#COCACOLAEXPERIENCE
In the framework of our Marketing Lab, we visited the headquarters of Coca Cola in Greece. We were all quite excited to visit the gorgeous offices of white and red, the usual colors of the brand, such as to meet all the officials and employees. They were so welcoming and willing to show us their work place and extremely friendly, a fact that accelerated our excitement even more. The place was so modern and minimal, with Coca Colas in every way possible; they even had a christmas tree decorated with the well known bottles of the brand. Then they were refrigerators full of the products, available for both employees and visitors. All of the above were set on the 5th and 6th floor of a modern building, which gave the place a great view. As we went into the amphitheatre, they had a presentation prepared so as to inform us of the brand’s history, their values, even their inviromental contribution to the world. The presentors were all so kind and willing to answer all of our question.
Furthermore, we were shown the way they handle social media, which is quite close to our studies, so it somehow was the most interesting part of the process. It is obvious that social media is a very big force in marketing and advertising these days and global brands like Coca Cola should take advantage of it. And they do! We were surprised of how genius their strategy is such as using everyday things of human experience on social media and turning them into dynamic campaigns. Also, it is amazing that they answer most of the questions that consumers have, but not just by giving typical “machinery” answers. On the contrary, they give the attention needed in every circumstance; for example, we were shocked to hear about the way they handled a suicidal message by a girl, which led us to conclude that brand is more than products and adverts. It is more about humans, and how they contribute to society rather than the market.
Last but not least, we were given a gift; a special edition of the known bottle and of course, there were free drinks of our favorite refreshments!! All in all, that Tuesday was more useful than we thought it would be because we understood how companies of that magnitude work and we expanded our knowledge of what the opportunities could be in our field, through hard work and, most of all, passion.
-Thank you Mrs Diana Birba for the experience!
Our team (Market Rangers): Laoura Apostolou, Dimitra Giannakopoulou, Marilyn Koutonias, Christina Panagakou, Eleni Protopapa, miketrigkas, Marios Joseph
