Who doesn’t know the Coca-Cola brand of soft drink? This brand is one of the most famous soda drinks besides its competitor, Pepsi. Coca-cola even admitted that the drink’s taste had lost to Pepsi lo.
However, these two brands have continued to innovate and compete until now. It’s not just a matter of taste. There are also unique ways to attract consumers, whether to interact or to buy.
In this case, Coca-Cola is the champion compared to other brands. Various unique gimmicks involving consumers have been successfully carried out through the campaigns they have created.
Marketing Strategies Coca Cola
The Coca-Cola Company is the largest carbonated beverage company in the world. The company controls more than half of the global market for aerated soft drinks.
Not only Coca-Cola, a company from Atlanta, Georgia, also handles around 500 beverage brands, including Fanta, Pepsi, and Sprite.
Now, who doesn’t know Coca-Cola? At least 94 percent of the world’s population already recognizes the red and white Coca-Cola logo. All of that is inseparable from the greatness of their marketing strategy.
According to the video uploaded by the ThoughtCatalyst account, around 10 percent of Coca-Cola’s revenue is allocated for advertising and marketing.
If the payment is around USD 41 billion, the advertising budget can be calculated at around USD 4 billion. That is the cost of advertising throughout the territory.
Sometimes each region has a different way of approaching consumers. But with a large budget, the advertising team can have more freedom to experiment and be creative.
Not surprisingly, almost every marketing tactic is successful in attracting consumers. In fact, this company is dubbed the king of the marketing world.
For those who want to know more about the secrets behind Coca-Cola’s marketing strategy, here we have selected some of Coca-Cola’s marketing and advertising tactics that might inspire your business.
1. Word of Mouth Marketing
Before Coca-Cola became the big brand it is today, it turned out that they had already implemented a marketing strategy in the form of word-of-mouth
.
In 1888, Coca-cola was a 5-cent drink that only sold 9 glasses a day. This unique marketing strategy has been carried out by this brand even when the name was still unknown and had just been established.
After seeing its performance, the owner named Asa Candler, gave customers coupons to exchange for syrup as their drink stock. Finally, a flock of customers made this one drink a hit.
2. “Coca Cola Happiness Machine”
As the name implies, the “Coca-cola Happiness Machine” is a vending machine that offers drinks and happiness. The more modern this brand offers more creative and diverse campaigns, one of which is the “Coca-cola Happiness Machine.”
This automatic machine is placed in several places, such as on campus, where people do transactions as usual. The unique thing is that the device does not only give coke once but keeps appearing many times, even like a broken machine.
However, it turned out that this was arranged on purpose so that the customer could share a drink with others so that they could share the joy too. In addition, there are also machines designed to dispense coke by hugging it.
3. Participate in Sporting Events
Coca-cola often participates in sporting events. They even partner with FIFA virtual stars to become your sponsors!
So far, perhaps we often see the emergence of Coca-Cola at sporting events such as the Olympics and the like as a sponsor.
They do this because so far, Coca-cola has been synonymous with unhealthy drinks, so by becoming a sponsor, it is hoped that this stigma can be removed.
To be more reliable, they also partnered with athletes to be the stars of their advertisements. They even partnered with virtual star Alex Hunter in FIFA 2018 for ads.
Not only through these several campaigns, but Coca-cola actually also carried out a marketing strategy by carrying out unique campaigns that were different in each of your countries.
Most of the campaigns emphasize the impression of kinship, friendship, and happiness.
4. “Share A Coke” Campaign
Focusing on how your customers feel can create a stronger relationship with your brand. Coca-Cola is known for marketing to people of all ages and races in the US and worldwide.
It’s always about good times with friends and family or simply enjoying a refreshing cold Coca-Cola during hot summer days.
Coca-Cola is also known for its “Share a Coke” campaign. They take some of the most famous names in the world and bottle them, then let people enjoy sharing personal stories with friends or family with that name.
It provides customers with an experience to connect Coca-Cola to their own lives. Nowadays, many companies describe what their product can do for a person. Still, Coca-Cola reminds people why COCA-COLA is much more than a soft drink.
Global brands such as Coca-Cola have enjoyed great success. Their marketing strategy towards consumer feelings makes them even more vital in front of other brands.
Build a Strong Multi-Sense Brand Identity.
One of the ways Coca-Cola has done this is by putting a lot of money into sports sponsorships. The company has been sponsoring the Olympics since 1928 and is currently signed as an official sponsor until 2020.
They also recently became one of the Partners of the FIFA World Cup for the 2018 to 2022 season in January 2017. This is a big step forward because Coca-Cola will be one of the top six FIFA partners and the only Official Worldwide Partner in soft drinks.
Using promotional activities to align with events, celebrities and sponsors is another way to relate their brand image to how people perceive them.
The company has used this tactic well because the product is perceived as a delicious drink. In 2016, the company teamed up with several celebrities, including Gal Gadot and LeBron James, to promote their respective brands through the Olympics and the NBA.
Coca-Cola is also working on its own rebranding in terms of packaging design. Their new bottle uses a curved shape that fits better in people’s hands. It is part of their strategy to connect with customers emotionally because people associate this form with fun or happiness.
Maintain Relevance To Your Global Audience (And Brand Ambassadors), Even As They Change.
Coca-Cola’s mission is always contemporary, no matter how often the world around them has changed. They do this by keeping up with modern trends and making their products flexible for each new generation.
Coca-Cola is more than just a drink with soft drink filling machine manufacturers; it is also a reflection of your personality that you may see on social media or on the street.
As you can see, Coca-Cola’s strategy is to appeal to its global audience with relevant content and a flexible marketing strategy so that it can adapt to the changing world around them.
That’s why they have remained an iconic brand that has stayed on top for over a century! Have we sparked your interest in Coca-Cola?