Skill-Link|COCA COLA stands out!

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Tuesday, September 07, 2010

COCA COLA stands out!

	COCA COLA stands out!
	The words of Mr. Omar Mandour GM of coca cola Egyp

In the world of low involvement decision-making (for our readers who are not aware of this marketing jargon that means buying a product that does not involve intensive research and thinking), COCA COLA stands out.

“Coca-Cola IS FOR THE PPL AND BY THE PPL’ the words of Mr. Omar Mandour General Manager of coca cola Egypt and North Africa
This statement made me realize few things, that this is one company that is focused on how their consumers are reacting to the brand, how can they contribute in making it stand out. And consumers can be fickle and easily swayed. Coca cola is a long-term brand. It has always been and will always be.

Upon deciding which tagline I need to add to this article. I realized I could not pin point one. Endless lists of coca cola taglines. It all started off with 1886 ‘Drink Coca-Cola’ until 2005 ‘welcome to the Coke side of life’. Throughout the 20th century till the 21, Coca-Cola has been churning out products that constantly gain grounds, over and above according to Mr. Mandour ‘it is all about happiness and fun’ And happiness should not end. It comes as no surprise, that those endless mesmeric taglines came to being.
Way back in the 1800, John Stith pemberton , a pharmacist created the company best known for it’s flagship product Coca-Cola .Thanks to Asa Candler who incorporated The Coca-Cola Company in 1892, a company which created endless hype and an array of thirst quenching beverages that stands today at 400 brands in over 200 countries serving 1.5 billion servings each day.
The Coca-Cola Company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Its stock is listed on the NYSE and is part of DJIA and S&P 500. Its current chairman and CEO is Muhtar Kent.
It comes as no surprise that when coca cola Egypt was on the hunt for hiring a good caliber General Manager they sought an outstanding and award winning Mr. Omar Mandor, Ex Pepsi Marketing Director.

Marwa; Mr. mandor, tell us about your career background?
Mr. Mandour; I graduated from AUC, political Since Major. Marwa: Really, a very interesting choice, what made you move to marketing? Mr. Mandour; In fact, you should ask me why I joined political Science in the first place, I had a dream of becoming a political figure. But upon managing my family business, I realized that my calling is in the marketing and sales. After few years, I joined Mansour group, as the Marketing Manager of Philipp Morris. Few years later, I joined IMPACT BBDO; I was then the account director of the Pepsi brand. later , I have been head hunted by Pepsi Egypt . Then head hunted again to manage Coca-Cola Morocco, later same year, I was appointed the general manager of Coca-Cola Egypt and North Africa.

Marwa; I hear, that once you are in your comfort zone, you find it hard to leave. Why did you leave Pepsi after 8 long years of constant success and an awards winning track record?

Mr. Mandour; First off, I owe Pepsi a lot. Pepsi gave me the opportunity to be where I am now. If it were not for their support and encouragement, I would not have won so many awards. They invested in me. But at one point, one could hit a glass ceiling, which happened to me. I felt I am just going to be a marketing director all my life. I needed to move. I needed more challenges and responsibilities. It was then that Coca-Cola made their offer. I just felt I needed to take the plunge.

Marwa; it is fair to grow. People naturally grow and need to move. I have noticed that most managers, when they leave such big brands they tend to feel a certain stab of pain when leaving a brand that they so loved and invested long grueling nights working for. Is that true?
Mr.Mandour; true, I felt that way when I first left Pepsi. They helped me out and made me grow. If it were not for Pepsi I would not have made it to Coca-Cola as a GM. And I respect the brand. It is not about moving to a competitor brand, it is about moving where one can grow it is the natural course of life, it is about what I have been offered at the time. Had I been offered a post in another company in a different industry I would have accepted!

Marwa; that leads us to another question at Coca-Cola Egypt, how do you invest in your staff
Mr.Mandour; we retain our staff. We make them feel at one with the brand. We train them on how to become better and better with their work. Should we find an outstanding performer we reward. Within our company we have a system through which employees know their rights and their duties. We have this interesting sheet, which is more or less like a memorandum of understanding, where both managers and subordinates sign on. It entails duties and rights required of managers and their subordinates at a certain frame of time. Upon delivery of goals and meeting targets, an appraisal sheet is issued, with promotions, and on rare occasions demotions.

Marwa; what is it, that Coca-Cola Egypt looks for when hiring staff?
Mr. Mandour; we look for people who are from a culture that thrives on competition we look for employees who are driven by ambition. It goes without saying that we look for people who are well aware of our brand and better consumers of the brand. Over above, have this talent being fun to be with. In the sense that they’ enjoy the fun’.

Marwa; I am sure you do, and in a way you are promoting such culture with campaigns that nurture sports. Tell us about that?
Mr. Mandour; this is true. Sports are all about that. We are trying to reach out and share the fun. And at the same time becoming part of this adrenalin rush that soccer delivers upon. We are sharing with them moments of victory, with the people of Egypt. We are their official sponsors of fun.

Marwa; I am sure you are. Not only do you do that, but you also share with them moments of weakness, could you tell us about Coca-Cola and the cancer hospital for children?
Mr. Mandour; we have been in a process of paying our debt back to society. Coca-Cola Egypt is about delivering a smile especially for those who are suffering illness. The cancer hospital for children, is one of the most important projects made for poverty stricken families. And we are there to offer support and bringing moments of joy and happiness for those who need it most.

Marwa; And you also bring clear and clean water to villages, do not you?
Mandour; this project is my pride and joy. It simply enhances our ability to reach out. And be of a much greater value to those who need help. It also adds smiles of relief to the people in those villages. In collaboration with the Egyptian government we have been providing and initiating this service, from groundwork, down to pipes and finally, up to a faucet in a house. As you may know, one of ranges of products is DASSANI, which is all about crystal clear water but not everyone can afford that. It comes as no surprise that we are involved in such projects.

Marwa; Mr. Mandour, our talk has been that of fun , compassion and career driven individuals . What more could we at skill-link.org, career magazine wish for, I believe nothing. Thank you very much for your time.

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