What Makes Coca-Cola the Iconic Brand It Is

A whopping 96% of the global population recognize the Coca-Cola logo. Approximately 10,000 of the brand’s products are consumed every second. Based on these impressive statistics, you might assume that this 140-year-old business would be ahead of the curve when it came to digital transformation. 

However, speaking at a recent marketing conference, Coca-Cola CDO David Godsman revealed that the company had only just embarked on a five-year digital transformation plan. The aim: to overhaul what Godsman described as a ‘traditional brick and mortar business’ into a digital-first business. How was he expecting to achieve this? By focusing on four transformation areas: experience, operations, business and culture. 

According to Godsman, delivering on this meant learning more about customer preferences and behaviours to personalize communications at scale and bring the physical and digital worlds together. 

Coca-Cola has a long, but steady history of business transformation. 

The story 

It took more than 60 years before it began expanding beyond North America. Only when it acquired Minute Maid in the 1960s did it start expanding its portfolio more significantly. 

Following the decision to embark on its digital transformation journey in 2018, the company is delivering on its four key digital transformation areas: 

  1. It’s creating more relevant experiences for consumers 

  2. Using technology and data to improve new processes 

  3. Disrupting its own business operations before others get there first, and  

  4. Transforming its culture from a traditional consumer packaged goods business into a company fit for the digital age 

It’s no mean feat moving from traditional brand and campaign creation into customer experience formation. In Godsman’s words, ‘this is one of the hardest things we will do as a company, in full transparency.’                                                                                                 

When you’re dealing with a brand that reaches around 18% of the world’s population every day, the potential to create more personalised experiences is vast, but also challenging. As Godsman explained: ‘Our consumers are different. They have different behaviours, different preferences… [they] engage with us in very different ways… in mobile, on web, in social, through augmented reality.’ 

The omnichannel experience 

As a result, Coca-Cola has created a unified, omnichannel experience which can reach individuals, regardless of where they live or what language they speak. User-generated content created on digital platforms is also playing a key role in their strategy. On its social media channels, the company has a team of ‘experience makers’ (consumers) happy to share ‘their love and affinity for the brand.’ 

Godsman explained that the future company is ‘a co-creation environment with our consumers,’ reinforcing a plan to continue the digital transformation journey ‘hand in hand’ with loyal customers. 

We, at Hashbrown Systems, have worked over the years with SMEs as well as established brands to create new sources of direct growth in businesses in the present era of digital transformation. 

With our data-centric, cloud-first approach, we have helped businesses derive the benefits of direct savings, waste reduction and a direct increase in sales. 

Contact us to know more about the services we can offer you.