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Coca-Cola Unbottled

Coca-Cola Unbottled looks beyond what’s in the bottle, featuring globally important and topical community and behind-the-scenes Company stories that spark conversations.

Oklahoma Relief Efforts: Employee Shares Katrina Experience in Response

Posted May 24, 2013

I’ve seen the catastrophic devastation caused by a natural disaster with my very own eyes. Having lived in New Orleans all of my adult life – I was there for Juan, Camille and Andrew…but none of them prepared me for Katrina. We usually stay and hunker down during hurricanes because of that gnawing natural instinct to secure and protect your home and your neighborhood. But then it happens. Disaster strikes and it strikes hard. Your preparation efforts seem futile in the eyes of Mother Nature. During Katrina, we left for safety in Baton Rouge early on the Sunday morning before landfall. The Saturday after the storm, I returned to my flooded house via boat with an armed sheriff’s deputy (the city was still inaccessible to residents) to salvage some clothes for my children. Upon reaching my house, I floated over my 8 foot fence and then climbing onto my 2nd floor balcony. My neighborhood was still swamped with 12 feet of chemical-filled, sewage laden, salt water that created an unbelievable stench of destruction. Katrina had destroyed my house, my neighborhood, all my family belongings and my city. We relocated to Jackson, MS, temporarily and later moved back home to a historic New Orleans home having rebuilt and sold our Katrina flooded house. During that time, you struggle with understanding the how and the why, and even more with the “what’s next?” Through that despair and confusion there is hope. Hope in humanity and the perseverance to rebuild your hometown better than it was before the disaster. It is during times of turmoil that you see some of the best in people. All of us from different backgrounds but united in the desire to survive, rescue, relieve and just make it another day. One thing that never ceases to amaze me is the incredible job our system does responding to the needs of the communities we serve in times of natural disaster. The system was there for us in Louisiana and even hundreds of miles away – we are supporting the affected communities in Oklahoma. I know that whether through the $100,000 Foundation grant to American National Red Cross or the countless pallets of product, our colleagues and associates are at the ready. Ready to lend a hand to hold, provide shelter to protect and any and everything in between. Oklahoma, our minds and prayers are with you. Kel Villarubia is Director of Public Affairs at The Coca-Cola Company in Louisiana.More StoriesDisaster Relief & RecoveryHurricane Sandy Relief Inspires Coke AssociatesCoca-Cola China System Sends Aid to Sichuan Earthquake VictimsOne Partnership Alters Outlook of Devastated Sri Lankan Community Read More...

Want to Work in Social Media at Coke?

Posted May 22, 2013

Here’s your chance. Social media is essential to our business, as The Coca-Cola Company has stated many times like here and here and here. Our brands, local markets and the global corporate team all use social as part of their integrated communications plan and with our new website, Coca-Cola Journey, taking part in social conversation is at the core of our online presence. For those of you who find yourself tracking social trends, following issues and identifying influencers, we may just have the job for you. We are growing our social marketing team and building a brand new program. You want to be part of a change at Coke? And make an impact at the Company? We have three contract positions open: 1 Social Analyst1 Social Listener1 Social Listener/ Designer If you’re interested and want more information, we need you to contact us via Twitter (what’s more appropriate than communicating through social media?). Find us at @CocaColaCo and @ mention us stating you are interested in one of the three open social media contract positions. Make sure you follow us, so we can direct message you in response. Questions? Use the comments below. We hope to hear from you on Twitter soon! Mallory Perkins is Social Media Analyst at The Coca-Cola Company.More Job StoriesWorking at Coke: Are You Interested in Reading About Cool Jobs at Coca-Cola? Why Work at The Coca-Cola CompanyApplicant HelpInternship Opportunities Read More...

EKOCYCLE™ Awards $200,000 Grant to Kick Start Recycling in New York

Artist will.i.am and blogger Gala Darling

Posted May 22, 2013

For many Americans, recycling at home is easy: place the recyclable material in the appropriate bin, tie up the bag when the bin is full, and put the bag outside for collection. Recycling is not so easy, however, for the millions of Americans who live in large, multi-family buildings. For example, in the South Bronx – which has the lowest recycling rates of any New York City neighborhood – buildings rarely possess the adequate signage, recycling bins, and layout that would enable building residents to recycle more easily. Last week, will.i.am and Bea Perez, The Coca-Cola Company’s Chief Sustainability Officer, observed this problem firsthand when they visited the South Bronx and announced the first-ever grant from EKOCYCLE. The obstacles to recycling in multi-family buildings in the South Bronx are significant. In the building that will.i.am and Bea visited, recycling is complicated for residents living on its five floors. First they must carry their recycling downstairs -- there is no elevator. Then they exit the building one way and re-enter through another door -- hopefully remembering to bring the right key. After walking through another area of the building, they finally enter the laundry room and place the materials in recycling bins with outdated signage. This time-consuming process would be daunting for even the most committed recycler and helps explain the South Bronx’s low recycling rates. The new EKOCYCLE grant to Sustainable South Bronx, the organization which I serve as Executive Director, seeks to address this challenge by supporting a pilot project to identify new approaches to the obstacles limiting recycling in multi-family buildings. Sustainable South Bronx, the New York City Department of Sanitation and partners associated with the EKOCYCLE initiative will implement the new program. Combining elements of infrastructure, education and personnel, the program will drive increased recycling rates in four buildings owned by the Highbridge Community Development Corporation, a leading nonprofit housing organization in the South Bronx. The project’s overall goals are to: Develop a model that addresses barriers to recycling in large multi-family housing which can be replicated in urban areas throughout the U.S.Identify best practices for engaging local stakeholders in increasing recycling ratesContribute to New York City’s overall goal of raising recycling rates by 2017 While getting a firsthand look at the lack of recycling infrastructure, will.i.am and Bea also had the opportunity to connect with the local residents. As it happens, the basement of the building they visited houses the offices and rehearsal spaces of a youth music education organization called Highbridge Voices. The EKOCYCLE visit to the South Bronx ended with the Highbridge Voices choir singing songs from its repertoire and asking will.i.am about his work and life. Engaging community residents is essential for the success of this program. Spending time with the young people of Highbridge Voices was the perfect way to start a new EKOCYCLE program that has the potential to have a major impact on the future of recycling in both the South Bronx and the nation. Michael Brotchner is Executive Director of Sustainable South Bronx.More will.i.am and EKOCYCLE stories:Coca-Cola and will.i.am's EKOCYCLE Launch Party in New YorkCoke, will.i.am Celebrate New Beginnings at Exclusive NYC Eventwill.i.am, Coke and EKOCYCLE Add Four New Brand PartnersAn End is a Cool, New Start: will.i.am and The Coca-Cola Company Recharge Recycling with Launch of Lifestyle Brand EKOCYCLE Read More...

Twitter Chat This Thursday, May 23 at 11 a.m. ET: Connecting India and Pakistan Through #SmallWorldMachines

Posted May 21, 2013

Coca-Cola has always tried to create more happiness in people’s lives. Coke was first served at the soda fountain, the most popular social space of its day. We know that connecting with other people is the greatest driver of human happiness. Earlier this year, in collaboration with our teams in India and Pakistan, and creative partner @LeoBurnett, we created a special experience to show the power of connection: #smallworldmachines. Set up in New Delhi and Lahore, our first-ever small world machines bridged real people, real-time, to exchange greetings, engage in fun interactions, and share a Coca-Cola. Unique technology enabled the experience. Our greatest challenge was making sure the technology would work. Yet our greatest success was in how transparent the technology became – just a means to a connection between two groups of people who want more positive exchange Small world machines celebrates the simplest of connections, like a joyful wave to someone far away. But it also celebrates a more universal truth: we are all connected, and what we have in common is, and will always be, more powerful than what divides us. Please join me in a live Twitter chat to ask questions about #smallworldmachines, and discover more about how we brought them to life, what we learned and experienced along the way, and what might be next…. How do you participate? Sign in to your Twitter account by 11 a.m. ETFollow @CocaColaCoSearch the hashtag #smallworldmachines to follow the conversationTweet your questions to @CocaColaCoBe sure to use the hashtag #smallworldmachines in your tweets Share your questions in the comments below, and join us in the conversation on Thursday. See you then. :) Jackie Jantos Tulloch is global creative director at Coca-Cola, and led the #smallworldmachines project. Follow her at @laneythecat.Haven't seen the Small World Machines video yet? Get ready to smile: Read More...

Empowering Women at Scale Requires a Strong Business Case and Partnership

Posted May 17, 2013

Coca-Cola, like many other businesses, recognises that our business growth journey in emerging economies will only be sustainable if the benefits of growth reach all members of society, especially those who traditionally have been marginalised, including women and young people. As a business, we believe that there is no better investment than women, both to spur our own business success and to foster broad-based economic growth and sustainable development. At a business level, women in our value chain make a vital contribution to our success. By investing in their success we invest in ours. There is also a compelling development case. Women often demonstrate greater propensity to save and re-invest in the long-term success of their businesses, increasing job opportunities and generating more stable incomes for themselves and their workforce. Studies also show that women are much more likely to reinvest their income on food, education and healthcare for their children and families. In many of the communities we operate in, we know that the barriers to women succeeding in business can be particularly acute, including a lack of access to education, business skills, finance and peer group mentors. So in 2010, we launched 5by20, the Coca-Cola Company’s global commitment to enable the economic empowerment of 5 million women entrepreneurs across the company’s value chain by 2020. Through 5by20, we contribute by providing women entrepreneurs in our value chain with access to financing, business skills development and mentoring. We can’t do this alone. For us, collaborating with NGO partners, government and civil society are essential to sustaining and scaling 5by20. Through partnership, we benefit from complementary expertise and can create opportunities for women entrepreneurs to increase their business and vocational skills, widen their revenue streams, achieve economies of scale and improve operational efficiencies and financial management.. Funding partners, primarily organisations like IFC, enable us to scale up action to address financing gaps facing women, by bringing together commercial lenders, IFC and Coca-Cola system partners. Our partnership with IFC’s “Banking on Women” initiative illustrates the opportunity. In Nigeria, this partnership has brought together Access Bank, IFC and the Nigerian Bottling company. Under the terms of the initiative, Access Bank is able to provide loans, with reduced collateral requirements and more favourable terms due to reduced customer acquisition costs, and by leveraging IFC’s $100 million risk sharing facility, which both underwrites the risk of lending and funds business skills training. The bottler recruits customers, provides customer intelligence and credit histories, and partners with Access Bank to help enforce payments. This approach offers significant opportunities to scale and is financially self-sustaining. To sustain and scale this initiative, our focus continues to be on integrating 5by20 in to our core business, and on partnering with organisations, who share the same level of ambition, to create a supportive ecosystem that allows women to achieve their full potential. Susan Mboya is Group Director, Women’s Economic Empowerment, Eurasia and Africa Group, The Coca-Cola Company This post was originally shared on the Business Fights Poverty blog here. To learn more about 5by20, please visit 5by20.com. Click here to view a complete summary and to hear the audio from the panel. More 5by20 Stories:Building Stronger Businesses, Families and Communities One Women at a Time: A 5by20 InfographicTwitter Chat Recap: Coke and Women's Empowerment5by20: Success StoriesEntrepreneurship for Rural WomenCoke Brings 5by20 Initiative to ChinaPartners of Women in Business: IFC and 5by20 Join Forces Read More...

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