The Coca-Cola brand is one of the world’s most popular and recognizable. Therefore, Coca-Cola management strategy is geared towards the continued success of its famous brand.
Warren Buffett, a key investor in the company, believes that 'no sensible observer... questions that Coca-Cola… will dominate [its field] worldwide for an investment lifetime. Indeed, the dominance will probably strengthen.'
However, despite a strong brand, management of change has been necessary at Coca-Cola. The corporate culture involving a super-brand like Coke can result in managers becoming overconfident in the product as well as the processes and procedures that have built up throughout the company over time. The danger is that the public will simply get bored with the brand.
Therefore, both Coca-Cola management and Coca-Cola strategy have undergone radical changes over the years. When former chief executive Robert Goizueta was at the helm, he demonstrated that the company was earning less than its cost of capital. Therefore, he led Coca-Cola through great change in management structure. By adjusting the way the businesses and managers were assessed and by radically reforming key relationships with Coca-Cola bottlers, Goizueta oversaw a spectacular improvement in performance.
However, over the years the Coca-Cola brand strategy has not always proved successful. The attempted relaunch of the core product as New Coke in the 1980s was a dangerous risk and proved almost calamitous, requiring a complete rethink in Coca-Cola marketing strategy.
The following articles refer to Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola management. Use them to learn from the past of Coca-Cola and the present of Coca-Cola to build a successful future for you and your own organisation.
