Erich Joachimsthaler, CEO and founder of Vivaldi Partners Group, a global brand-strategy consulting firm, agreed. "The more you intellectualize and conceptualize what Coke is all about, [the more you move away from the product]," said Joachimsthaler. "What Coke is doing now is bringing it back and saying, at the end of the day, Coke is still a refreshment.