Coca Cola and the Art of Brand Building

There are two things the Coca Cola Company would never have to worry about. One is their product offering. Even the Cola Wars and the shift in health consciousness worldwide have done nothing to jeopardize the brand. With the population gearing toward a healthier lifestyle, carbonated drinks’ consumption has undergone a rapid decrease.

Coca Cola simply broadened their product offering to include sub-brands under the main Coca Cola brand including teas, health drinks, bottled water and others. It was a clever move, one that was imminent and rewarding for the early adopters.

The second thing Coca Cola need never worry about is marketing; branding to be precise. Coke is arguably the only true ubiquitous brand known today. I have recently conducted an informal experiment where I attempted to live a Coca Cola brand-free day. In other words, they should attempt to run through their normal daily paces without being exposed to the Coca Cola brand.

Their immediate reaction from my friends was that it would be impossible. Oddly enough, within a couple of moments they have reconsidered their opinions and called it game on (This would be a good time to mention that I don’t drink Coke at all). On my regular route to work, roughly five kilometers (this is unusually short for anybody) I was exposed to five shops with Coca Cola branding. If you want to be anal, that would be one brand impression per kilometer. (Imagine living in the city)

The next day I changed my route for ‘a road less traveled’ and established there to be no way for me to reach the office without being exposed to the Coca Cola brand at least twice. So the next day I stayed at home. This is breaking the rules somewhat, but I was adamant it could be done.

Things I needed to ignore were television, magazines, newspapers, going to the shop and unnecessary web browsing. My palms were sweaty, but I was excited to prove Coca Cola inadequate. It was time for my daily dose of coffee, so down to the kitchen I went. Darn it, a water bottle on my kitchen counter which I don’t remember putting there. I check the back label and it proudly displayed the Coca Cola Company name.

Annoyed I open the fridge to be greeted with an empty Coke bottle which I don’t recall buying. Oh yes, my brother, a huge Coke fan, came to visit three weeks ago. (I should empty my fridge more often) Branding by association, I thought. Do I know a single person that does not drink Coke? Incidentally, right next to the Coke bottle was a half full energy drink. Should I check the label? Cursing was at the order of the day…Fortunately though, not a Coca Cola brand. I won that round.

So what is my point? Very few businesses have the capacity or product, not to mention the budget, to succeed in ubiquitous branding. But it shouldn’t stop you from trying.

Identify your core target audience. Once you have established that you need to establish what the key areas are where you can optimally expose them to your brand. If your daily communications with your clients and prospects occur via e-mail, then branding your e-mail sounds like the simplest, yet effective means to do that.

Start small and once your branding campaigns begin yielding results, work onto bigger channels.

Too many companies focus on the wrong channel to market from. Take your budget and identify smaller segmented channels to secure continuous brand exposure as opposed to mass media channel where single exposures break your bank.