042: Lessons on Authenticity and Transparency from Coca-Cola's Sugary PR Fail

A recent Wall Street Journal op-ed with a pseudo Coca-Cola apology caught our eye and The Heart Of Marketing team dived right in to our first pillar of heart marketing – transparency and authenticity equal trust. Have Coca-Cola and Pepsi been 100 percent transparent with customers in light of the latest spin control by Coke to apologize for putting 12 teaspoons of sugar in a coke? Recently, there have been a variety of public relations disasters with beverage companies trying to align healthy pop to lifestyle. As these beverage behemoths grapple with 10-year declining sales and growing consensus that sugary drinks promote disease, the pressure is on to come clean, literally, with customers and 'do better.' What are the benefits of transparency in business, anyway? Should your company care about being real and truthful to customers and stakeholders? Jayme Soulati and John Gregory Olson explore what it means to build customer loyalty with transparency as a pillar of heart marketing. Resources Soda Takes Its Fight to the City How Coke's Obesity PR Stunt Blew Up In Its Face Trust in the Age of Transparency Authenticity is the New Bullshit