Robert Woodruff, president of Coca-Cola Company, USA. Born in Columbus, Georgia, USA in 189, his father was the founder of Coca-Cola Company.
Woodruff became the president of Coca-Cola, and in just a few years, he transformed this internationally famous beverage, making it irresistible.
Coca-Cola people fall down again and again, and jump up again and again. In the development of their career, they have brilliant creations, but there are also many painful lessons. They have dominated the beverage market for decades and become the "kingdom of the sun never sets" in the international beverage industry. Through huge advertising, Coca-Cola's unique red and white logo has been deeply imprinted in the hearts of consumers around the world. Coca-Cola is a household name all over the world, and its trademark has become the most famous trademark in the world. According to the evaluation of authoritative organizations, the brand of Coca-Cola can be worth $24.4 billion.
Robert Woodruff became the second chairman and general manager of Coca-Cola Company in 1923 because his father Woodruff was old. Under his painstaking efforts, the company rose rapidly.
Before graduating from college at the age of 2, Woodruff left school to do business, and later became famous for selling trucks. After he joined the Coca-Cola Company, he often said such a mantra to people: "I am just a salesman." He is indeed a talented salesman. During his 6 years in charge of the company's power, Coca-Cola has been sold all over the world and won the title of "the king of soft drinks in the world".
As soon as the ambitious Woodruff took office, he loudly put forward such a slogan: "Let people all over the world drink Coca-Cola!" He added the "International Market Development Department" in the company, trying to push Coca-Cola to the world. However, it is not easy to sell this slightly medicinal beverage to the international market and make it acceptable to people with different eating habits and tastes all over the world!
So, he first launched an innovative activity in the domestic market, that is, selling Coca-Cola by vending machines. In this way, the sales area of Coca-Cola has been greatly expanded, and customers can buy Coca-Cola whenever and wherever.
This sales promotion method quickly won unanimous praise from the directors. Since then, Woodruff has started a plan to expand the export market on a large scale.
in p>1941, after the "pearl harbor incident" broke out, the United States participated in the second world war. The war made Coca-Cola's domestic market depressed, and the development of overseas markets was at a loss. Woodruff, trapped in internal and external difficulties, is restless all day. At this time, an old classmate who came back from the battlefield and loved Coke inspired Woodruff: If all the soldiers in front can drink Coca-Cola, wouldn't it become a living advertisement in overseas markets? Affected by it, the local people will naturally drink this drink. Doesn't this mean indirectly opening up the export market?
Early the next morning, Woodruff rushed to Washington to discuss the supply of Coca-Cola in front of the Pentagon. Despite his hype, officials of the Ministry of National Defense who were confused by the Pearl Harbor incident didn't care to listen to his advice. How much morale can a bottle of coke improve? This idea is ridiculous.
Undaunted, Woodruff immediately went back to the company to discuss countermeasures. He assigned several people to write a propaganda draft, accompanied by photos and fabricated voices of the soldiers in front, which looked like an illustrated picture book.
Woodruff personally edited the propaganda draft, named it "The Importance of Completing the Hardest Combat Task and Rest" and printed it in color. This pamphlet emphasizes in particular that the lives of soldiers should be adjusted as much as possible in the tense battle. Coca-Cola is not only a leisure drink, but also a necessity of life, and occupies the same important position as guns and ammunition.
He also held a press conference and invited many distinguished guests, including members of Congress, families of soldiers in front and officials of the Ministry of National Defense. At the meeting, he took pains to preach his views.
Woodruff, a talented propagandist, charmed members of Congress, military families and the entire Pentagon. After consultation, Pentagon officials not only listed Coca-Cola as a necessity for soldiers in front, but also supported Woodruff to set up factories in the battlefield for production.
The "full support" of the Pentagon has benefited Coca-Cola Company greatly. In just two or three years, the company has exported the production equipment of 64 Coca-Cola factories overseas. The consumption of military Coca-Cola has reached 5 billion bottles. At this point, Coca-Cola Company has successfully opened up the international market and laid the foundation for a new leap after the war.
after the end of world war ii, a large number of American troops who fought overseas returned home. Woodruff realized that without such a large number of Coca-Cola "volunteer salesmen", if he didn't introduce new tricks as soon as possible, the foundation he had worked so hard to lay overseas would be uprooted.
According to his investigation, people in Southeast Asia drink Coca-Cola completely under the influence of the US military, and they are addicted to it. As long as you can guarantee the supply, sales will not be a problem. But he is worried that the company can't afford to set up factories overseas alone.
At the suggestion of an old friend, Woodruff put forward a new idea of overseas business strategy: using local manpower and material resources to explore the overseas market of Coca-Cola, which is called "localism". The specific implementation plan is as follows: 1. Set up a local company, and all employees and responsible persons are locals; Two, by the local people to raise funds, the head office in principle does not pay; 3. Except for the concentrated juice supplied by the head office to make Coca-Cola, all equipment, materials, means of transportation and sales are made by local people. Four, sales policy, production technology, staff training are handled by the head office. Later, Woodruff added two more items: the advertising of factories in various countries, which was uniformly produced by the head office; All foreigners who set up a company to produce Coca-Cola must pay a deposit.
In this way, Woodruff grasped the foreigners' fanatical worship of American goods at that time, and in the process of expanding overseas markets, he not only did not pay any fees, but obtained a considerable deposit. It can be said that his application of business strategy has reached a superb position.
according to the statistics of the post-war 25 years, in addition to the development and income in the United States, the Coca-Cola Corporation only wholesales raw juice, which accounts for only .31% of the weight of beverages, with an annual total business of 979 million US dollars and an annual net profit of 15 million US dollars. Coca-Cola has finally become the number one soft drink in the world.