Ivan Pollard from Coca-Cola: We Must Use Our Voice To Make A Significant Difference in The World

For Ivan Pollard, Coca-Cola’s Corporate SVP/Strategic Marketing, when brands use marketing that promotes more goodness in the world, they’re simply doing good business. “All through our history, we’ve believed that we must seize the opportunity to use our voice to make a significant, positive difference in the world” he said at the Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) 2016 Multicultural Marketing & Diversity Conference. The company has preference for values such as positivity, optimism, being close and social, all expressed by beautiful stories that are unpretentious, simple, and authentic, according to Pollard. For Pollard a power of brands comes from all actions or things they have done in the past, and they become relevant in the modern age by what they do next. “We’ve had a history of using advertising not merely as a mirror that reflects the darker side of how the world is today, but as a window through which you can see a better picture for tomorrow that we would like this country to be” he said. Coca-Cola is constantly trying to measure the connection between these cause-orientated programs and market performance. “Those metrics will tell you if you’re getting your social responsibility wrong. It’s become a requirement that you demonstrate leadership in the social agenda. If you don’t, people will abandon you” he concluded.