Coke TRIES TO GET ITS FIZZ BACK - Company Business and Marketing

Industry Standard, The, August 21, 2000 by Ben Hammer

Before March, Coca-Cola executives thought Internet marketing helped with branding, but were unsure of its impact on sales, says Frank Bifulco, formerly the company's top marketer in North America.

"It was my belief at the time that we did a very good job at the brand building" online, says Bifulco, now chief marketing officer at online procurement firm ICG Commerce near Philadelphia "But we needed to do a better job at getting increased consumption out of it."

Current marketing executives at Coca-Cola say they face the same problems making online marketing increase sales and discovering how to prove that it does.

Until they answer both questions, the company is unlikely to move its interactive marketing beyond the experimental stage.