How Coca-Cola is Pivoting its

Innovation and Commercial

Strategies in the COVID-19 Era

The coronavirus pandemic has triggered seismic shifts in shopping behavior,

challenging The Coca-Cola Company and creating new opportunities in
everything from brand launches and marketing campaigns to routes to market
and revenue growth management strategies.

“We have made progress on becoming more nimble and faster to adapt,
faster to pivot,” Chief Financial Officer John Murphy said at the Deutsche
Bank Global Consumer Conference on June 12. “There's broad alignment and
an objective to emerge from the crisis with an even stronger leadership
position. I don't think we could have been better prepared with respect to
overall quality of leadership and clarity on the strategic initiatives required to
navigate through this.”
Here are key takeaways from Murphy’s remarks about how Coca-Cola is
responding to the pandemic:

Innovation Will Continue to be Source of Growth

Coronavirus has prompted the company to accelerate efforts to streamline its

beverage portfolio, eliminating under-performing “zombie” brands and
adapting its innovation pipeline. “We’ve seen tremendous expansion… a lot of
experimentation, a lot of learning, but the pipeline has become rather busy
and clogged,” Murphy said. The company is now balancing an entrepreneurial
edge with a tighter focus on fewer, bigger and more relevant offerings with
potential to scale to multiple markets.

“We are becoming more disciplined and making the tougher decisions to
prune back and allow the (brands) that have the opportunity to grow to get the
attention they deserve,” Murphy said.
Staying Focused on Consumers and Local Communities

“It’s important to remain consumer-centric, to remain close to the consumer

and understand how the consumer is adapting and behaving through the
crisis, and what behaviors are short-term versus those that may stick,”
Murphy said.

The company is keeping a close eye on new trends emerging in the COVID-
19 era and innovating accordingly. “The area of hygiene, for example, is one I
think is going to be very much on consumers’ minds going forward,” Murphy
said. “Building touchless solutions, therefore, in the away-from-home channel
is a big opportunity we need to tap into. There also will be some new
motivations in the functional arena that we need to bring into our portfolio
faster.”

Maintaining a hyper-local focus is equally important. “Winning locally is

something that should not change through this type of period,” Murphy said.
“In these last 12 weeks, the intersection of what we do for our local
communities, particularly through our bottling partners, and how that's
perceived by consumers has never been more important. We're extremely
proud of how we have stepped up in that regard.”

Helping Retail and Foodservice Customers Adapt

Coca-Cola teams around the world are collaborating with grocery customers
to adjust supply chains and prioritize delivery and promotion of core brands
and SKUs like multipacks as people adjust to stay-at-home lifestyles and
make fewer, quicker stock-up trips. “We’re doing what we need to do to keep
the attention of the shopper,” Murphy said.

With consumers reaching for established, trusted brands during uncertain

times, Coca-Cola is taking steps to keep top-selling offerings in stock and
scaling back or postponing planned brand launches.

“Customers are very focused in times like these on what moves,” Murphy
said, while noting that the U.S. launch of AHA flavored sparkling water is off to
a strong start despite a challenging environment. “So, the bigger brands, the
bigger SKUs, get a lot of preference. We've tailored our approach
accordingly.”
The company will continue to invest in packaging that meets consumer needs
at different price points while maximizing per-outlet revenue, Murphy said,
citing recent successes in Latin America, the Philippines and South Africa.

Marriage of the Digital and Physical Worlds Accelerating

To support the surge in e-commerce channels – which have doubled in some

countries as more people order necessities for home delivery – the Coca-Cola
system is prioritizing package options that are fit-for-purpose for online sales,
boosting investment in digital promotions, increasing in-app visibility with e-
delivery grocers, and piloting digitally enabled fulfillment models. Bottlers are
investing in digital B2B solutions to manage customer orders and deliveries,
and the company is rolling out a B2C platform in Latin America that lets
consumers order beverages and groceries from local mom-and-pop stores for
home delivery.

“We are investing in improving our digital shelf capability, bringing to the
digital shelf the same discipline and quality we have learned to do on the
physical shelf,” Murphy said. “There's a lot underway in this regard, and I see
that accelerating and forming an even bigger part of our plans going into the
next couple of years.”
Recovery to Vary by Market

With countries around the world in varying stages of the outbreak along with
varying levels of economic impact, Murphy said the company expects
recovery to be segmented.

“We're not going to see one letter of the alphabet describing the rate or speed
of recovery,” he said. “A few markets will be more on a V-shape recovery,
whereas a number of markets will be either U or a form of L, and I think it's too
early to be able to profess what those varying shapes will look like.”

He added, “With so many variables, our focus remains very much the same
as it has been in previous crises. And that’s to make sure our North Star is to
emerge stronger…”