In this article, the successes of Coca-Cola, the largest manufacturer of beverages in the world, are clearly described. The title itself largely sums up what the entire article is talking about. It states that the profit of “$2.2 billion was a 9% rise on the same period last year”. The article placed Coca-Cola’s focus on emerging markets as the main factor of its success. This is shown through these statements: “Sales in these regions (Latin America, India and China) outperformed Europe and North America.”

In my opinion, Coca-Cola was able to gain such a huge profit through strong brand positioning. It also used the fact that the regions mentioned above do not have much local competition compared to the European and American markets to its advantage. By having many different kinds of drinks, together with local-taste/preference-specific developments and innovations, it was able to get a much wider and firmer grip of the market.

This brief perceptual mapping of the Coca-Cola company shows a part of the brand positioning of the company. This diagram shows 4 possible factors of consumption: trend, health-consciousness, value relative to price and strong flavor. Some examples, obtained directly from the coca cola website are included.