Living On The Coke Side Of Life (Part II)

In my last blog, I started sharing the story (and lessons to learn) from a product that has become one of the most powerful brands in the world – Coca-cola. I shared on how this brand has travelled to more parts of the world than any other product known to man. Go to any nook and cranny in the world, and you are likely to find a bottle of Coca-Cola there! It’s amazing. This brand is sustaining several glass industries in the world. It is sustaining thousands of sugar plantations all over the world. How did a recipe from a relatively obscure part of Atlanta turn into a global brand, enjoyed by over 1 billion (yes, 1 billion) people every day? How did this brand become the most recognized product in the world, as well as a common link between cultures and countries, people and places?

In the last post, i shared two of the lessons to learn from this brand (please refer to the last article posted) and in this post, i will be sharing two more.

Add value and get value back

This is one of the most basic rules of success. There are many young men and women today who go into business, looking at what to get! Getting value (monetary or otherwise) is not difficult, if you know the right thing to do. And the right thing to do is “Add Value”! May I say that your current level of income is a function of the value (either real or perceived) that you bring to the table? The more value you give, the more value you get.

One of the striking things about Coca-Cola is the value they seek to bring to their consumers and customers. A look at its renewed vision shows clearly why it’s the leading brand in the world

• To refresh the world...
• To inspire moments of optimism and happiness...
• To create value and make a difference.

What value are you bringing to the table? What value do you want to be paid or compensated for? What problem are you solving for people that they should pay you for? Coca-Cola is refreshing the world. They are inspiring moments of optimism and happiness. They create value and make a difference…..and we are all rewarding them with market share!

May I say that your current level of income is a function of the value (either real or perceived) that you bring to the table?

Ideas rule the world

I recently read a story about Bill Gates, perhaps the richest man in the world that interested me. He was traveling through a particular airport and was asked by the custom officers if he had anything to declare. “Nothing, but a billion dollars worth of ideas” he declared. Interesting, isn’t it?

Take a moment and look around your environment. Everything you see from your laptop computer to Post-It Notes® started as an idea. The universe itself started as an idea in God’s mind. The software in your two and a half pound brain spends twenty-four hours per day producing and processing ideas. When your brain is in sleep mode we call the idea production "dreaming." When you are awake and looking out the window, we call it "daydreaming." When you are awake and focused on a task we call it "thinking."

The greatest problem faced by developing countries is not money problem. It is not power problem. It is an idea problem. Ideas are superior to money. They bring in money. Ideas are more powerful that the best currencies in the world. Infact, permit me to say that ideas are becoming a currency of the future. For example, exchange an idea with an associate at lunch. You both walk away with two ideas. If instead, you just exchanged one dollar bills at lunch, you'd both walk away with one dollar. Ideas rule the world.

The greatest problem faced by developing countries is not money problem. It is not power problem. It is an idea problem.

The brand Coca-Cola started as an idea in someone’s mind. In 1889, a man, by the name Asa Candler, bought a formula and a 3 legged brass kettle containing a mixture of lime, cinnamon, cocoa leaves, and the seeds on a Brazilian shrub from a druggist, Dr John Pemberton. Together with an idea he had about marketing, he turned this formula into a money spinner! Ideas indeed rule the world.

I hope we can take a cue from these great lessons from the Coca-Cola brand, and also line on the Coke side of life! It’s an interesting part of life to live!