The Coca - Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company is a beverage company, manufacturer, distributor, and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups. The company is best known for its flagshipproduct Coca-Cola, invented by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in 1886. The Coca-Colaformula and brand was bought in 1889 by Asa Candler who incorporated The Coca-ColaCompany in 1892. Coca-Cola currently offersmore than 400 brands in over 200 countries or territories and serves 1.6 billion servingseach day. The Coca-Cola Company was originally established in 1891 as the J. S. PembertonMedic ine Company. The company was formed to sell three main products: Pemberton's French WineCola (later known as Coca-Cola), Pemberton's Indian Queen Hair Dye, and Pemberton'sGlobe Flower Cough Syrup. According to the 2005 Annual Report, the company sells beverage products in more than200 countries. According to the 2007 Annual Report, CocaCola had gallon salesdistributed as follows:a.37% in the United Statesb.43% in Mexico, India, Brazil, Japan and the People's Republic of Chinac.20% spread throughout the rest of the worldIn 2010 it was announced that Coca-Cola had become the first brand to top 1 billion inannual UK grocery sales. The CocaCola Company offers nearly 400 brands in over 200 countries, besides itsnames ake Coca-Cola beverage. Tab was Coca-Cola's first attempt to develop a diet soft drink, using saccharin as a sugar substitute. Introduced in 1963, the product is still soldtoday, however its sales have dwindled since the introduction of Diet Coke. The CocaColaCompany also produces a number of other soft drinks including Fanta and Sprite. During the 1990s, the company responded to the growing consumer interest in healthybeverages by introducing several new non-carbonated beverage brands. Theseincl uded Minute Maid Juices to Go, PowerAde sports beverage, flavoured tea Nestea (in a joint venture with Nestle), Fruitopia fruit drink and Dasani water, among others. In2 001, Minute Maid division launched the Simply Orange brand of juices including orange juice. What allows an organization to continue to operate for over 125 years, and along the way,become one of the most globally recognizable brand names?The ability to adapt and find new markets has helped Coca-Cola become an icon of theAmerican culture. CocaCola was invented in 1885 and since The Coca-Cola Companysincorporation in 1892; a strong focus on growth and marketing has existed. Besidestraditional advertisements in the local newspaper, the companys founder, Asa Candler,distributed thousands of coupons for free glasses of Coca-Cola so that many more peoplewould be inclined to taste the product. He also distributed countless souvenirs that depictedthe Coca-Cola trademark logo. By 1900, the organization, already, had operations in theUnited States and Canada. Over time, The Coca-Cola Company has remained adamant about staying in the nonalcoholic beverage industry. Besides soft drinks, The Coca-Cola Company sells energydrinks, juice drinks, sports drinks, tea, and water. The current focus of The CocaColaCompany is still that of growth. The current objective of the organization is to use our formidable assets-brands, financial strength, unrivalled distribution system, global

reach, anda strong commitment by our management and employees worldwide-to achieve long-termsustainable growth. Due to its tall structure, the organization has experienced communication problems. One of the problems discovered through a survey, was that the people and the company lackedclear goals. Tall hierarchies also cause motivation problems, which is why the organization isattempting to get employees more engaged. The increased usefulness of the companysintranet will greatly increase the communication between every level of employees, andallow upper management to effectively communicate to the front line employees. The Coca-Cola Company uses a wide variety of techniques to manage relationships with itsstakeholders, the most useful tool being strategic alliances. A former CEO of theorgani zation claimed that 100 percent of its revenues came from strategic alliances. Thecompany uses exclusive contracts with its bottling partners and other customers as well. In1999, the organization signed a ten-year deal with Burger King to be the restaurants onlysupplier of beverages. Even though PepsiCo was willing to give Wendys a much better deal,the restaurant signed a ten-year deal with The Coca-Cola Company. This example showshow powerful the Coca-Cola brand name really is. The culture of The Coca-Cola organization is mission driven; focused on refreshing themind, inspiring optimism, and making a difference (Thecocacolacompany.com). The richhistory of the organization has allowed the company to compile hundreds of stories of consumers and employees. These stories share real life examples of what CocaColameans to their consumers and gives employees a sense of pride to be a part of somethingthat means so much for so many people. They also inspire new employees to make apositive impact on the world. Stories are so important to The Coca-Cola Company that theycreated a museum in Las Vegas that focuses on the stories of customers.