You Are the Brand

Coke: It’s the Real Thing

I’m embarrassed to admit it, but it’s true: I can’t live without my Diet Coke. I know it isn’t good for me, and I know I drink too much of it, but I love it. On some level, I guess I’m addicted.This attachment to a carbonated drink has nothing to do with its value as a product, and everything to do with its power as a sustainable brand built on fond memories (of regular Coke until I decided to forgo the calories) and on the ability to live in the collective memory generation after generation. Branding on Memory I buy Diet Coke because it’s part of who I am. Like millions of others , as a little kid I remember saving empty glass Coke bottles and stacking them right next to my baseball card collection. I used them for all sorts of science experiments, including pouring Coke on the bumper of our family car—it wasn’t pretty, but I can still remember how that bottle felt in my hand as I poured out that corrosive liquid. Later, Coke became a part of my social life. I used to hang with my friends at a grocery store in Newark, New Jersey, called Mangano’s.We would sit on the wooden crates that held bottles of Coke as we drank our Cokes and ate our sandwiches (“subs” as we called them). We never drank Pepsi; a few guys drank Dr. Pepper, but most drank Coke. And we weren’t alone. Millions of others became addicted on some level to the whole Coke experience: the taste, the caffeine kick, the shape, the feel of the old glass bottles, and of course later, to the red and silver logo. Coke is part of the narrative of my life—this is what an established brand has going for it—its connection to memories. 51 Coke It’s the Real Thing Adubato_(Brand)_final 4/11/11 11:28 AM Page 51 If you, your product, or your company has been around awhile, there is a lot you can learn from the branding genius and the very memorable mistakes of Coca-Cola. The Genius In 1971, Coca-Cola launched an exceptionally successful advertising campaign built on the slogan: “I’d like to buy the world a Coke.” Filmed on an Italian hilltop with 500 young people smiling and singing, the unifying message of the ads gave Coke a place in the collective memory of the baby-boomer generation. In his book The Care and Feeding of Ideas, Bill Backer recalls the day when his flight to London was grounded due to fog, and he noticed disgruntled passengers calming down and joining each other in friendly conversation as they sipped their Cokes.That was the moment when, as Coke’s creative director, he got the idea to pitch Coke as a bit of “commonality between all peoples, a universally liked formula that would help to keep them company for a few minutes.” And so was born the famous jingle that went 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.”1 This collective memory among such a large chunk of the population positioned Coke as a reliable, dependable, and consistent common core of connection. This theme worked amazingly well for Coke—until somebody decided to try something “new.” The Branding Mistake In the 1980s, Coca-Cola began to lose market share to Pepsi (think the “Pepsi Generation”), so the company decided to modernize the brand—in 1985, “New Coke” was introduced. Taste tests showed that most people liked the taste of New Coke, but consumers reacted to the branding change in a very negative way.They didn’t understand why such a longstanding and successful brand would need to become “new.” What was the matter with old Coke? The marketing geniuses behind the New Coke campaign immediately saw sales drop, and they knew that customer loyalty was in jeopardy .Time for a quick reverse. 52 YOU ARE THE BRAND Adubato_(Brand)_final 4/11/11 11:28 AM Page 52 Just a few months after New Coke hit the shelves, “Coke Classic” made its debut. “Classic” as in “stands the test of time.” “Classic” as in “meeting traditionally high standards.” “Classic” as in “the good stuff you used to like...