It’s hard to believe that this headline is true. Coca-Cola Seeking to Turn Things Around. But, in the COVID-19 era, things are evolving for the firm.
As we reported last year, Coca-Cola was the world’s most chosen brand in 2018. And Kantar recently found that this also occurred in 2020: Coca-Cola remained the most chosen FMCG brand in the world for the eighth year running. The report measures how often consumers choose an item from a particular brand.
Revamp: Coca-Cola Seeking to Turn Things Around
Despite its lofty ranking, Coca-Cola now faces some difficult times. Let’s look at what happened. As well as how the firm is revamping its strategy.
What Happened
According to Jennifer Maloney, reporting for the Wall Street Journal:
“Coca-Cola Co. said it believes the biggest challenges of the pandemic are behind it, despite the current surge in coronavirus cases in many parts of the U.S. [However,] about half of Coca-Cola’s business comes from away-from-home venues—the restaurants, bars, movie theaters and sports stadiums that were shut around the world during the second quarter because of the pandemic.”
“The company’s biggest soda brands — including Coke, Coke Zero Sugar and Sprite — have sold well in grocery stores. But, they have taken a hit from a steep drop-off in soda fountain sales. Meanwhile, smaller soda brands such as Fresca have suffered as retailers narrowed their offerings.”
Coke’s Reaction
Coca-Cola Co. has decided to revise its strategy by modifying both its short-run and long-run plans. E.J. Schultz of Ad Age describes this approach:
“Coca-Cola Co. will slash the number of products it sells and put a new emphasis on marketing efficiency as it tries to recover from what CEO James Quincey described as ‘the toughest and most complex quarter in Coca-Cola history.’”
“The company paused most of its global ad spending as the coronavirus took hold in March and has slowly brought marketing back online in recent weeks. In early July it debuted a new campaign from Anomaly New York that plugs Coke with food, including an ad called The Great Meal, which features at-home dining during the pandemic.”
“Quincey adds that: ‘We are shifting to prioritize fewer but bigger and stronger brands,’ including ‘exiting some zombie brands,’ he said, foreshadowing a move to pare back the amount of products it sells. Of the company’s roughly 400 master brands, ‘more than half are single-country brands with little to no scale,’ accounting for just 2 percent of total company revenues.”