This holiday season, we’d like to celebrate Coke. For every marketer,
- Become an asset manager – No brand is more “branded” than Coke. It has built a robust portfolio of assets—the color red, its proprietary bottle shape, its logotype, the polar bears—and it manages them with urgent attention and careful deliberation, building their value over time.
- Commit to consistency – It takes time and repetition to forge a lasting imprint in consumers’ consciousness, and Coke maintains long-term dedication to its campaigns (like “Have a Coke and a Smile”), marketing platforms (like American Idol) and identity elements. Note that, while Pepsi’s logo design has morphed repeatedly, Coke’s logo script has remained virtually unchanged since 1886!
- Honor your past – By definition, an icon is “executed according to a tradition.” Great brands have a reverence for their heritage. Many have a museum like the World of
Coca-Cola in Atlanta. The folks at Coke use its history as a compass and leverage its past in the present, like this reprise of the famous “Mean Joe Greene” ad to launch Coke Zero.
Jim Stengel is a contributor for Forbes.com and president/CEO of The Jim Stengel Company. He was the former Global Marketing Officer of Procter & Gamble, one of the most admired brand-building companies in the world.
More on Journey
- ‘Pop’ Culture: Photography Books Celebrate Coke’s Rich History With Film, Music and Sports
- Coca-Cola for Two: Sharing Can Doubles the Happiness
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