business case study globalization of coca cola

How Coca-Cola became one of the most successful brands in history

Table of contents.

Coca-Cola has an impressive track record of innovation which has helped propel the company to become one of the most successful brands in history. Through skillful advertising efforts, Coca-Cola is widely recognized as a symbol of American culture through its influence on politics, pop culture, and music around the globe.  

Key statistics and facts about The Coca-Cola Company: 

• Owns 43.7% of the US carbonated soft drinks market
• Net operating revenue of $38.7B
• Present in more than 200 countries and territories
• Employs over over 700,000 along with its bottling partners
• Ranked #93 in the Fortune 500
• Μarket value of $259.77 billion as of February 2023 

Who owns Coca-Cola?

There is no sole owner of Coca-Cola as it is a publicly listed company. However, the largest shareholder is Warren Buffett. Read on as we dive into the history of Coca-Cola's owners and much more below!

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The history of The Coca-Cola Company

How it all started.

The story of The Coca-Cola Company had humble beginnings in the late 1800s, in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. John Pemberton, a local pharmacist, had developed a recipe for a sweet syrup that was originally advertised to cure headaches. It was eventually mixed with carbonated water to create a fizzy drink that was served at a soda fountain in Jacobs’ Pharmacy. The first glass of Coca-Cola was served on May 8, 1886. In the first year, Pemberton served approximately nine drinks per day which were sold for 5 cents a glass. 

While the ingredient list today is a highly guarded secret, it is well known that the original version contained extracts from the Coca leaf and Kola nuts for caffeine. The combination of these two ingredients is where the name comes from. Dr. Pemberton’s partner and bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson, felt that spelling the name with double “C’s” would look better in advertising. So, he scripted out the logo which even today displays Mr. Robinson’s unique handwriting. 

Dr. Pemberton didn’t realize the potential of his new product. He took on several partners and sold portions of his business to various owners. Sadly, Dr. Pemberton died just two years after the creation of Coca-Cola. Prior to his death, he sold his remaining interests to an Atlanta businessman, Asa Griggs Candler. Candler knew there was something special about this new product, but little did he know that his $2,300 investment (roughly $67,000 today) would be the start of one of the most powerful brands on the planet. 

Birth of The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company was officially founded by Asa Candler in 1892. It didn’t take long for the Coca-Cola product to quickly spread outside of Georgia and across the nation. By 1895, Coca-Cola was being sold in every state of the union. In 1919, the company was sold to Ernest Woodruff. Woodruff's sons would continue to run the company for many years, transforming the company into a major international brand. The Coca-Cola Company was officially listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1919 under the ticker symbol KO. 

International expansion of The Coca-Cola Company

The first export of Coca-Cola was to Cuba in 1899. It wasn’t until the 1920s, that international expansion of the brand began to take off. During World War II, Coca-Cola’s President, Robert Woodruff, wanted to ensure that US service members stationed all over could have the comforts of home and pledged to transport Coca-Cola to the various bases in the European and Pacific theatres on the company’s dime. This introduction of the Coca-Cola product increased international demand. With people all over the world craving a taste of American culture, Coca-Cola began establishing partnerships with bottling companies and distributors all over the world. Today, the brand operates in more than 200 countries and territories. 

Early competition

In the early years, Coca-Cola had a lot of competition. In fact, the late 1800s and early 1900s was the most active period in the development of new soft drinks. Some of these companies went out of business or were bought out by other larger companies. However, many of these brands are still in existence today as more novelty brands and hold a very small percentage of the market. 

The most prominent competitors to Coca-Cola throughout its history have been Pepsi and Dr. Pepper. They were both created around the same time as Coca-Cola (Pepsi in 1898 and Dr. Pepper in 1885). Over time, these three giants bought up many of the smaller beverage companies. For example, Vernor’s Ginger Ale, Hires Root Beer, and Royal Crown Cola still exist but are now owned by Dr. Pepper. 

The Coca-Cola beverage was created in 1886 by Dr. John Pemberton, a pharmacist from Atlanta, Georgia. The recipe was purchased by Asa Griggs Candler and The Coca-Cola Company in 1892. The brand quickly became popular and was sold all over the United States. By the early 20th century, Coca-Cola began a rapid expansion across the globe.

The Coca-Cola system- a global franchise distribution network 

The Coca-Cola Company’s rapid expansion around the world can be attributed to its unique franchise distribution system (known as the Coca-Cola System ) that they have operated since 1889. Coca-Cola produces syrup concentrate which is then sold to various bottlers around the world. This helps the company maintain control over its top-secret recipe without the burden of having to run many of the independent bottling facilities. 

The Coca-Cola System is a network of over 900 bottling plants that produce 2 billion servings of Coca-Cola every day. The bottlers each hold contracts that allow them to exclusively operate in a predetermined territory. This reduces the need for the competition from multiple companies that sell the same product. 

These distributors handle all aspects of the production and distribution process including mixing the syrup with carbonated water and sweeteners, placing the finished product in cans or bottles, and distributing Coca-Cola to supermarkets, vending machines, restaurants, and movie theaters. Although Coca-Cola produces the main syrup, the franchise companies also control the soda fountain business in their territory. 

The exception to this model is the North American market where The Coca-Cola Company directly owns most of the bottling and distribution. Outside of the United States, Coca-Cola has continued to encourage the consolidation of its various bottling companies. Over time, Coca-Cola has acquired a percentage of ownership in many of the companies in the Coca-Cola System. 

Top 5 independent bottling partners, representing 40 percent of the Coca-Cola System distribution network:

• Coca-Cola FEMSA (Latin America)
• Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, plc (Western Europe, Australia, Pacific, and Indonesia)
• Coca-Cola HBC AG (Eastern Europe)
• Arca Continental (Latin America and North America)
• Swire Beverages (Asia and parts of North America)

Here's an example video from Coca-Cola HBC AG explaining their business model:

The Coca-Cola Company leverages a network of independently owned and operated bottlers around the world. This has enabled the company to quickly expand without having to invest billions of dollars into building facilities and navigating international rules and regulations unique to each region.

Evolution of the Coca-Cola product

The formula for Coca-Cola has undergone a few changes since its creation. Some of these changes were driven by necessity. Some were an attempt to reduce costs or gain market share. While the brand does not make changes often, some have been better received than others. 

Removal of cocaine

During the late 19th century, there were many Cocoa-based beverages available on the market. At the time, drugs like cocaine and opium were perfectly legal and used quite frequently for medicinal purposes. Since Coca leaves were used to make Coca-Cola, there were small quantities of cocaine that could be found in the drink. 

The public eventually became aware of the addictive properties of these substances, so Coca-Cola was pressured to remove this drug from its list of ingredients. The Coca-Cola Company made steps to gradually phase out sources of cocaine from its production until it was finally eliminated in 1929.

On April 23, 1985, The Coca-Cola Company took a huge risk that shocked the world. They announced that they would be changing the formula of their world-famous soft drink. Despite its massive success, the company had been losing ground to one of its main competitors, Pepsi. Pepsi’s success wasn’t just in the United States. They were quickly expanding into markets that were once considered untouchable. At the height of the Cold War, Pepsi became the first Western product to be permitted in the Soviet Union . 

Based on surveys and taste tests, consumers seemed to prefer the sweeter taste of Pepsi-Cola. So, Coca-Cola set out to rework the formula to improve its ability to compete. According to Coca-Cola’s website, their goal was to “re-energize the Coca-Cola brand and the cola category in its largest market, the United States”. After receiving positive feedback from nearly 200k customers in taste tests, New Coke was released to the market. 

The public’s response to the new version of their product was outrage. Unfortunately, Coca-Cola miscalculated its customer’s bond with the original brand. Massive protests were staged and the company was flooded with thousands of angry phone calls and letters. The backlash was so fierce that it forced the company to revert back to the old formula after only 79 days on the market, branded as Coca-Cola classic. 

This graph demonstrates PepsiCo’s rapid expansion of market share from 1970 to 1990 and subsequent fall.

Coca-Cola Zero Sugar

While Coca-Cola has vowed not to make any changes to its original product, the company plans to update the recipe and packaging for their popular zero sugar variation, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar . The company has been cautious in its promotion of the new version as to not create a blowback like the 1985 New Coke fiasco. Coca-Cola has reiterated that the new version will not be a major overhaul, rather an “optimization of flavors and existing ingredients”. The rollout is expected to hit the US market by August 2021.

Sweetener changed to high fructose corn syrup

Traditionally, the Coca-Cola recipe called for cane sugar as the primary sweetener. During the 1970s, the United States saw a massive increase in corn production. This forced the prices of corn to drop significantly. In addition, corn was heavily subsidized by the US government. This made sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup more affordable. 

In an attempt to reduce costs, Coca-Cola slowly started substituting cane sugar for high fructose corn syrup during the 1980s. The transition took place over the course of approximately 5 years. 

Today, cane sugar is still used in the production of Coca-Cola in certain regions of the world. The most popular example is Coca-Cola produced in Mexico. This version of Coca-Cola is still made with cane sugar. Some critics argue that “Mexican Coke” has a flavor that is closer to the original formula.

In 1935, Coca-Cola was certified as kosher after the company replaced the source of glycerin used in production . This was originally derived from beef tallow but was replaced with a plant-based version. However, with the change of sweetener in the 1980s to high fructose corn syrup, its kosher status was removed. Today, bottlers in markets with large Jewish populations will temporarily substitute high fructose corn syrup during Passover to obtain Kosher certification.

Recipe and flavor variations

Despite the utter failure of New Coke in 1985, The Coca-Cola Company has introduced new flavors over time in addition to Coca-Cola classic. 

Some consumers avoided Coca-Cola classic because of the high sugar or caffeine content. In 1982, the company released a diet version of their product for consumers who were concerned about consuming too much sugar. A caffeine-free version was also introduced a year later. 

The company has also tried different flavor combinations. The first was Coca-Cola Cherry in 1985 which was a huge success and remains popular today. Other flavors included lemon, lime, vanilla, orange, ginger, cinnamon, and coffee. Many of these were attempts to bring local flavors to international markets. 

Coca-Cola has achieved enormous amounts of growth by tailoring its products to local tastes and demands. They have also been able to reduce production costs by substituting expensive ingredients such as cane sugar for lower-cost alternatives. Not every change has been well received by the public. Coca-Cola infamously changed their original recipe to replace it with “New Coke”. This change faced fierce backlash and forced the company to bring back the original product after only 79 days on the market. 

Coca-Cola Growth Strategy

The company has outlined a list of key objectives that they plan to execute in the coming years to spur additional growth. This strategic plan is intended to guide the company in refocusing efforts and being more intentional with its actions.  

Focus on developing markets

Coca-Cola has identified that there is huge growth potential in the developing world. Seventy percent of all beverages being consumed in the developed world are commercialized compared to only 30 percent for the developing world. Considering the developing world contains 80 percent of the world's population, growth is expected to be exponentially higher. 

One identified area of opportunity is brand diversification. While Coca-Cola has a strong foothold globally, this is only due to its strong presence in major markets. Outside of sparkling water, Coca-Cola is trailing competitors. The focus will be on gaining momentum in other beverage categories through the experimentation of new products. 

Brand portfolio optimization

Bigger isn’t always better. The Coca-Cola Company is realizing that its efforts may be spread across too many individual brands. Their goal is to rebalance their portfolio and consolidate products into fewer master brands. They have already reduced this number from approximately 400 to 200. By having fewer master brands, they can better focus their efforts. 

Networked organization

Operating a large corporation comes with challenges. In many cases, there can be inefficiencies and duplicated efforts. Coca-Cola plans to address this by reorganizing its support and operational teams to provide better support and work more effectively. 

Brand building

The company plans to deliver world-class marketing through targeted resource allocation. The goal is to be more intentional with the way advertising and marketing investments are made. 

Coca-Cola has a goal to increase the frequency that new or existing consumers drink their products. To do this, the company has set targets to significantly increase innovation by bringing more trial products and projects into the pipeline. The goal is to increase this by 40 percent over 2020. 

Digital transformation

Coca-Cola understands that data is a powerful tool. They are in the process of undergoing a digital transformation to help the company operate more effectively and leverage data to drive decision-making. 

Revenue growth management

With this new data and digital tools available, the company can place a renewed focus on which areas have the most potential for growth. They will focus on understanding which markets, consumers, product lines, and competitors should be addressed.

The Coca-Cola Company is dedicated to growing the business through a skillfully designed and executed strategic plan. Their long-term goals are to focus on expanding the commercial beverage industry in developing countries. They also plan to optimize their product line by reducing the number of master brands, creating new innovative products, changing their internal operations teams to streamline processes, and better leverage data.

The power of advertising- Coca-Cola becomes a household name

A big part of Coca-Cola’s success over the years has been its focus on innovative marketing and advertising campaigns. In 2020, Coca-Cola was ranked as the 6th most powerful brand in the world. This accomplishment didn’t come overnight. Over the years, Coca-Cola has had to work diligently to evolve and bring fresh, new ideas to marketing and advertising.

Large contributions to advertising 

Even early on, Asa Griggs Candler spent a considerable amount of money on advertising. His original budget for advertising was $11,000 (over $300,000 in today’s money). By 1900, the budget increased ten-fold to $100,000 and again to $1 million by 1910. 

Large advertising budgets are important when a new brand is getting established. As a company grows and becomes well-known, they typically scale back on their advertising budget since most consumers recognize the brand. Coca-Cola, however, has continued to keep the pressure on its competitors. Today, the company spends about 10 percent of its revenue on advertising and marketing. This equates to approximately $4 billion in commercials, print advertising, sponsorships, and other promotional merchandise. 

Focus on the brand and human connection

Much of Coca-Cola’s advertising success comes from the way they present their brand. Instead of focusing on the actual product, they emphasize the feeling and camaraderie of making the brand part of one’s identity. Their advertisements are intended to make people feel good about themselves and want to be a part of the experience. 

Human connection is an important part of the brand message. One great example of this was the “Hilltop” commercial from 1971 that featured people from different cultures singing “I’d like to buy the world a Coke”. This showed the Coca-Cola brand as one that was intended to unite people around the world.

Celebrity endorsements

Celebrity endorsement is a way to help a brand stand out, especially when targeting specific groups. For example, sports fans will be more likely to purchase a product if their favorite athlete promotes the brand. Over the years, Coca-Cola has been endorsed by numerous high-profile celebrities, athletes, and pop culture icons. 

Hilda Clark, an American model, and actress was the first celebrity to endorse the brand in 1900 and was featured in early advertisements. Since then, Coca-Cola has received endorsements from many big-name celebrities such as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Magic Johnson, and Elvis Presley. 

Coca-Cola in pop culture

The Coca-Cola brand has been a prominent part of American culture for decades. Coca-Cola has skillfully attached itself to key historical events, music, movies, and major holidays. 

Coca-Cola and many of its other brands have been featured in numerous films and television programs. For a short time, Coca-Cola even owned Columbia Pictures (from 1982 to 1989) and inserted Coke products into many of its productions.  A few examples include:

•  The 1933 film King Kong displays a Times Square billboard advertisement in several of the scenes.
• Coca-Cola products being used in the 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
• The modern TV series Stranger Things which takes place in the 1980s displays and makes reference to New Coke. 

The Coca-Cola Company has also made its way into music across the globe. Elvis Presley promoted Coca-Cola during his last tour in 1977. The UK sensation, The Beatles, made mention of Coca-Cola in a line of their hit song “Come Together”. In addition to lyrical references, the brand has featured musical superstars such as David Bowie, Elton John, and Whitney Houston in Diet Coke commercials. 

The Coca-Cola brand has also cleverly attached itself to popular holidays. Some of its most successful campaigns have been displayed over the Christmas holiday. One of the most iconic campaigns started in 1931 with illustrations of St. Nicholas drinking a Coca-Cola. Many credit Coca-Cola with inspiring the modern-day version of Santa Clause. 

Clever campaigns and promotions

Coca-Cola has been one of the top innovators in the advertising space. On many occasions, they have used never before seen tactics that both surprised and delighted consumers. Creating an additional buzz around their advertising campaigns helps to amplify whom the campaign reaches directly. 

During the 2012 NFL Superbowl, Coca-Cola decided to take a non-traditional approach. The Superbowl is one of the most sought-after advertising opportunities. Each year, approximately 95 million people tune in to watch the championship game. Typically, major brands spend over $5 million for a single 30-second commercial. With the rise of cell phones and other mobile devices, Coca-Cola knew that consumers would be juggling multiple devices during the game. So, they created a family of animated polar bears that would react to the game in real-time on digital media banners and a microsite. The bears would laugh, respond to audience tweets, and make faces. The campaign was a huge success. During the game, over 9 million viewers spent an average of 28 minutes engaging with and watching the polar bears in action. 

In 2011, Coca-Cola decided to take a personalized approach to advertise in Australia with their Share a Coke campaign. They selected 150 of the most popular names and printed them on the side of their bottles along with the message “Share a Coke with…”. The campaign encouraged people to share a bottle of Coke with a friend or tag them in a social media post with the hashtag #shareacoke. The campaign was so successful that it was expanded to over 80 countries and led to Coca-Cola’s first sales growth in over 10 years. 

Collectible memorabilia 

Coca-Cola has created and distributed numerous pieces of branded memorabilia that are highly sought after by collectors including toys, clothing, antique bottles, signs, household items, and old vending machines. The collectible nature of these products has nostalgia of traditional Americana and has further helped to amply the prestige and cultural connection of Coca-Cola to US history. Rare and well-preserved items can fetch tens of thousands of dollars. 

The Coca-Cola Company has created one of the most powerful and well-known brands in the world. Over the years, they have embedded themselves as an icon of American culture through music, television, and films. The company spends a significant portion of its annual revenue on advertising efforts including television commercials, social media, and other advertising. 

Growth through mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships- becoming an unstoppable force in the food and beverage industry

While The Coca-Cola Company is known for its main products such as Coca-Cola and Diet Coke, the company owns, produces, and distributes over 500 individual brands worldwide. Some of these brands are a result of new products that they created. Others were obtained through mergers, acquisitions, and special partnerships with other major companies. 

Key mergers and acquisitions

• 1960 - Coca-Cola acquires Minute Maid, a producer of juices, soft drinks, and other beverages such as the popular Hi-C brand. 
• 1993 - When Coca-Cola was struggling to gain a foothold in the Indian market, they purchased the popular local brand, Thums Up. Their business now makes up over 40 percent of the cola business in India. 
• 1995 - Acquisition of Barq’s which produces a line of root beers and cream sodas. 
• 1999 - Coca-Cola purchased 50 percent of Inca Kola for $200 million and took control of its marketing and bottling operations. 
• 2001 - Odwalla, a brand of fruit juices, smoothies, and bars was acquired. This company was discontinued in 2020.
• 2007 - Coca-Cola acquired Fuze Beverage, a producer of teas and fruit drinks that were infused with vitamins and minerals. 
• 2008 - The company purchased 40 percent of Honest Tea, a popular iced tea producer. The remaining shares were purchased in 2011 giving Coca-Cola full ownership. 
• 2013 - Coca-Cola purchased the coconut water company ZICO. 
• 2014 - 16.7 percent of the energy drink manufacturer, Monster Beverage, was sold to Coca-Cola in exchange for a long-term strategic partnership. 
• 2016 - Coca-Cola purchased a portion of Chi Limited, a major distributor of snacks, food, and beverage products in Nigeria. The remaining shares were acquired in 2019.
• 2017 - Topo Chico, a Mexican sparkling water brand was acquired by Coca-Cola. 
• 2018 - Coca-Cola purchased Costa Coffee making it the owner of the second-largest coffeehouse chain in the world after Starbucks Coffee. 
• 2018 - Organic & Raw Trading Co., the Australian producer of MOJO kombucha was acquired. 

Special partnerships

In addition to owning many brands, The Coca-Cola Company has created many successful strategic partnerships that have allowed Coca-Cola to grow exponentially. 

One of the most famous partnerships is with McDonald’s. When McDonald’s was just getting started in 1955, it needed a beverage distributor. The two companies struck a deal for Mcdonald's to exclusively sell only Coca-Cola products. McDonald’s eventually grew to become the largest restaurant chain (by revenue) and Coca-Cola products are served in nearly 40,000 of their locations around the world. Other notable restaurant chains that carry Coca-Cola products include Burger King, Chili’s, Chipotle, and Domino’s Pizza.

Coca-Cola has also partnered with numerous venues around the world to sell only Coca-Cola products in their stadiums, theatres, and concert halls. The Coca-Cola Company is a major sponsor of the Olympic Games. In 2017, the company signed a deal with Major League Baseball in which they agreed to drop their competitor Pepsi and only promote Coke products.

Most of Coca-Cola’s growth has come from strategic mergers and acquisitions of companies all over the world. They have been able to expand into new markets by buying companies that already dominate the specialty or space. The company has also developed strategic partnerships with other large companies to exclusively sell Coca-Cola products.

Controversy, regulatory issues, and criticism 

Despite the company’s overwhelming success, Coca-Cola has faced a lot of criticism throughout its history. There are many opinions related to the impacts that The Coca-Cola Company has on the environment and consumers alike. 

Health concerns

It’s no secret that Coca-Cola is a sugary drink. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), half of all Americans will drink at least one sugary beverage each day. This massive consumption of sugar is leading to an epidemic of conditions such as type 2 diabetes and obesity. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that adults consume no more than 6 tsp of sugar each day. A single 12oz can of Coca-Cola contains nearly twice this amount. 

With Coca-Cola being the leading company in the food and beverage industry, they have received a lot of negative attention directed towards their contribution to this serious problem. 

The company has responded by producing sugar-free or reduced-calorie beverages. They have also expanded their product lines to include healthy alternatives like coconut water. 

Environmental issues

Coca-Cola has been identified as the single producer of plastic waste in the world. Much of this plastic is not discarded properly and ends up in the oceans. This has contributed to the ecological disaster due to single-use plastics. This has captured the attention of environmental protection groups who claim that Coca-Cola isn’t doing enough to work toward a reasonable solution. A report from Greenpeace estimates that the company produces over 100 billion plastic bottles every year with no obvious goal to reduce single-use plastic waste. 

Coca-Cola has made some efforts to reduce its environmental impact. First, they redesigned their bottles to use less plastic (a process called “lightweighting”). While this does reduce the amount of plastic used in production, it does not reduce the number of bottles that end up in landfills or the ocean. They have also introduced their “PlantBottle” which is made from plant-based materials.

While these are steps in the right direction, most environmental groups question whether these efforts are enough. Coca-Cola appears to be spending large amounts of money lobbying politicians around the world to block legislation that would encourage more environmentally friendly manufacturing. They have also been accused of spending a considerable amount of money on “green marketing” without efforts to back up their claims.

Over the years, The Coca-Cola Company has been the center of controversy due to environmental impact and health concerns due to their products. Coca-Cola has responded by providing low-calorie, sugar-free, and healthy alternatives. They have also worked to reduce their plastic use and seek alternatives as they are the single largest contributor to single-use plastic waste.

Coca-Cola's social media strategy

The Coca-Cola Company is a social media powerhouse with millions of followers across the globe. The company is very intentional with its use of social media platforms and leverages them to drive brand awareness and interaction with customers. There are several key components that have made Coca-Cola’s social media strategy so successful. 

Positivity  

In 2018, Coca-Cola made a commitment to become the ‘most optimistic brand on social media'. They launched their #RefreshtheFeed campaign in which they completely deleted all of their social media content and started fresh. Consumers embraced this new positive approach and encouraged even more followers who wanted to enjoy the feel-good vibes of their social media posts. 

Leverage consumers to create content

While Coca-Cola’s marketing team creates a lot of content for their online platforms, they have successfully leveraged their millions of followers to create content on behalf of the brand. They have used creative hashtag-based campaigns to encourage consumers to post Coca-Cola-themed posts for their friends and family to see. One of the most successful was the #shareacoke campaign which reversed a 10-year stagnant sales record. 

Attachment to social issues

The company has a stringent social media policy to ensure that content aligns with the company’s values. In July 2020, Coca-Cola decided to join many other major brands in temporarily halting social media posts and advertisements for a minimum of 30 days. This decision came as a result of concerns about growing hate speech and misinformation on social networks. They’ve regularly supported important civil rights and other social issues over the past few decades which helps consumer groups connect with the brand. 

Coca-Cola website

The Coca-Cola Company’s main company website contains various resources for consumers, vendors, and investors. The information included in the website discusses the company’s history, its brands around the world, career opportunities, media center, and investor relations. 

According to SimilarWeb, the site is ranked 10th in the Food & Beverage category and receives about 1.8 million visitors each month. 

The Coca-Cola Company’s YouTube channel is a platform that is used to post promotional videos and other advertisements from all over the world. The channel was started in 2006, has 3.6 million subscribers, and has nearly 3.5 billion views. About 8 percent of their website traffic comes from YouTube.

Coca-Cola’s LinkedIn account has over 6 million followers. The company uses this platform to post company updates for the business community. It is also used to promote job openings and attract top talent from the LinkedIn community. 

Twitter is one of Coca-Cola’s most powerful social media accounts. Their Twitter account ( @CocaCola ) was started in 2009 and has posted nearly 300,000 tweets to its 3.3 million followers. Most of the tweets are short inspirational or funny messages to enhance daily brand awareness or encourage engagement. Coca-Cola’s Twitter account generates 62 percent of the traffic to their website. 

Coca-Cola’s Instagram account has 2.8 million followers. The account is mostly used to post promotional stories on the platform. 

Coca-Cola’s Pinterest account is used to post drink and food recipes and promote Coca-Cola products like customizable Coke bottles. Their account has about 30,000 followers and receives over 10 million views each month. 

With over 105 million followers, Coca-Cola’s Facebook account is massive. It’s the 5th most-followed account on the social media platform, only behind Facebook itself, Samsung, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Real Madrid CF. The site is used to post videos and promotional content in many different languages for their followers. 

So, Why is Coca-Cola so Successful?

Few companies can boast the tremendous success and growth that The Coca-Cola Company has enjoyed for over 135 years. This accomplishment can be attributed to industry-leading advertising, innovation of their products, and delivering a positive brand message. Let's take a look at what makes Coca-Cola so successful!

Recap: growth by the numbers

Key takeaways.

• Coca-Cola has leveraged a network of independent bottlers around the globe to aid in rapid expansion. These distributors have territorial rights which help prevent competition and price wars.
• The Coca-Cola Company has made changes to its main product over the years but learned a very valuable lesson with the introduction of New Coke in 1985. The launch was a disaster and faced a fierce backlash from consumers who demanded the return of the original product.
• Coca-Cola’s long-term strategic plan includes focusing on the developing world where consumer beverages have a lot of growth potential, optimizing the number of master brands, revamping their operational network, and leveraging technology and data.
• Coca-Cola’s advertising focuses on creating human connections and making people feel good. They have led the advertising world in cutting-edge approaches to marketing that have never been seen before.
• Coca-Cola has inserted its brand and products in films and television to become an easily identifiable American icon.
• Acquisition of other companies has been a major part of Coca-Cola’s expansion efforts giving them the ability to quickly reach into new markets or acquire existing popular products.
• The Coca-Cola company has been the target of criticism due to its potential negative impact on consumer health and the environment. 

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COCA-COLA: International Business Strategy for Globalization

The purpose of this research was to analysis the efficiency of global strategies. This paper identified six key strategies necessary for firms to be successful when expanding globally. These strategies include differentiation, marketing, distribution, collaborative strategies, labor and management strategies, and diversification. Within this analysis, we chose to focus on the Coca-Cola Company because they have proven successful in their international operations and are one of the most recognized brands in the world. We performed an in-depth review of how effectively or ineffectively Coca-Cola has used each of the six strategies. The paper focused on Coca-Cola's operations in the United States, China, Belarus, Peru, and Morocco. The author used electronic journals from the various countries to determine how effective Coca-Cola was in these countries. The paper revealed that Coca-Cola was very successful in implementing strategies regardless of the country. However, the author learned that Coca-Cola did not effectively utilize all of the strategies in each country.

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Jorge Yeshayahu Gonzales-Lara

The Coca-Cola Company is a total beverage company, offering over 500 brands in more than 200 countries and territories. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Coca-Cola is the world’s largest provider of carbonated soft drinks, with an over 50% market share worldwide. Through the world’s largest beverage distribution system, consumers enjoy the Coca-Cola company’s beverage at a rate of 1.7 billion servings a day - about 19,400 beverages every second. This research investigates Coca-Cola’s preeminent position in the soft drink sector, and why it enjoys it. We explore the external and internal factors which share the company and its direction, and how Coca-Cola has responded to its influences. Additionally, an overview of the company’s strategic efforts shall be undertaken, and some cautionary notes for the future will be sounded.

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niyazi ayhan

mohmd. jafor Siddiqui

Most of the firms are eyeing at the global marketplace to improve their competitiveness. Considerable controversy has arisen in recent years, concerning the most appropriate strategy in international markets. Deciding how to deal with the globalization of markets, poses tough issues and choices for managers and their firms. They must consider both – external environmental forces and internal organizational factors, before they arrive at an international marketing strategy. The growing integration of international markets as well as the growth of competition on a worldwide scale implies adoption of a global perspective in planning marketing strategy. The paper is divided into three parts. The first part deals with the factors that enable the industry to globalize. The second part examines the concept of global competitiveness and studies the factors leading to global competitiveness. Finally, in the third part, on the basis of the points discussed in the two earlier parts, a general approach is suggested for the firms to achieve global competitiveness. In this paper, ideas from available literature are integrated in a comprehensive conceptual framework in which strategies can be formulated. The paper, further presents a basis for developing international marketing strategies alongwith a comprehensive discussion on developing global competitiveness.

IOSR Journals

Robert L . Ferrari, MBA, CMgr

Policy is bolstered by what is recognized as strategy in corporate management jargon. Strategy is the broad definition of an undertaking's aims and the identification of distinct routes of execution to fulfill the undertaking's envisaged objective. Strategy configuration, similar to policymaking, may be regarded as a decision-making mechanism that is broadly associated with the conception of an enterprise's ambitions, the deployment of its assets, and the environmental considerations. Strategic management, on the other hand, comprises the mechanism of establishing an organization's purposes, formulating policies, initiatives, frameworks, and schemes to fulfill such objectives, and allocating resources to execute the policies, initiatives, frameworks, and plans. To contextualize, strategic management comprises the management of the interrelated components of the strategy framework, encompassing strategy formulation, strategy execution, and strategy evaluation. Premised on such arguments, I sought to elaborate and disclose a research paper in the form of a report, the core feature of which comprised reviewing and critically analyzing strategic management components, theories, and deployments in the context of the soft drink industry and relative macroeconomic complexities, with The Coca-Cola Company serving as the organization under scrutiny in terms of strategic management endeavors. The report embarks on a synopsis of the beverage behemoth, its mission and vision statements, and its standing in the marketplace. A thorough literature review pertaining to Coca-Cola's OD configuration enabled the researcher to identify the constituents of the company's decentralized model, its execution prowess in adjusting to market variations, and how it all enables the firm to stimulate protracted sustainability. The external context was then comprehensively evaluated, with the goal of identifying opportunities, unfavorable scenarios, and formulating practices that may convert existing constraints into diverse elements of profitable advantages, all while employing two among the most comprehensive instruments available in strategic formulation. An exploration of Coca-Cola's resolve in coping with relevant macroeconomic components was also undertaken. The research then underlines the significance of appraising the organization's strategic orientation, as well as the relevance, formulation, execution, and evaluation of strategic management approaches essential in attaining desired objectives and effectiveness over time. Ultimately, a range of leadership models were investigated in order to carry out the strategic management process, whereas establishing relevant effects on organizational performance, retention of corporate values, and fulfillment of the company's CSR constituents.

Mojtaba Saeidinia

This study tried to identify the impact of Operation strategies for Coca-Cola Vs Pepsi companies to attract their Customers. Nowadays, economies are becoming more entwined than ever, any possible method that can be used in supporting the building of global brands is appealing. The characterization of the soft-drink industry for decades has intense rivalry between Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Coca-Cola Company ruled the soft-drink market all through the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s in this chess game of big firms. Not only can it be difficult to understand consumer behaviour and target groups’ needs on the domestic market, but also for multi-national companies, this is an even greater struggle. Despite the fact that most of the world’s consumers have certain things in common, their values and attitudes, as well as behaviour are often different. Moreover, the study encompasses three specific target groups in Sweden that have been divided in accordance to age, and thus we do not look at the entire consumer population and as a result, generalization is not obtained. Finally, we have concentrated on age segmentation, and thus other demographic variables are not observed.

Journal of International Marketing

Constantine S. Katsikeas

Tutors India

Global marketing and internalisation of products could be a challenging task for an organisation since various dierences are predominant in dierent countries which are attributed to the cultural, political and economic stances of the country. In addition, there are regulations and domestic laws pertaining to the specic country for which a product or brand needs to be familiarised. Though serious challenges may pose probabilities of failure, when properly marketed and administered in a new market, numerous benets and opportunities could be witnessed (Wintranslation, 2016). One among the key challenges faced by authorities in an organisation in the context of marketing products or services overseas is the act of either standardise the product/ service or adapt to the situations of the new market (Loukakou & Membe, 2012). These inferences become the essence of the present essay in analysing the market strategies of a specic company (‘Coca-Cola’) in UAE. Special emphasis will be laid upon analysing the operations of the organisation in the selected geographical location; the mission, vision and objectives of the selected organisation; the social responsibility and marketing ethical issues of the company in the selected country; the key competitors and the critical factors of the selected organisation towards success.

Vincent Mak & Rashad Yazdanifard

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The Chronicle of Coca‑Cola: A Global Business

Entering the last quarter of the 20th century, the deep emotional bond between Coca‑Cola and its consumers grew even more powerful and more global. In 1971, young people from around the world gathered on a hilltop in Italy to sing " I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke ," a counterpoint to turbulent times. This was also a glimpse into the Company's future: an expanding global presence and an even closer attachment to the world's most cherished trademark.

The power and prestige of Coca‑Cola were exemplified in 1988, when three independent worldwide surveys conducted by Landor & Associates confirmed Coca‑Cola as the best-known, most-admired trademark in the world.

Perhaps a more human assessment of consumers' loyalty to Coca‑Cola had come in 1985. The Company startled the American public by announcing a  new taste for Coke , the first change in the secret formula since Coca‑Cola was created in 1886. The new taste was overwhelmingly preferred in taste tests, but all the testing and research could not measure the emotional attachment Americans had for the original formula. That original taste had become more than just a soft drink, and consumers' deep feelings, memories and loyalties to it came alive. The Company listened to its consumers and quickly responded by returning the original formula to the market as Coca‑Cola classic®.

The Company's global strategy during the 1980s continued to bring consumers on every continent refreshing products for every occasion and every lifestyle. In 1982, soft-drink history was made with the introduction of Diet Coke®, the first extension of the trademarks Coca‑Cola and Coke, and the most successful new soft drink since Coca‑Cola itself. Within two years, Diet Coke had become the top low-calorie soft drink in the world.

Advertising during the 1970s and 1980s continued a long tradition that presented Coca‑Cola as one of life's simple pleasures,distinctive and acceptable anywhere. In 1976, the "Coke Adds Life" campaign was introduced, laying the foundation for the 1979 introduction of "Have a Coke and a Smile," a campaign of heart-warming emotion best captured by the famous television commercial featuring Pittsburgh Steelers tackle "Mean" Joe Greene.

In early 1982, the theme "Coke Is It!" was launched around the world to reflect the resurgent, positive spirit of the 1980s and to reaffirm the leadership of Coca‑Cola. "Can't Beat the Feeling" wrapped up the 1980s, while "Can't Beat the Real Thing" led the way into the 1990s, and the innovative "Always Coca‑Cola" campaign debuted in 1993, followed by "Coca‑Cola … Real" in 2003 and "The Coke Side of Life" in 2006.

From Small Beginnings  

The Coca‑Cola Company began building its global network in the 1920s. Now operating in more than 200 countries and producing nearly 450 brands, the Coca‑Cola system has successfully applied a simple formula on a global scale: provide a moment of refreshment for a very small amount of money -- a billion times a day.

The Coca‑Cola Company and its network of bottlers comprise the most sophisticated and pervasive production and distribution system in the world. More than anything, that system is dedicated to people working long and hard to sell Coca‑Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite, Fanta and other Company products.

From Boston to Beijing, from Montreal to Moscow, Coca‑Cola, more than any other consumer product, has brought pleasure to thirsty consumers around the globe. For 125 years, Coca‑Cola has created a special moment of pleasure for hundreds of millions of people every day.

The history of Coca‑Cola is a story of special moments. Moments that originated with Dr. Pemberton in Atlanta and have been multiplied billions of times around the world. Moments made familiar and universal by Mr. Candlers's unique advertising and Mr. Woodruff's vision to put Coca‑Cola "within an arm's reach of desire." Moments that today make Coca‑Cola the most ubiquitous consumer product in the world. Each day, Coca‑Cola strengthens its position as the world's soft drink. Every day, people experience a delicious, refreshing moment that only Coca‑Cola can bring them. Through more than a century of change, Coca‑Cola remains a timeless symbol of quality refreshment.

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Table of Contents

Coca-cola target audience , geographical segmentation , coca-cola marketing channels, coca-cola marketing strategy , coca-cola marketing strategy 2024: a case study.

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Coca-cola has colossal brand recognition as it targets every customer in the market. Its perfect marketing segmentation is a major reason behind its success. 

• Firstly, the company targets young people between 10 and 35. They use celebrities in their advertisements to attract them and arrange campaigns in universities, schools, and colleges. 
• They also target middle-aged and older adults who are diet conscious or diabetic by offering diet coke. 

Income and Family Size

It introduces packaging and sizes priced at various levels to increase affordability and target students, middle class, and low-income families and individuals.  

Coca-Cola sells its products globally and targets different cultures, customs, and climates. For instance, in America, it is liked by older people too. So, the company targets different segments. It also varies the change accordingly, like the Asian version is sweeter than other countries. 

Coca-Cola targets individuals as per their gender. For example, Coca-Cola light is preferred by females, while coke zero and thumbs up are men's favorite due to their strong taste.

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Coca-Cola initially employed an undifferentiated targeting strategy. In recent times, it has started localizing its products for better acceptability. It incorporates two basic marketing channels : Personal and Non-personal.

Personal channels include direct communication with the audience. Non-personal marketing channels include both online and offline media, such as

• Promotion Campaigns 
• PR activities 

Social Media

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A uniquely formulated Coca Cola marketing strategy is behind the company's international reach and widespread popularity. The strategy can be broken down into the following:

Product strategy 

Coca-cola has approximately 500 products. Its soft drinks are offered globally, and its product strategy includes a marketing mix. Its beverages like Coca-Cola, Minute Maid, Diet Coke, Light, Coca-Cola Life, Coca-Cola Zero, Sprite Fanta, and more are sold in various sizes and packaging. They contribute a significant share and generate enormous profits. 

Coca-Cola Products

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Pricing Strategy

Coca-Cola's price remained fixed for approximately 73 years at five cents. The company had to make its pricing strategy flexible with the increased competition with competitors like Pepsi. It doesn't drop its price significantly, nor does it increase the price unreasonably, as this would lead to consumers doubting the product quality and switching to the alternative.  

Place Strategy 

Coca-cola has a vast distribution network. It has six operating regions: North America, Latin America, Africa, Europe, the Pacific, and Eurasia. The company's bottling partners manufacture, package, and ship to the agents. The agents then transport the products by road to the stockist, then to distributors, to retailers, and finally to the customer. Coca-Cola also has an extensive reverse supply chain network to collect leftover glass bottles for reuse. Thus, saving costs and resources.

Coca-Cola’s Global Marketing

Promotion Strategy  

Coca-Cola employs different promotional and marketing strategies to survive the intense competition in the market. It spends up to $4 million annually to promote its brand , utilizing both traditional and international mediums for advertisements.   

Classic Bottle, Font, and Logo

Coca-Cola organized a global contest to design the bottle. The contest winner used the cocoa pod's design, and the company used the same for promoting its shape and logo. Its logo, written in Spencerian script, differentiates it from its competitors. The way Coca-cola uses its logo in its marketing strategy ensures its imprint on consumers' minds. 

Coca-Cola’s Gripping Advertisements

Localized Positioning

The recent 'Share a coke' campaign, launched in 2018 in almost fifty countries, has been quite a success. The images of celebrities of that region and messages according to the local language and culture of the area target the local market. 

Coca-Cola Advertisement Featuring Celebrities

Sponsorships 

The company is a well-recognized brand for its sponsorships, including American Idol, the NASCAR, Olympic Games, and many more. Since the 1928 Olympic Games, Coca-Cola has partnered on each event, helping athletes, officials and fans worldwide. 

Coca-Cola as Official Olympics Partner

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With technological advancement, social media and online communication channels have become the most significant part of the Coca-Cola marketing strategy. It actively uses online digital marketing platforms like Facebook , Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat to post images, videos, and more.  The Coca Cola marketing strategy primarily includes SEO , email marketing , content marketing , and video marketing .   

Coca-Cola’s Instagram Posts 

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Case study: Coca-Cola

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By John Walsh

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

The story: Coca-Cola is the world’s best-known beverage company. It traditionally manufactured concentrates, syrups and powders and sold them to authorised bottling partners, who converted them to finished products and sold them to distributors, wholesalers and retailers. Its core product offering is sparkling beverages but also includes still beverages such as water, juice and energy drinks.

From its inception, the company was based on a franchise model – the “Coca-Cola System” – whereby Coca-Cola would sell concentrate to its many bottling partners worldwide. While Coca-Cola managed the overall brand strategy, concentrate production and some large multinational customers such as McDonald’s, the bottlers manufactured the final branded products, handled merchandising and distribution, and worked closely with local customers.

The challenge: In developed markets, the growth of the sparkling drinks industry from the 1970s to the 1990s came to a halt.

At the same time, competition was intensifying from beverage companies that produced still and health-oriented drinks, as consumers became more health-conscious. Many of the challengers were small businesses, enabling them to be more nimble and innovative than multinational organisations like Coca-Cola.

The company’s franchise business model was also under pressure. The bottlers’ incentive was to use the precious concentrate in low-volume, high-margin products, whereas Coca-Cola’s profits were linked solely to the volume of concentrate sold to bottlers, rather than the price paid by customers. This was creating increased friction in the relationship between Coca-Cola and the partners on whom it relied.

An additional challenge was responding to the environmental impact of transportation and packaging.

The response: First, Coca-Cola focused on rejuvenating its core product line . The successful launch of Coke Zero, a diet variation of the drink pitched at men (Diet Coke or Coke Light is principally aimed at women) added volume and revenue growth.

Second, the company made key acquisitions in the non-carbonated drinks sector to expand its presence in the growing market. These included a deal for Glaceau, maker of Vitaminwater, and a stake in Honest Tea, the organic iced tea producer.

Third, the company co-operated more closely with its partners. Coca-Cola recognised that many of the bottling companies had become big businesses in their own right, with independent shareholders to worry about, and tried to find new ways of working together to the advantage of both sides.

For example, an “incidence” approach to pricing was used more often, whereby both Coca-Cola and the bottler shared in the profit made by the combined system, rather than a fixed price per unit for concentrate.

Fourth, Coca-Cola acquired the bottling operations of CCE, its US bottler. This was significant because it signalled that the company was moving away from a one-size-fits-all-markets business model. The franchise system might have worked when the company produced just one product, but as its output expanded to include every non-alcoholic beverage category, it had to evolve.

Finally, Coca-Cola embraced sustainability with initiatives to conserve water in its manufacturing, materials in its packaging and even electricity in the millions of coolers it has dotted around the world.

Key lessons: First, growth can be found in mature or stable categories. The success of Coke Zero underlines that. Rather than focus exclusively on categories where other companies are growing fast, companies should consider how they can rejuvenate core businesses.

Second, companies should be flexible with regard to their business model. To drive innovation in the US, Coke needed to change the way its products were manufactured and distributed.

The writer is a professor of marketing at IMD

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Q&A: Author of 'Bottled: How Coca-Cola Became African' on Coke's surprising history

A store in Monrovia, Liberia, advertises Coca-Cola. The photo is from circa 1947. Alberts/Alberts/Three Lions via Getty Images hide caption

A store in Monrovia, Liberia, advertises Coca-Cola. The photo is from circa 1947.

Author-historian Sara Byala had an epiphany about Coca-Cola's role in African life and culture in 2003. She and a group of fellow graduate students had found their way across Mali's Saharan Desert via an arduous journey that involved a broken-down jeep followed by bouts of hiking and hitchhiking.

When the exhausted group reached a Niger River ferry stop the next day, the pause that refreshes took on new meaning. "Boarding, grimy and parched, we are offered — as in a dream — ice-cold Coca-Cola," she writes in her book, Bottled: How Coca-Cola Became African.

At the time, she wondered, "How is this here ... Where was this bottled, how was it transported and, most importantly, how was this cooled?"

Good questions, all — which she pursued and now answers in her new book. After writing it, Byala, associate director of the University of Pennsylvania's Global Documentary Institute and a senior lecturer in critical writing there, has come to conclude "that an ice-cold Coke far up the Niger River was as much about Mali as it was emblematic of an American corporation's reach."

If this sounds a bit like an explanation for how the blog you are reading came to be called "Goats and Soda," you are not far off.

"The blog is aptly named," Byala affirmed in a telephone conversation about how Coca-Cola and Africa became so intertwined — and the pluses and minuses of their shared history.

Egyptian workers push Coca-Cola refrigerators through a Cairo street in 2000. Mohammed Al-Sehti/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Egyptian workers push Coca-Cola refrigerators through a Cairo street in 2000.

Byala also explained how the American multinational company made its soda seem "local" in even the most out-of-the-way areas in Africa; how the company dealt with divestment and apartheid; and how the company is addressing health and environmental challenges.

Here are excerpts from the interview, which has been edited and condensed for clarity and space:

How big is Coca-Cola's footprint in Africa?

It's huge. The company employs about 70,000 people in Africa. [Each of] these jobs in turn supports between four and ten additional people in secondary jobs, in industries providing bottles, crowns [caps], carbonic gas [for the water], advertising. This multiplier effect makes it responsible for up to 750,000 jobs.

It's also ubiquitous. You see signs advertising Coca-Cola everywhere. Being able to sell Coke came to signify modernity — because to serve it cold you need electricity and refrigeration. People also came to trust Coke as safe for consumption, which cannot always be assumed about water in remote places.

What were Coke's beginnings in Africa?

Kola nuts, native to Africa, are sorted in the Ivory Coast. The nuts were used in the original recipe for Coca-Cola and gave the soda half of its name. The company does not give out its current formula but numerous articles on Coke assert that extract of kola nuts is no longer used. Sia Kambou/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Kola nuts, native to Africa, are sorted in the Ivory Coast. The nuts were used in the original recipe for Coca-Cola and gave the soda half of its name. The company does not give out its current formula but numerous articles on Coke assert that extract of kola nuts is no longer used.

The story begins with the kola nut. It had been cultivated [in its native Africa] and used as everything from a stimulant to [medical] restorative in all parts of the continent for centuries [usually it was chewed]. By the 1880s, kola samples had reached Europe and America. Atlanta-based patent medicine maker John Pemberton formulated a non-alcoholic brew (a marketing plus for the temperance-minded) that combined carbonated water with kola, sugar, caramel and coca leaves.

According to official Coca-Cola history, the beverage itself didn't appear on the continent until 1928, but I found records of it being sold as early as 1909 at a soda fountain in Cape Town.

And as you note in the book, kola nut extract is no longer likely part of the recipe: "Somewhere along the way, the amount of kola nut that could be found in Coca-Cola became close to, if not, negligible."

How did Coke become so popular in Africa?

By becoming local. It sounds counterintuitive. But what became apparent to me in researching the book was that though it is an American product, throughout Africa it's considered local.

So in addition to Coke's appeal as a sign of modernity, it was also seen as local? In what way?

Coke exports a concentrate to two factories in Africa where it is then mixed with carbonated water and sugar and other ingredients, all provided locally. Any local bottler will be getting shipments of that concentrate and doing everything locally. There are bottling plants in the vast majority if not all of African countries — and usually several within a given country.

From there, the many distributors and distribution centers — including small, independently run depots, most of which are owned and run by women — transport Coca-Cola via large truck or bicycle or boat or small ships or mule, including to the most remote points in the continent.

Is it unusual to have women entrepreneurs in Africa?

Bottles of Coca-Cola are sold at a market in Northern Cameroon. Pierre Guillaud/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Bottles of Coca-Cola are sold at a market in Northern Cameroon.

Coke worked with NGOs, governments, and other actors to provide access to mentorship, credit and employment to women. Because female entrepreneurship is so entrenched in sub-Saharan Africa, women rapidly took advantage of these new opportunities. The work in north Africa was similar but faced a different set of cultural values.

How else did Coke become both visible and local?

Coke also found numerous ways to make the brand visible everywhere, helping to sponsor parades, beauty pageants, tournaments, sports, music concerts, public events, major and minor, throughout the continent.

A group of Rwandans waits for transportation near a Coca Cola placard. The photo is from 1994. Hector Mata/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

A group of Rwandans waits for transportation near a Coca Cola placard. The photo is from 1994.

You also see fascinating ways in which Coke waste materials get upcycled, recycled, and repurposed. I was in Uganda last summer and saw petrol being sold to drivers in Coke bottles.

Coca-Cola bottles get repurposed all over Africa in all sorts of ways. In this case, they were used to sell small amounts of petrol, presumably because that quantity is all people either needed or could afford.

You can buy numerous arts and crafts items among other objects on sale, all made from Coca-Cola bottles both plastic and glass, cans, labels, and so on.

Like the Coca-Cola picture frame with the photo of your family?

I've been collecting these kinds of items for years! Coca-Cola cans, bottle tops, and bottles are upcycled in all sorts of ways to make everything from toys and purses to trivets and frames. This means that the containers are used as mediums for artisans who produce items that are worth more than the original material. Hence, my picture frame, made out of flattened Coke bottles, and housing a family picture from my cousin`s wedding in 2013 Durban.

How did Coke respond — or not – to apartheid?

Many Coke plants resisted so-called "petty apartheid" rules such as segregating bathrooms and canteens. Still, in the 1970s the company remained reluctant to sign the "Sullivan Principles" that called for disinvestment in apartheid South Africa. That was one reason why, in 1981, American civil rights activists threatened to boycott Coke. In response, Coke promised to hire and promote Black employees in the U.S. and review how to deal with apartheid in South Africa. Coke figured out a way to simultaneously keep selling the product there while also technically divesting themselves from the country, thus depriving the apartheid state of tax revenue.

In addition, Coke funded a $10 million independent charity [based in South Africa] called the Equal Opportunity Fund to support education, housing and business development. And it allied itself with Nelson Mandela's ANC party to help end apartheid.

The EOF was based in South Africa and funded work solely in South Africa. In the book, I write about Coca-Cola's work with the ANC, Nelson Mandela's party. This work never took the form of a formal alliance. Nor was the company ever outwardly committed to working with the ANC or helping end apartheid. Still, the company played an important and never before written about role in doing just that, through funding, disinvestment and creating on-ramps to economic participation for previously disadvantaged South Africans that helped ease the transition to the post-apartheid order.

Are there costs to Coke's popularity in Africa?

First, there are threats to the human body: sugar is not good for you, and liquid sugar is worse for you.

Second: waste from packaging, leaving landfills stuffed with plastic and glass and cans.

Third: water.

Do you mean using supplies of potable water that would/should go to the general public?

Yes and no.

Coca-Cola cannot be produced without access to clean water. The environmental challenges around water are vast and include procuring enough water, making sure available water is clean and being sure to put back into the environment as much water as it uses so as not to use more than its fair share.

How does Coke address these issues?

These are threats to Coke's business as well as to humanity.

Many people in Africa lack sufficient water. In 2010 the company launched the Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN) a huge umbrella project to address the water crisis throughout the continent.

A shopkeeper win Zanzibar, photographed in 2005. Marco Longari/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

A shopkeeper win Zanzibar, photographed in 2005.

In just over a decade, about six million Africans had improved water access while over one million Africans had access to better sanitation and nearly half a million hectares of land had improved water access. While critics argue that RAIN's success is but a drop in the bucket in terms of human need, it remains the case that it has done more than any other benefit scheme.

And how about sugar, and its relation to obesity and related health problems?

Coca-Cola's approach to sugar is multifold: one, reduce package size; two, expand into non-sugar and low-sugar drinks, including bottled water and juice; and, three, lower the amounts of added sugar in established brands. There are many [other] products on the market that contain high levels of added liquid sugar, like drinkable yogurts and Frappuccino's. Coca-Cola's aim is, in its breadth of products and variety of sizes, to provide options for all consumers.

And what about landfills?

Just as Coca-Cola seeded recycling in America, so too the company is at work to create mechanisms for recycling in Africa, thus reducing landfill. In the book, I detail the work of PETCO, a Coca-Cola driven consortium of PET or plastic producers in South Arica, that has successfully driven that country's recycling rate.

The company also partners with governments and NGOS to provide their technical or logistical expertise. One example is Project Last Mile , whose website asks, "If you can find a Coca-Cola product almost anywhere in Africa, why not life-saving medicines?" The group partners with other organizations (including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a funder of this blog) to get medical resources to those who lack access to necessary medicines. Coca-Cola helps apply its logistical knowledge base to help with issues of storage, distribution, marketing and delivery.

So on balance, how would you describe the benefit/harm ratio of Coke in Africa?

My book does not offer a clearcut verdict on the benefit/harm ratio of Coke in Africa. Rather, my book is a work of explanation that sets out to show how Coca-Cola became ubiquitous across Africa and to describe what this ever-presence means. In laying out this complex story, I show how the company uses resources, brands the continent and leads the rise of noncommunicable diseases. But, I also show how with the spread of Coca-Cola came the spread of electricity, human capital, employment and water. I leave it to the reader to wrestle with the verdict.

Diane Cole writes for many publications, including The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. She is the author of the memoir After Great Pain: A New Life Emerges. Her website is DianeJoyceCole.com .

• Bottled: How Coca-Cola Became African

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Georgetown University student Drew Peterson interviews Peter McGuinness of Impossible Foods and Seth ... [+] Goldman of Just Ice Tea and Beyond Meat.

The second annual Georgetown University Venture in the Capital event in January featured food and agriculture trailblazers who are pioneering sustainable methods that not only redefine the way we produce food but also address pressing global issues that include climate change and resource scarcity. From disrupting traditional farming practices to redefining meat, Irving Fain, Peter McGuinness, and Seth Goldman are changing the landscape of food production through innovation and sustainability.

Irving Fain: Bowery Farming

Georgetown University student Marceo Gigliani-Alcantarilla interviews Irving Fain, founder and CEO ... [+] of Bowery Farming .

Irving Fain is founder & CEO of Bowery Farming, the largest vertical farming company in the US. Founded ten years ago, Bowery uses technology to reinvent and reimagine the food chain, decoupling agriculture from the inconsistencies and risks of farming outdoors. Bowery provides a reliable, consistent supply of food year-round with no pesticides, yielding more food from every crop with a tiny fraction of the water needed for traditional agriculture. Fain emphasized that the result is a more sustainable supply chain that promotes national security through food security.

With a background in tech – Fain led digital marketing and content of iHeartRadio, then co-founded CrowdTwist before it was acquired by Oracle – farming may seem a departure. Fain realized there was an appetite in the capital cycle to invest in solving these problems. Agriculture is the largest consumer of resources globally and is challenged by uncertainty and instability created by climate change and water scarcity. “It is often overlooked how much the agriculture industry needs to evolve,” Fain said.

Fain quoted Roman philosopher Seneca when he stated, “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” He recommends taking a very thoughtful approach to scaling your business, saying “Your job as a founder is to look at the problem you’re trying to solve, then determine your areas of strength, where there are gaps, and how you can solve them.” Fain started small, iterated and optimized, got larger, iterated and optimized, and continued.

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“Having the humility to recognize you will make mistakes and need to adjust” is important, Fain advised. “There’s no playbook – there’s no other company out there doing this that I can point to to know what’s next,” he said. His advice to future founders is to work somewhere else first, to learn on someone else’s payroll. “Entrepreneurship is always about stepping off a cliff. The question to ask yourself is, ‘how big a cliff?’”

Peter McGuinness: Impossible Foods

Impossible Foods CEO Peter McGuinness

Before Peter McGuinness became CEO of plant-based meat company Impossible Foods, he held a series of positions at Chobani during a period of growth that drove the company from less than one percent of household penetration to over fifty percent. With a background in advertising and marketing, McGuiness highlighted the necessity to dispel plant-based food misconceptions, combatting labels like "fake" or "processed," while emphasizing that processed doesn't equate to inferior quality.

“We need to get the story straight so we can grow the plant-based food category,” McGuinness said. Despite the immense potential to disrupt the $1.4 trillion meat industry, the competition is formidable, with entrenched interests leveraging extensive lobbying efforts and deep pockets. Recognizing that “the category needs to be bigger if we are going to help the planet and save lives,” McGuinness looks to partner rather than compete with plant-based peers like Beyond Meat.

The focus remains on taste and texture, ensuring that plant-based alternatives are not seen as compromises but as delicious, healthier options. In addition to taste, the environmental impact is paramount, with staggering statistics like the 1300 gallons of water required for just one pound of beef underscoring the urgency for change. Addressing logistical challenges, the company prioritizes efficient distribution networks to minimize environmental footprint, aligning cost efficiency with sustainability goals.

Seth Goldman: Honest Tea, Just Ice Tea, and Beyond Meat

Seth Goldman, co-founder of Honest Tea and Just Ice Tea, and chair of the board of Beyond Meat

Seth Goldman, co-founder of Honest Tea and Just Ice Tea and chair of the board of Beyond Meat, has a history of launching businesses with a clear mission in mind. Goldman says he “launched Honest Tea because I was thirsty” – he sought a less-sweet alternative to available drinks – and co-founded the first company to produce organic and then fair-trade tea with former Yale professor Barry Nalebuff as an outgrowth of a case study of Coke vs. Pepsi.

Honest Tea quickly became a best-seller in the natural foods channel, eventually being acquired by Coca Cola in 2011. When Coca Cola discontinued the brand in 2022, Goldman and Nalebuff launched Just Ice Tea within 90 days, in large part to maintain demand for the organic and fair trade tea growers they’d cultivated for the original Honest Tea supply chain.

Goldman is passionate about the urgent need to shift towards plant-based foods and was an early investor in Beyond Meat in 2012, where he has served as executive chair since 2015. “The environmental footprint of animal protein is unsustainable. At Beyond Meat, we make our products with 97% fewer resources than animal protein. As a society, we don’t have a choice, we need to move to more plant-based food,” Goldman said.

Like Impossible Meat’s McGuinness, Goldman sees strength in the plant-based food industry joining together. “We need to emphasize not only the environmental benefits, but also the health benefits,” Goldman said “We don’t view ourselves as competition, the meat industry is our competition.”

“For Gen Z, the so-called Sustainability Generation, it is ever more important for leaders in consumer-facing goods and industries to directly interact with their consumers,” said Drew Peterson, one of the student organizers of Venture of the Capital. “Their presence at Georgetown underscores the profound societal influence of entrepreneurs and provides a platform for these innovators to show how they plan to address the forthcoming challenges.”

Recordings of the panels may be found here: A Conversation With Irving Fain & Tastemakers in Food & Beverage . Follow me on LinkedIn or check out my other columns here .

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Wait, why is there a camera hole in that Coke vending machine?

If you’ve recently visited a fast-food restaurant like Wendy’s or Burger King or a movie theater like AMC, there’s a good chance you’ve grabbed a drink from a modern-looking soda fountain with a touch screen.

The machine in question, dubbed the Coca-Cola Freestyle, debuted in 2009 and lets customers choose from more than 100 drinks and flavors—from the traditional Coke or Sprite to fringe faves like flavored ginger ales. Though carbonation snobs have been known to complain that these soda fountains allow remnants from one drink to seep into the next pour, the Freestyle devices have been popular enough that more than 50,000 of them are in public use.

And yet, one mystery about the machines has popped up occasionally over time … If you are looking closely enough: Why do many of them have what appears to be a small camera lens embedded above the touch screen? 

This question began with a tip passed along to this reporter: A salesman for a Big Tech company had boasted that Coca-Cola was capturing images of soda fountain customers through cameras, and then working with said cloud-computing giant to gain insights on customers’ facial reactions when they blend certain flavors together to create a custom drink. With that data, the thinking went, Coca-Cola might have new insights into new flavors it should consider producing. 

A source who worked for Coca-Cola for many years told Fortune they had heard a similar rumor, but couldn’t confirm it for sure. A few Reddit posts also pondered the question of the camera hole with mostly unsatisfactory responses. And a Coca-Cola spec sheet found online for one of the Freestyle models lists an embedded camera as one of the soda fountain parts, along with “future capability for motion sense and facial recognition.” Hmm. 

While a camera embedded in a soda machine might sound absurd, businesses and event venues are increasingly using new facial analysis and recognition technologies in public settings. MSG Entertainment, which owns the Madison Square Garden sports arena as well as other venues like Radio City Music Hall, has recently used facial recognition technology to bar lawyers working for firms engaged in legal battles with the company from attending any events at its New York venues. More airports are adding it at security checkpoints, too. And just this February, students at the University of Waterloo pressured its administration to remove vending machines secretly embedded with facial analysis technology .

So what does Coke have to say about all of this?

A spokesman for the company, Scott Leith, said in a statement: “Camera capabilities were included in earlier designs and tested in a laboratory setting in 2018 and 2019. The company has no plans to use cameras in the future.”

Leith did not elaborate on whether machines in the field still have cameras in them nor on the exact nature of the testing. But a patent application filed in the summer of 2018 by two former Coca-Cola employees may provide a snapshot of the intent, saying the system “may be able to determine the sentiment of the consumer.”

“For example, whether a consumer who appears angry seems to appear happier after dispensing a beverage and/or whether the consumer enjoyed the beverage,” it says. “Such data also may be used to identify new mixes that are preferred by consumers … Entirely new beverage combinations thus may be created and promoted.” This reasoning sounds a lot like the original tip this reporter received.

The application also cited the potential for a soda machine to identify demographic information about a customer “for marketing purposes as well as for an improved consumer experience.”

“The method may include the steps of sensing physical characteristics of the consumer, matching those physical characteristics of the consumer with demographic characteristics, promoting a beverage selection to the consumer based upon the matched demographic characteristics, and providing a beverage to the consumer,” the application read.

But there’s a bit more. As of last month, a case study on the website of an AI company called Quantiphi referenced working on a facial recognition project related to the Coca-Cola Freestyle machine.

“Each vending machine comes with a camera installed, in which an image is captured for every customer interacting with the machine,” the case study on Quantiphi’s website read. “Coca Cola’s marketing team aspired to use these images to generate insights on consumer preferences and usage patterns,” including to “analyze the types of ‘mocktails’ preferred by their consumers.” 

The mocktails in question reference when a Freestyle soda fountain customer creates their own drink by mixing two or more flavors available from the machine. 

The case study also said that Quantiphi built “a custom machine learning model trained on 8,000 to 10,000 images, capable of detecting customer demographics … using facial feature recognition. As a result, Coca-Cola’s marketing team is able to capture and evaluate demographic details of customers, which are then used to develop focused marketing strategies and launch potential individual products, consequently driving growth.”

A Quantiphi spokesperson, Hadley Mayes, said the partnership occurred in 2017 but that it was just an experiment. Quantiphi later removed the case study from its website after Fortune inquired about it, saying it did not reflect the company’s current capabilities. Mayes declined to provide any more details on the initiative, such as where it took place or whether it was in a public setting, citing a nondisclosure agreement.

Today, thousands of Coca-Cola Freestyle machines remain in public view with a clear slot for a camera and some questions about how the company has used the cameras to date. If you have any info, this reporter would very much love to learn more.

And with that, here’s what else is happening in tech news today. 

Jason Del Rey

Want to send thoughts or suggestions to Data Sheet? Drop a line  here .

The rest of today’s Data Sheet was written by Alexei Oreskovic.

Scale AI scales its valuation. Venture capital firm Accel is in talks to lead a new funding round in Scale AI that would value the San Francisco company at $13 billion, according to The Information . That would be a big jump from the startup’s $7.3 valuation, which it garnered in its last funding round in 2021. The new round would put hundreds of millions of dollars in Scale’s coffers, according to the report, which cited anonymous sources.

Apple takes leaker to court. The iPhone maker filed a lawsuit in California state court this month accusing a former employee of leaking details about a half dozen products like the Vision Pro and the Journal app to reporters at the Wall Street Journal and The Information for five years. As first reported by MacRumors , the suit alleges that the employee used his work-issued iPhone to pass the material to the reporter (one of whom he referred to as “homeboy”) and did so because he wanted to “kill” products or features he didn’t like. Apple is seeking a jury trial and compensatory and punitive damages of more than $25,000, arguing that the leaks impaired its ability to "surprise and delight" with its new products.

Another tech IPO. Perhaps the IPO floodgates may not yet have burst open following the recent flotations of Altera Labs and Reddit, but at least one more tech company is getting ready to dip its toes in the public markets. Rubrik, a cloud and data security startup, is planning to file an IPO prospectus as soon as next week, according to Bloomberg . The Palo Alto, Calif., company is backed by Microsoft, Bain Capital Ventures, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, and is a member of the Fortune Cyber 60 .

ON OUR FEED

“We have battled a few other Goliaths before.... Sometimes a sling and a stone is all you need.”

— Runway cofounder and CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela in an interview with Fortune' s Kylie Robison about the generative AI video company's new challenge from OpenAI, which is seeking to expand into the video business with its Sora product.

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General Motors has sliced Cruise’s budget by $1B, but says it may bring on new Cruise investors when it starts rolling robo-taxis back on the streets , by Jessica Mathews

Analysis: Why Amazon’s multibillion-dollar AI alliance with Anthropic isn’t the game-changer it needs to remain king of the cloud , by Sharon Goldman

Good luck keeping up with the whirlwind of new AI regulation , by Sage Lazzaro

OpenAI tipped to become the world’s first trillion-dollar privately held startup by former Google China president , by Christiaan Hetzner

Ask Andy: How can you tell whether a startup is a good place to work? When is it safe to disclose a mental-health challenge to coworkers? , by Andy Dunn

BEFORE YOU GO

Google’s AI knight: Yes, you read that correctly. Google has an AI Knight now. And no, it’s not one of those wacky job titles like “Social Media Ninja.” This is the real deal, a knightship to be bestowed by His Majesty King Charles himself. The recipient is DeepMind cofounder Demis Hassabis, who announced in a tweet on Friday that he was honored to receive a Knighthood for services to AI.

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