Classic Celebrity Start-up Story: Woodroof, The Father of Coca-Cola

In today's 206 countries and regions in the world, Coca-Cola advertising is omnipresent, can be seen everywhere, and its unique flavor, and deeply attracted the majority of consumers around the world, with an average daily sales of more than 1 billion bottles (cans). In 1992, Coca-Cola's annual sales reached $56 billion, accounting for 45 percent of the world soft drink market, compared with an average of nine drinks a day in its first year of existence more than 100 years earlier. From 9 cups to more than 1 billion bottles now, this is nothing short of a fairy tale! What you may not know, however, is that this huge success was the result of an occasional mistake. The magic soft drink was just the wrong headache potion. And the number one credit for this miracle is Robert Woodroof, who is known as the "father of Coca-Cola" by Americans.

In the 1880s, there was a drugstore in Atlanta, Georgia. The owner, John Pemberton, was an amateur apothecary who spent his spare time tinkering with experimental glassware and potions in the hope of inventing new ones. Headache is a kind of disease that people often suffer from, and he devoted himself to the research of headache medicine. He had discovered that coca leaves and kola nuts had a stimulating effect and that Indians and West Africans had long used them as brain-boosting drugs, and wondered why they could not be made into an imaginary headache potion. After many trials, this kind of brain tonic medicine made of coca leaves, kola fruit, sucrose, cooking oil, and essence was refined. He named the light brown liquid Coca-Cola, a play on the words coca and cola. As a new kind of headache medicine, Coca-Cola is popular with patients, but it is medicine, after all, sales are very small.

One day in May 1886, a patient with a headache came to the drugstore and asked for a Coca-Cola potion to take. When the clerk diluted the potion, he mistakenly added soda water instead of cold water. The patient did not know why, drink, only feel all over, and repeatedly shouted: "your Coca-Cola potion today is wonderful, the taste is wonderful!" Pemberton came out of the back room and took a sip of what was left in his glass. It tasted very different and very good indeed. After he found out what had happened, he decided to go ahead and make Coca-Cola with a new formula. The customer took another swig. Under his promotion, many customers came in one after another to ask for a taste of the special flavor of the potion, and some simply drank it as a daily drink. An absent-minded mistake by a clerk at work did wonders, and Coca-Cola was magically transformed from a potion into a beloved beverage.

The shrewd PonBARTON with its rich pharmacological knowledge and dedication to the spirit of research soon set down 14 ingredients of Coca-Cola, and the formula sealed in the Atlanta City bank safe, become a secret patent. He also asked his shop's accountant, excellent painter Robinson design a trademark. Robinson carefully considered, drawn into a delicate and unique trademark "CocaCola". For more than 100 years, Coca-Cola has gone through ups and downs. Robinson's trademark has been used to this day and can be seen everywhere in the world. It has become the traditional logo of Coca-Cola.

In the hands of its inventor, Ponbarton, Coca-Cola's sales increased more than 40-fold by 1887, from 9 cups a day to 370 cups, and from 25 gallons a year to 1,049 gallons. But Pemberton was not good at selling new ideas. He gave the product a nice name, registered a bold trademark, and applied for a patent, the formula is only known to him; They also spend tens of dollars on ads with slogans like "Keep your brain smart" and "Stay young." Due to his lack of understanding of the beverage market in the United States at that time, the quality of Coca-Cola created by him was not clear whether it was a medicine or a refreshing drink. Moreover, for daily consumption, it was too strong to be welcomed by ordinary people. As a result, after only a year in business, Ponbarton was on the verge of trouble, fell seriously ill, and soon died broke and depressed.

Before Ponbatten's death, Atlanta pharmacist Asa Candler became Coca-Cola's second owner when he bought the formula patent and manufacturing rights for a paltry $283. Candler was not only a pharmacist but also a successful salesman and businessman. He made a careful analysis of the reasons for the poor sales of Coca-Cola. First, Candler and his assistant tried and tried to improve the ingredients of Coca-Cola. He subtly dissolved syrup into the liquid of Coca-Cola, changing its taste and color to make it more suitable for the taste of the world. Second, Candler makes explicit the nature of the commodity, which Ponbatten had neglected. He said, Coca-Cola is not a medicine, but a refreshing drink that is 100 percent nourishing and healthy. It is also a popular drink that can be consumed by women and children. Based on this, he set the tone of the advertisement as a refreshing drink. From that time to this day, the "Coca-Cola, delicious aroma, fun, refreshing" AD has been used.

In terms of business methods, Conde inherited and developed Pompeton's wholesale Coca-Cola stock solution and never sold the formula and production rights. Companies that want to distribute Coca-Cola must apply to the company for a "license" before they can buy the stock. This prevented unproductive competition among distributors and focused all their efforts on promoting Coca-Cola's local sales. In addition, Candler has changed the packaging of its products to create beautiful, small-waisted glass bottles. The distinctive bottle is instantly recognizable as Coca-Cola, feels comfortable in the hand, and is hard to imitate.

Candler's efforts were not in vain. As soon as Coca-Cola was introduced with its new look, it quickly became a hit in Atlanta. This time coincided with the rise of the "prohibition movement" in the United States, Coca-Cola was known as the "holy water", and was favored by people. Before long, Coca-Cola was popular throughout Georgia. By 1902, Coca-Cola sales had surged to 360,000 gallons, making it the hottest American product in many parts of the world. Candler became a millionaire.

Chandler retired in 1917. Coca-Cola changed hands several times in the following two years. Due to poor management, its sales volume was decreasing day by day and it fell into a serious financial crisis. It was around this time that Robert Woodroof's father was acutely aware of the potential market for Coca-Cola. So, in 1919, he spent $25 million, a high price to buy the Coca-Cola soda factory and Coca-Cola patent rights, and founded the Coca-Cola Company.

Because the elder Woodroof was getting old, he recalled his son, 35, who was already a vice president at White Motor Company. In 1923, Robert Woodroof became the second chairman and general manager of the Coca-Cola Company. Under his painstaking management, the company turned the corner and rose rapidly.

Woodroof was born in Columbus, Georgia, in 1890 and received a military education as a young man. At the age of 20, before graduating from college, he abandoned his business studies and became famous for selling trucks. When he joined the Coca-Cola Company, he used to say this mantra: "I'm just a salesman." He was indeed a talented salesman. During his more than 60 years in charge of the company, Coca-Cola was sold around the world and won the title of "King of soft drinks in the world".