by : Nicole Nimmer - Marketing Analyst
This month we highlight the 125-year success of Coca-Cola for marketing inspiration. If we want our brands to be memorable, we should learn from the most iconic.
What does the marketing history of Coca-Cola teach us? Even iconic brands do not take a break from marketing. Coca-Cola's iconic success is largely attributed to marketing strategy, innovation, and goal-based ad spend.
Strategy
If you have strategy and measurement in place, you will have much more success at doing the right thing. Coca-Cola is one of the most disciplined companies when it comes to strategy. However, even the 'best-of-the-best' have to try before finding the most successful marketing action, and not every marketing activity is a success. Here is one failed campaign that Coca-Cola ran:
"Things Would Have Been Better With Coke" ad campaign—The ad campaign featured historical figures who had unhappy endings to their lives, like Julius Caesar and Marie Antoinette. The premise of the ad program was: If only Coke had been there, then maybe things might have turned out differently.
Innovation
Coca-Cola is a marketing innovator, as demonstrated through their history as an early adopter of coupons, sponsorship, and event marketing. The first Coca-Cola Olympic sponsorship began in 1928 and continues today. Coca-Cola is a company not historically inclined to major changes or strategy shifts, but Coca-Cola shows us that if innovation is right, then innovate, although even this icon has sometimes been resistant to change. New Coke is a famed historical example. It was a failed product, but it gave Coca-Cola a wake-up call from becoming too passive:
"I think we were lazy in really recognizing that we needed to reactivate or reposition the brand. If we had done that through an advertising process, I don't think New Coke would have ever happened, but there was such resistance to any kind of change in the advertising position of the brand that we introduced a change in the taste," Mr. Zyman said. "I know, you'll say that's ridiculous, and I agree. But it happened."
Today Coke is repositioning itself as the embodiment of happiness. "If you're able to own that emotion inpeople's mindspace, that's a very powerful thing," said Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer Joe Tripodi. Take it from Coke, sometimes you have to reposition your brand. Today the trend is to own an emotion in people's minds, and to connect an emotion with the brand. This relates with social media and the creation of communities, and connects to my earlier 360 Direct blog post of, "Makinga Brand Social". Coca-Cola's founder believed that you had to advertise and get your product out to the people. Iconic brands know that maintaining a marketing plan consistently throughout the year will reap benefits, that constant evaluation of the brand's positioning will keep the brand at the forefront, and that resistance to change can hold a brand stagnant. What is your brand's emotional connection to your consumers? How can you use that emotion to connect with your consumers?
Ad Spend
Flashback to 1922 when Coca-Cola reached an unheard spend of $1 million for their ad budget. Today, the company spends $2.9 billion globally on advertising across 206 markets. Though Coca-Cola's marketing spend is unattainable for most, the spend did contribute to Coca-Cola becoming the most globally recognized brand. This marketing spend may be scary, but a marketing budget should not. A marketing spend needs to be a relationship between your comfort and the goals you want to achieve.
Be Aware of the Relationship Amongst All Business Activities
New Coke taught Coca-Cola much about how their business practices and marketing activities relate to each other. For instance, Coca-Cola ran into a challenge of communicating with the bottlers when New Coke was introduced, which partially lead to New Coke's demise:
"It was very exciting at the beginning, because all of a sudden we had almost a rebirth, a renaissance of the brand. Consumers were looking at it and business was booming. Consumers wanted the brand; they appreciated the brand; they knew what the brand was all about. And it was a great opportunity for us to actually reformulate the overall proposition of the brand. But the system was very tired, the bottlers were very tired. Remember, a bottler is in a small community. They were attacked by their neighbors. People in the golf club made fun of them and all that. They wanted a break. So the company lost focus again. I got very frustrated, and I left the company." —Sergio Zyman, marketing executive
Stay focused, understand business relationships, and know the importance of asking and listening. Some people think marketing is an evil word. Marketing, when used correctly, should work with all components for a successful business. Its strength is powerful when all aspects of business understand and integrate with each other. For instance, if you have an accountant who understands marketing, the accountant will work with your brand's goals of the future versus today's bottom line. Take advantage of the relationship value of each activity to each other, and eliminate silo thinking.
What Should You Do?
We can all say, "Wow, 125 years, congratulations Coca-Cola!" How does your brand stay around for 5, 10, 30 years? 360 Direct is available whether you need a marketing consultant, or a full marketing team. We help you establish strategy, goals, and a budget that fits your particular needs. Call 414-464-5000 or email us today, and get a complementary 30 minute discovery consultation.
Sources:
"Best Global Brands." Business Week. Retrieved fromhttp://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/07/top_brands/source/1.htm
Zmuda,Natalie. (2011, May 2). "At 125 Years Old, Coke's Story is StillBeing Written." Advertising Age. Retrieved fromhttp://adage.com/article/news/125-years-coke-seeks-double-revenue-10-years/22730/