Curve Bottle For The Coca Cola Company example essay topic

Coca-Cola What started out being a nerve and brain tonic and a medical elixir with the help of society over the last one hundred and ten years has turned into over 50 billion dollar business. Now as one of the largest companies in the world the company is operated by Robert Goizueta. The companies' first operator was Dr. John Pemberton who was an Atlanta pharmacist, who mixed the formula in a three legged brass kettle in his backyard on May 8, 1886. Pemberton mixed a combination of lime, cinnamon coca leaves, and the seeds of a Brazilian shrub to make the drink. Coca-Cola was seen first in Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, as a non-carbonated beverage which cost people five cent. Later on, carbonated water was added to the syrup to make the beverage that we know today as Coca-Cola.

The name Coca-Cola was given to the beverage by one of Pemberton's close friends Frank Robinson; he is also the same person who made the famous Coca-Cola logo. In 1887 to 1888 Pemberton was not in good health, not to mention he was addicted to morphine and also he was spending more money on advertising then what he was making in gross sales. So Pemberton sold his portion of the Coca-Cola Company to Asa Griggs Candler, an ambitious Atlanta druggist. After exactly two months after Pemberton's death due to bad health Candler bought the remaining shares of the company. Candler achieved a lot during his time as owner of the cola company, on January 1893, the famous Coca-Cola formula was registered in the U.S. Patent office. He also opened the first syrup manufacturing plant in 1884.

Candler's great achievement was large scale bottling of Coca-Cola in 1899. In 1915, The Root Glass Company made the curve bottle for the Coca-Cola Company. Candler advertised Coca- Cola in newspapers and on billboards. In the newspapers, he would give away coupons for a free Coke at any fountain. Coca-Cola was sold after the Prohibition Era to Ernest Woodruff for 25 million dollars. He gave Coca-Cola to his son, Robert Woodruff, who would be president for six decades.

Robert Woodruff was an influential man in Atlanta because of his contributions to area colleges, universities, businesses and organizations. Woodruff introduced the six bottle carton in 1923. By 1925 Coca-Cola was selling six million Coke's per day. He also made Coca-Cola available through vending machines in 1929. He started advertising on the radio in the 1930's and on the television in 1950. Currently Coca-Cola is advertised on over five hundred TV channels around the world.

Candler also introduced the twelve ounce Coke can in 1960. The Coca-Cola bottle was patented in 1977. The two liter bottle was introduced in 1978, the same year the company also introduced plastic bottles. Woodruff did have one doubtful distinction; he raised the syrup prices for distributors. But he improved efficiency at every step of the manufacturing process.

Woodruff also increased productivity by improving the sales department, emphasizing quality control, and beginning large-scale advertising and promotional campaigns. In 1985, the Coca-Cola Company made what has been known as one of the biggest marketing mistake. The Coca-Cola Company stumbled onto the new formula in efforts to produce diet Coke. They pushed 4 million dollars into research to come up with the new formula.

The decision to change their formula and pull the old Coke off the market came about because taste tests showed a distinct preference for the new formula. The new formula was a sweeter variation but had less tang, it was also slightly smoother. Robert Woodruff's death was a large contributor to the change because he stated that he would never change Coca-Cola's formula. Another factor that influenced the change was that Coke's market share fell 2.5 percent in four years. Each percentage point lost or gain meant 200 million dollars. A financial analyst said, 'Coke's market share fell from 24.3 percent in 1980 to 21.8 percent in 1984.

' This was the first flavor change since the survival of the Coca-Cola Company. The change was announced April 23, 1985. Some two hundred TV and newspaper reporters attended this very showy announcement. It included a question and answer session, a history of Coca-Cola, and many other elements.

The debut was accompanied by an advertising campaign that revived the Coca-Cola theme song of the early 1970's, "I'd like to buy the World a Coke". The change to the world's best selling soft drink was heard by 81 percent of the United States population within twenty-four hours of the announcement. Within a week of the change, one thousand calls a day were flooding the company's one eight hundred number and the company fielded over forty thousand letters. Most of the callers were shocked or outraged, many said that they were considering switching to Pepsi. Many American consumers of Coca-Cola asked if they would have the final say. When Pepsi heard that the Coca-Cola Company was changing its secret formula they said that it was a decision that Pepsi tastes better.

Roger Enrico, the president and CEO of Pepsi-Cola wrote a letter to every major newspaper in the U.S. to declare the victory. But Coca-Cola officials said, "The new formula will boost Coke's share by 1 percent. That is worth 200 million dollars a year". Coca-Cola management had to decide: Do nothing or 'buy the world a new Coke". They decided to develop the new formula. Roberto Goizueta, the president of the Coca-Cola Company stated, "The old Coke formula, with its secret flavoring ingredient, called Merchandise 7 X, will stay locked in the Trust Company of Georgia bank vault in Atlanta, never to be used again".

This is what many Coke officials said, "This is the most significant soft drink development in the company's history". The change back to the old Coke was known as the Second Coming. Roberto Goizueta said, "Today, we have two messages to deliver to the American consumer, first, to those of you who are drinking Coca-Cola with its great new taste, our thanks. But there is a second group of consumers to whom we want to speak to today and our message to this group is simple: "We have heard you". On July 10, 1985, eighty-seven days after the new Coke was introduced, the old Coke was brought back in addition to the new one. This was greatly due to dropping market share and consumer protest.

The market share fell from a high of 15 percent to a low of 1.4 percent. Roberto Goizueta and Donald Keough took full blame for this failed product launch. Don Keough, Coca-Cola president, said in response to the comeback, 'The truth is we are not dumb and we are not that smart". Roberto Goizueta's response when the change about, "We have heard you".

This was said to be a classic marketing retreat. Coca-Cola executives admitted that they had goofed by taking the old Coke off the market. One old Coke loyalist said, "The Company had spoiled the taste of its ninety nine year old soft drink and betrayed a national trust". The Coca-Cola Company's one eight hundred number received eighteen thousand calls of gratitude. The comeback of old Coke drove stock prices to the highest level in twelve years. This was said to be the only way to regain the lead on the cola wars.

In 1979, fifteen hundred employees moved to the new corporate headquarters in Atlanta located on North Avenue. The new corporate headquarters came to be known as "The Tower". During the time when the research for the new formula was taking place, it was known as "The Bunker". The known ingredients in present day Coca-Cola are water, caffeine, phosphoric acid, vanilla, various oils and essences and extracts of the coca leaf and the kola nut. The one in four hundred part of cocaine was removed from Coca-Cola in 1903. Five years after the infamous Coke fiasco, the Coca-Cola Company tried to bring back the reformulated Coke.

The effort to phase in Coke II into the soda market was quite unsuccessful. During the Woodruff era, Mr. Woodruff made a promise to the armed forces of the United States to supply Coca-Cola to every service person. He said that costs and location did not matter; he supplied 5 billion bottles to the service. In the mid-1970's, more than half Coca-Cola sold was outside of the U.S. Coca-Cola products outsell closest competitor by more than two to one. One in every two colas and one in every three soft drinks is a Coca-Cola product.

Coca-Cola is the best known trademark in the world and is sold in about one hundred and forty countries to 5.8 billion people in eighty different languages. This is why Coca-Cola is the largest soft drink company in the world. Coca-Cola is worth more than 58 billion dollars on the stock market. For more than 65 years, Coca-Cola has been a sponsor of the Olympics.

The 1996 Summer Olympics were held in Atlanta, Georgia, the home of Coca-Cola. One great earmark that the Coca- Cola Company has is helping the people of Atlanta. They accomplish this through scholarships, hotlines, donations and contributions, etc. Another large accomplishment that the Coca-Cola has is being the first company to make and use recycled plastic bottles. It started out in an Atlanta Pharmacy and the average sales were six drink's per day and adding up to total sales were about fifty dollars; today Coca-Cola products are consumed at the rate of more than 834 million drinks per day and Coca-Cola is now over a 50 billion dollar business and is recognized by 94% of the world's population. In conclusion Coca-Cola is one of the most profitable companies in the world and is loved and enjoyed by millions of people all over the world.

Also Coca-Cola is beating out Pepsi in the cola war. What else can you say but you can't beat the real thing.