Coca-Cola Using Data to Generate Product Ideas

Until recently, the cherry-flavored Sprite was only available to customers via Coke Freestyle machines. Image Coca-Cola

ATLANTA, GA -- Coca-Cola Co. announced on February 13th that it has added two new cherry-flavored products to its portfolio of beverages. Meet Sprite Cherry and Sprite Cherry Zero.

Also read, Canadians will pay more for sugary beverages.

Until recently, the cherry-flavored Sprite was only available to customers via Coke Freestyle machines. These machines, which have touch-screen capability, allow consumers to add their desired flavor – lemon, cherry, raspberry and vanilla, for instance – to their drinks.

While customers were making their choices, the machines were accumulating the data on what consumers want from Coke.

The beverage giant admitted that new flavored Sprite was a result of data from Coke Freestyle machines.

Data is Helping Coke Become More Efficient
Sprite Cherry might be the first result of data accrued from Freestyle machines, but it’s definitely not the first time Coke is using big data. Coke currently employs advanced enterprise warehousing technology and analytics to help simplify complex data.

One of the ways it’s using the data is in the production of orange juice that has a consistent taste throughout the year, despite the fact that oranges have a peak growing season, which usually lasts for about three months. The beverage giant developed a process called the Black Book, which uses data sets inducing expected crop yields, satellite imagery, geographic consumer predilection, acidity, and a host of other information to determine how Coke would produce the orange juice so that it has a consistent taste year-round.

Data Could Help Coke Become More Profitable
As the consumers’ appetite for soda started fizzling, Coke’s top line began to suffer. Its revenue has dipped by 12.8% in the last five years. The company has been reorganizing its business so it could focus on core activities. By the end of its transitional period, Coke would mostly be involved in just product development, with its franchisees doing the production.

The good thing about that is that Coke will have more time and resources to develop products consumers want and get the best out of them with data. I do believe that the full benefits of the data Coke has at its disposal will be realized at the end of the transitional period. It’s simply going to play some part in making Coke more profitable over the long haul.

SOURCE Craig Adeyanju, Investopedia