I found Atsushi Yamamoto’s blog post on Coca-Cola’s reaction to Japan’s increased consumption tax very interesting, and it led me to wonder about their marketing strategy and how they became one of the largest companies in the world. I have always been fascinated by large corporations and what is so unique about them and how they came to stand out amongst all of their competitors. After conducting some research I found an article on entrepreneurship.com and it described the top ten ways to grow your business, and although the advice was very general, it gave me a better idea of how small companies can grow to be successful businesses. They suggested opening up another store, franchising, diversifying, and eventually expanding globally and electronically.
One thing that the article didn’t mention was strategic marketing and being adaptable to external changes and challenges. As Atsushi mentioned in his blog, this is what Coca-Cola has done best. When Japan increased their consumption tax by 3%, economists predicted that the tax would have a very negative effect on the market, but Coca-Cola successfully marketed the products that they knew would make the biggest impact, and were able to maintain many sales. So Coca-Cola’s reaction to what could have been a negative for their brand proved how strong of a company they are and that they’re here to stay.