Coke CEO on Brazil unrest ahead of World Cup sponsorship: 'Where there's no risk, there's no reward'

At this year's Cannes Debate, Sir Martin Sorrell asked Coke boss Kent about his views on the protests given that they come just a year before Brazil hosts the World Cup, with Coca-Cola as one of its main sponsors.

"We all knew when decisions were made about Brazil for the World Cup and the subsequent decision on the Olympics that there was always some risk," said Kent.

"Where there's no risk there is no reward and the opportunities are so much greater that I am sure they are going to be very memorable, fantastic events."

Kent said sport had become part of the "DNA of the Coca-Cola system" and explained the company's attidude as "where there's sport, there's Coca-Cola".

He continued: "It's wonderful that Brazil, an emerging nation with such a large population, is host to two of the greatest sporting events that the world follows."

WPP boss Sorrell, who has stated his belief that this is 'the decade of Latin America', said the sporting spectacles could change people's mindsets and pointed to the benefits the World Cup brought to South Africa and the Olympics to London.

But he added that communication is the only way for the associated brands to avoid damage from the demonstrations.

"Hostility is encouraged or developed if there is no communications," Sorrell said.

Joe Tripodi, chief marketing director of Coca-Cola, later stated in a press conference that he was planning on visiting Brazil this week even if the Confederations Cup is cancelled and insisted that common ground could be found between the people of Brazil and their government.

He added that he understood that the natural tendency of some brands in a time of national crisis is to be 'conservative', but that he believed in the need for conversation with those at the heart of the unrest.

Tripodi said: "There are certain brands who have permission to engage in the conversation with those people. It doesn't all need to be conversation through traditional advertising or television. It could be socially. If you're not in that conversation and engaging with people to understand their feeling, you're never going to be able to understand what the worries of that country are.

"These things happen in societies where there are a lot of ups and downs. Sometimes the tendency is to pull out, but my view is that we should be in the cultural conversation. We saw that in Egypt with the Arab Spring and shortly afterwards we went in with messaging around that - and it wasn't about building our brand. It was about trying to speak to the people in a way that resonates with them and there's risk associated with that."