Coca Cola Case StudyEssay Preview: Coca Cola Case StudyReport this essayThe History:The birth of a refreshing idea best know today and always as Coca-Cola was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 8, 1886. Dr. John Stith Pemberton, a local pharmacist, produced the syrup for Coca-Cola, and carried a jug of the new product down the street to Jacobs Pharmacy, where it was sampled, pronounced “excellent” and placed on sale for five cents a glass as a soda fountain drink. Carbonated water was teamed with the new syrup to produce a drink that was at once “Delicious and Refreshing,” a theme that continues to echo today wherever Coca-Cola is enjoyed.
Thinking that “the two Cs would look well in advertising,” Dr. Pembertons partner and bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson, suggested the name and penned the now famous trademark “Coca-Cola” in his unique script. The first newspaper ad for Coca-Cola soon appeared in The Atlanta Journal, inviting thirsty citizens to try “the new and popular soda fountain drink.” Hand-painted oilcloth signs reading “Coca-Cola” appeared on store awnings, with the suggestion “Drink” added to inform passersby that the new beverage was for soda fountain refreshment. During the first year, sales averaged a modest nine drinks per day.
Dr. Pemberton never realized the potential of the beverage he created. He gradually sold portions of his business to various partners and, just prior to his death in 1888, sold his remaining interest in Coca-Cola to Asa G. Candler. An Atlantan with great business acumen, Mr. Candler proceeded to buy additional rights and acquire complete control. On May 1, 1889, Asa Candler published a full-page advertisement in The Atlanta Journal, proclaiming his wholesale and retail drug business as “sole proprietors of Coca-Cola Delicious. Refreshing. Exhilarating. Invigorating.” Sole ownership, which Mr. Candler did not actually achieve until 1891, cost a total of $2,300.
By 1892, Mr. Candlers flair for merchandising had boosted sales of Coca-Cola syrup nearly tenfold. He soon liquidated his pharmaceutical business and focused his full attention on the soft drink. With his brother, John S. Candler, John Pembertons former partner Frank Robinson and two other associates, Mr. Candler formed a Georgia corporation named The Coca-Cola Company. Initial capitalization was $100,000. The trademark “Coca-Cola,” used in the marketplace since 1886, was registered in the United States Patent Office on January 31, 1893. (Registration has been renewed periodically.) That same year the first dividend was paid; at $20 per share, it amounted to 20 percent of the book value of a share of stock.
The Coca-Cola Company was purchased by Jack L. Pemberton. He and his family emigrated to America in May 1862. In April 1863, Mr. Candler, then a minor in banking, was appointed general manager of Coca-Cola in the company of the George S. C. Moore Company, whose financial affairs had been greatly affected by the sale of the brand’s stock price. Mr. Pemberton, a native of Tennessee, and his wife, Mary, who had been engaged as a governess at Tennessee, purchased a majority of the company for $75,000, and Mr. Candler’s father, George Pemberton, and his family, James and Mary Pemberton, bought the Cokes. The family now owned 20 percent of Coca-Cola. A letter was given to all the stockholders on September 24, 1867: “You have now entered this new business with the intention of acquiring a share of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and thus greatly increasing your interest in the market of the beverage and the general public’s participation. Please grant, with the sincere expectation of great profit and satisfaction, to the interests of the corporation, you and all the members of the Company.” An 1867 letter from Mr for-s/t Thomas Moore describes the results of the sale to Mr. Pemberton and his sons. (Mr. Candler paid a fee of $2,400.) A letter dated October 26, 1867 from a banker to John Candler from Washington, D. C., describes the financial condition of the sale and notes several factors that gave rise to Mr. Pemberton’s immediate desire to become an officer of the company. In his letter, Pemberton describes how he made the sale. He has provided a list of his activities throughout the business. The following table summarizes the financial and material circumstances of the transaction: A
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“Mr. Pemberton and James Moore went on to acquire the company to which Coca-Cola was attached. The company was incorporated on September 5, 1876 by James Moore of Madison. He was born at Jackson, New York. His wife, Mary Marguerite Moore, was educated abroad in Paris. James was graduated from the Eastern University of the University of Paris. He became the first vice-president of the Comte de Lyon of Paris, who, in 1896, led the C.F. L. in circulation in
The Coca-Cola Company was purchased by Jack L. Pemberton. He and his family emigrated to America in May 1862. In April 1863, Mr. Candler, then a minor in banking, was appointed general manager of Coca-Cola in the company of the George S. C. Moore Company, whose financial affairs had been greatly affected by the sale of the brand’s stock price. Mr. Pemberton, a native of Tennessee, and his wife, Mary, who had been engaged as a governess at Tennessee, purchased a majority of the company for $75,000, and Mr. Candler’s father, George Pemberton, and his family, James and Mary Pemberton, bought the Cokes. The family now owned 20 percent of Coca-Cola. A letter was given to all the stockholders on September 24, 1867: “You have now entered this new business with the intention of acquiring a share of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and thus greatly increasing your interest in the market of the beverage and the general public’s participation. Please grant, with the sincere expectation of great profit and satisfaction, to the interests of the corporation, you and all the members of the Company.” An 1867 letter from Mr for-s/t Thomas Moore describes the results of the sale to Mr. Pemberton and his sons. (Mr. Candler paid a fee of $2,400.) A letter dated October 26, 1867 from a banker to John Candler from Washington, D. C., describes the financial condition of the sale and notes several factors that gave rise to Mr. Pemberton’s immediate desire to become an officer of the company. In his letter, Pemberton describes how he made the sale. He has provided a list of his activities throughout the business. The following table summarizes the financial and material circumstances of the transaction: A
L •B
E •
F •
G •
H •
C •
“Mr. Pemberton and James Moore went on to acquire the company to which Coca-Cola was attached. The company was incorporated on September 5, 1876 by James Moore of Madison. He was born at Jackson, New York. His wife, Mary Marguerite Moore, was educated abroad in Paris. James was graduated from the Eastern University of the University of Paris. He became the first vice-president of the Comte de Lyon of Paris, who, in 1896, led the C.F. L. in circulation in
A firm believer in advertising, Mr. Candler expanded on Dr. Pembertons marketing efforts, distributing thousands of coupons for a complimentary glass of Coca-Cola. He promoted the product incessantly, distributing souvenir fans, calendars, clocks, urns and countless novelties, all depicting the trademark.
Protecting a valuable name was not easy the bottlers of Coca-Cola in the early 1900s had their share of challenges. Probably the most persistent and serious was protecting the product and the package from imitation. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but in the business world it can mean the death of a good name.
The never-ending battle against substitution was the major force behind the evolution of the distinctive hobble-skirt bottle. A variety of straight-sided containers was used through 1915, but as soft-drink competition intensified, so did imitation. Coca-Cola deserved a distinctive package, and in 1916, the bottlers approved the unique contour bottle designed by the Root Glass Company of Terre Haute, Indiana. The now-familiar shape was granted registration as a trademark by the U.S. Patent Office in 1977, an honor accorded only a handful of other packages. The bottle thus joined the trademarks “Coca-Cola,” registered in 1893, and “Coke®,” registered in 1945.
The Coca-Cola Company has moved with the times from the late 1940s to the 1970s, the United States, like most of the world, changed at an unprecedented pace. The Coca-Cola Company also experienced its most dramatic changes in marketing and merchandising since the advent of bottling in the late 1890s. World War II had recast the world, and the Company faced a new, more complex global marketplace.
Until the mid-1950s, the world of Coca-Cola was defined by a 6 ½-ounce hobble-skirt bottle or bell-shaped fountain glass. But as consumers demanded a wider variety of choices, the Company responded with innovative packaging, new technology and new products.
In 1955, the Company introduced the 10-, 12- and 26-ounce king-size and family-size bottles, which were immediately successful. Metal cans, first developed for armed forces overseas, were available on U.S. market shelves by 1960. Then, following years of research into plastic soft-drink bottles, the Company introduced PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate)