Coca Cola Business Factors

History of Coca Cola Company Coca Cola was invented by Dr. John Pemberton in 1886 when he concocted a mixture of water, sugar, caffeine and extracts of the coca leaf and the kola nut. The concoction was originally marketed as a headache remedy, but was not successful due to poor advertising and Pemberton’s ailing health. In 1888, Pemberton sold the business to Asa G. Candler, a successful druggist with excellent business sense. The company grew quickly under his 26 year leadership. He expanded the business to several buildings, made agreements with independent bottlers, and shifted focus to the quality and promotion of the product. Through Candler’s extensive promotional campaigns, Coca-Cola was marketed everywhere in the U.S. as well as in several international markets. In 1916, Candler retired the business to his sons. Robert Woodruff purchased the company from the Candler family in 1923, a financially tumultuous time in the company’s history. In addition to low sales figures, relations between the company and its bottling franchisers were strained due to the rising price of sugar. Woodruff focused on improving sales by establishing a research department that became an innovative market research agency seeking to maximize the profit from every sale of the Coca-Cola syrup. He also introduced company benefits, like group life insurance and retirement programs. Through 1941-53, the Coca-Cola Company continued to do well through the Great Depression and when Prohibition was repealed. The years from the end of World War II to the early 1980’s were characterized by extensive and rapid change. Shifts in advertisement agencies began enormous promotional campaigns. It was a time of enormous expansion in terms of opening more plants, and through mergers and acquisitions of other beverage entities to be able to diversify and expand Coca-Cola’s product line (“Chronicle”). Efforts were made through the 1960’s-70 to market to more international markets,