By John Casteele - February 19, 2012 | Tickers: DPS, PEP, KO | Comments

John is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinions of our bloggers and are not formally edited.

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is generally a solid performer, so long as the company doesn't decide to drastically change the formula of its carbonated namesake. The beverage company has been making a strong showing as of late, beating analyst estimates and increasing sales volumes worldwide. As if that wasn't enough, Coca-Cola also increased its quarterly dividends for the 50th year in a row and announced a new plan intended to cut costs by $350 to $400 million by 2015 even as commodity and fuel costs continue to rise. In short, things are pretty refreshing with Coca-Cola right now.

It's no surprise, of course, that the company is already making plans to try and ensure continued growth and international exposure in the coming year. One key component to this plan is the 2012 Olympics in London; Coca-Cola has already started its Olympics-targeted "Move to the Beat" advertising campaign, launching the first ad last week. Some may find the ad familiar as the teens invited to the event it was filmed at were encouraged to share their photos and videos via Twitter and other social media sites; this isn't necessarily a bad thing, of course, as Coca-Cola has used familiarity with characters such as their famous polar bears to give its advertising a gentle nostalgia while drawing people in with curiosity about how the new commercials will be different than what they've already seen.

This isn't to say that other beverage companies such as PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) and the Dr Pepper Snapple Group (NYSE: DPS) aren't looking for ways to increase profits in the new year, of course. The problem for these companies comes from the fact that Coca-Cola has a lower price-to-earnings ratio and is the dominant force in the beverage industry; while neither is a slouch when it comes to sales, Coca-Cola makes more profit from each sale and makes more sales than either company to boot. Competitors aren't likely to even compete with Coca-Cola when it comes to Olympics-focused exposure since the company has been associated with the Olympic Games for 84 years... longer than any other company when it comes to continuous sponsorship. Coca-Cola is almost as much a part of the Olympics as it is a part of the ideal vision of America.

Coca-Cola's plans for the future don't stop with the Olympics, of course. The cost-cutting measures announced recently are part of a plan extending to 2020, indicating that the company has its eyes clearly on the future of its product. While the company may experience its share of ups and downs during that time, it didn't earn the title of "world's most valuable brand" by folding under pressure. If its cost-cutting plan is successful and doesn't compromise the price or integrity of the 500 drink brands produced by the company then Coca-Cola may have a very bright future indeed.

Croaxleigh

John Casteele

John Casteele is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network.

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