Tobiloba | Source:
With age as enough of a factor for a 125-year-old plus brand to progressively deteriorate, Coca-Cola still manages to retain appeal.
For a brand that sells more than 1.9 billion products across 200 countries daily, there must be something they are doing differently, right?
No doubt, ambition and flavour may have brought them this far but their consistent corporate reputation and, consumer loyalty cannot be overlooked. Their continuing presence in the market is credited to them prioritising brand over product, and clearly their devotion to understanding human behaviour over the years, which largely exposed them to the intuitive use of messages and visual presentations.
Coca-Cola focuses their attention on improving everyday human experiences through ingenious ads and campaigns intended to evoke strong emotions and spark thirst for the bubbly brown beverage.
One of those unpleasantly humid evenings when I couldn’t wait to get back home, I arrived at my bus stop and this massive coca cola suddenly billboard caught my attention like it hadn’t been there all along. It was an image of a few ladies playing cheerfully in a pool with a man who held tightly to his ice cold bottle of Coke with the message splashed at the bottom that read “Open Happiness”.
The message, as alluring as ever seemed like all I had ever wanted in my life at the time. There was this unanticipated enchantment, I was enthralled and lost in the moment that I bumped into a man on the sidewalk, and knew that very moment that my day would remain unaccomplished without my own bottle of Coke.
They use these visuals to illustrate and demonstrate how Coke can be enjoyed, with whom, where and when; with extremely intentional detailing - the ambience, atmosphere and context, all incorporated into a single presentation.
“They have created satisfaction, given pleasure, inspired imitators and intrigued crooks”
- William C. D’Arcy - 1942.
The feeling you get from every Coca-Cola experience is another important factor they leverage on. However fleeting, the undeniable refreshment from a swig of ice-cold Coke, the feeling of liquefied nostalgia and happiness that accompanies every gulp and the instant relief it delivers is arguably priceless.
Owing to their constant innovation and overture, I think it is safe to say they are very much aware of which emotions to tap into, ones that will bring about the desired response to their advertisement, no wonder experts consider them the trailblazers of successful global marketing and one of the most recognizable brands in the world. They have given pleasure.