HISTORY OF COCA-COLA

The prototype Coca-Cola recipe was formulated at the Eagle Drug and Chemical
Company, a drugstore in Columbus, Georgia by John Pemberton, originally as a coca
wine called Pemberton's French Wine Coca. He may have been inspired by the
formidable success of Vin Mariani, a European coca wine.

In 1886, when Atlanta and Fulton County passed prohibition legislation, Pemberton
responded by developing Coca-Cola, essentially a non-alcoholic version of French Wine
Coca. The first sales were at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 8, 1886. It
was initially sold as a patent medicine for five cents a glass at soda fountains, which
were popular in the United States at the time due to the belief that carbonated water
was good for the health. Pemberton claimed Coca-Cola cured many diseases, including
morphine addiction, dyspepsia, neurasthenia, headache, and impotence. Pemberton ran
the first advertisement for the beverage on May 29 of the same year in the Atlanta
Journal.

John Pemberton declared that the name "Coca-Cola" belonged to Charley, but the
other two manufacturers could continue to use the formula. So, in the summer of 1888,
Candler sold his beverage under the names Yum Yum and Koke. After both failed to
catch on, Candler set out to establish a legal claim to Coca-Cola in late 1888, in order to
force his two competitors out of the business. Candler purchased exclusive rights to the
formula from John Pemberton, Margaret Dozier and Woolfolk Walker. However, in
1914, Dozier came forward to claim her signature on the bill of sale had been forged,
and subsequent analysis has indicated John Pemberton's signature was most likely a
forgery as well.[15]

Coca-Cola was sold in bottles for the first time on March 12, 1894. The first outdoor
wall advertisement was painted in the same year as well in Cartersville, Georgia. Cans
of Coke first appeared in 1955. The first bottling of Coca-Cola occurred in Vicksburg,
Mississippi, at the Biedenharn Candy Company in 1891. Its proprietor was Joseph A.
Biedenharn. The original bottles were Biedenharn bottles, very different from the much
later hobble-skirt design that is now so familiar. Asa Candler was tentative about
bottling the drink, but two entrepreneurs from Chattanooga, Tennessee, Benjamin F.
Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead, proposed the idea and were so persuasive that
Candler signed a contract giving them control of the procedure for only one dollar.
Candler never collected his dollar, but in 1899 Chattanooga became the site of the first
Coca-Cola bottling company.[19] The loosely termed contract proved to be problematic
for the company for decades to come. Legal matters were not helped by the decision of
the bottlers to subcontract to other companies, effectively becoming parent bottlers.

Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines
internationally. The Coca-Cola Company claims that the beverage is sold in more than 200
countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta, Georgia, and is often
referred to simply as Coke (a registered trademark of The Coca-Cola Company in the United
States since March 27, 1944). Originally intended as a patent medicine when it was invented
in the late 19th century by John Pemberton, Coca-Cola was bought out by businessman As a
Griggs Candler, whose marketing tactics led Coke to its dominance of the world soft-drink
market throughout the 20th century.

The company produces concentrate, which is then sold to licensed Coca-Cola bottlers
throughout the world. The bottlers, who hold territorially exclusive contracts with the
company, produce finished product in cans and bottles from the concentrate in combination
with filtered water and sweeteners. The bottlers then sell, distribute and merchandise Coca-
Cola to retail stores and vending machines. Such bottlers include Coca-Cola Enterprises,
which is the largest single Coca-Cola bottler in North America and western Europe. The
Coca-Cola Company also sells concentrate for soda fountains to major restaurants and food
service distributors.

The Coca-Cola Company has, on occasion, introduced other cola drinks under the Coke
brand name. The most common of these is Diet Coke, with others including Caffeine-Free
Coca-Cola, Diet Coke Caffeine-Free, Coca-Cola Cherry, Coca-Cola Zero, Coca-Cola Vanilla,
and special editions with lemon, lime or coffee.

In response to consumer insistence on a more natural product, the company is in the process
of phasing out E211, or sodium benzoate, the controversial additive used in Diet Coke and
linked to DNA damage in yeast cells and hyperactivity in children. The company has stated
that it plans to remove E211 from its other products, including Sprite and Oasis, as soon as a
satisfactory alternative is found.
 SWOT ANALYSIS FOR COCA COLA

SWOT stands for :-

 Strengths
  Weakness

 Opportunities

 Threats

SWOT analysis is a technique much used in many general management as

well as marketing scenarios. SWOT consists of examining the current
activities of the organisation- its Strengths and Weakness- and then using
this and external research data to set out the Opportunities and Threats
that exist.

Strengths:

Coca-Cola has been a complex part of American culture for over a century. The
product's image is loaded with over-romanticizing, and this is an image many
people have taken deeply to heart. The Coca-Cola image is displayed on T-
shirts, hats, and collectible memorabilia. This extremely recognizable branding
is one of Coca-Cola's greatest strengths. "Enjoyed more than 685 million times
a day around the world Coca-Cola stands as a simple, yet powerful symbol of
quality and enjoyment" (Allen, 1995).

Additionally, according to Bettman, et. al, (1998) Coca-Cola's bottling system is

one of their greatest strengths. It allows them to conduct business on a global
scale while at the same time maintain a local approach. The bottling companies
are locally owned and operated by independent business people who are
authorized to sell products of the Coca-Cola Company. Because Coke does not
have outright ownership of its bottling network, its main source of revenue is
the sale of concentrate to its bottlers (Bettman, et. al, 1998).

Weaknesses:
Although domestic business as well as many international markets are thriving
(volumes in Latin America were up 12%), Coca-Cola has recently reported
some "declines in unit case volumes in Indonesia and Thailand due to reduced
consumer purchasing power." According to an article in Fortune magazine, "In
Japan, unit case sales fell 3% in the second quarter [of 1998]...scary because
while Japan generates around 5% of worldwide volume, it contributes three
times as much to profits. Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Japan account for
about 35% of Coke's volume and none of these markets are performing to
expectation (Mclean, 1998).

Coca-Cola on the other side has effects on the teeth's which is an issue for
health care. It also has got sugar by which continuous drinking of Coca-Cola
may cause health problems. Being addicted to Coca-Cola also is a health
problem, because drinking of Coca-Cola daily has an effect on your body after
few years.

Opportunities:

Brand recognition is the significant factor affecting Coke's competitive position.

Coca-Cola's brand name is known well throughout 94% of the world today. The
primary concern over the past few years has been to get this name brand to be
even better known. Packaging changes have also affected sales and industry
positioning, but in general, the public has tended not to be affected by new
products (Allen, 1995).

Coca-Cola's bottling system also allows the company to take advantage of

infinite growth opportunities around the world. This strategy gives Coke the
opportunity to service a large geographic, diverse, area (Bettman, et. al, 1998).

Threats:
Currently, the threat of new viable competitors in the carbonated soft drink
industry is not very substantial. The threat of substitutes, however, is a very real
threat. The soft drink industry is very strong, but consumers are not necessarily
married to it. Possible substitutes that continuously put pressure on both Pepsi
and Coke include tea, coffee, juices, milk, and hot chocolate ("Cola Wars",
1991).

Even though Coca-

Cola and Pepsi control nearly 40% of the entire beverage market, the changing
health-consciousness of the market could have a serious affect. Of course, both
Coke and Pepsi have already diversified into these markets, allowing them to
have further significant market shares and offset any losses incurred due to
fluctuations in the market ("Cola Wars", 1991).

Consumer buying power also represents a key threat in the industry. The rivalry
between Pepsi and Coke has produce a very slow moving industry in which
management must continuously respond to the changing attitudes and demands
of their consumers or face losing market share to the competition. Furthermore,
consumers can easily switch to other beverages with little cost or consequence
("Cola Wars", 1991).
Mission and Vision

Our vision is:

To be an outstanding regional company within The Coca-Cola System

with respect to quality, volume and profitability, operating in a geography
which encompasses Turkey, Southern Eurasia and the Middle East.

•    We have a team spirit in which trust, respect, openness and social
responsibility create organizational integrity.
•    We have a passion for continuous improvement, excellence,
innovation, quality and leadership.
•    We are committed to improving the environment of the communities
where we operate. 

Our mission is:

•    Add value to all our stakeholders.

•    Be the supplier of choice consistently exceeding customer and
consumer expectations.
•    Be the first in identifying creating and capturing profitable
opportunities.
•    Retain, develop and attract the people capable of driving superior
performance.

Our strategy is:

Drive long-term, sustainable and profitable growth.

Enhance our competitive position through best practices implementation.

Leverage our key capabilities across all operations.

Expand into new territories.
Logo design:
The famous Coca-Cola logo was created by John Pemberton's bookkeeper,
Frank Mason Robinson, in 1885.[44] Robinson came up with the name and chose
the logo's distinctive cursive script. The typeface used, known as Spencerian
script, was developed in the mid 19th century and was the dominant form of
formal handwriting in the United States during that period.
Robinson also played a significant role in early Coca-Cola advertising. His
promotional suggestions to Pemberton included giving away thousands of free
drink coupons and plastering the city of Atlanta with publicity banners and
streetcar signs.[45]

Contour bottle design

The equally famous Coca-Cola bottle, called the "contour bottle" within the
company, but known to some as the "hobble skirt" bottle, was created in 1915
by bottle designer Earl R. Dean. In 1915, the Coca-Cola Company launched a
competition among its bottle suppliers to create a new bottle for the beverage
that would distinguish it from other beverage bottles, "a bottle which a person
could recognize even if they felt it in the dark, and so shaped that, even if
broken, a person could tell at a glance what it was."[46]

Earl R. Dean's original 1915 concept drawing of the contour Coca-Cola bottle.

Chapman J. Root, president of the Root Glass Company, turned the project over
to members of his supervisory staff, including company auditor T. Clyde
Edwards, plant superintendent Alexander Samuelsson, and Earl R. Dean, bottle
designer and supervisor of the bottle molding room. Root and his subordinates
decided to base the bottle's design on one of the soda's two ingredients, the coca
leaf or the kola nut, but were unaware of what either ingredient looked like.
Dean and Edwards went to the Emeline Fairbanks Memorial Library and were
unable to find any information about coca or kola. Instead, Dean was inspired
by a picture of the gourd-shaped cocoa pod in the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Dean made a rough sketch of the pod and returned back to the plant to show Mr.
Root. He explained to Root how he could transform the shape of the pod into a
bottle. Chapman Root gave Dean his approval.[46]

The prototype never made it to production since its middle diameter was
larger than its base, making it unstable on conveyor belts.

Faced with the upcoming scheduled maintenance of the mold-making

machinery, over the next 24 hours Dean sketched out a concept drawing which
was approved by Root the next morning. Dean then proceeded to create a bottle
mold and produced a small number of bottles before the glass-molding
machinery was turned off.[47]

Chapman Root approved the prototype bottle and a design patent was issued on
the bottle in November, 1915. The prototype never made it to production since
its middle diameter was larger than its base, making it unstable on conveyor
belts. Dean resolved this issue by decreasing the bottle's middle diameter.
During the 1916 bottler's convention, Dean's contour bottle was chosen over
other entries and was on the market the same year. By 1920, the contour bottle
became the standard for the Coca-Cola Company. Today, the contour Coca-
Cola bottle is one of the most recognized packages on the planet..."even in the
dark!".[48]

As a reward for his efforts, Dean was offered a choice between a $500 bonus or
a lifetime job at the Root Glass Company. He chose the lifetime job and kept it
until the Owens-Illinois Glass Company bought out the Root Glass Company in
the mid-1930s. Dean went on to work in other Midwestern glass factories.

Although endorsed by some[who?], this version of events is not considered

authoritative by many[who?] who consider it implausible. One alternative
depiction has Raymond Loewy as the inventor of the unique design, but, while
Loewy did serve as a designer of Coke cans and bottles in later years, he was in
the French Army the year the bottle was invented and did not emigrate to the
United States until 1919. Others have attributed inspiration for the design not to
the cocoa pod, but to a Victorian hooped dress.[49]

In 1944, Associate Justice Roger J. Traynor of the Supreme Court of California

took advantage of a case involving a waitress injured by an exploding Coca-
Cola bottle to articulate the doctrine of strict liability for defective products.
Traynor's concurring opinion in Escola v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co. is widely
recognized as a landmark case in U.S. law today.[50]

In 1997, Coca-Cola also introduced a "contour can," similar in shape to its

famous bottle, on a few test markets, including Terre Haute, Indiana.[51] The
new can has never been widely released.

A new slim and tall can began to appear in Australia as of December 20, 2006,
it cost AU$1.95. The cans have a distinct resemblance to energy drink cans. The
cans were commissioned by Domino's Pizza and are available exclusively at
their restaurants.

In January 2007, Coca-Cola Canada changed "Coca-Cola Classic" labeling,

removing the "Classic" designation, leaving only "Coca-Cola." Coca-Cola
stated this is merely a name change and the product remains the same. The cans
still bear the "Classic" logo in the United States.

In 2007, Coca-Cola introduced an aluminum can designed to look like the

original glass Coca-Cola bottles.
In 2007, the company's logo on cans and bottles changed. The cans and bottles
retained the red color and familiar typeface, but the design was simplified,
leaving only the logo and a plain white swirl (the "dynamic ribbon").

In 2008, in some parts of the world, the plastic bottles for all Coke varieties
(including the larger 1.5- and 2-liter bottles) was changed to include a new
plastic screw cap and a slightly taller contoured bottle shape, designed to evoke
the old glass bottles.[52]

Coke Mini

A 200ml "stubby" bottle widely available throughout China. These are sold in
small shops for 1 yuan, and must be consumed on site in order to return the
bottle.

Coke mini is a 7.5 ounce can packaging of Coca-Cola that debuted in December
2009.[53][54][55] There are plans to also sell smaller cans of Sprite, Fanta Orange,
Cherry Coca-Cola and Barq's Root Beer.[56]

Local competitors:
Pepsi is usually second to Coke in sales, but outsells Coca-Cola in some
markets. Around the world, some local brands compete with Coke. In South and
Central America Kola Real, known as Big Cola in Mexico, is a fast-growing
competitor to Coca-Cola.[57] On the French island of Corsica, Corsica Cola,
made by brewers of the local Pietra beer, is a growing competitor to Coca-Cola.
In the French region of Brittany, Breizh Cola is available. In Peru, Inca Kola
outsells Coca-Cola, which led The Coca-Cola Company to purchase the brand
in 1999. In Sweden, Julmust outsells Coca-Cola during the Christmas season.[58]
In Scotland, the locally produced Irn-Bru was more popular than Coca-Cola
until 2005, when Coca-Cola and Diet Coke began to outpace its sales.[59] In
India, Coca-Cola ranked third behind the leader, Pepsi-Cola, and local drink
Thums Up. The Coca-Cola Company purchased Thums Up in 1993.[60] As of
2004, Coca-Cola held a 60.9% market-share in India.[61] Tropicola, a domestic
drink, is served in Cuba instead of Coca-Cola, due to a United States embargo.
French brand Mecca Cola and British brand Qibla Cola, popular in the Middle
East, are competitors to Coca-Cola. In Turkey, Cola Turka is a major
competitor to Coca-Cola. In Iran and many countries of Middle East, Zam Zam
Cola and Parsi Cola are major competitors to Coca-Cola. In some parts of China
Future cola is a competitor. In Slovenia, the locally produced Cockta is a major
competitor to Coca-Cola, as is the inexpensive Mercator Cola, which is sold
only in the country's biggest supermarket chain, Mercator. In Israel, RC Cola is
an inexpensive competitor. Classiko Cola, made by Tiko Group, the largest
manufacturing company in Madagascar, is a serious competitor to Coca-Cola in
many regions. Laranjada is the top-selling soft drink on the Portuguese island of
Madeira. Coca-Cola has stated that Pepsi was not its main rival in the UK, but
rather Robinsons drinks.[citation needed]

Advertising:
An 1890s advertisement showing model Hilda Clark in formal 19th century
attire. The ad is titled Drink Coca-Cola 5¢. (US)

Coca-Cola ghost sign in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Note older Coca-Cola ghosts behind
Borax and telephone ads.

Coca-Cola signboard in Lahore, Pakistan.

Coca-Cola's advertising has significantly affected American culture, and it is

frequently credited with inventing the modern image of Santa Claus as an old
man in a red-and-white suit. Although the company did start using the red-and-
white Santa image in the 1930s, with its winter advertising campaigns
illustrated by Haddon Sundblom, the motif was already common.[62] [63] Coca-
Cola was not even the first soft drink company to use the modern image of
Santa Claus in its advertising: White Rock Beverages used Santa in
advertisements for its ginger ale in 1923, after first using him to sell mineral
water in 1915.[64][65]

Before Santa Claus, Coca-Cola relied on images of smartly dressed young

women to sell its beverages. Coca-Cola's first such advertisement appeared in
1895, featuring the young Bostonian actress Hilda Clark as its spokeswoman.

1941 saw the first use of the nickname "Coke" as an official trademark for the
product, with a series of advertisements informing consumers that "Coke means
Coca-Cola".[66]

In 1971, a song from a Coca-Cola commercial called "I'd Like to Teach the
World to Sing", produced by Billy Davis, became a hit single.

Coke's advertising is pervasive, as one of Woodruff's stated goals was to ensure

that everyone on Earth drank Coca-Cola as their preferred beverage. This is
especially true in southern areas of the United States, such as Atlanta, where
Coke was born.

Coca-Cola sales booth on the Cape Verde island of Fogo in 2004.

Some of the memorable Coca-Cola television commercials between 1960

through 1986 were written and produced by former Atlanta radio veteran Don
Naylor (WGST 1936–1950, WAGA 1951–1959) during his career as a producer
for the McCann Erickson advertising agency. Many of these early television
commercials for Coca-Cola featured movie stars, sports heroes and popular
singers.
During the 1980s, Pepsi-Cola ran a series of television advertisements showing
people participating in taste tests demonstrating that, according to the
commercials, "fifty percent of the participants who said they preferred Coke
actually chose the Pepsi." Statisticians were quick to point out the problematic
nature of a 50/50 result: most likely, all the taste tests really showed was that in
blind tests, most people simply cannot tell the difference between Pepsi and
Coke. Coca-Cola ran ads to combat Pepsi's ads in an incident sometimes
referred to as the cola wars; one of Coke's ads compared the so-called Pepsi
challenge to two chimpanzees deciding which tennis ball was furrier.
Thereafter, Coca-Cola regained its leadership in the market.

Selena was a spokesperson for Coca-Cola from 1989 till the time of her death.
She filmed three commercials for the company. In 1994, to commemorate her
five years with the company, Coca-Cola issued special Selena coke bottles.[67]

The Coca-Cola Company purchased Columbia Pictures in 1982, and began

inserting Coke-product images in many of its films. After a few early successes
during Coca-Cola's ownership, Columbia began to under-perform, and the
studio was sold to Sony in 1989.

Coca-Cola has gone through a number of different advertising slogans in its

long history, including "The pause that refreshes," "I'd like to buy the world a
Coke," and "Coke is it" (see Coca-Cola slogans).

In 2006, Coca-Cola introduced My Coke Rewards, a customer loyalty campaign

where consumers earn points by entering codes from specially marked packages
of Coca-Cola products into a website. These points can be redeemed for various
prizes or sweepstakes entries.[68]