Cockta

The origins of the Cockta drink begin in the early 1950s. In 1952, Ivan Deu, the Director of the state-owned corporation Slovenijavino, came up with the idea of producing an original, refreshing Slovenian beverage which would be able to compete against soft drinks from abroad (particularly Coca-Cola), which were not yet being sold in Yugoslavia. The chemical engineer, Emerik Zelinka, an employee of the Slovenijavino research labs, created the drink with a new, different taste, derived from an undisclosed blend of eleven different herbs and spices; including the rose hip, a prominent flavour within Cockta's blend. The drink was introduced to the market for the first time on 8 March 1953 at a ski jumping competition at Planica.

The initial Cockta launch and marketing campaign was carefully designed. The first bottle and label for Cockta was created by Sergej Pavlin, then a young architecture student. Pavlin also designed other aspects of the brand's visual image, including the design for Cockta delivery trucks and cardboard packaging for Cockta's bottles.

The original Cockta marketing campaign featured a suntanned young woman, with a hairstyle considered trendy at the time, in a ponytail, with blue eyes, holding in her hands a bottle of the new beverage. The sports event at Planica where Cockta was launched was the earliest form of sports sponsorship in Slovenia.

In 2006, Cockta sponsored the MaxCards World Championships, held in Ljubljana.

In 2013, survey conducted by Valicon placed Cockta 6th in a list of the top 25 strongest brands in Slovenia. Brand strength was calculated based on brand awareness, experience and usage.