When prices go up, brands feel the burn quickly. Even large brands do too! And inflation causes Coca Cola to change the way Coca Cola grows. To protect volume, reduce costs, and be culturally relevant, Coca Cola is changing how it uses price increases as part of its plan to implement AI Marketing Solutions to improve overall performance across all areas of its business operations.
This change is not about fancy technologies to create news headlines; it’s about getting results from marketing, especially because dollars are getting scarcer.
Why is Coca-Cola rethinking growth as price-led strategies slows?
Higher prices were the solution to higher costs for a period of time. That solution is not enough anymore. Consumers are being more frugal. Retailers are being more cautious. Growth is now going to rely on convincing people to buy, instead of just relying on using price alone to do that.
Coca-Cola’s response to this challenging environment is to develop better, larger-scale marketing. AI allows Coca-Cola’s to get their marketing done faster, do it more personally, and help their larger marketing spend last longer while still maintaining their brand’s voice.
What is Coca-Cola’s marketing strategy today?
Coca-Cola uses emotions like ‘joy’ and ‘belonging,’ as they always have, to launch their strategy. However, the way they create and use those emotions has changed.
Their four main pillars remain unchanged:
- Storytelling that’s relatable and relevant to people
- Digital-based, social media campaigns to be deployed on social platforms
- Individualized executions for different countries/regions and formats
- Reduced production cost and speed through execution
All four of these pillars are supported by Artificial Intelligence (AI). However, AI does not take the place of the brand idea. Rather, AI helps extend the reach of the brand idea.
Who is Coca-Cola’s target market in 2026?
Coca-Cola reaches a broad scope of potential customers; however, there are certain demographics it must pay special attention to if its business is to expand.
Coca-Cola’s primary target audiences as per Pestel Analysis are:
- Young people aged 14-30
- Millennials and Gen-Z (Social Media)
- Families who purchase products for everyday occasions
- People who are health conscious and prefer sugar-free products
Utilizing AI will allow Coca-Cola to deliver targeted messaging to each of these audiences without needing to build multiple distinct marketing campaigns from the ground up.
How much does Coca-Cola spend on marketing each year?
Coca-Cola invests heavily to maintain their presence, with their annual advertising expenses generally ranging between four to five billion dollars, but for marketing alone, in 2024 Coca-Cola approximately to spent around $4.3 million dollars, reported Flavor365.
Because of the large amount of money Coca-Cola invests for advertising, it has become essential to maximize its return on investment through all possible efficiencies, including ways to use automation or target a limited audience. Because of this shift in Coca Cola AI Marketing to being used as an overall financial strategy as opposed to merely a creative one.
How did Coca-Cola experiment with AI in its early creative campaigns?
Before AI became fashionable, Coca-Cola had already begun experimenting with it.
The initial applications aided creativity (e.g., how to apply AI-assisted localization for the Share a Coke campaign and various names and messages according to location).
In 2023, artists utilized brand assets in conjunction with AI to produce items as part of the Create Real Magic platform.
As evidenced by these projects, Coca-Cola demonstrated that using AI could enhance creativity while maintaining the integrity of the Coke brand.
How is Coca-Cola using AI in advertising right now?
The application of AI in marketing today is both significant and well established. In 2024, Coca-Cola produced their holiday advertisements using generative A.I. and produced their holiday advertisements using generative A.I.
That included visual elements (e.g., trucks for Christmas, etc.) but was produced using generative A.I., therefore, they were produced much less than traditional turnaround and with fewer dollars.
Currently, there are three functions of A.I. being used.
| Area | How AI Helps |
|---|---|
| Content creation | Produces variations of ads, visuals, and copy faster |
| Campaign planning | Analyzes sentiment, trends, and timing in real time |
| Distribution | Optimizes media spend, forecasts demand, and targets retailers |
How should brands use AI effectively during inflation?
The Coca-Cola model provides insight to other companies battling against shrinking margins. Brands should begin by using artificial intelligence to cut costs in their production process, rather than replacing creativity. Focus their resources on high-valued customers through predictive data, provide loyalty programs with personalized discounts, stay clearly focused on providing high-quality value through well-written messaging, and use artificial intelligence to correctly communicate with consumers without having to raise their prices.
How can brands ensure AI-generated content stays true to their identity?
The biggest danger associated with AI is uniformity. Coca-Cola handles that by treating AI as though it is part of a team, but does not allow it to make any decisions.
Content alignment with AI can be achieved in several ways:
- Provide AI with clear brand guidelines and previous marketing campaigns
- Clearly define the tone, emotional response, and limits before beginning any campaign
- Involve humans in all reviews and approvals
- Simply revise the prompts given to AI based on its performance
AI provides speed, but people provide soul to the work.
Why does Coca-Cola’s shift to AI marketing matter now?
Coca-Cola isn’t pursuing technology fads but instead, is reacting to a real need for the market. With slow money-based growth the use of recommendation will again be the driver for growth.
Coca-Cola AI marketing is an example of how a traditional brand can still become modernized while keeping the heart of the organization intact. The message is obvious. In a tight economy, businesses that have success are those who market more creatively and intelligently, not with a loud voice. For brands looking to improve their own marketing execution with smarter tools, exploring platforms like Brevo can provide practical ways to automate campaigns and better engage audiences. You can learn more in this Brevo marketing tool review on our blog.
