Brand, James Brand

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Buzzmarketing and Coca Cola

So in the December 4th issue of Brandweek on page 24 there is a blurb titled "Rumors Persist But...Coke Never Had Cocaine." I thought that this was really cool cuz this topic came up when were discussing the coca cola case plus its a great example of the buzzmarketing Mark Hughs talked about. The blurb is actually kind of a retraction because a writer who had written an article in brandweek on October 30th claimed that Coca Cola used to have cocaine. The statement was deemed incorrec. "There is a lot of misinformation on the internet and, in the media, regarding the history of Coca Cola." The rumors are apparently still alive and well, as evident by comments made during our case discussion in the beginning of the semester.

I believe that this is a good example of how negative buzz can still be a good thing. The Coca Cola brand is still getting out there but around a story that is based on negative false facts. So why is this ok? I think its because people realize that these are rumors and dont necessarily believe them. Also, since the brand is so strong already and has such a positive and valuable brand equity, the negative story doesnt hurt the brand since it is also based on the past.

-Shauny Lamba

1 Comments:

At 1:46 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think the whole "did Coca-Cola have cocaine in it?" mystery is great Coke because it creates a buzz. I hear people asking, "is the cocaine story true?...is it false?...i heard that so-and-so said that it was true..." Coca-Cola keeping their recipe a secret definitely makes what they put in coke a mystery. The fact that people are still writing articles/talking about Coke is what Mark Hughes called "Buzz." It gives Coke a "story" for people to talk about whether it's true or not. Honestly, when I was in middle school, I remember my uncle telling me that Coke used to have cocaine in it and that it is where Coke's name was first derived. All-in all, the story about coke using cocaine has lived on for years and keeping Coke's recipe secret was a great business strategy.

 

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