International Business Strategy of Coca-Cola

International Business Strategy of Coca-Cola

MBA 575: Global Business Management

November 28th 2014

International Business Strategy of Coca-Cola

     Ever since I was a kid having a snack at the local McDonalds, Coca-Cola has been in my life. What you get to accompany your happy meal? Of course the answer is a cold Coca-Cola. For the last thirty years, I enjoyed this wonderful product. Having a coke has become a comfort to me. Some of my fondest memories Coca-Cola was involved. I bet that you have pictures where this product has been captured. Every time I’m tired or I just need a pick-me-up, I reach for a coke. No I do not work for Coca-Cola. It is just a fact that I have grown up with the product and I continue to enjoy drinking this carbonated beverage. Yes, I do also drink water on occasion.

     Coca-Cola has become a staple for people all over the world for generations. When you are out to eat with your family and the waiter or waitress asks you what would you like to drink what do you respond? More than likely you respond coke or some sort of coke product. It is just how our generation was raised. We grew up with Coke in our lives. We even call off-brand cola drinks coke. That shows how powerful this brand of refreshment actually is during our lifetime.

     Coca-Cola is manufactured and distributed all over the world. People are serious about this product. Some people maybe a little too serious about this product, and their lives revolve around the product. There are also collectors that strive to obtain the holy grail of Coca-Cola products. Coke has a strong cult following. Due to their keen marking, advertising, and merchandising efforts we are living in a Coca-Cola world.

     Coca-Cola opened a local manufacturing plant and customer service center in Tampa, Florida. A little known story about this area, is that the majority of the bars and restaurants around the Coca-Cola facility do not openly serve the product. These restaurants serve Pepsi products to their patrons. However, due to the amount of Coca-Cola employees in the area, these restaurants have a secret Coca-Cola fountain in the back of the kitchen. Upon special request Coca-Cola employees have the ability to request the product for their drinking enjoyment. It is irregular that an establishment does not openly sell Coke products, but has a secret fountain in the back of the kitchen to satisfy the demand. What do you think Pepsi think about that? They probably do not like this secret stash of contraband being solicited in a supposed Pepsi establishment.

     In the late 1800’s, a very smart and resourceful pharmacist, Dr. John S. Pemberton, dreamt up a very tasty syrup that changed the world forever. “He created a flavored syrup, took it to his neighborhood pharmacy, where it was mixed with carbonated water and deemed “excellent” by those who sampled it” (World of Coca-Cola, 2014). Dr. Pemberton’s partner and friend Frank M. Robinson is created with coming up with the name, Coca-Cola, as well as graphically designing the brands trade mark. This very distinctive trademarked design has stood the test of time and it still exists today. The logo design has not changed, but the world around it has along with the packaging that Coca-Cola is delivered in.

     Back in the early days of Coca-Cola, one serving would set you back five cents and the company sold approximately nine unit a day in the Atlanta, Georgia area. Today, this world wide phenomenon sells more than nine units per second. “Today, daily servings of Coca-Cola are estimated at 1.9 billion globally” (World of Coca-Cola, 2014).

     Two years after creating one of the world’s most prolific products, Dr. Pemberton passed away. It is a shame that the good doctor did not live to see his project change the world for the better. Before his death, Dr. Pemberton sold his majority stake in the Coca-Cola Company to a local business man named Asa G. Candler. Mr. Candler began expanding the products reach beyond where it started in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1899, three very smart businessmen gained the exclusive rights to bottle and sell Coca-Cola from Mr. Candler for the sum of one dollar. I would like to know how these astute businessmen negotiated that incredible deal. “Benjamin Thomas, Joseph Whitehead and John Lupton developed what became the Coca-Cola worldwide bottling system” (World of Coca-Cola, 2014).

     In the early stages, one of the biggest challenges that the company faced was maintaining product consistency among their one thousand bottling plants located all over the world. Coca-Cola plants across the world were not using the same bottle as the plant located in Georgia. A discrepancy in the bottling of Coca-Cola products does not sit well with the board of directors. This world class product needed a distinctive bottle to differentiate the product from its competitors. In 1977, the Coca-Cola Company trademarked their signature contoured bottle. “The new Coca-Cola bottle was so distinctive it could be recognized in the dark and it effectively set the brand apart from competition” (World of Coca-Cola, 2014).