Coca-Cola poised to make a statement - but will they mention ColaLife?

April 5, 2009 by Simon Berry 

First of all - if you’d like to hear this statement live and get a chance to ask questions then join Business Fights Poverty and register for this event. It’s free.

This video shows where Coca-Cola were in May 2008 when the ColaLife campaign was started. It was made by Neville Isdell the then Chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola. Interestingly, Neville started his career with Coca-Cola in Zambia which is where the ColaLife idea was born more than 20 years ago.

I think they have come a long way since this statement but let’s see what they say at the Business Fights Poverty event on 21 April 2008. Yes, this statement already recognises the importance of nurturing local entrepreneurship to create local jobs and wealth. Yes, it recognises that the model of local ‘Manual Distribution Centres’ also gives a test-bed for training initiatives. But can Coca-Cola be among the first corporations to make to leap to integrate the distribution of  ’social products’ within commercial distribution networks? Arguably, this could make a huge impact on health issues in a short timescale. Coca-Cola will have to shift quite a way to take on this additional paradigm shift,  but I think they can do it!


Find more videos like this on Business Fights Poverty

What do you think of this statement? To many people it will sound like ‘business as usual’: of course Coca-Cola want to expand their distribution network - why wouldn’t they? On the other hand, if they do something radical, like embrace the ColaLife idea, test it and roll it out worldwide, then that would be different.

Bookmark and Share

Filed under: Coca Cola Campaign, Videos
Tagged:

Comments

3 Responses to “Coca-Cola poised to make a statement - but will they mention ColaLife?”

  1. Coca-Cola presentation to be streamed live : ColaLife on April 15th, 2009 8:47 pm

    [...] week I drew your attention to the fact that Coca-Cola are poised to make a statement about trials in east Africa at the Business Fights Poverty event on 21.4.09. I urged those who were able to attend to register. [...]

  2. Coca-Cola say ‘Yes’ (probably) to trials this year : ColaLife on April 22nd, 2009 8:34 am

    [...] in Africa but doing this is a way that maximises impact in terms of the alleviation of poverty (see a fuller explanation here). However, last night, Euan made a specific reference to ColaLife and stated that they wanted to go [...]

  3. ColaLife: Leveraging Coca-Cola Distribution Networks to Deliver Medicines - Marco Puccia : Business and Development on May 7th, 2009 7:12 am

    [...] Africa but doing this is a way that maximizes [sic] impact in terms of the alleviation of poverty (see a fuller explanation here). However, last night, Euan made a specific reference to ColaLife and stated that they wanted to go [...]

Please use the form below to leave a comment. Some comments may be moderated, but will all be displayed after a short delay unless they contain offensive or irrelevant content.