Friday, February 09, 2007

Coca Cola & Branding

www.morguefile.com photo

When you first log on to www.thecoca-colacompany.com, the site greets you with "Good evening, it's 6:00 p.m. How may we refresh you?"
From the beginning of the experience with the site, it's clear the company is out to refresh you and bring you a pleasant experience with all of the Coke family of products.

What is the image metaphor that's associated with Coca-Cola?
Have Fun. Drink coke. Enjoy. Live life. Enjoy your family. The mission is clear: "refresh the world."
"Coca-Cola touches the lives of millions of people each and every day. From special occasions to exceptional moments in everyday life, Coca-Cola is there. The brand has become a special part of people's lives."

Recently, Coca-Cola has adopted the slogan "Make Every Drop Count," as part of a corporate plan to be a better corporate citizen. The commitments of the program are 4-fold, like the four colored droplets in the logo suggest: 1) Offer products that answer the needs of consumers. 2) Support physical education. 3) Helping consumers make smart decisions about nutrition. 4) Listening to consumers when it comes to advertising practices. The company has heard from its consumers and has responded in such a manner that speaks to the company's goals of being accountable and responsible.

Additionally, from the Mission, Vision, Values section:

Mission
Everything we do is inspired by our enduring mission:

  • To Refresh the World... in body, mind, and spirit.
  • To Inspire Moments of Optimism... through our brands and our actions.
  • To Create Value and Make a Difference... everywhere we engage.

Vision
To achieve sustainable growth, we have established a vision with clear goals.

  • Profit: Maximizing return to shareowners while being mindful of our overall responsibilities.
  • People: Being a great place to work where people are inspired to be the best they can be.
  • Portfolio: Bringing to the world a portfolio of beverage brands that anticipate and satisfy peoples’ desires and needs.
  • Partners: Nurturing a winning network of partners and building mutual loyalty.
  • Planet: Being a responsible global citizen that makes a difference.

Values
We are guided by shared values that we will live by as a company and as individuals.

  • Leadership: "The courage to shape a better future"
  • Passion: "Committed in heart and mind"
  • Integrity: "Be real"
  • Accountability: "If it is to be, it’s up to me"
  • Collaboration: "Leverage collective genius"
  • Innovation: "Seek, imagine, create, delight"
  • Quality: "What we do, we do well"
Everything in the mission statements speaks to the feelings one would associate with a strong community or family. Words like courage, imagine, desire, need, inspire, refresh... all very comforting, familiar words. Coca-Cola's mission is to become a very large part of the global community.

2 comments:

serena fenton said...

It's wonderful to see the market research, and to actually see through the corporate all eyes what their vision, mission and values are.

Great collection of Coke imagery! Plus good analysis of how the Coke brand is communicated through these images.

Chad said...

I love how, in the "we're a responsible corporate citizen" logo the colors of the drops are nothing I would necessarily connect to Coca-Cola products. Even the red drop seems a shade or two different from regular Coca-Cola red.

It seems to dissociate the company-as-citizen from the company-as- business.