"Delicious. Refreshing."

Everyone knows Coke.  Around the world, Coke brands itself as young, hip, and great to enjoy with friends.  Coke ads feature hip music and hipper twenty-somethings smiling, laughing, and drinking the beverage.  In some parts of the country, the work is so synonymous with soda that all soft drinks are referred to as Coke.  Consumers know that Coke is cheap and the product is consistent.  They know that they can get a Coke at basically any restaurant, bar, or vending machine.  But this high profile doesn't reach to all corners of the globe.

Coke is available in all but two countries of the world -- North Korea and Cuba have sanctions against the product.  Until recently, Myanmar also did not allow Coca-Cola to be sold.  In 2012, Coke was allowed back into the country after a 60 hiatus.

In Myanmar the brand was only vaguely remembered.  Knock offs, such as "Max Cola" and "Star" Cola took it's place in the market.  Upscale hotels and restaurants sold smuggled bottles of the real thing at highly marked up prices; it was known as a rich man's drink.  Coke wanted to change all that.  The company wanted to shift it's reputation from an upscale drink to something everyone can enjoy and for cheap.

To realign the company's reputation with its branding, the company had to resort to some clever advertising.  Taking cues from the campaigns of the 1800s, when no one knew of Coke, the company posted giant ads in shops and cafes explaining the product instead of just reinforcing the brand's image, as it does in America.  "Delicious, refreshing," how to drink Coke, and the standardized price, 300 Kyat were all shown in the ads.  With this campaign, Coke was able to show the Myanmar public what it was, how to enjoy it, and how cheap it was.  With this, the brand took a step towards fixing its reputation.

Trading in the Tie for a Toga

As I've mentioned before, at my job all of the staff are students.  Because students are generally only here for four years, there is a lot of turnover for staff.  I've been at my job for three and a half years (including each summer).  I only know of a handful of other people that have been at the job as long as I have.  Because I have been at this job for so long, I have gained a reputation from both the staff and the supervisors.

I would say that it is a positive reputation.  I am someone who likes to stay busy, I like to address things before they become a problem, and I have a great attention to detail.  The new staff see me as someone that they can ask a question to in lieu of the supervisor.  (By now, I know where basically everything in the building is and how to address most common questions and problems.)  The supervisors see me as someone who they can give a task and a team to, and I will get the job done efficiently and well.

To keep my reputation, I just continue to try and be a leader at work and to act proactively with issues that arise.  The supervisors really like to hear that there was a problem that was fixed without them having to intervene.  In addition, I make sure to get to work on time, and I always stay until every last thing is done for the night.  I keep my good reputation at work, because if I can't find a job in my field, I'm hoping to work as a supervisor at my job instead of moving in with my parents (or something similarly as hellish.)

I definitely have cashed in my reputation a time or two for personal gains.  Often times, I'm working late on Friday and Saturday nights; I get out anywhere from 11pm - 1am some nights.  I'm a college student, so weekend nights are the most fun, and the last thing I want to be doing is cleaning up from an event when I could be attending a toga party.  On a few occasions, I've just said to my manager, "I want to leave, is there anyway I can make a deal with you?"  Because I have such a good reputation, they often are able to come up with quick and dirty jobs for me to balance out leaving an hour or so early.  

Principal-Agent, on the Rocks

I'm a bartender at a conference center that is affiliated with the University.  Many companies, couples, and individuals throw parties at the ballrooms where I work, and I bar tend these event.  We are (supposedly) a four star establishment, and we charge four-star prices; the bar is the biggest money maker in my company.  Thus, we bartenders must be constantly conscious of things like inventory, over pouring drinks, and especially customer interaction.  This last one is most important because the bartender is one of the few staff at an event that one directly interacts with.

When I'm behind the bar, I answer to two principals, the customer and the company.  There is a University policy that dictates how much alcohol per drink we can pour, and oftentimes the customer does not see this as an adequate amount.  I am constantly being asked to "add a little more" or "top it off!"  I almost always  begrudgingly give more to the customer than I am supposed to.  Because monitoring the bars is so hard for my company, I knew there is almost no harm to me if I indulge the customer's request.  When you're the one who is face-to-face with the customer, it is harder to keep with policies that are set by the center.

One reason that I am willing to pour more for the customer is to save my self some hassle.  I have had multiple occasions where belligerent customers have raised their voices towards me, and a manager has had to get involved.  These times were really difficult situations to deal with, and I have no desire to have a situation escalate that much again.  Instead, I take the easy path and just hurt the company.  It's just easier.

The one time that I difficulty dealing with the situation, a manager had to step in.  Someone was angry that he was not getting served more, and he was making a scene.  To complicate things more, he was, not only the best man, but also the son of someone who works in the company.  This put both me and my manager in an awkward position; this was the first time that both of the principals were able to both monitor my actions at the same time.  We ended up telling the father of the groom to remove the man.  It was a lose-lose situation for the company and for the customer, and it reflected badly on me.