Coca_cola

"Public Relations" covers a very broad area. One of the areas it covers is the relationship of the enterprise with its "public" - which may consist in clients, potential clients, the media, suppliers and anyone else who may be interested in the company and what it does.

Public Relations are different from advertising. The first is obtained by various methods that don't always let the reader/viewer know that the specific article, press release or TV featured story is actually carefully conceived by the company that it talks about - by its PR department. These ways of communicating with the targeted public and somehow manipulating it have to be very subtle and precise. There are six vital facts to convey in the first paragraph of a release to ensure that it doesn't end up in the bin: Who, What When, Where, Why and How. People today are always on the run and any company that wants to catch their attention should be prepared with a well build and professional "PR" and advertising team.

The public relations process is composed of four well defined stages though which public relations professionals have to go though in order to have a successful campaign. Stage one is "Defining Public Relations Problems," also known as SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). The next stage in the public relations process is "Planning and Programming," this focuses mainly on "strategy". The third stage in the public relations process is "Taking action and Communicating," The final stage is "Evaluating the Program," making a final assessment. This is where public relations professionals make a final analysis of the success of their campaign or communication.

A century of PR

I chose to examine the relations The Coca-Cola Company maintains with its public. Who has not heard of this world wide mogul? Practically everyone, from the royal British family to a child somewhere in Africa has at least once tasted Coke. The name Coca-Cola comes up every few seconds on the planet, whether on TV, on the radio, in a press release, in a conference or simply on the lips of a little girls asking for a Coke at her local drug store.

Coca Cola is the refreshment drink enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people all over the world every day. The shape of the Coke bottle and the logo, which are registered trademarks, are the most recognizable commercial symbols in the world.

Coca Cola is the product that has been most successful over the years. Since its birth, in Dr. John Styth Pemberton's laboratory in 1886, Coke has gone a long way... and all along this long road of over a hundred years Coca-Cola has always "listened" to its customers and maybe that is the secret of its success - a very good PR department - a department which always knew how to manage the company's reputation.

At the suggestion of one of Coke's early drinkers, the original non-carbonized drink was added "the fizz" and so became even more refreshing and closer to what we call Coca-Cola today. This early contribution of the public to the product's success was maybe the reason why The Coca-Cola Company kept in touch with their public over its history.

Since that spring day in 1886 Coca-Cola has build an impressive brand image.

The product and all the rights of distributing it were bought over several times. But it seems that all of its handlers knew what they were doing, having in mind the place of Coca-Cola on today's market.

On the first of May 1889, Coca-Cola was starring in its first marketing campaign. It was in the Atlanta Journal and it occupied a whole page. The ad said "Coca-Cola - Delicious Refreshing Exhilarating Invigorating". In its first five years on the market Coca-Cola managed to increase its sales over ten times. The Coca-Cola Company has always firmly believed in advertising, so from the early years of this soft drink it had a strong marketing and advertising campaign. More than 20% of the company's income was spent on publicity.

On the 31st of January 1893 Coca-Cola became a registered trade mark.

The handler of this amazing product is today The Coca Cola Company. The Public Relations Department of the company is definitely one of the most complex in the world. If it was any other way, probably Coke wouldn't be today on the list of favorite drinks of so many people. By taking into consideration the likes and dislikes of the public regarding their product, The Coca-Cola Company managed to overcome several crisis that might have otherwise "killed" Coke.

So The Coca-Cola Company tried to get everyone to talk about their product and to want to try it - at least once. It may be hard to believe but during the early years of this soft drink - its original formula - contained a small amount of cocaine which was later excluded from the formula. So back than, it's no wonder that once you tasted the miraculous drink you wanted more.

Nowadays, The Coca-Cola Company doesn't rely on such "tricks" in order to sell its product. Come to think of it, at present time, it would be hard for Coca-Cola to stop producing its magical syrup. Somewhat of a revolution might break out around the world - having in mind the fact that Coke is drank about two billion times a day all over the world.

The Coca-Cola Company has to thank Mr. Woodruff for its global success. He was Coke's chief manager for over sixty years and knew how to make Coke a widely known product - not only though advertising and promotions - but though a kind of public relations.

During World War II, Mr. Woodruff made sure that every American soldier got a cold Coke. This is how Coca-Cola crossed the Atlantic Ocean and made its way into the "Old World". By creating and maintaining healthy relationships with their bottlers and suppliers The Coca-Cola Company conquered Europe. Coca-Cola edited what is called "The Coca-Cola Guiding Principles for Suppliers". In this text Coca-Cola instructs their suppliers on how to deal with customers. The Supplier Guiding Principles are based on the belief that good corporate citizenship is essential to the company's long term business success and must be reflected in its relationships and actions in the marketplace, the workplace, the environment and the community.

Coca-Cola's public relations know how to use an apt phrase or a catchy idea, such as in interviews or news releases, that the news media will often repeat it verbatim, thus furthering the message. This may be considered an example of a meme. A meme may also be one of their catchy songs