola have made inventions like this one to aid to the teens so called addiction to their phones.
Coca-Cola is one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Because of this, their marketing team has to be very successful. Some of their strategies include:
- Simplicity
- Personalization
- Socialization
- Experience
Making human connections, remaining innovative while staying true to their simple principles and reacting branded experience are all global marketing techniques that have contributed to Coca-Cola’s success. Coke will always be a part of my life and will continue to flourish around the world.
Sources:
Media and Globalization 