In 1884, pharmacist John Stith Pemberton made a beverage called wine and cocaine called Pemberton's French Wine Coca, called “cocawine”. In 1885, the city of Atlanta and surrounding Fulton Countyintroduced an alcoholban, so Pemberton set about developing a non- alcoholic, carbonated version.
The new drink was first sold on May 8, 1886, at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta. The drink, originally sold as a medicinal preparation, was sold at a price of five cents per glass, as at that time in Americait was believed that carbonated drinks were used for health.Pemberton claimed that Coca-Cola is a cure for several diseases, including morphinism, indigestion, neurasthenia, migraines, and impotence.
The first advertisement for the new beverage appeared in the Atlanta Journal on May 29, 1885.During the first eight months, an averageof nine servings of Coca-Cola were sold per day.
The Coca-Cola logo and early soft drink advertisements are associated with the name of Frank Mason Robinson,secretary, and accountant of the Pemberton Chemical Company, the first advertisement and the Coca-Cola logo appeared in newspapers in 1887.
Coca-Cola was first sold in a bottle on March 12, 1894. The first boxed Coca-Cola appeared in 1955.
In the image above we can see the evolution of the Coca-Cola logo. Throught the centuries, the Coca-Cola logo has changed several times. Firstly they added some swirls to the writing to make it more dramatic. After a century, they changed the font, and they stopped using the bellsfrom “C”. The next change,was to apply “Trademark Registered” on the tail of the first “C”. Several versions later, the logo get some simple colour. The brand painted the logo red and white, which was simple, yet very attractive to the eye of the customers. The logo had many variations, adding different labels, prints and design, but with the popping colour and style, it remainsrecognisable.
In 1899, the brand began to be printed on glass, because the bottles were kept in ice, which melted and detached the label. The only way to highlight this drink was to make a bottle so unique that it could be recognized even in the dark, just by holding it in your hand, or touching the bottle.
~ the evolution of the Coca-Cola bottle~
In recent years, Coca-Cola creators have designed campaigns around universal values such as family and happiness, and more recently, they focus on human and community solidarity and the need to protect the environment.
If it’s December, it’s Santa, and if it’s Santa, it’s Coca Cola.
The figure of the legendary figure is now almost merged with the name andimage of the soft drink company.
St. Nicholas existed in the public consciousnesslong before the Coca-Cola campaign: but at that time he was still in a variety of attire: in a fur coat, or in a big brown coat, sometimes in a purple or even a red dress. Reindeer first appeared next to Santa Claus in 1821, following a poem by Willian Gilley, and then in 1822, in a poem by Clement Clarke Moore,the legendary figure appeared in a red dress.
Subsequently, the XIX. the figure of Santa Claus spread, but still in a very changing form: sometimes as a tiny figure, sometimes as a skinny adult, sometimes in the chubby form we are now accustomed to. On several postcards, engravings depicted as the children favourite bearded old man, who was wearing a red dress more and more often, but it was not yet widespread.
Coca-Cola Company with Santa Claus’s marketing campaign has changed the Christmas season all over the world!
The story of Coca Cola and Santa Claus began in the 1930s, when the growing soft drink factorywanted to increase sales in the winter, an otherwise less successful period. Haddon Sundblom, the discovery of advertising graphics, gave birth to the first joint appearance of Coca-Cola and Santa Claus, which aimed to connect the Christmas mood and Coca-Cola andattract the attention of children.
Why did I choose Coca Cola?
Because I think they had a brilliant campaign reaching all ages and including all the socio- cultural events of the world! He took advantage of any festivity or disaster to make his productknown. They had only one purpose in upsetting or rejoicing anyonewho drank Coca-Cola. They even took advantage of the world wars to increase their sales and campaign!
Controversial ads
Coca-Cola has stopped using polar bears in its commercials because there are those who think this is anattack on “whiteness”. Lots of negative comments on Coca-Cola’s facebook page.
Meanwhile in Hungary, a Coca- Cola advertising pro LGBTQ+ causes outrageand scandal.
Another less happy event for Coca-Cola was 2021 summer when Cristiano Ronaldo in the press conference at Euro 2020 got his hands on the 2 bottles of Coca-Cola, moved them and exclaimed ACQUA. INSTANTLY, the actionsof the Coca-Cola giant have decreased, and from events like this we see that a character can increase sales, and at the same time on a negativething to decrease them.
This gesture cost Coca-Cola over 4 billion dollars on StockMarket.
Pepsi mainly aimedat young people, promoting the young, fun spirit, using the image of celebrities to promote its products. Pepsi tries to attract as many young people as possible, compared to Coca-Cola who addresses consumers with more conservative, classicalconcepts.
Coca-Cola has used the same logo and the same bottle since 1916, Pepsi instead adopted the change, the variety. Both products represent a brand at national and international level, the marketing activity carried out by them being very complex.
I believe that both Coca- Colaand Pepsi have managed to target their audience effectively. The
mission of the Coca-Cola Company is to bring a minute of pleasure to people all over the world, to give them a refreshing taste, to refresh the body, mind and spirit of consumers, to inspire moments of optimism
through its products and actions, to create value andbring about change wherever it is present.Coca-Cola enters the lives of millions of people every day. From special occasions to special moments in everyday life, Coca-Cola is with them. This was a great success because through their changing campaigns, being on the market for a long time, it entered the people's subconscious. Coca-Cola is the drink that is always found in people's homes for the holidays, because it is already associated with it.
Pepsi targets youth, fun, and adrenaline, which is achieved through celebrities chosen as advertising. They noticed which celebrities have the greatest influence on young people, and they ran energy and modern campaigns. At most festivals, concerts and youth events the soft drink is Pepsi.
An Army of Celebrity Endorsers
Here is a partial list ofcelebrities that have endorsed asugary drink brand in the last8 years.
RESEARCH - SOURCES:
7. https://www.marketingweek.com/coca-cola-champions-digital-backbone-in-global- campaign-celebrating-100-years-of-its-contour-bottle