Introduction
The marketing news story is about how Coca-Cola is going to further improve in terms of marketing to a fast paced world.
This essay would comprise of how Coca-Cola redevelop its marketing mix, Porter’s five forces, as well as the continual advertising of Coca-Cola with the aid of social media as a platform.
Redeveloping its Marketing Mix
There has always been a need to innovate. (Drucker, 1986) Coca-Cola understood this perfectly hence they always came up with ways to innovate. The intent for Coca-Cola has always been ‘within an arms length’ to the Coca-Cola consumers around the globe. (Hamel & Prahalad, 2010)
‘The first innovation area Joe Tripodi addressed was packaging.’ (Dan, 2013) However well a brand is initially positioned in the market, the company would have to reposition it later. (Kotler, Adam, Brown, & Armstrong, 2006) This was the issue that Coca-Cola was facing.
By 2015, the standardized Coca-Cola contoured shaped bottle would have been a hundred years old. This has resulted in Coca-Cola to be a ubiquitous brand in the names of many. (Coupulsky, 2011) Many companies would want to be globally standardized as this would result in companies being able to absorb the benefits of the economies of scale. (Kotler, Adam, Brown, & Armstrong, 2006) (Usunier & Lee, 2005)
However, even though the Coca-Cola contoured shaped bottled is standardized and would be a hundred years old in the year 2015, Coca-Cola uses the adapting to local environment method. (Mooj, 2010) Many people have said that Coca-Cola taste different around the world. (Quelch & Jocz, 2012) The reason why is because Coca-Cola works in tailoring their beverage locally to accommodate the local taste. (Coca-Cola Great Britain, 2010) Due to different cultures across the world, Coca-Cola is manufactured and marketed differently amongst countries. (Anad P., 2008) It is not possible to use the same marketing techniques to market in all countries. Coca-Cola indeed has used much different kind of advertisements and they were mostly excellent.(Keller, 2001) However, although many would say that it was the advertisement that got the brand successful, distribution played a huge part in the success factor of the Coca-Cola brand. (Mooj, Global Marketing and Advertising (Understanding Cultural Paradoxes), 2010)
Another example would be Wendys. Wendys is tied to a ten-year deal with Coca-Cola. Which means that Coca-Cola would be available for the consumers alongside with the food from Wendys. Hence, Wendy is a company that aids in helping to distribute Coca-Cola, and it is used as a marketing intermediary (Kotler & Armstrong, Principles of Marketing) to reach out to the Coca-Cola consumers.
Pepsi's hope is to usher in a new era, and to give them a clear-cut advantage over their rival, Coca-Cola. By following closely the six steps of the new-product development process, the company could expect such benefits as: improved teamwork, less re-working, earlier detection of likely failure, and higher success rates. Rix, Peter, 2001, Marketing, A Practical Approach. Stage One: Generating New Product Ideas. The first step for Pepsi Cola to undertake is to generate ideas for the new product.
Learning from experience Coca-Cola has had some fierce competition over the years but nothing in the form of an entire health market shift like now. As well as mounting political persecution of its products like they are facing today. They must rely on past experiences to get through but likely will need to start studying the new trends to stay relevant.
Coca - Cola : Claims, Values and Polices Coca-Cola is a well-known and cherished brand name. When people think of this name, memories tend to overflow in their heads. Why do you need to be a member? Because, not only does Coke taste great and refresh your own personal memories, it also fills you with memories of the Coca-Cola like "Always Coca-Cola", the antics of the Coke polar bears, and all of the different ads that have represented Coke over the years. Just about every ad you see, as a consumer, has tons of hidden meanings.
Coca-Cola’s mission is “enduring,” the goal being to “refresh the world, inspire moments of optimism and happiness, and to create value and make a difference” (Coca-Cola, 2013, p. 2). This is an on-going goal, to reach an expansive audience with a product to refresh, create emotion, as well as value and a service goal to make a difference. Although this mission fails to encapsulate all of the eight components of a successful mission statement, the brief stat...
Key success factors in the industry are a strong brand presence, maintaining customer loyalty as exploring new markets and distribution channels as well as offering a diversified product line. Implications of these factors are strong competition and dependency of company’s behavior and marketing strategies on competitors’ behavior. This is especially true for Coca-Cola and PepsiCo since their flagship products are very much alike in look and taste.
The Coca Cola Company has been among the world’s top companies that have been able to perform well in all the areas of the world. The company follows the latest strategic research and evaluation methods to formulate such strategic policies that helps in not only meeting the customer expectations and desires but also achieving various organizational goals and objectives.
When one thinks of Coca-Cola products, the first thought tends to be of die – hard fans*. Individuals in society cannot go a day without a Coke*. And while Diet Coke has been a leading sugar-free soft drink since it was first released, it came to light that young adult males shied away from this beverage*. This is due to men classifying Diet Cola as a woman’s drink. Men have a conventional look of associating woman with “wanting to be beautiful and thin”*. Not only does Coke Zero have to change the target markets perceptions but there are many competitors who are nearly identical. Where there are innovative products, there are substitutes. Pepsi Max and Jive Lite are the two competitors of Coke Zero. In order for Coke Zero to continue being consumers first choice, they need to consider the factors that influence the decision making process in the cluttered marketplace externally and internally.
This proven track record for the company can be attributed to a number of factors, the first which is relatively crucial is the company's secret formula for Coca-Cola, which comparably tastes better than what competition has to offer in the market. The company's ability to come up with new products while at the same time reinventing the old products has offered them a competitive edge over their peers. The company boasts of having the world's most diverse and comprehensive distribution networks, this offers them accessibility to billions of people in areas that would prove rather difficult for their peers to distribute their products. The African continent has been cited as an excellent example, it is more often than not to see a distribution outlet for coke on a remote location on the continent
The scope of competition is global, since Coca-Cola is present in about 200 countries. The soft drink industry will most likely not see growth in the future, as they have steadied out. Market and product differentiation has become more significant. Coca-Cola advertises based on conditions and has their name recognized around the world, establishing loyalty (Porter’s Five Forces Model of Coca-Cola, 2010).
"Over a century of sweet tasting beverages with family and friends." The positioning statement of Coca-Cola needs to project the image in the minds of their existing consumers, as well as potential new consumers, the history of Coca-Cola being a competing global brand in the beverage industry and the association of the brand with fun themes such as social events, parties, family activities, etc. According to Kotler and Keller (2016), positioning "is the act of designing a company 's offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the minds of the target market." There are factors that must be taken into account to produce an effective positioning statement that will attract the attention of the targeted market segment:
Nowadays, consumer is the final decission maker on what they intend to own because consumer have various choices in the market surronding. If you are not capable of providing them the desired result, they will probably switch over to the other provider or product from different company and brands. Therfore, to survive in this realistic world, the Coca-Cola company need to keep explore different marketing plan and marketing strategies and try them out to choose the one, which is most suitable and effective in marketing the products. At last, it is impossible to transform a brand into a leader by only writing new marketing strategies. However, it needs much effort for marketer to apply and indentify their vision.
Thanks to my fascination with PepsiCo and partly because this is an assignment, I went online and search for some of PepsiCo’s most successful and ongoing marketing campaigns and strategies. During my research I noticed several daring marketing strategies Pepsi employed throughout the years. For example, gaining the support of Michael Jackson in the 1980’s and latest gaining the endorsement of global pop star Beyoncé.
The mission of Coca Cola is not only limited to manufacturing beverages, but goes beyond focusing the impact of company on its global customers. (Barbara)
As the world 's largest manufacturer and distributor of non-alcoholic beverages, Coca-Cola is certainly no stranger to global marketing. Established in the US, Coca-Cola initiated its global expansion in 1919 and now markets to more than 200 countries worldwide. It is one of the most recognizable brands on the planet and also owns a large portfolio of other soft drink brands including Schweppes, Oasis, 5 alive, Kea Oar, Fanta, Lilt, Dr Pepper, Sprite and PowerAde. Despite this, Coca-Cola often struggles to maintain its market share over its main rival PepsiCo in some overseas markets, particularly Asian countries.
Value proposition is the bundle of benefits and values a brand offers to consumers in order to satisfy their needs and must be different to their competitors in order for them to be successful (Cova & Salle, 2008). This value proposition is gained through positioning, which refers to the place a product occupies in the consumer’s mind relative to competing products (McGuinness, Morgan, & Strong, 2003). Marketers try to create a desired positing in the minds of their target market. In the case of “Share a Coke”, the target market was previously identified as teenagers and young adults, with ages ranging 18-25 years old (Grimes, 2015). However, limited alienation worked in the favour of the campaign. Anyone from the ages 13 through to 65 years old could be included, creating mass market penetration. Coca Cola Limited and Ogilvy & Mather realised that their competitors had not released any products like the ones from the “Share a Coke” campaign. From identifying their target market, and observing their needs through social media, they discovered their consumers wanted something affordable and personalised (Grimes, 2015). Coca Cola Limited Australia developed their marketing mix to support and communicate their positioning to the target market. Thus they created a customised product at the price of a regular Coke and through vigorous promotion via