The introduction of the chief growth officer position more than 18 months ago has focused the minds of Coca-Cola’s marketers on business growth, rather than awareness and winning Cannes Lions awards, as it looks to reach new consumers and boost brand loyalty.
Coca-Cola has put a focus on scaling new brands to drive growth as it looks to innovation and takes a test-and-learn approach to navigate a rapidly-changing market.
The drinks giant has created a Global Ventures group to increase the speed and scale of acquisitions across markets as CEO James Quincey admits it’s “not as fast as we would like to be”.
Coke plans to collect and recycle all its packaging by 2030 as it admits all companies have a responsibility to help solve the world’s packaging problem.
Coca-Cola wants to make sure it has “greater curiosity” so that it doesn’t rest on its laurels and is able to adapt more quickly to changing consumer behaviour.
Rather than fighting against it, brands can use social and the power of crowds as a testing ground for new ideas.
Brands are increasingly thinking outside the box with fresh ideas to bring teams together, but will a new focus on cross-functional innovation within these teams lead to a better response to consumer needs?
Coca-Cola is promoting new flavours of Diet Coke including ‘Twisted Strawberry’ and ‘Exotic Mango’ in a tongue-in-cheek campaign.
Costa promises its ready-to drink product contains 30% less sugar than most competitors’ offerings as it looks to make use of Costa’s “coffee expertise” and Coca-Cola’s “scale and marketing expertise”.
The company has promoted Kris Robbens, currently its western Europe brand director, to the top marketing job in Great Britain as it looks to do more product launches to keep up with changing consumer habits.
Coca-Cola’s Signature Mixers range marks the first time the brand has expanded into the alcohol space and taps into the growing premium mixer market.
Coca-Cola’s CEO James Quincey said “blurring category lines” is allowing the company to innovate in different areas.
Coca-Cola is ramping up new product launches as it brings its mineral drink Aquarius to the UK.
Coca-Cola Energy, which will launch in the UK in the spring, is part of the company’s continuing commitment to branch out from its core fizzy drinks category to become ‘a total-beverage company’.
Gillette, Lego and Coca-Cola are among the big brands using crowdfunding as a means of increasing the speed and reducing the risk of innovation, while getting rare direct access to consumer data and feedback.
The drinks giant is celebrating “everyday” people as it looks to grow sales of its low and no-sugar variants through a three-and-a-half-year deal with the Premier League.
After 133 years, Coca-Cola is at a critical juncture in its history with its core brand and category in decline, requiring it to take unprecedented risks on innovation, acquisition and experimentation. Marketing Week got a behind-the-scenes look at the efforts under way at its Atlanta HQ.