Ch. 16 - Advertising, Public Relations and Sales Promotion

     Coca-Cola spends more on advertising than almost any company in the world. It was reported that in 2010, they spent a whopping 2.9 billion dollars on advertising worldwide, but that's what it takes to earn 40% of the global soda market share, and over $12 billion in quarterly revenue.

     A great deal of the companies advertising budget goes toward reducing consumer cognitive dissonance, re-enforcing their consumers behavior post-purchase, and giving customers incentive to purchase Coke again. The company has had a long running customer loyalty program called "My Coke Rewards". On this website customers can redeem codes found on bottle caps for various prizes, ranging from clothing to electronics. Another way Coke did this was by launching a program in England, where soccer fans who bought Coke could redeem a code on their soda bottle, and in exchange, Coca-Cola would donate anywhere from 50p to £100,000 towards a team of their choice.

     While Coca-Cola has traditionally engaged in product advertising, it recently has had to spend much more on advocacy and institutional advertising. This is due to recent health developments about the negative health affects of Soda. Another thing they are doing to combat this bad publicity, is to heavily promote and expand they're selection of diet soft drinks. Coca-Cola also sponsors a variety of fitness events around the world, as well as community parks in an effort to combat obesity and get people active.

     Most of the companies product advertising is pioneering advertising. Coke's advertising objective is to create a high demand for the beverage through lifestyle themed advertisements, aimed at making the consumer want to feel the fun and pleasure that only drinking a Coca-Cola beverage could bring them.