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MARKETING STRATEGY
Coca-Cola Company outlines its 2023 global marketing strategy
By our News Team | 2023
‘Fast’, ‘adaptable’ and ‘flexible’ will be key to success in an unpredictable world, company CEO tells investors and financial analysts.
Soft-drink giant Coca-Cola will continue to be “fast and adaptable” with its marketing spend for 2023, company Chairman and CEO, James Quincey, said during a call on Tuesday (14 February) with investors, financial analysts and media.
Global unpredictability made it imperative that the company be able to adapt its strategy and spending at short notice, he emphasised.
But the approach will be flexible, not cautious, with the Coca-Cola Company continuing its strategy of the past two years to increase its marketing investment where necessary in order to promote long-term growth.
Photo by SJ Objio on Unsplash
“Instead of trying to forecast and predict the many directions things could move, we are focused on delivering on our key objectives,” Quincey said.
“Firstly, pursuing excellence globally and winning locally through relentless consumer-centricity to continue the top-line momentum; secondly, investing for the long-term health of the business and raising the bar across all elements of our strategic flywheel; thirdly, generating US dollar EPS (earnings per share growth) growth to deliver value for our shareholders.”
The increased ‘consumer-centricity’ ideal dates back to 2021, when Coca-Cola unveiled a new marketing model to “transform and modernise” the brand. The transformation included a complete overhaul of its agency structure, with new appointments across creative, media and strategy.
Part of the 2023 plan is to deepen relationships with consumers through digital experiences and to leveraging data insights to better understand consumers and segment the market.
Driving engagement through linked occasions and passion points
“Our new marketing model is working with linked occasions and passion points to drive engagement,” Quincey stated.
“We’re experimenting to optimise marketing. This is driving deeper connections with consumers, reaching them in unique and new ways. We are tying our beverages to consumption occasions and engaging consumers through local experiences.”
One such example, he said, was in Brazil, where the brand’s live music strategy created memorable in-person and digital experiences, elevating consumer engagement.
“We partnered with Rock in Rio, one of the biggest music festivals in the world, and created new opportunities for consumers to access content through livestreams and in the Metaverse.
As a result, we boosted our reach for approximately 700,000 attendees to more than 45-million consumers across the region, and our sales inside the festival increased 23% versus the last festival.”
According to Quincey, another example was in India. The Thums Up Stump Cam was a never-before-seen activation for cricket fans, where consumers could scan a QR code on a product label and get access to exclusive match moments of the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup through a camera installed on one of the wickets.
Thums Up is an Indian-based cola brand owned by the Coca-Coca Company.
“Throughout the 45-day tournament, we used first-party data and artificial intelligence to send personalised content to consumers based on their favourite matches, and we amplified the experience through sports influencers,” Quincey explained.
“This campaign showed strong results, with Thums Up growing volume ahead of our total sparkling portfolio in India during the activation period, contributing to strong volume growth for Thums Up for the full year.”
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