Coca-Cola remains the most chosen consumer brand globally and continue to lead the rankings in both Europe and Latin America regions. Given fierce competition coming from local players in Asia, Coca-Cola has managed to maintain its position within the Top 5 most chosen brands in 6 out of 8 Asian markets within beverage sector.
Despite the negative impact of COVID-19 on beverage sector in 2020, Coca-Cola has managed to grow its CRP in many Asian markets such as Chinese Mainland, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam.
The following is the response from Coca-Cola on how they have navigated year 2020
Spokesperson Teejae Sonza, Group Marketing Director, Coca-Cola Lead for Asean-South Pacific
How did Coca-Cola react to Covid-19 and what were the key measures put in place to get through the pandemic? As Covid-19 spread in 2020, we mobilized quickly to safeguard the health and wellbeing of our employees, maintain the continuity and safety of our beverage production and delivery operations, ensure resiliency of our supply chain, assist bottling partners and customers, and support communities. We also pivoted our operations, commercial strategies and innovation priorities to meet fast-changing market dynamics, all while advancing our sustainability goals.
Protecting Our People - The safety and health of our people is always a top priority. Local teams closely followed guidance from health authorities to protect our employees across office, production, distribution and retail facilities. In the early stages of the outbreak, nearly all office-based associates shifted to remote work.
Empowering Suppliers - To maintain business continuity, our Procurement teams collaborated with bottling partners on contingency planning for our supply chain. We worked with suppliers to adjust volumes to meet shifting consumer demands and manage the logistical challenges of lockdowns and movement restrictions.
Assisting Customers - Coca-Cola teams and bottling partners collaborated with retail and foodservice customers to weather the impact of the crisis and adapt to changing shopper behaviors, helping grocery stores meet elevated demand and supporting restaurants as they switched to takeout and delivery models. Lockdowns triggered a digital buying boom in 2020 and we expect this to continue.
Supporting Communities – With support from The Coca-Cola Foundation, our local teams contributed to COVID-19 relief efforts in communities across Asia and across the world.
What is the one word that best describe Coca-Cola since then? 2020 was a challenging year and the key word that best described us as an organization is ‘resilient’. Our people and our business were resilient in the face of extraordinary challenges and adapted quickly to new conditions to continually support our communities and our business. Globally and here in Asia, our resolve to deliver on our sustainability priorities did not waver and we continued to make progress on our environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.
What did you do differently since COVID-19 pandemic, to still reach your consumers? In 2020, we announced plans to build a new, networked organization that combines the power of scale with the deep knowledge required to win in markets locally.
Nine operating units were established to focus on regional and local execution, working closely with five marketing category leadership teams that span across the globe.
This structure is supported by our new Platform Services organization and center functions, which collectively provide global services and expertise across a range of critical capabilities. Together, our new networked organization will accelerate our transformation as a digitized, data-driven enterprise that can execute marketing, commercial, sales and distribution strategies in both the online and physical worlds.
We are also continuing to position our portfolio of drinks for success in a fast-changing marketplace. In 2020, we started streamlining our portfolio, reducing the number of master brands and curating a tailored collection of global, regional and local brands with the greatest potential to scale and grow.
What role will Innovation be playing for Coca-Cola? Since its birth at a soda fountain in downtown Atlanta in 1886, Coca-Cola has grown through innovation. 135 years later, we’re still committed to innovation as we transform into a total beverage company. In 2020, we announced plans to reshape our beverage portfolio and transition from 400 master brands to approximately 200 – the ones that are best positioned for growth and scale. We’re challenging ourselves to think differently about our brands, identifying the greatest opportunities and prioritising our investments and resources. Our portfolio reset also better positions us to nurture local innovations and propel successful regional brands to the global marketplace.
Our innovation teams are focused on creating drinks that fit into our consumers’ lives, including categories such as enhanced hydration and plant-based drinks. And our innovation lens isn’t only focused on beverages – we’re also innovating packaging solutions and finding new ways to deliver our products.
What is Coca-Cola’s strategy to win the future/ future consumers? We are positioning our portfolio for success, identifying the right brands that will drive quality leadership and help us achieve our Beverages for Life vision.
We have now streamlined our portfolio to allow us to focus attention and resources on what we do best: brand building and innovation. Great brands begin with a deep understanding of consumers, what they want and convert that insight into superior, quality products. We will continue to grow our brands through focused execution and targeted innovation.
We will continue to change the recipes of our beverages and reduce added sugar, along with offering smaller portion sizes. We removed approximately 125,000 tons of added sugar on an annualized basis through approximately 140 product reformulations in 2020. We’re innovating and bringing drinks with additional benefits to market and promoting options with low or no calories.
We are also on a journey to strengthen our marketing efficiency and effectiveness. By improving our processes, eliminating duplication and optimizing spending, we will increase our effectiveness and fuel reinvestment in our brands.
