Coca-Cola has a particularly strong advantage in Europe, with a market share of 50%. In Japan, Coca-Cola controls 80% of sales. Of the company's total profits in 1990, profits from Japan accounted for 21%, Europe accounted for 33%, and other international markets totaled 26%. The company is a Fortune 500 company.
Coca-Cola has used several strategies to develop its international markets. In Taiwan, for example, Coca-Cola purchased 49% of a family-owned bottling plant in Taiwan that lacked funds and expanded its management and facilities. Coca-Cola improved its sales marketing, increased advertising investment, and promoted new packaging sizes. Promotions include baseball and basketball classes taught by American coaches, sponsorship of concerts by popular artists, and an invitation to a chef from the Taipei Hilton to cook ten Chinese dishes with Coke. Coca-Cola's market share in Taiwan increased from 6 in 1985 to 40 in 1990, limiting the combined share of 7-up and Pepsi to 4. In France, Coca-Cola withdrew a poorly managed franchise agreement in 1989. By 1990, sales in France were up 23%. In 1990, just days after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Coca-Cola shipped soda from a new factory in Dunkirk to Berlin. In 1989, Coca-Cola sold its 49% stake in Columbia Pictures to Sony Corporation and reinvested the money into its overseas soft drink operations. Coca-Cola's CEO says the company's "business in the 1990s will help the world grow." Coca-Cola has set a target of 8-10% growth rate in international sales and intends to accelerate the growth of small profits from its overseas bottling joint ventures. As early as the beginning of the 20th century, "Coca-Cola" has been available in Asia. It was first produced in the Philippines and shipped to China for sale in cities such as Shanghai. In 1927, "Coca-Cola" was produced in Shanghai and Tianjin, and later in Qingdao and Guangzhou.
In 1933, the Coca-Cola factory in Shanghai was the largest "Coca-Cola" factory outside the United States. In 1948, it was the first factory outside the United States with an annual output of more than one million boxes.
Coca-Cola returned to China in 1978 and has invested US$1.1 billion in China so far. After more than ten years of development, The Coca-Cola Company has established 42 canned beverage factories in China, forming a production base and sales network radiating across the country, with annual sales of nearly 10 billion yuan. According to the "1999 National Urban Consumer Survey", Coca-Cola once again topped the list among similar products, winning three titles: market share, best brand and popularity.
Despite such brilliant achievements, Coca-Cola's mood today is very different from when it first entered the Chinese mainland market 20 years ago. In those years, foreign beverages entering the Chinese market basically did not feel the pressure from Chinese beverage companies. In the past ten years, more than a dozen "Coke" beverage companies have appeared in various parts of China, but in the end almost all of them disappeared without a trace. Nowadays, while Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have considerable influence in the Chinese market, they have felt strong competitive pressure from Chinese beverage companies in recent years. The main reason is that the brands with national characteristics produced by China's beverage industry enterprises have grown and grown through unremitting efforts. In June, the China Beverage Industry Association solemnly launched the "Top Ten" in China's beverage industry. These brand-name beverages are the best in my country's beverages, covering major beverage categories in my country, and have high popularity and market share. For example, Jianlibao, Wahaha, Coconut Tree, Robust, and Lulu among the top ten beverages in China are all representatives of China's national beverage industry that have won the title of China's Well-known Trademark.
Under the pressure of China's national beverage industry, Coca-Cola's marketing strategy began to change and began its process of localization in the Chinese market.
The Coca-Cola Company has always attached great importance to advertising, and its entry into the Chinese market is no exception. It invests tens of millions of yuan in publicity every year. However, Coca-Cola's advertising and brand positioning are strictly restricted. In the past, they were all controlled and planned by the Atlanta headquarters.
Chinese consumers always see the bright red color and vibrant shape of Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola impresses Chinese consumers with the most typical American style and American personality. For more than ten years, the advertising campaign basically used the American TV commercial version with Chinese commentary. This strategy was adopted until 1998. With the booming development of China's national beverage brands, Coca-Cola's marketing strategy underwent significant changes in 1999. The TV commercial it launched in China was the first time it was shot in China, the first time it was designed by a Chinese advertising company, and the first time it invited Chinese actors to shoot the commercial. A clear relinquishment of the American identity that had been his for so many years. In order to gain more market share, Coca-Cola is taking great strides to implement localization in China. As we all know, Coca-Cola has always adopted an undifferentiated market coverage strategy, and its target customers appear to be relatively broad. From the beginning, Coca-Cola focused its advertising audience on young friends, and the advertising images featured images of energetic and healthy youth. "Vitality is always Coca-Cola" became its latest advertising slogan.
Coca-Cola has developed so successfully. What lessons can businesses learn from it? In general, these lessons are very simple and obvious. Below are 30 successful management experiences selected from its development history and tested over time.
Selling high-quality products
The product does not have to be able to talk or fly, but it must have some useful function that can be widely accepted by people. Once you get used to the taste of Coca-Cola, you will find it very delicious and it will make people develop a hobby. Coca-Cola makes your nostrils tickle, quenches your thirst, and has a bit of a caffeine effect. Some believe it can treat headaches, nausea, and stomachaches, among other things.
Believe in your products
Let the product establish a lofty image and make the profession associated with it a sacred profession. Let the staff think that the product is world-class and that they are working for the best company. A salesman should have the skills of a missionary, not just a salaried salesman. In the 1920s, Robert Woodruff called all his salespeople together and made a surprise announcement that they were all fired. He rehired them the next day in a new service department with the caveat that they would no longer be salesmen because they would no longer have to promote the virtues of Coke. They are the staff whose job it is to make sure the soda is a perfectly mixed Coke on the rocks.
Create a sense of mystery
Creating an atmosphere of mystery is unethical, but it can help sales. One of the company's executives admits that the secret formula means little to them. The real secret to success lies in the impact the product's trademark has had for more than a century. But the secret of the formula, the famous seven flavors, was once the attraction. important reasons for customers.
The cost of the product is low
The cost of each bottle of Coke is extremely low, less than one cent. Coca-Cola is not a capital-intensive product, nor is it difficult or labor-intensive to produce, although its production process is highly secretive.
Let those engaged in circulation make a lot of money before the products reach consumers. The reason is simple. If the cost is low, the price can be significantly increased at retail. Coca-Cola had the makings of a fortune, and over the years everyone who had anything to do with Coca-Cola became very wealthy, including bottle manufacturers, stockholders, wholesalers, and those who supplied truck pallets and vending machines. This effect makes people very grateful to the company and willing to contribute to the cause of Coca-Cola.
Everyone should be able to afford it
From 1886 to the 1950s, the price of each bottle of Coke was only 5 cents. Today it is not very popular in the world. expensive. Therefore, people in third world countries can also afford it. Even in difficult times, Coca-Cola continues to sell well. Through the Great Depression of the 1930s and the recent recession, Coca-Cola's makers continued to make money.
The product should be ubiquitous
The product should be within reach and ubiquitous. It should be available at any time in dance halls, barber shops, offices, trains, etc. use. Early Coke salesman Harrison Jones said in 1923, "Make Coca-Cola unavoidable."
Be smart about marketing your products
This one sounds simple, but how, when and where you market and promote your products is the key to success or failure. By 1911, Arthur Cadilla had spent more than a million dollars stimulating people's desires, making Coca-Cola the best-advertised product in the world. He also hired painters to promote its red-on-white product logos on white walls across the United States, covering an area of ??more than five million square feet. By 1913, the company had distributed more than 100 million small gifts bearing the Coca-Cola logo, which could be seen on commonly used items such as thermometers, calendars, event books, notepads, baseball cards, Japanese fans, and pictures. The Coca-Cola logo leaves a deep impression on people. According to the salesman, a customer often had nightmares about a big white devil holding a stove and shouting Coca-Cola chasing him. Today, when the company spends more than $4 billion a year marketing Coca-Cola around the world, it's no surprise that this phenomenon is happening.
Promote the image of the product rather than the product
A Coca-Cola advertiser once warned his imaginative and creative employees: We are selling a product that does not exist at all. What they drink is just an image rather than a product. At the beginning, Coca-Cola advertisements promoted its medicinal effects, claiming that it could invigorate the spirit of mental workers, relieve headaches and pains of excessive drinkers, and bring pleasure to people. But Frank Robinson, who named and inscribed the drink, soon realized that promoting Coca-Cola as a refreshing drink rather than a patented medicine could attract more customers and avoid unnecessary legal disputes and troubles.
Welcome competition
Although Coca-Cola employees don't want to admit it, Pepsi-Cola has actually brought them a lot of benefits. People love to watch the "Cola Wars" between Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. Savvy salespeople at both companies also realized that no matter which company won a given round, the publicity built through fierce competition would help sell the goods.
Reasonable use of celebrity effect
Coca-Cola Company hired celebrities to advertise from the beginning, hoping that consumers would imitate baseball superstar Ty Cobb or actress Hilda Clark. By the 1930s, movie stars ranging from Clark Biber and Kate Grant to Jane Harrow and Joan Crawford were all advertising for Coca-Cola. In the late 1960s, singers ranging from Neil Demand to Leslie Gower to Ray Charles to Aretha Franklin believed that drinking Coca-Cola would make everything better. However, there are dangers in relying too much on celebrity power. On the one hand, the audience remembers more the stars than the products. Coca-Cola has always had real stars in its commercials, and PepsiCo has had headaches with overcharging stars. Thus showing another danger in relying too much on celebrities. Although Madonna and Jackson did a lot to increase Pepsi's popularity, it wasn't as good as the company had hoped. Coca-Cola is reviving the late star Louis. Skits featuring the likes of Armstrong, Groucho Max and Humphrey Burstingt addressed this thorny issue.
Appealing to the Desires of Ordinary People
Beginning in the 1950s, Coca-Cola produced a model that worked across cultures with little or no modification. advertise. How to do this? Coca-Cola advertising slogan has universal appeal. Drink Coca-Cola and you will become more confident, happier, more popular, sexier and younger. In order to enhance its publicity effect, Coca-Cola Company sponsors various sports competitions around the world, from sumo wrestling to football, as well as concerts.
Attracting Young People
Advertising at sports and concerts mainly appeals to teenagers. If you establish credibility among young people, you will gain a long-term consumer market. In 1894, a Coca-Cola postcard showed three five-year-old boys wearing navy uniforms, shouting: "We want to drink Coca-Cola." In 1911, the Coca-Cola Company was sued by the government, in part because Coca-Cola contained Caffeine is addictive in children.
The company has since withdrawn all advertising to children under 12. But this neither stopped distributors from sending Coca-Cola logoed pads and learning aids such as rulers, nor did it stop the company from using Santa Claus to promote its products in the thirties.
Do as the Romans do.
If you want to sell your products globally, don’t dress yourself up as an “ugly American.” In the 1920s, when Robert Woodruff was in charge of global development strategy, he worked hard to make Coca-Cola a German drink in Germany and a French drink in France. The Coca-Cola Company signs packaging contracts with major local companies and encourages local companies to engage in beverage supporting production by having local companies manufacture trucks, bottles, trays, and provide trademarks. The only thing the company exports and local companies import is Coca-Cola concentrate. The Coca-Cola Company can proudly and accurately point out how much it contributes to local economic development. For decades, Coca-Cola has cultivated a large number of smart managers around the world who understand local cultural customs, and it is rumored that the company has hired many local lawyers around the world.
Follow the Law
Although senior Coca-Cola executives or distributors have been implicated in bribery and kickbacks in the past, overall the company's image is clean. General illegal activities not only fail to make profits for the company, but also damage the reputation of this huge multinational company, and the gains outweigh the losses.
Using Influential People
Not breaking the law does not mean you can sit back and relax like an angel. Robert Woodruff was an influential figure in the country, de facto controlling Georgia Senator Walter Joffa and Atlanta Mayor William B. Hasfyed, among others. He has a close relationship with the president. Together with his partners, he created President White House Eisenhower and even helped him decide whether to run the government as a Republican or a Democrat. Pavel Wasdine also propelled Jimmy Carter into the White House. Still, don't ask politicians to abuse their influence, as long as they can show that promoting products is in the national interest, and no special favors are needed. For example, Coca-Cola's close relationship with Carter was powerful enough to open doors for product promotion.
Be patient but decisive
Coca-Cola’s decision-makers knew that one day they would sell their products around the world. It is sold in 195 countries, so it is only a matter of time before its long-cherished wish comes true. War, famine, and political events will all bring temporary difficulties, but the future is bright, and they will always persist in their efforts and be ready to take advantage of every possible opportunity.
Keep the Commandments
Robert Woodruff’s guiding philosophy is anything but complicated. According to his colleagues, he never finished reading a book in his life and was virtually illiterate. His intelligence lies in strategizing and adhering to some of the most basic truths.
Flexible
When it comes to choosing between tradition and change, Coca-Cola’s exposed weakness is its unwillingness to change the status quo. Arthur Cadilla did not remove cocaine from his drinks until 1903. In the 1950s, Woodruff strongly opposed large bottles of Coca-Cola, was unwilling to introduce new flavors, opposed the use of rock music in advertising, and raised retail prices and other imperative reforms. In the 1980s, Robert Gauzut was determined to stimulate this conservative company. He was proven right when he decided to produce Diet Coke. When he encountered difficulties in developing a new formula in 1985, he flexibly adopted the original formula, thereby averting a disaster. Woodroof always said, "The world belongs to those who work hard." But Gauzut said, "We are living nervously."
Don’t use protective and negative advertising
For Pepsi-Cola, comparative advertising has a certain effect, but it may unintentionally promote competitors. Coca-Cola looks foolish every time they take this approach; that includes a positive explanation for the presence of caffeine in Coca-Cola.
Expand operations when necessary
After Robert Gauzut became president of the company in 1981, he immediately expanded his business scope and bought Columbia Pictures, which seemed very influential at the time. However, within ten years, he sold the film company to Sony and obtained considerable profits, and then devoted himself to the beverage business. The Coca-Cola Company's stock increased in value by $735 during the 1980s and split twice in the early 1990s.
Pay attention to the minimum profit
This point of view seems very simple, but no one paid attention to this issue before Gauzut took office. In the competition with Pepsi-Cola, people only pay attention to market share, not market profits. Gauzut discovered that the much-lauded beverage company was actually losing money because it was spending money on five-gallon metal drums.
Intimidate employees
This statement may sound a bit excessive, but successive Coca-Cola CEOs have endorsed an atmosphere of mutual respect and awe. Wasdin said, "An atmosphere of anxiety and tension will make people maximize their potential." Woodruff's word "boss" contains the meaning of awe and respect. Today's Gauzut is a person who pursues perfection, so everyone will be wary in front of him.
Promote managers from within
Coca-Cola's best managers have all worked their way up through the ranks, including serving on corporate committees. They were all indoctrinated with the proverbial Coca-Cola belief. In order to cultivate employees' management skills, the company established a special training workshop. Those who participated in the training were so tired that they had backaches every day on the assembly line.
Every advertisement must achieve a certain purpose
Because Coca-Cola is a very famous trademark, although the change of ingredients in 1985 cost the company four million dollars, it really helped It's a big deal for the company. When the company reintroduced Classic Coke under pressure from consumers, the relaunched Coke greatly outsold PepsiCo in sales. Prior to the launch of the new Coca-Cola, the cola had been losing ground for more than 20 years. Many believe Gauzut, along with others in the company, was behind the entire incident. Don Koff admitted that they were not that smart, but they did know that even negative advertising could ultimately help a reputable product increase sales.
Rational use of cash
In 1923 when Robert. Woodroof was shocked by the amount of debt the company had when he took over, and he later proudly accumulated a large sum of cash. As a result, conservative management has ensured that the company has never had a debt crisis, even during the Reagan administration. During Gozut's reign, the company assumed reasonable debts. Gauzut and the financial wizard Ivest believed that appropriate borrowing made sense if reinvestment could yield larger profits. A simple way is to "repurchase the shares issued by yourself to promote further rise in the stock price."
Establishing a joint venture
Another way to use funds rationally is to get rid of the habit of not owning the stock. The old rules of the assembly factory. After Arthur Cadilla gave up his bottling rights in 1899, the company's main mission was to produce syrup. The lower-margin bottling industry developed. Although the company owns some factories, they are mainly used as a training ground for rotating managers, not as a cash cow. Conventional wisdom holds that independent bottlers are better able to perform their functions. In 1981, Gauzut was forced to break this rule in the Philippines because the Soriano family, which owned the franchise, gave up 70% of the Coke market to PepsiCo. The Coca-Cola Company negotiated the bottling plant by purchasing 30 distribution rights. Nevile Esdell, the Irish president, used traditional incentives and marketing tactics, including military-like confrontation, to defeat Pepsi and double its market share. From then on, Gauzut began to carry out fruitful joint ventures around the world, taking the initiative to join forces with poorly operating bottling plants and injecting money into the vertically integrated beverage system.
Think globally, start with a single step
While Coca-Cola CEOs have scrambled to claim this phrase as their own, it may have come from Gauzut. No matter where it comes from, The Coca-Cola Company shows its wisdom and uses it to guide its operations. For example, in China and Indonesia, the first task is to build infrastructure, build concentration plants, bottle making plants, filling plants, purchase trucks, make sales signs, etc. In American terms, it seems like time has returned to 1905.
The pursuit of magical effects
In the early 1970s, Coca-Cola Company President Wasdin tried to create an impact for Coca-Cola that he called: a "magic effect." He believes the company should take the lead in protecting the environment, improving ethnic relations, establishing model immigration programs and producing nutritious beverages. Although the causes he advocated have achieved little, the company has been pursuing "magic effects" and is still doing something meaningful. In South Africa, the company has established a $10 million "Equal Opportunity Fund" to improve the living conditions of black people. At the same time, the Coca-Cola Foundation in the United States is funding innovative education and environmental protection projects.