Coca-Cola is getting a name in Europe – BBC

The group puts forward its brand on the Old Continent, where sales fell last year.

Coca-Cola puts the package on its flagship brand. The firm in Atlanta – which has sought for nearly thirty years to expand the ‘family Coke “with the launch of a particular variant” Life “stevia in January – announces a” watershed “for brand in Western Europe. No more separate communication around the classic Coca-Cola, the Light (1988), Zero (2007) or Life (end of 2014)! “Now we are adopting a single brand strategy where all Coca-Cola are equal,” says Céline Bouvier, marketing director of Coca-Cola France.

In other words, the “Coke family” now speak of one voice while continuing to allow consumer choice between its different services, with or without calories. This “marketing revolution” announced with great fanfare Thursday will be combined with a facelift of packaging. The Coca-Cola logo will be expanded to bring out the brand and enable all references to capitalize on the strength of its image. However, each product will retain its color code. The communication campaign will be launched in mid-May, will focus more on the emotional register, with the signature: “Choose happiness.” The brand take the opportunity to gain height.

This large-scale marketing offensive is explained by the group’s strategy to work twice as hard on its flagship brand. Since two years, sales of the famous ‘Coke’ slow in the world. The brand is the cost of the bad image of sodas in a world in search of naturalness; it suffers particularly anti-aspartame campaigns. Suddenly, the group’s CEO, Muhtar Kent, made soft drinks, Coca-Cola in mind, one of its five priorities to restore growth. This task is even more crucial that the Coca-Cola brand is the most profitable portfolio.

“Now we are adopting a single brand strategy where all Coca -cola are equal “

The choice of Western Europe as a pilot area for this marketing offensive is not by chance. If sales were up 4%, the volumes of the group fell 2% last year on the Old Continent. The decline of sodas (by volume) there was even 3%. If the group promises that he is not in a logic “defensive” but “offensive”, it must nevertheless address the situation. This requires a “pooling of efforts” around its flagship brand. Coca-Cola does not intend to savings but communicate more effectively. For proof, marketing and media expenditures are expected to increase by 6% in France this year after a “vintage” in 2014 where advertising investments were very important during the World Cup football and the campaign “Share a Coke -cola! “.

With this new communication platform, the group hopes to boost its references to reduced calorie (Light, Zero, Life), he still considers under-consumed in Europe . “We still have work to do to explain the benefits of each of these proposals,” acknowledges Céline Bouvier. The group would like to revive its Light, whose volumes were cannibalized by Zero. The launch of Coca-Cola Life, who knows a “good start” in France, would also be encouraging. With large distribution sales up 3.4% last year (according to Nielsen), the Hexagon is notable progress. With peaceful relations with its distributors and effectiveness of its latest marketing campaign, the company in 2014 to found a good growth momentum.