The importance of Coca-Cola’s iconic brand name

Coca-Cola enjoys huge popularity across the world. The company ranked third in Interbrand’s 2014 world’s most valuable brands list, with an estimated brand value of $81.6 billion. Coca-Cola places sixth in Fortune magazine’s annual ranking of the world’s 50 most admired companies. The company’s aggressive marketing strategies, innovation, and extensive global reach are the reasons for its reputable name.

Coca-Cola has strong brands across its sparkling and still beverages. Six brands of the company’s sparkling beverages portfolio generated more than $1 billion in revenue each in 2013, led by the company’s leading brand, Coca-Cola. The company’s still beverages portfolio includes 11 brands that generated more than $1 billion in revenue each in 2013. The company has 20 other brands, each generating revenues between $500 million and $1 billion, with more than half of them in the still category.

Coca-Cola’s closest rival, PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP), ranks 24th in Interbrand’s most valuable brands of 2014 list. Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. (DPS), North America’s third-largest soft drinks manufacturer, is a strong brand in the US. But it lacks international presence. National Beverage Corporation (FIZZ), a manufacturer of flavored beverage products, lacks the popularity of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo products.

Soft drink companies are part of the consumer staples sector. You can invest in the consumer staples sector through exchange-traded funds (or ETFs) like the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP). There are other ETFs that invest in soft drink companies too, including the SPDR MSCI World Quality Mix ETF (QWLD).

In the next part of this series, we’ll discuss how Coca-Cola’s advertising strategy plays a key role in its growth and brand building.