Introduction
Coca-Cola is leading maker of soft drinks across the world. The company operates in approximately 200 countries and is well known for selling 400 other non-alcoholic beverage brands (The Coca-Cola Company, 2017). Coca- Cola is a successful company that is recognized globally. The company started operating in 1886 an has continued to grow for more than one hundred years despite fluctuating periods of peace and war, economic bust and boom, and depression and prosperity that has happened since then. As early as the 1990s, the company had already established itself and was well respected across the world for its outstanding management team. However, since 1998, there have been several issues identified through the company’s analysis. Observers had made an observation that that Coca-Cola’s fizz was getting lost and it would become challenging to have it back (The Coca-Cola Company, 2017). This report analyses the factors contributing to the success of the company, some of the challenges it faces, and making recommendations of better ways of repackaging it and ways of gaining a competitive advantage over other companies.
Coca-Cola’s Background
The company is a worldwide manufacturer, distributor, and marketer of syrups and non-alcoholic beverages. The company also owns approximately 400 brands which include; energy drinks, coffees, teas, drinks, waters, juice, sports drinks, and light beverage among others. Coca- Cola also operates various canning and bottling processes. Its products which are sold in approximately 200 countries bear the company’s trademark (The Coca-Cola Company, 2017). Some of the major segments it operates include; North America, Latin America, Pacific, South Asia, Africa, East Asia, Middle East, Eurasia, North Asia, and European Union. The company is involved in almost all soft drink activities. The company has led severally in value and volume of ready to drink, carbonates, vegetable/fruit juice, and coffee sectors (The Coca-Cola Company, 2017).
According to Aaker (2012), Coca-Cola has the best geographical coverage in the world. The brand has achieved worldwide recognition and penetration that has contributed to its success (Aaker and Joachimsthaler, 2012). Consumers of Coca-Cola drinks are found in all parts of the world. The Annual Coca-Cola report of 2010 showed that an average of 89 bottles was consumed by each person worldwide. The report also showed that 23 countries had an average consumption of 100 bottles. Such countries include Spain, Canada, South Africa, and Australia. In 2010, 675 bottles of Coca-Cola drinks were consumed by each person in Mexico. The above statistics show how much success the company has had in terms of making its products equally available and popular in different parts of the world (The Coca-Cola Company, 2017). Coca-Cola products can are sold by small-scale retailers in both villages and urban centres across the world.
According to Adeyemi and Salami (2010), at around 2007, the company changed its North American business structure so that it could represent its strategic focus. It thus created several business units for different beverages. The restructuring in North America was meant to enable the company to win the market coverage and transform the business. The emerging brands, still beverages, and sparkling beverages helped to define the company’s focus in the region due to stiff competition from other well established brands such as Pepsi Inc. among others.
The company’s trademark was first registered in 1893 even though seven years before that, Dr John Styth had created a colored syrup that was sold in Atlanta. Bottling at a large scale began in 1894 when the right to sell and bottle Coca-Cola were sold at US$1. At around 1823, Fanta drink was the first beverage to be marketed by Coca-Cola Company (The Coca-Cola Company, 2017). In the same year, the company expanded its operations to production of concentrates and fruit juices. The company also acquired Minute Maid Corporation. The acquisition increased the diversity of the company’s products.
In 2005, the company agreed to deal with Multon Juice Company, Dobry and Nico brands. Multon Juice Company leads in vegetable juice/ Russian fruit category in Russia. Later in 2007, the company acquired other beverage brands such as Slenderize, Tea, Refresh, and Vitalize lines. Due to the company’s recent realignment and restructuring, it has decreased it reliance on carbonates even though they constitute majority of global sales (Ashurst, 2013). Such acquisitions made by the company made it acquire a dominant position in the fast growing beverage sector.
Coca-Cola’s recipe has not yet been revealed ever since the company was established. The mystery behind the secret recipe has contributed to its popularity. Most people get curious to taste the drink hence end up buying and promoting the product. The fact that other companies do not understand the recipe, it makes difficult for them to imitate the beverage. Additionally, the secret recipe makes it have a totally different taste thus giving it a competitive advantage over the rest.
Packaging
Foster (2012) posits that coca-Cola Company has made numerous transformations of its bottles over the years. The earliest designs of coke bottles were square in shape with rounded edges. The rounded edges were popular among most glass bottles during that time. The coke bottle had that special design to make it easy to transport and pack them. At the moment, coke bottles are rounded probably because it is easy to hold them in the hand. There are high chances that manufacturers settled for the bottles comfort while holding them.
Figure 1. Coca-Cola Bottle (adapted from Coca-Cola 2017).
Reimann et al. (2010) opine that the packaging design of products is important to companies because it creates a certain impression to consumers. The message displayed on the packaging as well as the image information are part of the company’s advertising strategies. The information contained informs consumers about the business, the product being offered, promotion offers and services being provided (Aaker and Joachimsthaler, 2012). Such information attracts customers to buy the given product. Other information that a consumer may find helpful include health advice, ingredients useds and product information.
Plant Bottle was first introduced by Coca-Cola Company to replace the fossil-based ingredient that was used to make the plastic bottles. In 2015, the company distributed approximately 8.7 billion of Plant Bottles (Coca-Cola, 2017). Within 6 years since 2009, the company had made 40 billion Plant Bottles that were distributed in more than 40 countries (Coca-Cola, 2017). The bottles were environment friendly because 30% of the material used to make them is plant-based (Coca-Cola, 2017). The use of Plant Bottle packaging has helped to avoid emission of about 365, 000 metric tons of carbon dioxide. In 2015, the company introduced a bottle that was wholly made from plant materials (Coca-Cola, 2017). This step made it become one of the best examples of companies that went green to conserve the environment.
Graphics Communication Design
Coca Cola still remains to be an outstanding brand thus being unique. The company’s advertising and brand design shows high level of creativity and aggressiveness. The brand aims to be a leader in various aspects ranging from packaging and advertising to trucks, vending machines, and cups among others. For several years, the company has undergone numerous metamorphoses to bring out the best brand it can (Foster, 2012). Some of the successful brands include Coke Zero and Diet Coke.
The company has used red as its signature colour for decades now. Fournier and Avery (2011) note that the red colour is used in labelling bottles, trucks, shops, and crates. People now recognize coca cola from a distance due to its red colour. The other most important thing about red is that it is conspicuous. People will always notice it and want to learn more amount the product. The product also stands out from the rest in shelves because red is generally attractive.
Figure 2: Coca-Cola adapted from Coca-Cola (2017).
The Coca-Cola label is easy to read due to the type of calligraphy used. The signature calligraphy is also quite attractive and easy to notice because it is totally different from the rest. This choice of writing gives the company an upper hand because it people already recognize it due to the little things it has done with designing its products. Labelling has been made simple since there are very few writings on the bottles. The most conspicuous part is the Coca-Cola label which seems to stand alone in most cases. According to Spence and Gallace (2011), making labelling as simple as possible makes it easy for consumers to pay attention to the label. Most of coke vehicles used for transportation of products is just painted red with a few Coca-Cola labels. This is quite appealing because consumers are able to relate the label with the signature red colour.
Figure 3 The History of Coca-Cola Logo adapted from Coca-Cola (2017).
The signature contour bottle that was designed in 1915 still remains outstanding until now (Kent and Ignatius, 2011). The bottle can be distinguished at a glance due to its shape. The bottle’s design has a universal recognition as well as a strong emotional resonance. The curvilinear form of the bottle is so iconic to an extent that it can be distinguished by touch alone. Other bottles used by competitors are similar in appearance thus making it difficult for consumers to distinguish them clearly. The fact that Coca-Cola still has numerous outstanding features makes it have a competitive advantage over the rest especially due to popularity and attractiveness. Coca-Cola has evolved its design severally to stay relevant with times. Even though the brand is decades old, it still represents friendliness and youthfulness.
The famous and classic red label has been used for several decades. The first Coca-Cola design was plain but in the 80’s the company redesigned the label to making it more attractive and engaging. The label was thus made modern with thicker wordings that were easy to recognize (Louis and Lombart, 2010). Even though designs have changed severally, the original font and classic colour red have been maintained.
Figure 4 Coca-Cola Christmas Truck adapted from The Coca-Cola Company (2017).
The new label is quite captivating and engaging at the same time. The red label has some transparent bubbles and a plain white colour. With the new design, the Coca-Cola label catches customer attention thus stimulating their willingness to buy the drinks. The label is designed with a contrasting red and white colour which makes it easy to read and arrange the bottles in shelves. It is easy to put together the cans and bottles in display and still have the labels remain easy to read (Luo and Korvenmaa, 2012). The company also finds the most strategic positions in supermarkets and other retailers, for example, at the entrance or exit where people can easily see them.
The company has also used another different approach to design its bottles. Reduction of the iconic contour bottle has been done by a fifth. The new ultra design was meant to save the glass used and the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. The 330ml bottles of Coca-Cola Zero and diet Coke have been reduced by 53 grams using the ultra-thin design (Coca-Cola, 2017). The design still retains Coca-Cola’s trademark dimension. Other important qualities that are still retained include strength and quality. The ‘ultra’ design is easy to hold thus being suitable for different ages and to increase comfort and portability (Coca-Cola, 2017). The company has managed to severally reduce the bottles weight without affecting the perception that consumers have over the product.
Figure 5 Coca-Cola Singapore adapted from Coca-Cola (2017).
Additionally, the company has managed to reduce the weight of its aluminium cans by 5% thus leading to carbon and raw material savings. The width of the new can is approximately 0.097mm thus making it extremely light (The Coca-Cola Company, 2017). The design saves about 15, 000 tons of aluminium annually. The recycled content in packaging is approximately 50% thus reducing production costs. The amount of carbon dioxide reduced is an average of 88, 000 tons (The Coca-Cola Company, 2017).
The company has taken various strategies to ensure the sustainability of the company’s brand design. In 2007, the company again came up with a strategy of reducing the size of the bottle (The Coca-Cola Company, 2017). Engineers and designers came up with a new slimmer, taller, stronger, and lighter can while still maintaining the classic design and the previous label. The height of the can was increased by 3cm while the diameter was reduced by 2.8 cm which shows a significant difference (The Coca-Cola Company, 2017). This strategy helps to conserve the environment and to attract customers. The slim container which is easy to hold engages the imagination of the consumer since it reminds them of a sculpted body. The tall containers also easily stand out in shelves thus making it easy for consumers to identify them thus influencing their decision to buy the product (Louis and Lombart, 2010).
The design strategy of the company enables it to gain a competitive advantage over other brands. The company is also able to save on its costs thus being in a position to enjoy more profits. Other companies are not able to keep up with the strategies used by Coca-Cola Company so that they may also get equally popular. Coca-Cola stands out from other soft drink companies due to its strong presence. Louis and Lombart (2010) add that the company is able to come up with themes that go well with the brand and bringing out people’s personality. The company’s researchers are able to detect strategies that do not go well with people thus rectifying them as soon as possible. For instance, the theme ‘The Coke Side of Life’ did not go well with worldwide cultures thus it had to be rectified. The theme was later changed to ‘Open Happiness’ which is now embraced by consumers worldwide.
Figure 6 Share a Coke Names adapted from Coca-Cola (2017).
Repackaging Strategies to Improve Coca-Cola
Consumers are mostly influenced by visual images. The company has had significant success due to its visual representation of the brand. One method that has not yet been fully exploited by the company is customization of the brand (Aaker, 2012). The company should ensure that the products its offers express a certain personal quality. This will make consumers feel as part of the company. In the recent past, the company has started producing bottles with labels printed the names of people. The campaign went well because it was well appreciated. A similar and yet more effective strategy is printing pictures of consumers on bottles. This strategy was well embraced across the world. The company should consider having bottles printed the picture of a consumer upon request. This marketing strategy will attract more customers because it is more appealing to them (Aaker and Joachimsthaler 2012). The result will be increased sales and increased popularity because it is a new idea that has not been implemented by other brands.
Since the design of the bottle is already appealing to consumers, it can still be improved to become better than it is. The shape of the can also be changed to ensure that it fits the hand more comfortably and easily. For instance, the shape can be designed in such a way that a hand fits into it. It can be designed such that fingers may fit onto the surface of the container like key and lock.
The theme ‘the coke side of life’ was not well accepted by some cultures while others fully embraced it. To ensure that some strategies are well accepted, it is important for the company to invest in research to ensure that it fully understands the local market before introducing something new. Themes could be used differently depending on the culture of a region. For instance, a theme used in Africa should not be used in western countries due to differences in culture.
The company should use diversity as a marketing tool to make it outstanding. This should be done by first understanding the local market. This involves understanding local traditions and language. Packaging should use local languages to enable local communities to feel appreciated to support the brand more than before. The company should build relationships through local civic programs, local marketing, and through local business opportunities.
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