Coca-Cola: The Power of a Brand
Author: Bob Zurn
Last Updated: 6/3/2009 9:25:55 PM
Summary
There are few images as recognizable throughout the world as the Coca-Cola brand. Travel to the furthest reaches of the globe and you will probably encounter it on a clock or a sign, if not on the drink itself.
Article
There are few images as recognizable throughout the world as the
Coca-Cola brand. Travel to the furthest reaches of the globe
and you will probably encounter it on a clock or a sign, if not on
the drink itself.
Marketers today look to the Coca-Cola brand as a model of
marketing power. Its image has transcended national borders
and cultural barriers to reach almost everyone on earth. How
did the Coca-Cola symbol become such an omnipresent image?
Beginning in 1886, Coca-Cola president John Pemberton began
traveling the country introducing pharmacists to the drink.
At that time it was considered a medicinal substance that
could relieve headaches and other minor woes. Candler distributed
clocks, calendars and other items laden with the Coca-Cola logo as
he toured the country, spreading the brand and selling his product.
From there the brand continued to penetrate further around the
world. The bottling rights to Coca-Cola were sold in
1899 and in 1915 the Root family submitted a standard size bottle
for distribution, but it was too fat in the middle. The Coca-Cola
Company liked the bottle so much they thinned it down and has been
used ever since and is called a Hobbleskirt Bottle. By 1920,
with new bottlers springing up all the time, the brand had expanded
into Cuba, France, Puerto Rico and other territories. Its
world dominance would increase further with World War II, when
Coca-Cola promised that "every man in uniform gets a bottle of
Coca-Cola for 5 cents, wherever he is, and whatever it costs the
company." Suddenly Coca-Cola could be found throughout Europe
as American GIs carried it with them, and by 1960 the number of
countries with Coke bottling plants had doubled.
Today Coke remains a powerful brand with over a century of
history behind it. As a result, items featuring previous
incarnations of the Coke image have become classic pieces of
Americana. The success of the Coca-Cola brand has made it an
icon not just in the world of brand marketing but of American
history. It symbolizes the popularity of a soft drink as well
as the dominance of American entrepreneurialism in the twentieth
century and beyond.
Author Bio: Bob Zurn and his wife Joyce own and operate
Cola Corner, the leading online provider of Coca-Cola collectibles.
Cola Corner provides a wide selection of Coca-Cola posters,
novelties, clothing, and furniture. Visit them online today
at www.colacorner.com/novelties.html to view their
classic collection.
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Content
Published on Midlands Business News, Business News for
the Midlands: 3/6/09