Innovation at Coke

The current issue of BusinessWeek has an excellent story about how Coke is innovating under the guidance of Mary Minnick. She holds the incredible title of President of Marketing, Innovation and Strategy for Coca-Cola worldwide. Here are my takeaways from the article:

• She's a Coke "lifer", which shows that Outside Intervention isn't always required to uncork innovative thinking.
• Her mission is to make "Coke more exciting, innovative, and relevant" (emphasis mine)
• She told her team to "stop thinking in terms of existing drink categories and start thinking broadly about why people consume beverages in the first place".
• "Like Henry Ford said, 'If I'd asked the consumer what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse,' she told her troops. (In other words, lead your customer, as I mentioned in an earlier post.)
• She engaged bottlers (her channel) to gain their insights and cooperation in introducing new products.
• She's shaking up the culture at Coke and setting a higher standard. What had passed for innovation in the past "had been incremental line extensions that too often didn't really move the needle".
• While in charge of Coke's Japanese operations, she introduced over 100 new products a year, some with very short product lifecycles (months). Sounds like she's bringing some "Long Tail" thinking to Coke.
• Here are her four key items from the "PLAYBOOK: Best Practice Ideas" sidebar in the article:
• Anticipate the Customer
• Retool Tired Brands
• Engage Partners
• Don't Fear Failure

In the 1980's, when Robert Goizueta took over as CEO, he found his team focused solely on winning market share from Pepsi, and not making much headway. He realized that breakthrough thinking was required, and so challenged Coke to increase it's share of total fluid intake, not just soda. Coke responded, and took a pretty commanding lead against Pepsi. Today, it seems that Coke is at another such juncture, and it looks like Mary Minnick is taking some steps that are just as bold and innovative as Robert Goizueta's actions. Interesting reading.