If there’s something to learn about branding in the beverage industry, Coca-Cola should be a great teacher. With a legacy spanning about 140 years, its branding strategies have always been incredible, to say the least. No wonder the Coca Cola slogans have influenced the non-alcoholic beverage industry for decades. And it continues to do so in the digital age of today.
Be it “The Great National Temperance Beverage”(1906), or “Good til the last drop.” (1908), the brand’s slogans reflect both its dominance in the industry, and the exceptional quality of the product. Then, “Six million a day”, Coca-Cola’s 1925 slogan shifted from regular marketing taglines by hinting at the approximate sales figures of the brand.
Some of its regional slogans, like the 1961 “Be refreshed”, or the 2001 “Life tastes good”, in Australia and New Zealand have also been impacting. “The Coke Side of Life”, a 2006 marketing slogan took the beverage market from Tokyo to Johannesburg by storm, ultimately winning the Creativity Award in 2007. It resonated with the feelings of the Coke lovers, depicting that Coca-Cola isn’t just a drink, it’s a ‘lifestyle’.
In India, “Thanda matlab Coca-Cola!”, which means, “Chilling means Coca-Cola”, created quite the stir in 2002. Aamir Khan, the Bollywood Superstar, was the brand ambassador of Coca-Cola in India at that time. The TC commercials that featured him fetching the drink by hook or by crook, were quite a treat to watch, popularizing the drink in millions of Indian households.
Take a look at the list of all popular Cola-Cola slogans to understand their active role in the brand’s marketing strategies.
| Year of release | Slogan | Meaning |
| 1886 | Drink Coca-Cola and Enjoy It | Simple and directly promotional, urging people to have a ‘Coke’ |
| 1906 | The Great National Temperance Beverage | Reflecting on the popularity of the drink |
| 1908 | Good til the last drop. | A fun way of depicting the drink’s exceptional taste |
| 1910 | Whenever you see an Arrow think of Coca-Cola | Again, a fun way of pointing at the drink as the number one priority of non-alcoholic beverage drinkers |
| 1917 | Three million a day. | Hinting at the approximate sales figures of Coca-Cola during that time |
| 1922 | Thirst knows no season | Indicating that you need Coca-Cola every season, i.e., throughout the year |
| 1923 | Enjoy Thirst | While literally the phrase makes little sense, but as a slogan, it just means that you shouldn’t suffer in thirst but enjoy it with Coca-Cola. |
| 1924 | Refresh Yourself | Promotes the drink as a refreshing one |
| 1925 | Six million a day. | Again, the same marketing tactic of standing out has been applied here. |
| 1929 | The pause that refreshes. | Asking the people to take a pause and drink Coke to refresh and revitalize |
| 1932 | Ice-cold sunshine | The bubbly, fizzy beverage often resembled the warm rays of the sun, only chilled. |
| 1938 | The best friend thirst ever had. | Wow! Now that’s what we call the ‘best’ way to describe a soft drink – A thirsty throat’s best friend. |
| 1939 | Whoever You Are, Whatever You Do, Wherever You May Be, When You Think of Refreshment Think of Ice Cold Coca-Cola | The meaning is as clear as water (Sorry Coke, but you’re opaque). |
| 1941 | Coca-Cola is Coke! | Well, we know that it is. But this was the time when the brand was officially nicknamed ‘Coke’ for the entire world to know. |
| 1942 | The only thing like Coca-Cola is Coca-Cola itself. | Completely destroying all rivals, the slogan proudly places Coca-Cola in a no-competition zone. |
| 1945 | Passport to Refreshment | The slogan promotes the drink as a refreshing one yet again. |
| 1947 | Coke knows no season. | Coca-Cola is a drink for all seasons |
| 1948 | Where There’s Coke There’s Hospitality. | By then, Coca-Cola had become the choice beverage for family gatherings and formal events worldwide. The slogan hints at this global acceptance of the beverage. |
| 1952 | What you want is a Coke | Directly suggestive, the slogan somewhat triggers the FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) factor here. |
| 1954 | For people on the go. | It means that you can have a Coke during busy commutes to get refreshed. |
| 1956 | Coca-Cola… makes good things taste better. | This slogan hints at the drink being amazing with other food items (good things). |
| 1957 | Sign of good taste. | Triggering FOMO in its customers, the slogan subtly hints that the people, who drink Coke, apparently have a ‘good taste’ in things. |
| 1958 | The Cold, Crisp Taste of Coke. | It’s the only time that a Coca-Cola slogan described the taste of the drink. However, calling it “crisp” is yet again a smart use of words, hinting at the chilled state of the drink. |
| 1963 | Things go better with Coke. | The slogan tries to connect emotionally with the customers by hinting that you can have a Coke in any situation. |
| 1969 | It’s the Real Thing | The slogan exudes confidence while describing the drink as a ‘Real Thing’. The term ‘thing’ here stands for both the product, and the lifestyle of the people drinking it. |
| 1979 | Have a Coke and a smile | You’ll smile while having Coke, because it tastes like happiness. |
| 1985 | America’s Real Choice | Again suggestive and directly promotional, this slogan depicts that the US people love Coca-Cola. |
| 1986 | Red, White & You | This slogan represents the primary colors of the Coca-Cola logo, also connecting the same with you – the customer. |
| 1989 | Official Soft Drink of Summer | Hinting at the global popularity of the drink, especially during summer. |
| 1998 | Born to be red. | The Coca-Cola red is a primary identity of the brand. The slogan highlights this visual aspect and gives it a push. |
| 1999 | Coca-Cola. Enjoy. | Simple yet suggestive, much like the earliest slogan of the brand |
| 2001 | Life tastes good | Well, of course Coca-Cola wanted to give the message that the drink makes every moment count. |
| 2006 | The Coke side of life | It’s one of the most popular Coca-Cola slogans that transforms the drink into a lifestyle. |
| 2009 | Open Happiness | Open the bottle that encloses “happiness” – Hinting at the refreshing quality of the drink that makes you happy, instantly. |
| 2016 | Taste the Feeling | Released as a song by Conrad Sewell and Avicii, the slogan describes the drink as a feeling (of happiness) and urges customers to ‘taste’ it. |
| 2020 | Open like never before | Going by the trends of ‘embracing change’, the brand urged people to break conventions and not take life for granted. |
| 2021 | Real Magic (current slogan) | Now, this is the simplest way to wrap up the entire 139 years of Coke’s incredible journey – ‘Real Magic’ that is. |
Throughout the years, Coke slogans have not only promoted product quality and uniqueness but also hinted at changing times and emerging trends. The brand always made its slogans resonate with social, cultural, and industrial influences, people’s feelings, behavioral and lifestyle changes. The taglines have influenced generations after generations, bridging the gap between all age, ethnicity, cultural and social groups.
Effective Lessons on Branding From Coca-Cola Slogans
The advertising team at Coca-Cola surely deserves a standing ovation. Maintaining a stellar branding strategy for 139 isn’t cakewalk. Further, all the popular slogans of the brand resonates with people’s emotions, changing trends, industrial developments consistently.
As a branding Maestro, Coca-Cola can be your inspiration through these effective lessons:
Lesson #1: Direct Suggestions
When Coke was first introduced in the US market, it was a surprise treat for a major section of the non-alcoholic population. It was the first impact that Coke had on the people.
But only that didn’t make the ‘Coke’ a global sensation. The 1886 slogan that urged people to ‘Drink Coca-Cola and Enjoy It’ was simple yet impacting. There was a kind of direct suggestion in the tagline that prompted people to try the drink once, even if they were skeptical. The strategy could have backfired, considering it’s a new product in the market, but Coca-Cola decided to take the risk.
If you’re confident about the quality of your product, suggestive taglines can be your thing. Of course, in the digital age of today, you should back it up with a strong marketing message through a full-fledged advertising campaign.
Lesson #2: People-focused Branding
Since the beginning, Coca-Cola slogans have always tried to connect the product with the people. Be it “The best friend thirst ever had” in 1938, or the award-winning, “The Coke Side of Life” in 2006, its marketing taglines went beyond product quality every time. The Coca-Cola branding activities were centered on the people ALWAYS, and its slogans echoed this ambition.
The best thing about people-focused branding is, your customers can relate to your brand, besides what it sells. It’s about the emotional connection that your brand builds with its audience. Once you’re successful in making your brand a ‘lifestyle choice’ for the people, marketing becomes a cakewalk. And the Coca-Cola slogans have achieved this aim quite perfectly.
The 2009 slogan, “Open happiness” is a direct hint at the way Coke makes people feel. And it’s true! Once you hear that ‘pop’ and ‘fizz’ on opening a bottle of Coke, your heart takes a leap.
The current slogan of the brand, “Real Magic” caters to the tech-savvy generation that are in awe with Generative AI. It’s the slogan of an interactive campaign that urges consumers to use AI platforms to recreate Coke advertisements. What better way to connect with your audience than using current trends to overwhelm and engage them?
That’s the ‘real magic’ of people-focused branding!
Lesson #3 – Emphasize FEELINGS
This is mainly for the food and beverage industry. If you’re trying to create an impact with your marketing slogans, try to focus on how people FEEL after tasting your food or drink (in this case).
Coca-Cola never reveals anything about the taste of the soft drink. You don’t know if its sweet, sour, fizzy, super fizzy, or just bland, like a glass of soda. The Coke slogans ALWAYS focus on how YOU feel after having the drink.
- “The pause that refreshes” – 1929
- “Ice-cold Sunshine” – 1932
- “Passport to refreshment” – 1945
- “Sign of good taste” – 1957
- “Official Soft Drink of Summer” – 1989
- “Life tastes good” – 2001
- “Together tastes better” – 2020
In all these Coca-Cola slogans, you’ll see that the brand emphasizes the “feel” of Coke, instead of the drink itself. Only once (in 1958) did Coca Cola reveal something about the taste in a short-term campaign highlighted by the tagline – “The Cold, Crisp Taste of Coke.” In all other slogans, it was always about the FEELING.
Coca-Cola exposes this branding secret in its 2016 slogan – “Taste the Feeling”. You get a clear picture of how it has promoted the soft drink through all these years.
Lesson #4 – Be Confident
If you’re not confident about your product, who will be? Not your audience for sure!
The Coca-Cola slogans have exuded pride and confidence from the very first day. From urging people to “Drink Coca-Cola and Enjoy It” in 1886 to prompting at the “The Coke Side of Life” in 2006, the company has shown great confidence in all its branding endeavors.
In 1988, it came up with a slogan, “Can’t Beat the Feeling”, which again hints at how confident the brand is. It was followed by the 1989 famous slogan, “Official Soft Drink of Summer”.
Of course, nobody “made” Coke an “Official” drink. It was just the air of confidence that impressed its customers and made them BELIEVE in the statement.
So whenever you’re launching a marketing campaign for your food or beverage brand:
– Make sure that you’re confident about its impact
– Ensure that your confidence and pride reflects in the tagline
– Back the slogan up with equally-impacting advertising content
Lesson #5 – Connect Other Brand Elements
One of the best strategies is of creating a wholesome brand identity is by connecting all the brand elements, i.e., slogans, brand logo, primary brand colors, etc. Coca-Cola has done it pretty well for quite a few times.
- Its 1998 slogan, “Born to be Red”, directly connects the people to the primary color of its visual identity – the special ‘Coke’ red, as we all know it. And the impact is quite evident. How many times do you think of Coca-Cola when you see white letters on a red background?
- The brand came up with a slogan – “Red, White and You” – in a classic campaign in 1986. Of course, it not only highlighted the primary brand colors but also connected it with you, its customers.
Although it’s not always possible to create such an all-inclusive brand identity, it can be done, sometimes. And if you can do it, your brand will stand out for sure. If nothing else, you can hint at the visual identity of your brand, like the logo, through the marketing slogan.
Lesson #6 – Provide Solutions
Crafting slogans that create an impact and enhance your marketing campaign is a work of art. It involves strategic use of simple words to explain what your product and its benefits. Like other types of marketing content, it should provide solutions to the problems that your customers face.
The Coca-Cola slogans adhere to this rule in most of its popular campaigns:
From 1922-24, the brand released three consecutive slogans focusing on one single problem – thirst.
- “Thirst known no season” – 1922
- “Enjoy Thirst” – 1923
- “Refresh Yourself” – 1924
Do you see how simply and clearly Coca-Cola solved (or intended to solve) the problem of “thirst”? In the food and beverage industry, the “why” matters more than the “what”.
In 1989, Coca-Cola further underlines a problem and offers the solution in its marketing tagline – “Official Soft Drink of Summer”. Its evident that the brand urges people to have the drink in summer to get rid of thirst and get refreshed. So when you’re thirsty in Summer, you’ll automatically think of buying a Coke, maybe even before a bottle of water. That’s the impact of the branding slogans of Coca-Cola.
How Coca-Cola Slogans Can Inspire Food and Beverage Sellers
While creating a robust brand identity, businesses generally don’t think about crafting slogans as a priority. But they should. Look at Coca-Cola! See how its marketing taglines have impacted its advertising campaigns over the years. Sometimes, what your product cannot explain, your slogans can. And in the cut-throat competitive world we’re in today, standing out is no longer an option, but a necessity.
When you’re selling food and beverages, your branding initiatives shouldn’t just highlight the quality of your product. That’s mostly for your customers to judge. Your marketing taglines should instead focus on catching the eyes, intrigue and engage. They should also focus on the problems that customers are facing and their solutions. And that’s what Coca-Cola does so brilliantly.
Since its early days, it has focused on ‘thirst’ and created attractive slogans that offered the product as a solution to ‘thirst’. For example, if you’re selling packaged fruit juice, focus on the problems of not having fruits daily and offer your product as a solution.
When we talk about Coca-Cola, we can’t help visualize the red and white logo of the brand. The Coca-Cola slogans teach us that brand identity is a wholesome concept. That is, when you see the logo of a brand, your mind recalls its marketing tagline, and vice-versa. For example, when you hear “Open Happiness” (2009), you must think of the red-and-white Coca-Cola logo. All food and beverage sellers should take this point into account while developing their marketing campaigns.
The Coca-Cola slogans are a result of intense market research, customer surveys, and several interactive sessions. No wonder a soft drink became a part of the urban ‘lifestyle’ throughout generations.
As a food and beverage seller, you should create a branding strategy backed by research, customer surveys and social media interactions. Learn about the problems that your customers face, and develop a campaign accordingly. Also, think how your product can affect the lifestyle of your customers. The tagline should offer a solution, and be intriguing at the same time. It should influence people to include the product in their regular lives.
The internet and social media has made ‘research’ a cakewalk these days. Just imagine how the Coca-Cola team used to do it back in the 1900s. Now you can just host a Q&A session or an Instagram Live to know what your customers feel. So why the wait? What’s stopping you from becoming the next Coca-Cola?
Key Takeaways
– The Coca-Cola marketing taglines teach us some timeless lessons about branding.
– The Coke slogans have always been backed by confidence and pride. Through smart use of words, they have urged the people to ‘Drink’ Coke and ‘Enjoy Life’ for 139 years to be exact.
– One of the most useful lessons that the slogans teach us is, offering solutions to your customers’ recurrent problem. In the case of Coca-Cola, it was thirst. The brand made ‘thirst’ an intriguing subject in all its marketing campaigns over the globe. And its slogans aimed to offer a ‘refreshing’ solution to this problem.
– The Coca-Cola taglines also highlight the importance of people-focused branding. To run a successful marketing campaign, you should focus on the people, their choices and lifestyle preferences.
– The Coca-Cola slogans help make a soft drink a ‘lifestyle’ for many generations. They also help make the drink a must-have in family gatherings by connecting with people’s emotions.
– The Coca-Cola slogan isn’t treated as a separate entity but a part of the brand’s overall identity, including its logo.
– The slogans of Coke focus on the ‘FEEL’ even before the taste.
Finally…
There can’t be another Coca-Cola for sure. But there can be the same impact if you learn from the brand. Slogans define your brand in ways that even the product itself can’t. You can capture the minds of your customers through attractive and meaningful marketing taglines. Once they smile at your product advertisement, know that you’ve won half the war.
And yes! It IS a fight for attention these days.
So many products! So many intriguing taglines! How to stand out?
Learn from Coca-Cola! It has stood out for 139 years, and it still STANDS OUT.