leave his name, this is how he became to be known as "Mr. Anonymous."
Woodruff introduced the six bottle carton in 1923. He also made Coca-Cola
available through vending machine in 1929, that same year, the Coca- Cola
bell glass was made available. He started advertising on the radio in the
1930s and on the television in 1950. Currently Coca-Cola is advertised on
over five hundred TV channels around the world. In 1931, he introduced the
Coke Santa as a Christmas promotion and it caught on. Candler also
introduced the twelve ounce Coke can in 1960. The Coca-Cola contour bottle
was patented in 1977. The two liter bottle was introduced in 1978, the
same year the company also introduced plastic bottles.
Woodruff did have one dubious distinction, he raised the syrup prices for
distributors. But he improved efficiency at every step of the
manufacturing process. Woodruff also increased productivity by improving
the sales department, emphasizing quality control, and beginning
large-scale advertising and promotional campaigns. Woodruff made Coke
available in every state of the Union through the soda fountain. For all
of these achievements he earned the name, "The Boss".
In 1985, the Coca-Cola Company made what has been known as one of the
biggest marketing blunder. The Coca-Cola company stumbled onto the new
formula in efforts to produce diet Coke. They put forth 4 million dollars
of research to come up with the new formula. The decision to change their
formula and pull the old Coke off the market came about because taste
tests showed a distinct preference for the new formula. The new formula
was a sweeter variation with less tang, it was also slightly smoother.
Robert Woodruff's death was a large contributor to the change because he
stated that he would never change Coca-Cola's formula. Another factor that
influenced the change was that Coke's market share fell 2.5 percent in
four years. Each percentage point lost or gain meant 200 million dollars.
A financial analyst said, "Coke's market share fell from 24.3 percent in
1980 to 21.8 percent in 1984". This was the first flavor change since the
existence of the Coca-Cola company. The change was announced April 23,
1985 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at the Lincoln Center. Some two
hundred TV and newspaper reporters attended this very glitzy announcement.
It included a question and answer session, a history of Coca-Cola, and
many other elements(Oliver 131). The debut was accompanied by an
advertising campaign that revived the Coca-Cola theme song of the early
1970s, "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke". The Jingle read like this: I'd
like to teach the world to sing In perfect harmony. I'd like to buy the
world a Coke And keep it company.
The change to the world's best selling soft drink was heard by 81 percent
of the United States population within twenty-four hours of the
announcement. Within a week of the change, one thousand calls a day were
flooding the company's eight hundred number (1-800-GET-COKE). Most of the
callers were shocked and/or outraged, many said that they were considering
switching to Pepsi. Within six weeks, the eight hundred number was being
jammed by six thousand calls a day. The company also fielded over forty
thousand letters, which were all answered and each person got a coupon for
the new Coke. A retired Air Force officer, explained in a letter to the
Coca-Cola company that he wanted to be cremated and interred in a Coke
can, but now that this change had come about he was reconsidering.
Sharlotte Donneally, a thirty-six year old anthropologist said, "I hate
the new stuff". Wendy Koskela, a thirty-five year old vice president of an
insurance company said, "It's too sweet. It tastes like Pepsi." She also
stated, "Real Coke had punch. This taste almost like it's flat". Many
American consumers of Coca-Cola asked if they would have the final say.
When Pepsi heard that the Coca-Cola company was changing its secret
formula they said that it was a decision that Pepsi tastes better. Roger
Enrico, the president and CEO of Pepsi-Cola wrote a letter to every major
newspaper in the U.S. to declare the victory, the letter read like this:
It gives me great pleasure to offer each of you my heartiest
congratulations. After eighty-seven years of going at it eyeball to
eyeball, the other guy just blinked. Coca-Cola is withdrawing their
product from the marketplace, and is reformulating brand Coke to be more
like Pepsi...There is no question the long-term market success of Pepsi
has forced this move...Maybe they finally realized what most of us have
known for years, Pepsi tastes better than Coke. Well, people in trouble
tend to do desperate things...and we'll have to keep our eye on them. But
for now, I say, victory is sweet, and we have earned a celebration. We're
going to declare a holiday on Friday.
Coca-Cola officials said, "The new formula will boost Coke's share by 1
percent. That is worth 200 million dollars a year." Coca-Cola management
had to decide: Do nothing or "buy the world a new Coke". They decided to
develop the new formula. Roberto Goizueta, the president of the Coca-Cola
Company stated, "The old Coke formula, with its secret flavoring
ingredient, called Merchandise 7X, will stay locked in the Trust Company
of Georgia bank vault in Atlanta, never to be used again". This is what
many Coke officials said, "This is the most significant soft drink
development in the company's history".
The change back to the old Coke was known as the Second Coming. Roberto
Goizueta said, "Today, we have two messages to deliver to the American
consumer, first, to those of you who are drinking Coca-Cola with its great
new taste, our thanks...But there is a second group of consumers to whom
we want to speak to today and our message to this group is simple: We have
heard you". On July 10, 1985, eighty-seven days after the new Coke was
introduced, the old Coke was brought back in addition to the new one. This
was greatly due to dropping market share and consumer protest. The market
share fell from a high of 15 percent to a low of 1.4 percent.
Roberto Goizueta and Donald Keough took full blame for this failed product
launch. Don Keough, Coca-Cola president, said in response to the comeback,
"The truth is we are not dumb and we are not that smart". Roberto
Goizueta's response when the change about, "We have heard you". This was
said to be a classic marketing retreat. Coca-Cola executives admitted that
they had goofed by taking the old Coke off the market. One old Coke
loyalist said, "The company had spoiled the taste of its ninety nine year
old soft drink and betrayed a national trust". Ike Herbert, a Coke
marketer said, "You would have thought we had invented a cure for cancer".
The Coca-Cola company's eight hundred number received eighteen thousand
calls of gratitude. One caller said they felt like a lost friend had
returned home. The comeback of old Coke drove stock prices to the highest
level in twelve years. This was said to be the only way to regain the lead
on the cola wars.
In 1979, fifteen hundred employees moved to the new corporate headquarters
in Atlanta located on North Avenue. The new corporate headquarters came to
be known as "The Tower." During the time when the research for the new
formula was taking place, it was known as "The Bunker". The known
ingredients in present day Coca-Cola are water. caffeine, phosphoric acid,
vanilla, various oils and essences and extracts of the coca leaf and the
kola nut. The one in four hundred part of cocaine was removed from
Coca-Cola in 1903. Five years after the infamous Coke fiasco, the
Coca-Cola company tried to bring back the reformulated Coke. The effort to
bring Coke II into the soda market was quite unsuccessful.
During the Woodruff era, Mr. Woodruff made a promise to the armed forces
of the United States to supply Coca-Cola to every serviceperson. He said
that costs and location did not matter, he supplied 5 billion bottles to
the service. In the mid-1970's, more than half Coca-Cola sold was outside
of the U.S. Coca-Cola products outsell closest competitor by more than two
to one. One in every two colas and one in every three soft drinks is a
Coca-Cola product. The best known trademark in the world is sold in about
one hundred and forty countries to 5.8 billion people in eighty different
languages. This is why Coca-Cola is the largest soft drink company in the
world.
Coca-Cola is worth more than 58 billion dollars on the stock market. For
more than 65 years, Coca-Cola has been a sponsor of the Olympics. The 1996
Summer Olympics were held in Atlanta, Georgia, the home of Coca-Cola. One
great thing that the Coca-Cola company has is helping the people of
Atlanta. They accomplish this through scholarships, hotlines, donations
and contributions, etc. Another large accomplishment that the Coca-Cola
has, is being the first company to make and use recycled plastic bottles.
One way to see all of the achievements of the Coca-Cola company is to
visit the World of Coke in Atlanta. It houses a collection of memorabilia,
samples of the products, exhibits, and many other exciting items. All of
what has been said is the basis of what Coca-Cola was built on. Without
societies help, Coca-Cola could not have become over a 50 billion dollar
business. Keep on consuming the world's favorite soft drink, Coca-Cola.
