Coca-Cola's Global Expansion Strategy

The assignment explores how Coca-Cola has successfully positioned and grabbed markets in countries with distinct cultures from the US, using a strategic management plan. It concludes that Minute Maid and Powerade can also be successful in the UAE, one of the major aspects being the strict quality check. The brands are positioned universally and have a similar target market presence in the UAE, making it feasible to build a place for these brands with packaging and promotional differences from the US market.

Running head: MARKETING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Marketing Consumer Behavior
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s note

1MARKETING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Executive summary
The purpose of this assignment is to discuss the marketing and strategic management
plans of two brands that belong to the same company and products that fall under the
same category. With the help of this assignment the way organisations distinguish in
between products can be determined. With the help of six aspects the similarities and
the differences has been discussed. These aspects are as follows:
 Standardisation versus adaptation
 Marketing mix variables
 Verbal-graphic and iconographic aspects of localisation
 Target market for both chosen products
 Positioning of the product
 Environmental and organisational factors
The assignment is concluded with an analysis of the prospect of both these brands in
the UAE market.

2MARKETING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................3
Comparison of two brands.................................................................................................3
1. Standardisation versus adaptation.......................................................................4
2. Marketing mix variables........................................................................................5
3. Verbal-graphic and iconographic aspects of localisation.....................................7
4. Target market for both chosen products..............................................................9
5. Positioning of the product...................................................................................10
6. Environmental and organisational factors..........................................................11
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................12
Reference list:..................................................................................................................13
Appendix..........................................................................................................................14

3MARKETING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Introduction
The Coco-Cola Company is an American multinational organisation which
manufactures, retails and markets of non-alcoholic beverage. The flagship product was
invented by a pharmacist named John Stith Pemberton in 1886. The company was
incorporated by Asa Griggs Candler in 1892. There are a number of subsidiary brands
that operate under the company and has its operations in a number of countries. Minute
maid and Powerade are two popular brands of the company. Coco-Cola Coca-Cola
acquired Minute Maid in 1960 and Powerade is a replenishing sports drink that is
introduced by the company in 1990 (coca-colacompany.com 2018).
The mission statement of the company as stated in their global website is as follows:
 To refresh the world To inspire moments of optimism and happiness To create value and make a difference (coca-colacompany.com 2018)
Comparison of two brands

4MARKETING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
1. Standardisation versus adaptation
Standardization is the process by which an organisation follows universal
guidelines and rules to manufacture and market the products and services. In this
process the company provides the consumers all around the world with products that
are made with raw materials or ingredients without changing it (Tan and Sousa 2013).
Adaptation is the process by which organisations have different rules for different
areas of operation. This is mainly incorporated in the process of strategic management
as it helps the company to conform to the cultural differences of different places
(Magnusson et al 2013).
In the case of Coco-Cola, all the products under the company follow the
standardization process. This is because, there are no such aspects in the raw material
or ingredients which is not acceptable by culture or government of any country of
operation. The company has an official page in their website that is dedicated to the
product line and their ingredients, in this page the ingredients used for all the products
are stated. Therefore it can be said that both Minute Maid and Powerade has a
standardization strategy. In 2016 the company came up with One Brand strategy which
was an international campaign to unite the trademark. The process of standardization
also helps the company to ensure to use the advantages of economies of scale (Moye
2018).
Minute maid has a number of flavours under each of these brands and there are
localised or adapted names, packaging and availability of the variants. For example:
apple flavour bottle looks different from what is available in India to what is available in
The US. Pomegranate is marketed as Anar in India and also there is difference in
flavours availability as well. The US market has a lot of flavours which is not available
elsewhere (Moye 2018).
Powerade also has a number of flavours the amiability of which keeps differing form
one country to another. For example the mountain blast flavour is not available in the
UK market but is very popular in Australia as well as some other countries. The flavours
have the same ingredients (Moye 2018).

5MARKETING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
2. Marketing mix variables
Minute Maid Powerade
Products The product is fruit juice; it is
made up of fresh fruits. This
juice can be enjoyed at any
part of the day. This is the
Coco-Cola’s first venture
outside soft drinks. There are
various sizes of the product
available in the market. there
are over a 100 varieties of
flavour (Minutemaid.com
2018).
This is a replenishing sports
drink. It is supposed to
energise and refresh. It has
carbohydrates, electrolytes
with fluids that provide
hydration and energy. It is
said to replenish Sodium,
Potassium, Calcium and
Magnesium which are four
main nutrients which are lost
in sweat (Powerade.com
2018). Refer to appendix for
list of flavors.
Price The prices of both the items are dependent on a lot of aspects
like size, packaging and flavour etc. Though the price in the US
market of the two products are similar. It is priced at a low
range so that people can enjoy the beverage irrespective of the
income group .
Place The product is available in
around 30 countries and the
distribution process ensures
that the availability is from
corner store to supermarkets
and hypermarkets
Powerade is available in
around 18 countries and is
mostly available in
convenience stores and
supermarkets etc.
Promotion This product is promoted as a
alternative of the soft drinks
as they are made up of fresh
fruit concentrates. Clean
flavours and farm fresh. The
company uses advertising, PR
or sponsorship, sales
Energy sports drink which
instantly wakes up the fatigue
feeing and helps in
replenishing the mood. It is
promoted as a sports drink
and has been associated with
several sports events around

6MARKETING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
promotions as primary tools of
the promotion mix
(Minutemaid.com 2018).
the world. Like Minute Maid
Powerade also uses
advertising, PR or
sponsorship, sales promotions
as promotional instruments
(Powerade.com 2018).

7MARKETING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
3. Verbal-graphic and iconographic aspects of localisation
Language is one of the most important aspects of communication. Therefore, in
localisation language plays an important role this helps in product translation and its
cultural adaptation for specific target market. This process involves a broad learning of
the culture as it is important for a company to correctly adapt to the cultural aspect of
the area of expansion as it is a sensitive area of the target market (De Mooij 2013).
Minute Maid: the following images will help in understanding the Verbal-graphic and
iconographic aspects of localisation of the product in three different countries:
Figure 1: Minute Maid Pulpy China Figure 2: Minute Maid Pulpy US
Source: (Minutemaid.com 2018). Source: (Minutemaid.com 2018).

8MARKETING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Language has been used to communicate with the customers of the same
product in two different countries. This helps the company connect with the target
market. The icon has not been changes in the products it is the language that is
different. Local celebrities promote the products this is one of the major difference but
the theme remains the same. There is also change in the tag line of the company. For
example the tag line for India is Ras Ras main India (promoting the theme that it is
grown in India and is made for India) (Mander 2014).
Powerade
Powerade on the other hand uses English as the language of communication,
though the website of Powerade South Korea is in the Korean language but English
logo bottles are distributed in the country. For advertisement purpose also there is not
much difference in the appearance of the brand. Though there are iconographic
differences as the products are promoted by local celebrities who are seen advertising
the product. As far as tag line is considered the word “Power” is focused in all the
country for promotional purposes (Heitner , 2018). The official Youtube page of
Powerade will confirm the fact that the company does not have a lot of aspect that
differentiates the product in different countries. Though the language of communication
in the form of written or background voice is different the word “power” can be found on
all the bottles (Powerade 2018).

9MARKETING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
4. Target market for both chosen products
Minute Maid The population of the market that the
company targets are wide as it caters to broad
age group. The company targets people who
enjoy having fruits over unhealthy snacks. As
it is a fruit juice it replaces the soft drinks with
people who are health conscious and do not
prefer soda or alcoholic beverages. As the
product is available in various size and
packages the price of the product also varies
which makes it affordable. This also helps the
company expand the target market as it does
not cater to a specific income group.
Furthermore, the product is available in a
range of store format which makes it available
for anyone who is looking for morning
freshness with clean fruit flavors
(Minutemaid.com 2018).
Powerade This product is targeted to a niche market as it
is made for the people who are associated
with physically strenuous work. it is promoted
as a sports drink which will help in replenishing
the nutrients. The age group is from 18-25 and
the income group is the upper middle class. A
person who goes to the gym can pick up a
bottle on the way it is not targeted towards an
office going person (Powerade 2018).

10MARKETING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
5. Positioning of the product
Minute Maid Positioned as a fruit juice which is made of
fresh fruits picked from the farm, it is
associated with a fresh fruit juice that is made
and served at home. It is an alternative for the
soft drink and alcoholic beverages. It contains
vitamins and calcium and is also low in calorie.
It is not positioned as a companion with the
breakfast like many of the competitors of the
brand; rather it is placed as a fruit juice which
can be enjoyed any time when a customer is
looking for refreshment much like a soft drink.
The brand focuses on the freshness of the
fruits and being made available to the
customers straight from the garden. This is
the position of the brand internationally
(Minutemaid.com 2018).
Powerade It is difficult to talk about the brand without
mentioning the way it is positioned. As
mentioned repeatedly in the study that this is a
product that is positioned very strongly in the
market as a sport drink. This is a competitor of
Pepsi Co. Gatorate which is positioned in a
similar fashion among the target market
(Powerade 2018). The company is
positioned to target the youth market and
hence is promoted by young sports celebrities
or any other celebrity who is known for being
physically active and fit. The Coco-Cola
company has launched the product as a direct
competition to the product that was offered by
Pepsi Co (Heitner 2018).

11MARKETING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
6. Environmental and organisational factors
Minute Maid This is the company has been acquired by
Coco-Cola, in 1960. After the acquisition
the company had come up with several
flavours in the market and has been able
to cater the customers need. The brand
works with other organisations to operate
in various countries, for example: in
Central Europe the products are sold
under the brand Cappy and in Norway it is
sold under Fruitopia (Minutemaid.com
2018). .
Powerade The product is a diversification of the
product line of Coco-cola, as the item is
both manufactured and marketed by the
company itself therefore the organisational
factors are associated with the parent
company (Powerade 2018).
Coco-cola is an organisation that has taken several sustainable initiatives over
the years, the company takes these initiatives on the basis of the country of operation
and there are no official environmental inputs by the brands: Minute Maid and
Powerade separately (coca-colacompany.com 2018).

12MARKETING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Conclusion
From the above discussion it can be concluded that the brands have been
successful in positioning and grabbing the market of countries which have distinctively
different cultures than the home country US, for example Minute Maid in India as well as
China and Powerade in Spain and Brazil. The brands have been able to do this by
maintaining their own strategic management plan. Therefore it can be said that the
brands will be successful in UAE as well, one of the major aspect that the company has
to overcome is the strict quality check, but because Coco-Cola is prominent in UAE
already these brands will also be successful. The brands are positioned in a universally
acceptable manner hence there should not be any difficulty in engaging the target
audience in this region. In the above discussion it is observed that the target market of
the brands are also not based on any country specific factor or cultural elements hence
the population of the target markets are also present in the UAE. Therefore with the
help of packaging and promotional difference from the US market the company can
successfully build place for these brands.
The Coca-Cola Company operated in this region with a joint venture between
private stakeholders in the U.A.E. & Oman, the organisation is called Al Ahlia Gulf Line
General Trading Co. (AGL) U.A.E. & Oman. It was founded in1988 in the Emirate of
Abu Dhabi. The head Office as well as the production plant are located in Al Ain City.
One of the missions of this organisation is to win the hearts & minds of consumers with
the help of offering them refreshment through diverse portfolio, the addition of the two
brands to the portfolio will also cater to the mission of the company (Agl.coca-cola.com
2018).

13MARKETING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Reference list:
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http://agl.coca-cola.com/company-profile.htm [Accessed 24 Mar. 2018].
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Available at: http://www.coca-colacompany.com/our-company/mission-vision-values
[Accessed 24 Mar. 2018].
coca-colacompany.com 2018. SUSTAINABILITY. [online] coca-colacompany.com.
Available at: http://www.coca-colacompany.com/sustainability
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paradoxes. Sage Publications.
Magnusson, P., Westjohn, S.A., Semenov, A.V., Randrianasolo, A.A. and
Zdravkovic, S., 2013. The role of cultural intelligence in marketing adaptation and
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