Advertising (part two) - Famous Ads

While in an airport in 1971, an executive of the agency responsible for the Coca Cola advertising and two songwriters saw many fellow travellers from around the world drinking Coke. This inspired them to create the song “I'd like to buy the world a Coke”. This featured in an infamous ad where people from many cultures are standing on top of a hill singing the song. The advertisements eventual cost was $250,000, an unheard of amount for an advertisement. Campaign magazine labelled it as "one of the best-loved and most influential ads in TV history" in 2007. It became so popular that a band called The New Seekers rereleased it, changing the lyrics so that it became “I’d like to teach the world to sing”. The song became a UK number #1.

In 1995, the companies advertising agency came up with the idea of “Christmas Caravans” – Coca Cola trucks that were illuminated with Christmas bulbs and an image of Santa Claus on the back, so that again Santa Claus would become associated with the brand. They were featured in an ad which now for many people marks the start of Christmas.

Although it fell into disuse in 2001, it was brought back in 2007 to again mark the holidays.

            Other facts about Coca Cola

       Coca Cola was the first ever commercial sponsor of the Olympic Games, starting in Amsterdam in 1928

   

       Coca Cola has sponsored the FIFA World Cup since 1978

       Artists such as Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Elton John and David Bowie have been spokespersons.  

       The brand is worth an estimated $74 billion

       The average person consumes a Coke product every four days

Advertising (part one)

I will be splitting advertising into two posts as there is a lot to cover. Coca Cola is well known for its advertising, and it has evolved a lot since its beginnings.

In the beginning, the first ads were small newspaper ads with no pictures and just font. They advertised the 

Coca Cola fountains, as the bottled product did not exist yet. In the 1900's, the company began using models such as Hilda Clark, to pose for painted ads and to become spokespeople for the brand. During the 1930's, Coca Cola decided to reinvent Santa Claus to use in ads for Christmas. Before the ads for Coca Cola, Santa Claus had been drawn in many different ways, from a priest to an elf. Coca Cola created the symbolic image of a chubby and jolly fatherly figure.

The image was used, along with others, for three decades. Courtesy of http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/heritage/cokelore_santa.html

In 1941, the nickname Coke was endorsed by the company and used as a trademark.

Between the 1960's and the 1980's, the soda became global and spread to 163 different countries. It also began advertising the bottled product rather than fountains which dispensed the beverage.

In 1980, a new type of coke called Diet Coke was released. It is a sugar-free alternative to the original Coca Cola, but uses a completely different formula. Also in 1985, the company attempted to introduce New Coke, which replaced the original formula. This has been known as the Coca Cola Company’s worst marketing mistake ever, and thousands complained. It was launched in April but the company had announced its return to the original formula by May. New Coke was still sold until 2002, but the newly named original Coke, Coca Cola Classic, outsold it significantly.