What nonprofits can learn from Coca-Cola

           Hello, dear Lyudmila Vladimirovna, my colleagues and other readers of the Blog. For my third message here I have chosen a record from http:// www.ted.com. This record corresponds to topic «international market (Brand)». Here is the reference:

http://www.ted.com/talks/melinda_french_gates_what_nonprofits_can_learn_from_coca_cola.html

            I have chosen this particular record because the considerable quantity of problems is discussed on it and these problems are very important in our days. For example, it is the poorness of developing countries; the problem of improvement of people living conditions on the planet; brand promotion in the world market and its influence on associates.

            When I had listened the record the first time I have caught the general essence of the woman’s speech and have paid attention to the several facts which are important for understanding the text. It is possible to say that I did not understand only about 20 % of the text because of the fluent speech and some words which were unfamiliar for me. At the second listening I concentrated the attention to those parts of the speech which I haven't understood for the first time.

            And finely, at the third listening I have decided to listen to this tape partially for writing down some aspects of the speech, including things because of which the Coca-Cola Company became a world brand and extended even in the poor African countries.

            I will try to tell the maintenance of the record very shortly as its extent constitutes 16 minutes and it will be very difficult to tall all details of the speech in the Blog frameworks.

            In the beginning of this record the acting woman (her name hasn't been given) tolled that she worked at the Gates Foundation and often traveled all over the world. Onсe she was travelling around the African countries, across India and so on. She saw nothing except poverty. In these countries was absolutely nothing, there was no water, no electricity... BUT!!! There is the Coca-Cola!!! Coca-Cola was absolutely in each country even in such country as Ethiopia.

            The woman is indignant that instead of vaccination, condoms, medicines and etc the harmful Coca-Cola is extended there. She is surprised why the state and whole world allows it to occur. Why in those countries where people die because of shortage of medicines, this drink is imported instead of tablets and so on.

            This woman believes that the success of Coca-Cola is needed to be studied and accumulated into development of other different industries. If to achieve the same success as Coca-Cola it will be possible to save lives of African children, to reduce number of poor people.

            Our business woman allocates 3 things which have helped Coca-Cola to be promoted in such way and become a world brand:

-         they take real-time data and immediately feed it back into the product;

-         they tap into local entrepreneurial talent;

-         they do incredible marketing.

            It is very interesting that the woman gives an example an official hymn of the World Football Cup 2010 in Africa. Where are words like «give you freedom, give you fire, give you reason, take you higher» and so on… It seems that this song is about football, but it is an embedded advertizing of Coca-Cola too and it is possible to apprehend ambiguously the words of this song.

            In the conclusion of the speech, the woman says that it is very important to direct the energies and "advertizing" in the write way and then (it is possible) a lot of world problems become less.

            To tell the truth, I hate the Coca-Cola Company and their drinks. It is very unhealthy. So I absolutely agree with the opinion of this woman.

            Thanks for attention.