Happy birthday modern marketing
In the eyes of many, today is the 121st anniversary of the birth of modern marketing. In 1886 John Pemberton placed his first advertisements in Atlanta for his new cure for headaches and exhaustion that we know today as Coca Cola . Within just a few short years it was one of the most popular ‘fountain' drinks in North America and then went onto become a huge success across the world. Today products of the Coca Cola Company are consumed at the rate of more than one billion drinks per day. That's a lot of fizzy drinks for a something originally design to be a pain reliever for wounded Confederate soldiers.
But why choose Coca Cola? Why not a good old British product like Pears Soap that was advertising well before Coca Cola and used the platform of the British Empire to quickly push its product right around the world? In fact, company owner Thomas J Barratt is frequently called the ‘father of modern advertising', so why is Mr Pemberton's Coca Cola a better example of what modern marketing is all about?
Coca Cola stands out for a number of really important reasons:
Ability to survive
Even today in the 21st century Coca Cola is one of the world's biggest companies. More than one billion products are sold around the world every single day. Despite changing tastes, changing markets and challenging conditions it is one of those global corporations that manages to keep its position at the top.
Brand integrity
The company has used the same logo and bottle design since the late 19th century. That's incredible brand consistency. In regular surveys from around the world Coca Cola comes out as one of the most recognised brands on earth. Most businesses would kill for that sort of recognition.
Product diversification
Despite their rigid brand consistency the company has often been an outstanding example of using product diversification strategies. Diet Coke, Coke Zero (which is just Diet Coke for men), Cherry Coke, Coke with lemon, Coke with lime, Classic Coke… all successful products in their own right.
Making people love you
In a rare example of getting it very wrong the Coca Cola company changed their recipe in 1985 and triumphantly launched New Coke. It was a spectacular failure, with the American public pouring the new drink quite literally down the drain. This is often seen as a great example of a marketing failure. But if you look at things from another perspective it just shows how much Americans loved Coca Cola that the thought of it changing almost started riots in the street.
Today this love affair shows itself into 39 million search results on Google and over 30,000 references on You Tube. Coca Cola is a seemingly permanent fixture on the human race's brain.
Now the Coca Cola Company may not be perfect; some may question it's record of corporate social responsibility, some may blame its products on the explosion in obesity and some may resent its blatant associations with the good ol' US of A. But few can deny that it's a great marketing story.
