Advertising (part two) - Famous Ads

While in an airport in 1971, an executive of the agency responsible for the Coca Cola advertising and two songwriters saw many fellow travellers from around the world drinking Coke. This inspired them to create the song “I'd like to buy the world a Coke”. This featured in an infamous ad where people from many cultures are standing on top of a hill singing the song. The advertisements eventual cost was $250,000, an unheard of amount for an advertisement. Campaign magazine labelled it as "one of the best-loved and most influential ads in TV history" in 2007. It became so popular that a band called The New Seekers rereleased it, changing the lyrics so that it became “I’d like to teach the world to sing”. The song became a UK number #1.

In 1995, the companies advertising agency came up with the idea of “Christmas Caravans” – Coca Cola trucks that were illuminated with Christmas bulbs and an image of Santa Claus on the back, so that again Santa Claus would become associated with the brand. They were featured in an ad which now for many people marks the start of Christmas.

Although it fell into disuse in 2001, it was brought back in 2007 to again mark the holidays.

            Other facts about Coca Cola

       Coca Cola was the first ever commercial sponsor of the Olympic Games, starting in Amsterdam in 1928

   

       Coca Cola has sponsored the FIFA World Cup since 1978

       Artists such as Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Elton John and David Bowie have been spokespersons.  

       The brand is worth an estimated $74 billion

       The average person consumes a Coke product every four days

Advertising (part one)

I will be splitting advertising into two posts as there is a lot to cover. Coca Cola is well known for its advertising, and it has evolved a lot since its beginnings.

In the beginning, the first ads were small newspaper ads with no pictures and just font. They advertised the 

Coca Cola fountains, as the bottled product did not exist yet. In the 1900's, the company began using models such as Hilda Clark, to pose for painted ads and to become spokespeople for the brand. During the 1930's, Coca Cola decided to reinvent Santa Claus to use in ads for Christmas. Before the ads for Coca Cola, Santa Claus had been drawn in many different ways, from a priest to an elf. Coca Cola created the symbolic image of a chubby and jolly fatherly figure.

The image was used, along with others, for three decades. Courtesy of http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/heritage/cokelore_santa.html

In 1941, the nickname Coke was endorsed by the company and used as a trademark.

Between the 1960's and the 1980's, the soda became global and spread to 163 different countries. It also began advertising the bottled product rather than fountains which dispensed the beverage.

In 1980, a new type of coke called Diet Coke was released. It is a sugar-free alternative to the original Coca Cola, but uses a completely different formula. Also in 1985, the company attempted to introduce New Coke, which replaced the original formula. This has been known as the Coca Cola Company’s worst marketing mistake ever, and thousands complained. It was launched in April but the company had announced its return to the original formula by May. New Coke was still sold until 2002, but the newly named original Coke, Coca Cola Classic, outsold it significantly.

Production of Coca Cola

* The main ingredients of Coca Cola are

• Carbonated water
• Sucrose or high-fructose corn syrup (depending on country of origin)
• Caffeine
• Phosphoric acid
• Caramel colour
• Natural flavourings

The natural flavourings make up the Coca Cola formula, which is a closely guarded secret. This is made in a secret location, before being shipped to bottling factories all over the world. There are almost 900 bottling plants around the world, such as the bottling plant in Skopje, Macedonia, which received the 2009 award for “Best Bottling Company”.

Image of the Coca Cola bottling plant in Edmonton, North London.
Courtesy of www.guardian.co.uk

At the bottling factory, the formula is diluted with water, before adding the other ingredients such as the sweetener and carbonating it with CO2. Although sugar is used as a sweetener in most parts of the world, in the United States high-fructose corn syrup is used as not only is it more readily available, but also as there are high tariffs on imported sugar. The finished product is about 10% sweetener.

The Coca Cola containers are made in separate factories. They are either plastic bottles, cans or glass bottles. These are brought to the bottling factory. The bottles are filled and labelled, while the cans have already been decorated with the logo. 1,700 cans can be filled a minute, twice as fast as plastic bottles. They are then packaged in various numbers and distributed.

History of Coca Cola

Coca Cola is a soft drink known to many around the world. It began in Columbus, Georgia in 1885. It was originally formulated as a type of coca wine, which is an alcoholic beverage of wine and coca extract. The inventor, a pharmacist named John Pemberton, called it Pemberton's French Wine Coca. But when the state passed prohibition legislation in 1886 preventing the manufacturing and sale of alcoholic beverages, Pemberton began to develop it as a non-alcoholic medicine, which was sold for five cents at soda fountains.  It claimed to cure many diseases, but soon was just advertised as a beverage when carbonated water was added to the original syrup (although the syrup could still be bought in pharmacies as a medicine). Pembertons bookkeeper, Frank Robinson, made the  name and logo Coca Cola.

     
Coca Cola coupons that "entitles you to one glass of free Coca Coa".
Courtesy of www.eatmedaily.com

                                                

An official Coca Cola incorporation was formed, with the first shareholders being Pembertons son Charley, Asa Candler, Woolfolk Walker and his sister Margaret Dozier. However, tension was caused when Pemberton declared the name Coca Cola to go to Charley. But just before his death in 1888, Pemberton sold a large portion to Candler, as the pharmacist had not made a profit from his creation. Coca Cola had yet to become the sensation it is today.

Candler soon was able to acquire the whole company from Walker and his sister. A lot was achieved when he was the sole owner. In 1893, the famous formula was patented, and the next year the soda was bottled for the first time, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and sold by Joseph Biedenharn in his shop. Although tentative about bottling, Candler opened the first Coca Cola bottling plant in Chattanooga in 1899. He also aggressively advertised with billboards, newspaper ads and gave away coupons for free glasses of the beverage. He was the first to realize this was a successful tactic in increasing awareness and popularity of the product. The brand grew and grew, with innovative advertising techniques overcoming the barrier of no national media. Coca Cola calendars, notebooks and more were given away for free, and they ended up all over the United States. It quickly became popular wherever it went. By the end of the 19^th century it was sold nationwide. In 1919, Candler sold the company to Atlanta banker Ernest Woodruff for $25 million. Ernest gave it to his son Robert Woodruff, who would be president for 6 decades. He pioneered the six bottle cardboard carton, and by the end of 1928, sales in bottles exceeded the fountain sales. 

In 1886, sales averaged nine drinks per day. According to 2010 figures, 1.6 billion drinks are sold each day. From small beginnings, Coca Cola became popular all over the world, and it has become a global leader in the drinks market.

  

                           

     Here's the first of a series of videos that give a detailed account of the history of Coca Cola

  

Introduction

Hi, I’m Aisling Dooley and I’m in Transition Year in Ireland. For a Transition Year project, I will be blogging about the geography of Coca Cola. You may wonder what geography has to do with Coca Cola, but having been around since the 19^th century, the soft drink and its company have had a large impact on countries around the world. I plan to include its history, production, factories in different countries and its effect on different cultures. Did you know that Coca Cola was originally formulated to be a medicine? Or that Bolivia is banning Coca Cola in its country by the end of 2012? Coca Cola has seen years of changes in politics, economics, society, science, medicine and has become a household name, although it has had its critics over the years, especially concerning health. I have I hope to blog an interesting, clear and well-rounded blog, which I hope you will read and enjoy!!!