Exploring the History of The Coca-Cola Company: A Business Case Study

This case study examines the history and evolution of The Coca-Cola Company, starting from its origins in 1886 with John Pemberton to its current status as a global beverage giant. It highlights key milestones such as Asa Griggs Candler's leadership, the development of the iconic contour bottle, and the company's expansion through strategic licensing agreements and acquisitions. The study also addresses challenges and controversies faced by Coca-Cola, including allegations of human rights violations and environmental concerns. Furthermore, it explores the company's marketing strategies, product diversification, and initiatives like the "Open Happiness" campaign, showcasing Coca-Cola's enduring impact on the beverage industry and its adaptation to changing consumer preferences and market dynamics. The case study concludes by emphasizing Coca-Cola's continuous efforts to innovate and address social and environmental responsibilities while maintaining its position as a leading global brand.

History of the Coca Cola Company.
Coca Cola Company is an American Corporation which was founded in the year 1982.
The company was engaged in manufacturing and it handled the sales of syrup. Coca Cola is one
of the sweetened beverage with certain American tastes. The company has been able to produce
and sell other soft drinks that were made out of citrus. There are more than 2800 products which
are in 200 countries and it is one of the largest manufacturers in US. The company originated in
1886 and Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton, was the head of the company. He was originally
seen to tout his drink as one of the tonic for common ailments which was based on cocaine that
was derived from its leaves and caffeine rich extracts. He then started selling the syrup for the
local soda fountains with proper advertisements about the drinks and it became successful. By
the time of 1891, there was other Atlanta pharmacist, Asa Griggs Candler, who took the
complete security of the business.
Under the leadership of Candler, the sales was seen to be rising from 9000 to 370877
gallons from 1890 to 1900. In 1984, there was a major demand of Coca Cola and the people
involved in marketing wanted to profit by selling the beverage. And so, for this, Joseph
Biedenharn also installed the other different bottling machineries in Mississippi soda foundation
which was first to Coca Cola in bottles. The larger scale bottles were made just 5 years later in
1899 with three enterprising businessman in Chattanooga. They also secured the rights to bottle
and then sell it. They purchased it for just $1.
The biggest challenge for the bottlers was the limitation that was in relation to the
presence of competitors in the market competitors and the lack in packaging consistency. The
bottlers then agreed that there has been a complete distinctive beverage which is for the
standardized bottle and in 1916, the bottlers also approved for the unique contour bottle. The

bottle was distinctive that one could easily recognize it in the dark that helped in setting the
brand above the competitors. The contouring of the bottle was then trademarked in 1977. Over
the time, the company has been a major inspiration for the artists in the globe with sampling that
could be viewed in Atlanta. The first marketing efforts in history were seen to be executed
through the coupons that were promoting the free samples for different beverages. There were
plants for making the syrup in LA and Philadelphia, and the product was sold to the US states
and territory along with in Canada. The company further signed the first agreement with the
bottling companies, along with allowing to buy the syrup with producing and bottling the Coca-
Cola drink. The drink has been inspiration for the artists with sampling that could be viewed at
the world in Atlanta.
The marketing efforts included the distribution of promotional items which were bearing
Coca-Cola script for participating in pharmacies. The licensing agreements are seen to be formed
on the basis of distribution with characterizing the American soft drink industry. The
capitalization of the company was at $100000 in 1892 at the time of incorporation and the
company was further sold in 1919 for an amount of $25 million to different investor group. This
was led by the other businessman named Ernest. His son was the heir and became the president
for the time of three and more decades. With post World War II, there have been times of
diversification, where the company tried to differ on packaging for a better acquisition
development of new products.
In 1892, Candler set out for incorporating the second company with focusing on the
earliest current records. The loosely termed contract was proving to be a problem for Coca Cola
Company where the legal matters were not helped by decisions of the bottlers to the subcontract,
with effectively becoming the parent bottlers. In 20th century, there were longest running

commercials about Coca Cola soda with amid much publicity attempted to change formula of
drink with “New Coke”. One can follow-up taste where the tests revealed the customers about
preferring the taste for both Coke and Pepsi. The company had also given in to protest and return
to a variation for the old formula using the higher fructose corn syrup rather than of the can sugar
which is one of the main sweetener as well.
The trademark of “Coke” was introduced for advertisements in 1941 and it was further
registered in the year 1945. In 1946, the company was able to purchase the rights for Fanta
which was a soft drink of Germany. The introduction was in 1916 and the registration was done
in 1960. The purchases are made for Minute Maid Corporation in 1960 and the company was
able to enter the market of citrus juice which was added as a brand Fresca in the year 1966.
In the year 1978, Coca Cola was able to allow to sell the cold packaged beverages for the
People’s Republic of China. It was seen that the product was introduced with the low calorie and
the sugar free soft drink. In 1985, there was a change in the company which, further referred it to
as New Coke. Coca Cola was able to revive the original flavor with the marketing done under the
Coca Cola Classic where the company was able to hold a controlled interest in Columbian
Pictures Industries Inc. Further, the new markets were opened for the company in 1990 and then
it began to sell the products in Germany and India in 1990 & 1993 respectively. There were
partial introduction about how the bottles were made from the repaired/recycled plastic which
was one of the major innovation towards the industrial growth.
The company was able to create different beverages which included the Asian markets
for the children fruit drinks with Powerade sports drink and the bottled water. The company was
also able to acquire the root beer of Barq which is in US, with Limca in India and Cadbury
beverages etc., which were seen to be selling in 120 countries or so. Considering the growth of

the company, it was seen that there were products which were intended to be advertised and then
selling it as a beverage for the regular customers. There are uses of merchandising in the use of
advertising strategy and then Coca Cola was able to claim that there were 60% of the market
share setup as well.
In the early times of 2000s, Coca Cola had to face certain allegations for the illegal soil
and the pollution of water and allegations of the violations in human rights. The International
Labor Rights Fund filed a lawsuit which was against Coca Cola and then there were primary
bottlers of beverages in Latin America. One could claim about the defendants who were engaged
in “death squads” for intimidating, kidnaping and murdering the officials in Latin America.
There are controversies which have been able to gain a complete attention for leading and the
company is working with the American universities to ban the sales of products of Coca-Cola.
In 2005, the company introduced Coca Cola Zero which was a zero-calorie soft drink
with a regular taste. In 2007, it worked on acquiring the different Energy Brands, Inc., which
were seen to be working with enhanced waters. This same year the company also announced that
it will be able to join Business Leaders with Initiatives that are for Human Rights. It holds a
group of companies that are working for development and properly implementing the corporate
responses for the human right issues. Further in 2009, the “Open Happiness” Campaign was
started which was unveiled globally. Here, the centralized message was about the invitation to
the billions to get refreshed with the product. They continued to enjoy the life with certain simple
pleasures.
The message was seen to be found in different stores, on the billboards and the other TV
spots or other printed advertisements with digital and the musical components. The theme was
about the initiative which focused on the mission: determining what helps in making the people

happy. There are inspirational journeys that are seen to be recorded with proper
communication in the form of blogs, the posts and the tweets with videos and other certain
pictures. The experts also believed about the connections which could be made for happiness and
wellness, where Coca Cola also played an important role for different happy occasions around
the globe.
As per the acquisitions, the company has been able to grow with 40% stake in 2008, and
the finalized purchase was of ZICO which is a coconut water company. The options that the
company have are about handling the increased long-term strategic partnership which included
the details on marketing and proper alliance distribution. There have been product line swapping
where the company in 2015 was able to take a minority stake of ownership in the cold pressed
manufacturer of the juice, which was named as Suja Life. In 2016, the company was able to
handle different operations along with acquiring the best products with the expectation to go
above 3.9 euro billion in sales of 2019.
In 21stCentury, Coca Cola has been working on the labels of 16-US-fluid-ounce bottles
which were sold in parts in US. There were disputes over wholesale pricing of Coca Cola
products which included the selling of imported Coca Cola from Mexico with cane sugar rather
than corn syrup from other separate distributors. The company has also worked on the reduction
of pricing and then asking the retailers to sell the bottles at $2.99 in US.
In 2012, the company also consumed the business in Myanmar after 60 years with US
imposed investment sanctions that were done against the country. There was a proper bottling
plant that was seen to be located in Yangon and then it became the part of the five-year plan of
the company, with more than $200 million investments.