Coca-Cola has had some of the more memorable commercials from the last few decades. From "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" which debuted in 1971 to the ongoing adventures of the polar bears, which started, surprisingly, in 1922, the company has a great track record getting it message out to consumers.
However, that doesn't mean that the organization has not made its mistakes while trying out some new systems. Currently, the company is battling a lawsuit brought by customers because of issues from a text message marketing program.
According to an article from the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the suit was filed at the beginning of 2014 in California but has been moved to an Atlanta federal court. This is on top of a separate, similar lawsuit that was filed in 2013 and is being heard in San Diego. They both claim that customers received unsolicited text messages to their mobile devices.
"In or around 2012, Plaintiff received unsolicited SMS or 'text' messages to his wireless phone, for which Plaintiff provided no consent to receive the text messages, in an effort to promote the sale of Defendant's Coke products," the lawsuit says. "During that time period, Plaintiff received various text messages from The Coca-Cola Company; the solicitation included an advertisement to promote Coke Zero."
Coke has denied any wrongdoing but has had its request to dismiss rejected, and now must identify every vendor and marketing campaign using it during the time the texts were allegedly sent.
While text messages can be a powerful marketing tool, organizations need to make sure they are using them successfully. This is something that an SMS service provider can help with.
