In a bid to offer visitors a more “reader-like” experience, Coca-Cola unveiled a revamped company website Monday that it hopes resembles a news magazine instead of a stodgy corporate destination.
The traditional, staid headings for investors, the media and corporate information have been replaced with more news-magazine styled tabs for stories, opinions, videos and a blog, said Ashley Brown, director of digital communications and social media for the Atlanta-based beverage giant.
The website, coca-colacompany.com, also includes sections for "most shared" or "most read" articles and a bar of tabs for easy connections to social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Almost a year in the making, the change comes at the request of Chief Executive Officer Muhtar Kent. Kent asked the staff to relaunch its in-house “Journey” magazine, which Coca-Cola published between 1987 and 1997, Brown said.
The staff, however, took the effort one step further, deciding to marry its web portal with a digital version of the magazine.
“Obviously we weren’t going to create a print magazine in the digital age,” he said.
The move is not without concerns, Brown said. The website pulls in 1.2 million unique visitors a month and the company doesn’t want its creative side to turn off those who come for business. To that end, Brown said he is looking for feedback and is willing to tweak the site to make sure it serves its audience well.
“We’re a brand with a lot of stories to tell,” said Brown said. “This is a journey for us as much as it is for our readers. We’re definitely out on a limb here. We’re definitely taking a risk.”
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