RP seen as most important market of RC Cola
MANILA, Philippines – It is a challenge for global brands with headquarters located thousands of miles away to make their products blend naturally with the host country’s culture, without losing the brand’s distinctive heritage. Getting Filipinos to appreciate RC Cola, a century-old brand founded in Columbus, Georgia, USA, is something that the local bottlers of RC Cola have been doing daily for the past almost eight years.
According to RC Cola International vice president for marketing Moshey Cohen, Filipino group Asiawide Refreshments Corporation is now the biggest bottler of RC Cola in the world. “The Philippines is a very important market for us. It’s a big market and it’s very successful… the quality of the execution that Asiawide is running over here is really high standard at any level: marketing, operations, product quality.”
On his first business trip to the country recently, Cohen saw RC Cola-sponsored kiosks lined up on the street beside Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City, selling to parishioners, community residents, tricycle and jeepney drivers, thirsty students, and to commuters waiting by the roadside for a ride. In the past, vendors made do with their own improvised stalls but now they are selling goods like snack items, RC Cola beverage products, and even hair accessories neatly stacked and shelved in presentable, sari-sari store-type RC Cola booths. Obviously, here is a company that prides itself not in knowing the target consumers from a corporate-safe distance, but getting the brand immersed in the market’s everyday hustle and bustle.
“It’s not somebody on the 28th floor sending his message… here the brand is being developed on the ground, on the field, on the street, and this is something for RC Cola International to learn from and see how to adopt it in other markets, if one is to create a brand in today’s world,” says Cohen. Beyond marketing messages that tend to be forgotten and buried by other promotional materials, Cohen emphasizes the importance of creating a culture that lets people know what the brand is about and getting them to feel that they are a part of that world.
The brand’s interesting personality is one of the things that draw consumers to drink RC Cola. The international company’s latest marketing imagery, inspired by its advertisements a couple of generations ago, captures the essence of the brand: smiling, well-poised American ladies from the 1950’s are given a playful, almost rebellious, contemporary tweak: the women are depicted sporting tattoos and nose rings. The design combination — retro and vintage on the one hand and very updated and modern on the other — is like giving a knowing wink to RC Cola drinkers: “Many customers are looking for something different, they have their own personality. If you’re looking for the most fashionable thing — here today, gone tomorrow — maybe you’re not the RC Cola consumer. But if you’re looking for a real brand with some legacy and some heart, you may end up drinking RC Cola.”
RC Cola International’s tagline, “Tastes change, good taste doesn’t” is a concept that rings true especially with a target public that is global. Habits form and habits go, resulting in different market situations that affect the performance of a brand. But even so, the core of RC Cola is uncompromised so that while the UK, Israel, Czech Republic, the Philippines or Kazakhstan might consume the product and its message differently, all countries enjoy the same “brand DNA” of RC Cola.
In answer to the wellness trend, the company has come up globally with sugar-free, zero-calorie products that address health and fitness concerns. Another development, occurring in the most advanced economies in the world, is the demand for authentic products coming from exotic regions. The brand’s answer abroad is the soon-to-be-launched blend called RC Cola Kick, a combination of RC Cola with guarana, which is a fruit from the Amazon. It is a cola drink that gives a natural energy. “These are the ways that we are following consumer trends and executing them in our product portfolio.”
In the end, it all boils down to world-class experience enjoyed on a personal level. “In the Philippines, the team is very, very good in doing it. When you go out, you see street-marketing and other types of execution for different segments, and honestly, it’s the best way to achieve an emotional connection with the consumer,” says Cohen. Philippine bottler Asiawide Refreshments Corporation, in just eight years since re-launching RC Cola in the Philippines, has managed “to build the brand as part of the culture. It’s not just a brand that’s on TV, it’s something that you can touch and feel. It’s part of your life.”
