Mass Marketing

   In the 1880s, people drank John Pemberton’s tonic to cure headaches. It wasn’t a very popular drink, and he sold only about a dozen drinks a day. That’s why Pemberton was willing to sell the rights to his medicinal drink. The buyer, Asa Griggs Candler, paid just $2,300 for the rights to Coca-Cola. Today, Coca-Cola (or Coke) is worth billions of dollars. It controls 50 percent of the world market in soft drinks.

   How did Coca-Cola become so popular? One answer is that Asa Candler was a very clever businessperson. He was one of the first people to use mass marketing. How did he do this? First, he made his product unique. When he bought the rights to Coca-Cola, it came in ordinary bottles. It looked like every other drink on the market. To make Coca-Cola look different, Candler modernized the bottles. He also made an eye-catching logo for his product. When other companies tried to imitate Coca-Cola’s name, Candler took them to court.

   In addition to the unique bottle and logo, Candler spent a lot of time and money advertising his product. He used advertising to make a powerful image of Coca-Cola in the minds of his customers. He gave away free bottles of Coke. He put the name of his drink on pencils, trays, Japanese fans, matches, and many other things. Then he gave the things to people for free. He advertised Coca-Cola in the newspaper and painted the words “Drink Coca-Cola” on the sides of buildings and barns. By 1902, Coca-Cola was the best known product in the United States.

   Candler was also able to make memorable advertisements. They often had catchy slogans such as “The Pause That Refreshes.” He also used famous athletes to advertise his product. They helped people to think of Coca-Cola as a delicious drink for everyone.

Today, businesses all over the world use mass marketing, but the makers of Coke were the first.