case study of coca cola

1. Coca-Cola Story – Marketing Strategy
Coca-Colaiseverywhere.
In 1977, Coca-Colahad exitedIndia(apparentlybecauseitrefusedtoshare it’ssecretsyruprecipe with
the government) andahuge cola voidwaswaitingtobe filled.Thums Upwaslaunchedbythe Chauhan
brothersRameshandPrakashat thiscritical juncture.
It introducedaboldnewflavourthathad a slightlyorangybase andmore fizzthanthe competitors.
Withthe helpof some innovative advertising,iteasilystavedoff the local competitionandhada
humongousmarketshare of 36% (of all colas) in1993, the yearCoca-Colare-enteredIndia(Pepsi atthat
time commanded26%).
Coca-Colamade a veryattractive bidforThums Up (Rs.186 crore or $62 millionbackthen) andbought
the brand fromthe Chauhans.Here’swhere the twistcomes.Insteadof treatingit’snumberone brand
like aprizedstallion,Coca-Coladesperatelytriedavarietyof tacticstokill ThumsUp to pave its ownway
back intothe Indianmarket.
However,the brandhadmade such a place for itself amongthe mindsof Indiansthatitsimplyrefused
to die.Infact, itstill hasa healthyshare of 15% inthe crowdedaerateddrinksmarket(42% incolas) and
outsellsbothmultinational giants.CocacoladiscoveredthatstiflingThumsUpwas onlygivingaboostto
Pepsi’ssales.Bettersense prevailedlaterandThumsUp was revivedagain.
Had Coca-Coladone the rightthingat the time bynurturingthe ThumsUp brand, itcouldwell have
drivenoutPepsi fromthe Indiansoft-drinksmarket.Asof today,Pepsi haslaunched‘PepsiAtom’;witha

2. spoof advertisingstrategytopiggybackonThumsUp.The packaginglookssuspiciouslysimilartothe
homegrownbrand.
The Coca-ColaCompanyalsotookadvantage of their well-establishedslogan“The pause thatrefreshes”
by applyingitto Home Frontworkers,oftenRosie the Riveter-style womenwhomthey encouragedto
take a breakfrombuildingplanesandships.
The idea behindthe ads,whichwassupportedbyascientificresearchproject completedin1941 by
Coca-Colaexecutives,wasthatHome Front workers andsoldiersalike wouldworkmore efficientlyif
givena momentto pause and refreshthemselveswithaCoke.
How Coco-Cola became THIS big as it is today ?
While the Coca-ColaCompanywasbusy boostingthe morale of Americanfightingforces,theywere
simultaneouslylayingthe groundworkforbecominganinternational symbol of refreshmentand
solidarity.Manyof the bottlingplants establishedoverseasduringthe warcontinuedtooperate asnon-
military factoriesafterthe war’send.Furthermore,GIsliberatingtowns throughoutEurope orworking
side-by-side withlocalsinthe Philippines feltpride insharingtheirfavoritedrinkwith theirnew-found
friends.
Theytherebycreatedanenormousconsumerbase throughoutthe worldthatwouldnothave been
possible without Eisenhowerandthe Coca-ColaCompany’scooperationinworkingtowards bettering
the morale of the Americanfightingman.
Here are another couple of very amazingfacts:
Indiaisthe onlycountry where Coca-Colasellsacolabrand that isnot a variantof itsownumbrella
brand Coke.
Nowhere inthe worldisbrandCoke the No.3 cola exceptinIndia.
The iconicAmericanbrandisrecognizedinstantlyaroundthe globe andsoldinmore than200
countries.Additionallythere are thousandsof subsidiarybeveragesthatyoumighthave noideaare
ownedbyCoke.

3. Despite three CEOchangessince 2000, Coke has kepta firmleadinthe U.S. carbonateddrinks market,
with42.8% marketshare to Pepsi’s31.1%.
Altogether1.7billionservingsof Coke productsare consumedeveryday.
1. 3.1% of all beverages consumed around the world are Coca-Cola products
Of the 55 billionservingsof all kindsof beveragesdrunkeachday(otherthanwater),1.7 billionare
Coca-Colatrademarked/licenseddrinks.
Source:Coca-Cola2011 SEC Filings,Coca-Cola
2. Coke makes so many different beverages that if you drank one per day, it would take you
over 9 years to try them all
Coca-Colahas a productportfolioof more than3,500 beverages(and500 brands),spanningfromsodas
to energydrinkstosoy-baseddrinks.
Source:Coca-Cola
3. Coca-Cola’s $35.1 billion in revenue makes it the 84th largest economy in the world, just
ahead of Costa Rica
Sources:Coca-Cola’s2010 SEC Filings,CIA WorldFactbook
4. The Coca-Cola brand is worth an estimated $74 billion: more thanBudweiser, Pepsi,
Starbucks and Red Bull combined
The Coca-Colabrand isworth$74 billion,whileBudweiser,Pepsi,Starbucks,andRedBull combinedare
worthabout $50 billion,accordingtothe BrandZTop 100.
5. Although Coca-Cola revenue was 38% less than PepsiCo’s last year, Coke generated more in
soft drink revenue — around $28 billion vs. $12 billion

4. Remember,Pepsi ownsnon-drinkbrandslike Frito-LaysandQuakerOats.
Source:Bloomberg
6. If every drop of Coke ever produced were put in 8-ounce bottles and laid end-to-end, they
would reach the moon and back over 2,000 times
Source:Coca-Cola
7. If you stacked up Coke’s 2.8 million vending machines, they would take up 150.2 million
cubic feet of space — the size of 4 Empire State Buildings
Sources:Financial Times,NovaRecycling
8. The red and white Coca-Cola logo is recognized by 94% of the world’s population
Coca-Colahasalso reportedthatit’sname isthe second-mostunderstoodterminthe world,behind
“okay.”
9. Coca-Cola sells more than 1000 kinds of juice drinks, including: Simply, Minute Maid,
Fruitopia, Hi-C, Fuze and Odwalla
10. There are 33 non-alcoholic brands that generate over $1 billion in revenue.Coca-Cola
owns a whopping 15 of them
11. Around the world, the average person consumes a Coke product every four days
12. Coca-Cola spends more money on advertising than Microsoft and Apple combined
Coca-Colaadvertisingbudget(2010):$2.9 billion
Microsoftadvertisingbudget(2010):$1.6 billion
Apple advertisingbudget(2010):$691 million

5. 13. Americans ingest 1.7 million tons — or 10.8 pounds per person — of sugar each year from
Coca-Cola alone
Americansdrinkanaverage of 399 servingsof Coke productsperyear. 50% of these are Coke brands,
and 63% of those are Coca-ColaClassic.Thatcomesout to 125.7 ClassicCoke servingsperperson.
With 39 grams of sugar perserving,thatmeansthe average Americanconsumes4.9kilogramsperyear
— or 10.8 pounds.
Multiplythatby 307 millionAmericansand yougetaround1.7 milliontonsof sugar
14. The average Mexican drinks more Coke products than the average American, British,
Indian, and Chinese combined
VendorsellingCoca-Colainthe StadiaAztecainMexicoCity
On average,Mexicansdrink665 servingsof Coke productseachyear.
Americansdrink399, British202, Chinese 32,and Indian9 — whichcomesout to 642 servings.
Source:Coca-Cola’s2009 per capitaconsumptionstudy
15. Coke uses 300,000 tons of aluminium for its cans every year just for its US operations.
That’s equal to 17.4% of what the entire US aluminum industry produces