Coca-Cola is affiliated with more than 700 sports properties, including the NCAA, NBA, Olympics, NASCAR and LeBron James. Yet, years after earning her last degree, it is college campuses where the company’s Sharon Byers is focusing. Effectively attacking the many-headed hydra that is college marketing isn’t easy, especially since Coke has ties to more than 400 colleges, but it is an area with high consumption of Coke products and a place where consumers make brand decisions that last a lifetime. “This is a market where the target is tough to reach and very tricky, but that makes the challenge worthwhile,” said Byers, a 25-year Coke marketer.

Coke’s roster of entertainment properties is also top shelf, starting with “American Idol.” Byers’ next challenge is to combine the marketing power of entertainment and sports, the two most powerful “passion points” for most consumers. “Historically, companies have used sports and entertainment separately, but people don’t consume them separately,” Byers said. “Now the question is one of blending them into something even more compelling.”