As I mentioned last week, I was invited along with 19 other bloggers to come visit Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta for their, “Live Positively” Social Media Conference. One day #3, I had tweeted that the trip was both enlightening and blood curdling.
Overall, I am very glad I went on this trip, and chose to be open-minded. I also stated that Coca-Cola paid for my trip but I was given editorial freedom. Going in they already knew I was a naysayer, and I give them credit for inviting naysayers instead of running away from them. This is what brands should do, embrace their critics and see what both can learn from each other.
I decided to make a conscious effort to observe and not go off the handle because I can get really passionate about HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) and aritificial sweeteners, and how those ingredients are contributing to the unwellness of humans.
One thing my mom taught me, never fight with someone when you are an invited guest in their house. Or another way to look at it, pick your battles. Why try and battle Drinkzilla on its turf and give myself a headache. Let's just observe and see.
One thing Drinkzilla and I have in common is joy. Coca-Cola is in the business of happiness and I am in the business of healthiness = health + happiness.
I indeed experienced a dichotomy of feelings and emotions because on one hand, I met new people and experienced the human side of Coca-Cola which exceeded my expectations. Hanging out with my fellow bloggers and getting to know them better was the highlight of my trip. It's good to meet your social media peeps IRL (in real life).
Roaming through the World of Coke, I was also reminded of the nostalgia of Coke memorabelia going back into my childhood. Anyone who has grown up in the U.S. in the last 124 years since Coca-Cola began has some positive childhood memories around the happiness and joy of Coca-Cola. Who can forget Mean Joe Green, the Polar Bears, and that song, "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing."
One day #2, we did this Vision Board exercise which was an incredible learning experience for everyone as we put our dreams on a board and presented it to one another. Talk about claiming our desires to the Universe and to an audience! Here's a shot of me @giyen took of me presenting my vision board to the group.
We also got to listen to a panel on Coca-Cola's Women's Leadership Council which helps promote women internally. From a marketing perspective, since that is my history, we got access to North America Chief Marketing Officer Beatriz Perez and Wendy Clark, SVP, Integrated Marketing and Communications. I was thinking how so many of my marketing friends would be drooling at the mouth with envy.
I appreciated that Coca-Cola spent a whole day focused on our personal growth. I've never experienced this at one of these types of corporate events, and I've been to many.
On a side note, the lunch they served us was very healthy, and not your usual sandwich and potato salad kind of corporate thing. I thought it funny how we got healthy lunch and then could drink a Coke with it.
Southern hospitality is also amazing and the whole time in Atlanta, I felt very welcome. On the first night, we ate at Parish Foods & Goods, and I took a bunch of photos of the fabulous things we ate like Pumpkin Pie empanadas.
On the opposite hand, on day #3, we had to sit there and listen to their Chief Regulatory Officer go on about how HFCS is the same as sugar, that artificial sweeteners are safe, and that caffeine is not addictive. We also got an earful about everything is fine in moderation, but I question how does the company expect to double in size to $62 billion in 10 years with people only drinking the sugary stufff in moderation when it took them 124 years to get to $31 billion.
I pretty much Charlie Browned at that point and heard....wah, wah, wah, wah. Believe you me, I really had to restrain myself listening to that stuff. But I get it, Rhonda is doing her job. She is a very nice lady, but she is a company spokesperson.
Before the trip, we were asked to give three adjectives we used to describe Coca-Cola, and my three were Drinkzilla, Cokeantua, and Unwellness-in-a-can. Post trip, we were asked if any of our adjectives had changed, and none of my adjectives had changed. What did change is that I see Drinkzilla as more complicated than I thought. The beast has more dimensions not all bad or evil….and there is some hope, at least in my eyes.
For my trip report, instead of going on about the things that made me want to pull my hair out or shocked me like the fact that 45 million servings of Coke Zero are consumed in one day around the world (that’s a WHOLE lot of artificial sweetener), I’m going to focus on dimensions of Coca-Cola that were new to me, and I think most people don’t know about their company but would find interesting.
- Coca-Cola brands can be found in Whole Foods. Yes, I know shocker! I knew Coca-Cola was venturing into organic, all natural, and "healthy" options as they own biggies Odwalla, Glaceau, and Fuze which are not all free from artificial sweeteners, and crystalline fructose (CF) is considered suspect by some although CF meets Whole Foods standards. Something new I learned, which I never knew before and gives me some hope, is that 3 years ago the Venturing and Emerging Brands (VEB) group was created to identify emerging trends and invest, innovate, and import beverages that target these trends.
A huge trend is in the area of wellness, but a bigger deal to me are drinks that do not contain any HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), artificial sweeteners, or anything concocted by a lab coat. Pepsi is not as aggressive in spending and innovating in this area although they do have Naked Juice and Tazo Tea.
- Here are the current brands under the VEB group: Honest Teas (Coca-Cola owns 40% and has option to acquire larger portion), Zico Coconut Water, Cascal Soda, Sokenbicha Teas, illy issimo coffee, and Krushka & Bochka (Kvass) a Russian fermented soda.
- Coca-Cola doesn’t market to kids under 12. Basically, that is 6th grade and under. However, apparently, the second the kid hits Junior High, they are fair game. Marketing to parents is not the same as marketing to kids. I know many people will challenge this factoid including myself paritcularly aren't teens kids too? This year Coca-Cola was one of 48 companies to receive subpoenas from the FTC for their nutritional data and information on their marketing practices to kids.
- Coca -Cola is the largest employer in Africa.
- Coca-Cola focuses solely on beverages and is the world’s largest maker of beverages with what seems like a bazillion brands unlike rival Pepsi who owns food brands like Frito-Lay Brands, and I didn't know this until now, Quaker Oatmeal. The only Coca-Cola brand that sells food is Odwalla mainly its food bars and that is because the food was a pre-existing business before Coca-Cola bought the company.
- There are 70 flavors of Fanta around the world....I found this fascinating because I'm curious what kind of flavors of fruit can be put in a can.
- Diet Coke came out in 1982…I thought the drink was older than that. Diet Coke came out as another diet soda offering alongside Tab. Yeah, remember Tab? In other countries like Japan, Diet Coke is called Coke Light because in other cultures they don’t use the word “diet” like we do here in the U.S.
- Partnered with Cargill, Coca-Cola has come out with Truvia, a zero-calorie natural sweetener containing Rebiana, a Stevia extract and erythritol, a sugar alcohol. Currently, Truvia is available in three brands: VitaminWater Zero, Odwalla, and Sprite Green.
- According to their most recent financials, Coca-Cola has 14 brands that sell over $1 billion per year. These brands include: Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, Fanta, Barq’s Root Beer, Odwalla, Glaceau VitaminWater, Dasani Water, Powerade, Minute Maid and Minute Maid To Go juices, Nestea, Aquarius sports drinks, and Sokenbicha.
The last two brands are not so familiar in the US, but they are big in other countries. Here’s a list of what and where Aquarius is offered, and Sokenbicha is a huge tea drink brand in Japan which Coca-Cola is now pushing in the US under the Venturing & Emerging Brands group which I mentioned above.
- For Green bottling, there is now the Plant Bottle which is made of 30% raw materials from plant based materials (sugar cane juice, molasses, sugar beet, corn). One goal over time is to see the 30% rise to 50 – 70 and maybe even 100%. The Plant Bottle has been launched in 8 countries- Denmark, US, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Norway, Sweden. In 2011, Coca-Cola hopes to double that growth.
Again, I was glad that I went to visit Coca-Cola HQ, and I did learn quite a bit. I think it is good to keep oneself open-minded. There are plenty of things I still don't agree with what Coca-Cola is doing, but for now we can agree to disagree, and I can choose to focus on the parts I do think are helpful and good like the VEB group.
I'm excited to learn more about the new brands that will be developed under the VEB group, and look forward to the day when Coca-Cola no longer needs a VEB group. Those VEB brands will just be "normal" Coca-Cola brands. This is where Drinkzilla is simple. The beast will go where the money is, so if more and more consumers demand and buy drinks that are organic or all natural, then Coca-Cola will make more of it.
The VEB area is one place I have no problem promoting or helping. This is an area where Drinkzilla and I can live in harmony and maybe even stand hand in hand one day or at the very least sing karaoke and drink an organic soda!
And speaking of soda and VEB ideas, here are four of my personal favorite all natural soda brands I drink.
