The iconic glass Coke bottle turned 100 years old in November. Why did this design stand the test of time?

ARIEL ZAMBELICH   NPR

How Coke Developed the Bottle in 1915

INTERNET ARCHIVE BOOK IMAGES   FLICKR

In 1915, a bottle of Coca-Cola was only 5 cents and America was on the verge of entering the first World War. According to Coke historian, Ted Ryan, Coca-Cola faced a lot of competition as the soft drink market started to grow. They were dealing with a lot of knockoffs, so they decided to design a new glass bottle that could be trademarked and not duplicated. Ryan says that Coke sent out a simple, creative brief to eight glass companies around the United States. Root Glass Co. in Terre Haute, Indiana decided to do some research and stumbled onto the cocoa pod. Even though, cocoa was not an ingredient in Coke, the shape with the ribs won over the executives in Atlanta. The bottle would go on to earn a patent and spur collections all over the world.

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What Will Be The Next Coke Bottle?

It’s safe to say that it may be impossible to know what packaging will be the next Coke bottle. Will there even be a package design that lasts 100 years? While the coke bottle is still around, it is in much lower circulation than the past. Coke switched to cans and plastic bottles years ago, but they realized they lost some of the shape in the past bottle. Recently, they redesigned the glass bottle into an aluminum bottle that has done remarkably well. Another way to think about creating this next package is by using new tools to understand the emotional connection at the shelf. New packaging research tools give us the ability to understand those visual brand cues that may be the key details to inventing the next “remarkable” package design.

Eye Tracking Research is the Future

Package InSight specializes in eye tracking research studies for consumer packaged good companies. Eye tracking is beneficial for companies developing new packaging because it allows you to understand all of the visual cues that consumers are subconsciously attentive to at the shelf. While eye tracking may never help you create the next Coke bottle, it can help you consistently understand your changing categories, product lines, and competition. If you are looking for a team of packaging experts with a sound consumer research methodology, contact Package InSight today!