Essential of Marketing - Strategic Planning, SWOT Analysis, Marketing Plan Process

This Essential of Marketing assignment discusses the strategic planning, SWOT analysis, PEST factors, and marketing plan process of Coca-Cola. The assignment covers the goals, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the company, along with the political, economic, social, and technological factors that influence its decisions. The four steps of the marketing plan process are also explained in detail.

Running head: ESSENTIAL OF MARKETING
ESSENTIAL OF MARKETING
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Answer to Question 1
Strategic planning is the management activity of an organisation which determines the
goals, priorities, resources of the organisation. It is used to ensure that the employees of the
organisation are going towards a common goal and are taking the necessary steps to achieve
that goal (Nickols 2016). The strategic planning of an organisation provides discipline that
shapes how an organisation should be and how the operations should be conducted. A proper
strategic planning helps the organisation to succeed in their endeavours.
James Quincey has a strategic planning of making the brand Coca-Cola more
customer focused which would understand the needs and requirement of the customers and
deliver products accordingly. They would offer the customers the drinks that they actually
desire including drinks which would contain less amount of sugar or even no sugar. They
would variety of options on their beverage products so that the customers can choose from a
large variety of drinks. The main strategy of the company that has been developed by James
Quincey is to deliver the desired products to the customers. The company would have to align
themselves with the changes in the taste and preferences of the people.
Answer to Question 2
a. The SWOT analysis of the company is as follows:
 Strength – i) The company different subsidiary brands of beverages such as Coca-Cola,
Fanta and others.
ii) They have a strong supply chain network which makes the product available to
several places.
 Weakness – i) Presence of pesticides in the beverages that have caused a huge damage
to the image of the company.
ii) They face severe competition from other beverage companies such as PepsiCo.

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 Opportunities – i) Can diversify their product portfolio and enter new industries such
as snacks to compete with other beverage companies such as PepsiCo.
ii) The company can market their newer and less known products and make it more
popular in the industry.
 Threats – i) Receives strong competition from other beverage companies which can
lower their market share.
ii) Individuals who are health conscious will avoid drinking these beverages.
b. The PEST factors which influence the decision of the company are as follows:
 Political – i) The laws and regulations made by the government regarding food
products.
ii) Tax laws especially have a lot of influence on the business of the company.
 Economic – i) Financial and economic crisis affect the customers and the profits of the
company.
ii) Scarcity of water is a major issue for the Coca-Cola Company.
 Social – i) Changes in the taste and preference of the customers can have a huge impact
on the sales of the company.
ii) Importance of culture is also an important factor while conducting international trade
and dealing with international organisations.
 Technological – i) The production of their beverages, their packaging and the
distribution all depends on the technology of the company.
ii) Efficiency in technology will also help to improve the production and save its time
and cost.

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Answer to Question 3
The four steps of a marketing plan process are setting the goal, assessment of the
present situation, forming the actual marketing plan and implementing the plan.
 Goal setting – In this step the organisation sets their marketing goal. The Coca-Coal
Company has many set goals which helps them to begin the formation of the marketing
plan (Westwood 2013). A few of them are giving more product offerings, to ensure that
the health of their customers are maintained by investing in natural sweeteners and
others.
 Assessment of present situation – In this stage, the organisation is assessed and an
analysis of the SWOT and PESTLE factors are found (Wrenn and Mansfield 2014). The
competitors of Coca Cola are determined and the competitive advantage is found out in
this stage.
 Forming of marketing plan – The 4P’s of marketing are determined in this stage and the
complete plan is being made which includes marketing objectives, internal analysis,
external analysis, current performance of the organisation, marketing strategies,
implementation of those strategies and evaluation (Armstrong et al. 2015).
 Implementation of plan – This is the final stage of the marketing plan process where the
plan is implemented by Coca-Cola Company (Blakeman 2018). The evaluation period
is set and the feedbacks are received which is then assessed for the success of the
marketing plan.
Answer to Question 4
The company should form strategies which would help them to reach the customers to
different parts of every country which will enable them to increase their customer base. The

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revenue would also increase if the customer base is increased, and the company would be
able to generate more revenue for their company.

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References:
Armstrong, G., Adam, S., Denize, S. and Kotler, P., 2014. Principles of marketing. Pearson
Australia.
Blakeman, R., 2018. Integrated marketing communication: creative strategy from idea to
implementation. Rowman & Littlefield.
Nickols, F., 2016. Strategy, strategic management, strategic planning and strategic
thinking. Management Journal, 1(1), pp.4-7.
Westwood, J., 2013. How to write a marketing plan. Kogan Page Publishers.
Wrenn, B. and Mansfield, P.M., 2014. Marketing planning guide. Routledge.