Decoding Coca-Cola: A Biography of a Global Brand

This collection of essays delves into the Coke brand to identify and decode its DNA. Unlike other accounts, these essays adopt a global approach to understand this global brand.

Bringing together an international and interdisciplinary team of scholars, Decoding Coca-Cola critically interrogates the Coke brand as well its constituent parts. By examining those who have been responsible for creating the images of Coke as well as the audiences that have consumed them, these essays offer a unique and revealing insight into the Coke brand and asks whether Coca-Cola is always has the same meaning. Looking into the core meaning, values, and emotions underpinning the Coca-Cola brand, it provides a unique insight into how global brands are created and positioned.

This critical examination of one of the world’s most recognisable brands will be an essential resource for scholars researching and teaching in the fields of marketing, advertising, and communication. Its unique interdisciplinary approach also makes it accessible to scholars working in other humanities fields, including history, media studies, communication studies, and cultural studies.

Robert Crawford is a Professor of Advertising and Associate Dean of Research & Innovation in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. His research has focused on the growth and development of the advertising, marketing, and public relations industries across Australia, Oceania, and South East Asia.

Linda Brennan is a Professor of Advertising in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Her research interests are the use and abuse of advertising and social marketing for social change.

Susie Khamis is Senior Lecturer in Public Communication at School of Communication at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia. Her research areas are branding, representations of cultural diversity, and consumer cultures.