Marketing is life. It reaches everyone.

Seriously. Either you are a recipient of a Marketing Communication, or you help create one. Whether you’re a citizen of the most densely packed city in the world, Manilla, riding a subway in NYC, or walking around the BabEzzouar Trading Center in Algiers, Algeria, marketing messages are going to reach you.

Every country I've traveled to, you see varying user rates of iPhones and Samsung phones, you see whether Amazon has successfully penetrated or not, you even see if Google has a domain name there or not (hint: they usually do). As a marketer, I particularly look out to see if McWorld has penetrated the market, or if the market has pushed back. But one company that is prevalent in literally every country I ever visit, with no fail at all, in which it always receives general love from local consumers, is Coca Cola. They. Are. Everywhere.

Coca Cola is life. It reaches everyone.

Well, almost.

Coca Cola officially does not sell in two countries, and you can probably guess one of them. North Korea, and Cuba. But lets get one thing clear. Just because they aren’t sold there, does not mean the brand is not felt there. You can be darn sure that there are knock-offs, gray markets, and old memorabilia that have slipped their ways into the fabric of society in those two countries.

And mind you, when President Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Un met in Singapore last June, you better believe Coca Cola made its presence felt. Coca Cola created iconic cans with the phrase ’Here’s to peace, hope and understanding,’ written in both English and Korean, and an accompanying hashtag #TastethefeelingofHope, as well as a cartoon animation commemorating it, followed by a Facebook video of people enjoying Coca Cola on the streets in Singapore the day of the event.

Impressive.

Anyways, Coca Cola is everywhere. It’s almost unconditional love. With a deep, rich history of having some incredible marketing campaigns, it’s no wonder that the Atlanta, Georgia brand, founded in 1892, has penetrated literally The World.

Everyone seems to like it. Even if they don’t drink soda, Coca Cola represents something larger. If you drink Coca Cola, part of their value proposition is that you are engaging something greater. It is the quintessential global brand. That thing you’re engaging in is The Global Consumerist Culture. And it’s powerful. And Coca Cola knows it.

Everyone remembers the classic Polar Bear, or the share a coke campaign. There are many more. But if there is a campaign that speaks to the world, emphasis on World, more coherently and concisely then any other, it is Coca Cola’s Open Happiness campaign.

Everyone Speaks Happiness.

Open Happiness. So simple. Two words that speak volumes, intrinsically tied to Coca Cola. That red can and that white writing. It doesn’t matter if you’re in Saigon, Vietnam or Marrakech, Morocco, everyone likes to smile. And everyone knows Coke. It doesn’t take difficulty to understand. It’s just open happiness. That’s it.

They realized the caliber with which they operate. They realized the disproportionate amount of brand recognition that they have (First or Second in the world, Nike and Coca Cola) and they tied something as simple as happiness to itself - mind you, happiness is certainly greater than Coca Cola, but due to its size, tying the two together would at the very least, be logical in terms of the level of grandeur that coca cola represents and the universality of a human emotion like happiness - ultimately creating a meaningful connection between happiness and coke that we all can buy into. It’s not illogical - and that’s why it works.

The commercials that accompanied it, even the mere fact that when you sit down for a break, whether you’re working in Nairobe at a hotel, or a tea plantation in China, or even an investment bank in Tokyo, you’re not upset or angry, you’re usually just looking to relax before you get back into your perpetual business, Coca Cola leveraged all of this.

They created a campaign based off of every single thing that they’ve already created.

That’s insane.

What does it come down to?

Simple. Know your customer, know your competition, know your brand. The Cola Wars have certainly been entertaining, with the two giants trading jabs in advertisements. Pepsi portraying the younger, hip friend that has all the cool songs and dance moves, Coca Cola being … Coca Cola. And this is an important point. Pepsi’s brand identity and position is a repositioning effort based on the #1 Market/Industry Player, while Coca Cola just is Coca Cola, they don’t need to use the competitor and create their brand identity because of them. They are the them . The leader of the pack. No one’s in front of them. The world’s their playground. The Perks of being the best. #win

In fact, The Cola Wars are more of an absolutely admirable effort by Pepsi to retain significant market share and success. It’s strange that Coca Cola and Pepsi are huge global brands - Hats off to Pepsi. Pepsi’s work arguably takes more marketing strategy and work, but Coca Cola is pure genius - never getting old, never going out of style. It’s impressive.

Take phones again. Smart phones are synonymous with modernity, they are the very vision of the future. A stepping point in technology. So it makes sense that Apple and Samsung are at the forefront, and companies like Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, Google’s Pixel, HTC etc. are all valuable in their own right.

But Cola? Cola isn’t a commodity, and it’s not technologically anything. It’s soda. Sugary, bad for your teeth, unhealthy soda. Yet Coca Cola has maintained leadership in the brand value category for decades, and Pepsi in the top 100 year after year - and their flagship products are soda.

It speaks to remarkable branding and marketing efforts. Know your customer, know your competition, know your brand.

The Recipe to Success

Sadly, I am not equipped with their product recipe. Only their marketing recipe. It’s simple.

Know your customer, know your competition, know your brand. Take something simple, like cola in the case of coca cola (or coffee in the case of Starbucks… because lets be real, Starbucks coffee sucks, it’s their marketing that’s so darn impressive - I mean we have to wait a whole year for those awesome Christmas cups. At least theres a cool new app.) dress it up with content creation, give it a cool new packaging and keep it fresh with regular updates, create relationships with your consumer base by using relevant and contemporary media outlets (I see you social media), develop relationships with other businesses, and be original and authentic.

That’s it.

I have always been impressed with Coca Cola’s marketing efforts, and brand identity. It’ll be fun to keep watching them, as their in a league of their own.

Thanks for reading.

Colin the Marketer.