Coca-Cola Online Social Media Principles

Online Social Media Principles (12/2/09)

Online Social Media Principles

INTRODUCTION

Every day, people discuss, debate and embrace The Coca‐Cola Company and our brands in thousands of online

conversations. We recognize the vital importance of participating in these online conversations and are

committed to ensuring that we participate in online social media the right way. These Online Social Media

Principles have been developed to help empower our associates to participate in this new frontier of

marketing and communications, represent our Company, and share the optimistic and positive spirits of our

•

COLLABORATION: Leveraging our collective genius;

•

INTEGRITY: Being real;

•

ACCOUNTABILITY: Recognizing that if it is to be, it’s up to me;

•

These Online Social Media Principles are intended to outline how these values should be demonstrated in the

online social media space and to guide your participation in this area, both when you are participating

personally, as well as when you are acting on behalf of the Company. It is critical that we always remember who

we are (a marketing company) and what our role is in the social media community (to build our brands). The

same rules that apply to our messaging and communications in traditional media still apply in the online social

media space; simply because the development and implementation of an online social media program can be

fast, easy, and inexpensive doesn’t mean that different rules apply.

The Company encourages all of its associates to explore and engage in social media communities at a level at

which they feel comfortable. Have fun, but be smart. The best advice is to approach online worlds in the same

way we do the physical one – by using sound judgment and common sense, by adhering to the Company’s

The Five Core Values of the Company in the Online Social Media Community

1.

Transparency in every social media engagement. The Company does not condone manipulating the

social media flow by creating “fake” destinations and posts designed to mislead followers and control a

conversation. Every Web site, “fan page”, or other online destination that is ultimately controlled by the

Company must make that fact known to users and must be authorized according to applicable internal

protocols in order to track and monitor the Company’s online presence. We also require bloggers and

social media influencers to disclose to their readers when we’re associating with them, whether by

providing them with product samples or hosting them at Company events, and we need to monitor

whether they are complying with this requirement.