Coke’s New Bottle Design Aims to Boost Soda Sales
▼ Summary
– By the early 1990s, Coca-Cola’s US sales were dominated by disposable cans and PET bottles, with returnable glass accounting for less than 1 percent.
– The company’s advertising heavily relied on the nostalgic image of its distinctive, highly recognizable contour glass bottle to maintain a wholesome brand identity.
– CEO Doug Ivester, who rose from a modest background to lead the company, was convinced that the contour bottle was vital for conveying brand imagery, heritage, and quality.
– Concerned about sluggish US growth, Ivester made it his mission to renew focus on the contour bottle and tasked marketing executive Susan McWhorter with creating a plastic version.
– Susan McWhorter, a “solutions person” who idealized Coke from childhood experiences, was charged with determining the feasibility of a contour plastic bottle.
Even as disposable cans and PET bottles dominated the US beverage market by the early 1990s, Coca-Cola remained fiercely committed to the iconic contour glass bottle. Though returnable glass accounted for less than one percent of stateside sales, the company understood the bottle’s immense symbolic power. Its advertising campaigns leaned heavily on nostalgia, frequently showcasing the classic “hobble-skirt” design, ice-cold, with condensation glistening on its curves. First introduced in 1916 and sometimes nicknamed the “Mae West” bottle for its shapely silhouette, this container stood as one of the world’s most recognized brand symbols. CEO Doug Ivester believed that preserving the contour bottle’s prominence in the public imagination was essential for the brand’s health.
Ivester’s own journey to the helm of Coca-Cola began modestly in New Holland, Georgia, a small village built for cotton mill workers. As a teenager working at a Kroger store in Gainesville, he was inspired by a customer’s 1964 Pontiac GTO. Learning the man was a certified public accountant, Ivester decided to pursue an accounting degree, viewing it as a reliable path to a stable income. After a decade at the accounting firm Ernst and Ernst, where Coca-Cola was his primary client, he joined the drink maker’s auditing department in 1979. His relentless work ethic quickly propelled him up the corporate ladder; by age 37, he had become chief financial officer. In 1989, CEO Roberto Goizueta appointed Ivester to lead Coca-Cola’s European operations, but his tenure abroad was cut short when he was called back to Atlanta to replace the ailing US president.
Upon his return, Ivester turned his attention to reinvigorating the brand’s stateside performance, which had become sluggish compared to vibrant international sales. He identified a key concern: the erosion of brand imagery. For Ivester, the contour bottle was more than just packaging, it communicated heritage, quality, and emotional connection. To bridge the gap between nostalgia and modern convenience, he assigned a young marketing executive, Susan McWhorter, with a critical task: explore the feasibility of creating a plastic version of the iconic bottle. Ivester saw McWhorter as a “solutions person,” exactly the kind of proactive thinker needed for the challenge.
McWhorter, a graduate of Ivester’s alma mater, the University of Georgia, had a lifelong admiration for Coca-Cola. Her childhood memories were steeped in the brand, from the weekly bottle her grandmother gave her every Saturday to the 6.5-ounce returnable bottle she earned as payment for sweeping hair at a local beauty parlor. This deep personal connection fueled her dedication to the project, embodying the very brand loyalty Ivester hoped to harness with the new design.
(Source: Wired)