Becoming the Unofficial Standard like McDonald's Coke

McDonald's hasn't just figured out how to serve Coke - they've made it their obsession. They've optimized several aspects of their Coca-Cola serving process to enhance the taste and quality of their beverages.

Not only does this obsession allow them to sell more soda, their impact on Coca-Cola's top line has earned them special privileges such as such a division at the Coke headquarters. Imagine: Over 200 people across 160 markets worldwide wake up every day thinking about how to make the McDonald's Coke relationship better.

How's that for an unfair advantage?

How McDonald's Elevates Coke

McDonald's approach to optimization is truly holistic. And it starts by considering the customer experience from the first sip to the last. This doesn't just make their Coke the best-tasting, but it elevates Coke entirely.

A "perfect" fountain Coke is one that tastes crisp, sweet, fizzy, and properly cold. McDonald's has developed several key systems and processes to achieve this consistently superior taste:

Syrup and Water Management

Pre-chilling: McDonald's pre-chills both the Coca-Cola syrup and water before they enter the fountain dispenser. The carbonated water and syrup are stored, chilled, and delivered separately, only mixing when they flow into your cup to enhance freshness.

Stainless Steel Storage: McDonald's receives and stores its Coca-Cola syrup in stainless steel tanks, something that is unique to them (other restaurants get their shipments in plastic bags). This helps preserve the syrup's quality and prevents flavor degradation.

Optimized Ratios: McDonald's carefully standardizes their syrup measurements, using precisely 40 grams of sugar for every small Coca-Cola. They adjust the syrup-to-water ratio to account for ice melting, ensuring consistent flavor throughout the drinking experience.

Temperature Control System

Insulated System: The water used to mix the syrup is kept chilled through insulated tubing with specialized equipment, maintaining a temperature range of 33 to 36 degrees Fahrenheit. McDonald's keeps their entire fountain beverage system cold, ensuring consistent temperature throughout the drinking experience.

Enhanced Carbonation: Pre-chilling the syrup and water allows for greater carbon dioxide solubility, as colder liquids can hold more dissolved CO2. McDonald's maintains higher carbon dioxide levels in their Coca-Cola, optimizing bubble levels for a more refreshing experience. These bubbles contribute to the characteristic "bite" that Coke is known for.

Quality Control

Advanced Filtration: All water used in McDonald's fountain dispensers goes through a sophisticated filtration system, ensuring consistent quality regardless of the local water source. They filter out impurities like chlorine while maintaining a mineral count (for carbonation to bind to), or going so far as to add minerals.

• Extra note: apparently this water is different than the one used for McDonald's coffee (which uses reverse osmosis water??)

Reduced Dilution: Pre-chilling helps minimize ice melt, which could otherwise dilute the drink. The cold temperature also helps preserve the syrup's freshness and prevents flavor degradation that can occur at higher temperatures.

Routine Maintenance: McDonald's implements strict cleaning and maintenance schedules for their beverage systems. This includes:

• Daily cleaning of nozzles and diffusers to prevent syrup buildup
• Weekly sanitization of the entire beverage system
• Regular inspection and replacement of water filters
• Periodic calibration of syrup-to-water ratios by Coca-Cola representative
• Regular testing of carbonation levels and temperature controls
• Professional maintenance checks on refrigeration systems

Serving Method

Wider straws: McDonald's uses slightly wider straws than average, allowing more soda to hit your taste buds with each sip.

Plastic cups: The plastic cups used by McDonald's effectively trap carbonation, maintaining the drink's fizziness better than paper cups.

By implementing these specific optimizations, McDonald's has created a Coca-Cola experience that many customers find superior to other venues, despite using the same basic Coca-Cola formula.

But a great product is only one part of the story.

How Coca-Cola and McDonald's Partnership Makes 1+1 = 100

The partnership between McDonald's and Coke started with a handshake in 1955. Ray Kroc was planning McDonald's national expansion when he met with Waddy Pratt, head of Coca-Cola's fountain division. What began as a simple agreement evolved into something much bigger. McDonald's helped Coca-Cola expand internationally, often using Coke's offices as a base for entering new markets. In return, Coca-Cola helped McDonald's innovate.

McDonald's and Coca-Cola have employed several joint marketing strategies throughout their long-standing partnership, leveraging their combined brand power to create impactful campaigns and initiatives. Here are some specific marketing strategies they've used together:

Collaborative Advertising

Joint Promotions: The companies have collaborated on numerous promotional campaigns, such as the "$1 any size soda" promotion, which helped drive traffic to McDonald's restaurants while boosting Coca-Cola sales.

Co-branded Commercials: They've created co-branded advertisements featuring iconic characters from both brands. A recent example is "The Perfect Pair" campaign, which showcased the Hamburglar and the Coca-Cola Polar Bear.

Major Event Sponsorships: The companies have jointly sponsored major events, such as being among the biggest sponsors of Brazil's 2014 World Cup

Product Development

Extra Value Meal: Coca-Cola played a crucial role in helping McDonald's launch the Extra Value Meal concept during the "Jurassic Park" promotion in 1993.

McCafé Frappé: Coca-Cola developed the McCafé Frappé specifically for McDonald's, using Coca-Cola's signature coffee.

Digital Marketing

Social Media Campaigns: The #BetterTogether campaign in the Philippines promoted McDonald's BFF Bundle, which includes Coca-Cola drinks, through social media engagement.
Influencer Partnerships: Both companies have collaborated with local artists, musicians, and influencers to create content that resonates with specific cultural contexts.

Both companies work together to create campaigns that celebrate diversity and inclusivity, reflecting the varied cultures and communities they serve[5].
By combining their marketing efforts, McDonald's and Coca-Cola have created a synergistic partnership that enhances both brands' visibility and appeal to consumers worldwide.

How Agencies Can Leverage the McDonald's Coke Strategy

McDonald's incessant focus on perfecting their Coke earns them significant unfair advantages. When it comes to agencies and managed service providers, there's many parallels:

• McDonald's invested in specialized equipment and precise processes. For agencies, this might mean building custom tools or unique methodologies around a platform.
• Every McDonald's maintains the same exacting standards for their Coke. Agencies can include the same level of technical standardization in their end product–layer names, organization, deliveries with README's.
• From stainless steel tanks to sophisticated water filtration, McDonald's made big bets on infrastructure. Agencies could look to similar investments in their chosen specialization.

While many service providers state they are "certified" with a platform, I find that many stop there. It's certainly a step in the right direction, but I think all owners should wonder what their service(s) may look like when they go deeper. Like "we have our own division at their HQ" deep?

I'm talking about being the recognized "unofficial standard".

Becoming the Unofficial Standard

For example, if you were to be the "Unofficial Standard of Hubspot", instead of just getting everyone fully Hubspot-ceritified and part of the Hubspot Partner Program, your marketing agency could also:

• Build custom integrations and open source them
• Create tools to debug automation workflows
• Run a newsletter just about HubSpot tricks
• Host HubSpot-specific workshops and events
• Make videos breaking down complex features
• Build a reputation for fixing notorious platform issues
• Release template libraries for the community
• Start a podcast with HubSpot power users
• Create an online community for platform pros
• Publish deep dives on platform changes
• Submit and present talks on Hubspot to conferences

Building Your Own Division

An important thing to keep in mind is that McDonald's partnership with Coke started in 1955, early into Coke's rise to where it is today. Being the "unofficial standard" is only the first part of the strategy. The unfair advantage is when the partnership starts to enable both sides to grow.

But, depending on your own company's size, Hubspot might be the wrong example. Instead, if you're a smaller boutique, it may be more worthwhile to bet on a promising startup. The potential is greater too. You might get to influence the roadmap, work directly with their team, and the founder(s) might know you by name.

And yes, I know that sounds like a risk. Becoming the standard requires significant time and resources so investing in building a relationship with a startup might hurt you. But, I think that's all in the identification of the product itself.

If it's the right product that your customers would actually get value out of, then the sale should be easy. Which would mean you're also boosting the startup's top line, enabling them to find PMF and grow faster too.

Also, take note that soda is not McDonald's main SKU. They sell burgers and fries. The soda is important, but only a piece of their puzzle. The point here is that you don't need to necessarily build your entire agency off the back of a platform, but rather to find a complimentary product.

For example:

• For design agencies, you can perfect your Rive animations.
• For marketing agencies, you can master Databox reporting.
• For development agencies, you can be the go-to for Cloudflare Workers.

Here's how I would build an evaluation matrix for identifying your "Coke".

Evaluation Matrix

1. Platform Health
   • Recent funding rounds showing growth
   • Clear product-market fit
   • Strong API maturity and developer ecosystem
   • Active agency partnership programs
   • Platform team engages with community
   • Growing Github activity (stars, issues, PRs)
2. Market Opportunity
   • Your clients are actively asking for solutions
   • Product mastery is "difficult" enough to require third-party management
   • Geographic or vertical market gaps
   • Growing adoption rate
   • Limited competition in the service layer
3. Agency Alignment
   • Fits with your existing client base
   • Matches or synergizes well with core competencies
   • Scalable delivery model potential
   • Clear path to developing expertise

Some indicators that you've found your Coke:

• Clients love the product and what it solves for them
• You get new business via client referrals specifically for this service
• You get new business via product referrals
• Product team is reachable online or in person
• Limited competition in authoritative content
• You've thought of spinning off a separate service business
• Product team implements features your team suggests

Red Flags to Consider

• Platform's key members are leaving
• Support response delays
• API instability (check their uptime status page)
• Better alternatives emerging
• Community frustration
• Migration discussions

Possible "Cokes"

Here is a non-exhaustive list of "Cokes" that may be worth considering:

For Website Agencies

• Loops for post-launch analytics and heatmaps
• Memberstack for membership functionality
• Rewardful for affiliate programs
• ConvertKit for creator newsletters
• Outseta for subscription management

For Marketing Agencies

• Posthog for open-source analytics
• RudderStack for data pipelines
• Hightouch for reverse ETL

And with the development of new AI products, there is more opportunity than ever to find your Coke.

So good luck, let me know what you find (hopefully with a comment below)!

Here's to perfectly chilled 33°F soda.

Cheers,
Sean

Update (Jan 12, 2024): I read Jason Cohen's essay on how startups often propose "win-win" opportunities to larger companies to no avail because they miscalculate the scale of the "win" for the larger company's perspective. I think it's very relevant to this idea of partnerships. Check it out here:

Why startup biz dev deals almost never get done

Startups fail at biz dev because their proposals don’t make sense to bigger companies. Here’s how to adjust your approach.

A Smart BearJason Cohen