The Coca-Cola brand: Meaning dictating action

The year 2020 has produced many challenges for brands, reacting to new trends. But really, they were trends that already existed but just became more intensive. Take the Coca-Cola brand, for example.

One of the greatest brands in history – right there with Apple, Nike and McDonalds – it’s reacting to the current climate by paring down its many offerings. The soft drink market leader, owning a 30% global market share, is eliminating many of its brands to provide greater focus on its parent brand.

(One of the brands it’s eliminating? Tab, which I thought had died years ago. Who knew?)

That’s smart thinking. In a pandemic or not. Target audiences can get lost when bombarded with too many offerings. And it’s expensive to support all those separate brands.

The Coca-Cola brand is reacting to the downturn of out-of-home offerings, like restaurants and sporting events. It needed to cut all those marketing costs.

But it’s smarter than even that. The Coca-Cola brand means authenticity. The “real thing” if you will. Coca-Cola, Diet Coke and Coke Zero remain the best-selling brands for the company.

The Coca-Cola brand meaning relates to focus

And what do they have in common? The Coke brand, which is singular in its meaning. So why not put more focus into those brands? The meaning of authenticity requires it.

One thing many brands get wrong is understanding that their brand position dictates everything. If you’re brand is about simplicity (like Apple), everything you do must stem from that. From product design to store design to messaging.

Economic factors are forcing the Coca-Cola brand to regain focus. But using the authentic meaning as a springboard, the soft drink giant should pare down its offerings. Why? Because too many offerings feels inauthentic.

Coke is a behemoth, owning more brands that you probably know. But even if the impetus is financially driven, focusing on its core brands follows what the brand itself means.

If only more brands were so in sync. Even by accident.