Coca-Cola Brand Check-up: Paying to Stay Remembered
Coca-Cola describes its brands as having high levels of consumer recognition, and it still spent $5 billion on advertising in 2024. As of January 6, 2026, the patient looks healthy: revenue is growing, the shares are up on the year and the company says it is gaining share. Our check-up looks at why the spending keeps working, what New Coke taught the company and where the strain shows.
Key takeaways
- Coca-Cola reported $5 billion of advertising costs in both 2023 and 2024, up from $4 billion in 2022, for brands it already describes as having high consumer recognition.
- In our view, the spending protects mental availability, the chance that buyers think of the brand at the moment of purchase, which fame alone does not guarantee.
- In the third quarter of 2025, price/mix rose 6% while unit case volume rose 1%, so the brand is earning more per case rather than selling many more cases.
- New Coke in 1985 showed that taste tests do not measure attachment, while Share a Coke showed the brand can feel personal without touching the formula.
Download the full Coca-Cola Brand Check-up (PDF): vital signs, timeline, diagnosis, treatment and sources.
Vital signs as of January 6, 2026
All figures are in U.S. dollars. Coca-Cola shares closed at $67.84 on January 6, 2026. That is 11.6% above the $60.81 close a year earlier and 8.2% below the 2025 closing high of $73.90, set on April 22. In its latest annual report, for 2024, the company reported net operating revenues of $47.1 billion.
The latest quarter was steady. Third-quarter 2025 results, released October 21, showed net revenues up 5% to $12.5 billion, organic revenues up 6% and unit case volume up 1%. The company said it gained value share in nonalcoholic ready-to-drink beverages, put more money into marketing and kept its full-year outlook of 5% to 6% organic revenue growth. Coca-Cola Zero Sugar volume grew 14%.
Why a famous brand keeps advertising
The annual report puts advertising costs at $5 billion in 2024, $5 billion in 2023 and $4 billion in 2022. The same filing describes the company’s brands as having high levels of consumer recognition and loyalty. So why keep paying?
The answer is memory. A summary on the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute’s site puts it plainly: “Mental availability means that buyers easily think of the brand when buying and recognize it quickly.” Being known is not the same as coming to mind at the cooler. Memories fade, and rivals compete for the same moments. Advertising keeps the brand in the running.
This is brand building in its plainest form: broad reach, repeated year after year. Each ad renews a memory so the brand comes to mind the next time someone is thirsty, whenever that is. The spending looks like a cost on a single year’s income statement. It works like maintenance on an asset.
New Coke and the limits of taste tests
On April 23, 1985, the company announced a new formula that had been preferred in taste tests with nearly 200,000 consumers. The tests did not measure the bond people felt with the original taste. By June, the consumer hotline was taking 1,500 calls a day, up from 400 before the change. On July 11, 1985, after 79 days, the original formula returned as Coca-Cola Classic.
The research asked which drink people preferred. It did not ask what they would lose. Any company weighing a rebrand or a product change should test attachment as well as preference.
Share a Coke: change the pack, keep the product
Share a Coke began with Coca-Cola Australia in 2011, swapping the logo on bottles and cans for popular first names. In March 2025 the company announced its return for Gen Z, with a rolling global launch, starting in April, planned for more than 120 countries. New Coke changed the product and ignored the attachment. Share a Coke left the product alone and gave people a personal reason to pick it up.
Where the strain shows
- Growth leans on price. In the third quarter, price/mix rose 6% while unit case volume rose 1%, and Trademark Coca-Cola volume also grew 1%. Price-led growth lasts only as long as buyers accept it, a core question in any pricing strategy.
- Familiar campaigns draw fire when they change. The 2025 “Holidays Are Coming” ads came out on November 3, and two of them were AI-generated, after the company’s first AI holiday ads in 2024 were largely poorly received. Pratik Thakar, global VP and head of generative AI, defended the approach: “Last year’s film performed exceptionally well and was a success with customers which is what matters most to us.”
- Leadership is changing. On December 10, 2025, the company named Henrique Braun, its executive vice president and chief operating officer, as CEO effective March 31, 2026. James Quincey will become executive chairman.
What growing companies can learn
Coca-Cola keeps advertising while it is healthy, and that is the point. Smaller brands cannot match the budget, but they can copy the habit. Keep a steady share of spending on reach, even in good years. Test what customers would lose before you change something they love. Look for ways to refresh the experience, such as a pack or a campaign, before you touch the core product.
This check-up uses public information available on January 6, 2026. It is brand and marketing analysis, not investment advice.
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