Integrated Marketing Communication

This report analyzes the IMC mix of Coca Cola Australia, including market segmentation, persuasion analysis, current advertisement analysis, and current IMC practices. The report identifies the value segments of Coca Cola Australia, the persuasion tools used by the company, and the current IMC practices, including advertising, direct marketing, online media, personal selling, sales promotion, and public relations.

Running head: INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION
Integrated Marketing Communication
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Identification and analysis...............................................................................................................1
Segmentation...............................................................................................................................1
Persuasion analysis......................................................................................................................4
Analysis of current advertisement...................................................................................................4
Current IMC practices by Coca Cola...............................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7
Appendix..........................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
Integrated marketing communication is a very important part of the marketing activities
for a product or service. This communication involves all types of communication processes and
various channels to send the messages about the product or service to the consumers (Belch et al.
2014). The following report contains the analysis of the integrated marketing communication
mix of a renowned soft-drink brand, Coca-Cola.
Identification and analysis
Segmentation
According to the Roy Morgans’s value segment, the market segmentation goes beyond
the psychographics and demographics and considers the values, attitudes and mindsets of the
consumers which have a significant impact in motivating the consumer behavior (Collie and
Escorcia 2016). The value segments are: socially aware, visible achievement, young optimism,
real conservatism, something better, Look at me, conventional family life, traditional family life,
fairer deal and basic needs (helixpersonas.com.au 2018). Going by the Coca colas marketing
strategy, it can be assumed that it has created segments for all the categories in this value
segment, except for the Fairer deal, which addresses the people, who are pessimistic, cynical and
often struggling financially, and think that everyone else gets all the fun and they miss out. It can
relate to a belief that life has treated them unfairly. The value segments, as per the Roy Morgan,
done by Coca Cola is presented below.

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Figure 1: Roy Morgan's Value Segment
(Source: Collie and Escorcia 2016)
Socially aware The young generation, aged 15-35 years, who have an
awareness about the social happenings
Visible achievement People who have achieved considerable success in their lives
and are socially renowned and financially secured but do not
flaunt their success and maintain a sophistication in their
lifestyle
Young optimism Young generation, such as, high school students, college and
university students who are optimist about coca cola offering a
better product than others in the market
Real conservatism People, especially the older generation who believe that
products are not as good as before and take an attempt to make
them feel that the new coca cola is better than the older
versions.
Something better Consumers who are always looking for something better than

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the previous version of the same product
Look at me Young, trendy and fun loving, who loves to enjoy life, music,
fast food, travel and social media
Conventional family life Core of 'middle Australia' — family-oriented, budget-
conscious, sensible and always seeking greater financial
security
Traditional family life Older end of the 'middle Australia' spectrum — family-oriented,
sensible and conservative.
Basic needs People, who are older, lower-income and avid consumers of
free media. They focus on just getting by on a daily basis.
Table 1: Roy Morgan's Value Segment for Coca Cola Australia
(Source: Author)
Persuasion analysis
Persuasion analysis is done to formulate the strategies to be applied by the product
company to persuade the consumers for buying their product (Petty 2018). The seven tools of
persuasion used by coca cola are: specificity, differentiated products, exclusivity, simplicity,
celebrity endorsement, social status and brand building (Kim, Kim and Marshall 2016). Coca
cola specifies its uniqueness for quenching the thirst during urgency or during celebrations. It
also follows the strategy of product differentiation and offers few other drinks of different flavors
under the umbrella of the Coca Cola brand. It helps to make price comparisons difficult for the
consumers and also to expand the market share by capturing consumers for different soft drinks.
Coca cola follows simplicity in conveying their messages through the advertisements and also
offers simple carbonated soft drink, which makes it acceptable to the consumers while buying
the beverage. Celebrity endorsements are another persuasion tool used by the company for

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expanding the market size; it also helps in establishing an image of social status associated with
the brand (Hoffmann, Inderst and Ottaviani 2014). The taste and flavors of the product are made
exclusive, and those are highlighted through the advertisements. This in turn helps in brand
building for Coca Cola. Over the years since 1886, it has been successful in creating a brand
image for itself.
Analysis of current advertisement
Coca cola Australia published its last advertisement on 2nd January, 2018 with a tagline of
‘Here’s to an Epic Summer’ (YouTube 2018). The advertisement was based on celebrating the
summer in Australia in a unique and epic way with coca cola. It presents the tagline that, the
upcoming summer is not only going to be better than the great, but it is also going to be an epic
one. The advertisement shows ways of celebrating life in summer. People enjoy the summer and
go to different places, such as, islands for vacation and the advertisement says that they would
feel the heat and excitement all the more when they grab a bottle of coke and participate in the
enjoyment of life. The purpose of this ad is to excite people about enjoying the lives to the fullest
even during the summer heat. It shows that life is best when surrounded by the loved ones and
when everyone enjoys a sip of the coke.
The link of the advertisement is given below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqgTc1OG_KM
Current IMC practices by Coca Cola
Coca cola uses the tools of IMC, such as, advertising, personal selling, sales promotions,
direct marketing, online marketing, and public relations (Jackson and Ahuja 2016). Advertising

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is the primary tool for IMC. Coca cola operates in many countries and prepares advertising
considering the cultures and traditions specific to a particular country. It creates contents and
slogans that are universal in nature and also helps in building a brand image. Direct marketing
occurs through partnerships with restaurants and hotels along with direct promotions through
emails, SMSs, sponsorships in events etc. Coca Cola offers sponsorship in many sports events,
and sports club, movies and TV shows for direct marketing. Online or interactive media, such
as, different websites, video streaming like YouTube, and social media are also used to promote
the product. Personal selling refers to approaching the customers personally to try out the
product. This is mostly applied in the departmental stores, shopping malls and supermarkets,
where people go to buy some other products. Sales promotion strategies are another important
IMC practices by Coca Cola. Consumer oriented strategy included strategies like increasing
visibility in the shelves in the stores, and putting in the eye catching positions. Trade oriented
strategies are giving discount offers, free goodies, cash backs, distributing merchandised
products. The Public Relation strategies include promotions in social causes, CSR activities,
and in social events.
Conclusion
The above report addressed the IMC mix of Coca Cola along with market segmentation
as per the Roy Morgan value segments, analysis of the latest advertisement and current IMC
practices. It is seen that, Coca Cola has been able to capture the pulse of the Australians in the
right direction, and those are reflected in their marketing mixes as well as in building a brand
image successfully.

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References
Belch, G.E., Belch, M.A., Kerr, G.F. and Powell, I., 2014. Advertising: An integrated marketing
communication perspective. McGraw-Hill Education.
Collie, A. and Escorcia, F., 2016, September. Breaking Habits, an application of Cognitive
Behavioral Therapy for online learning and behavior change. In International Social Marketing
Conference 2016 Societal Wellbeing (p. 126).
helixpersonas.com.au, 2018. Roy Morgan Values Segments. [online] Helixpersonas.com.au.
Available at: http://www.helixpersonas.com.au/en/Dashboards/Values-Segments [Accessed 19
Apr. 2018].
Hoffmann, F., Inderst, R. and Ottaviani, M., 2014. Persuasion through selective disclosure:
implications for marketing, campaigning, and privacy regulation. JW Goethe University
Frankfurt, UCL, and Bocconi.
Jackson, G. and Ahuja, V., 2016. Dawn of the digital age and the evolution of the marketing
mix. Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice, 17(3), pp.170-186.
Kim, J., Kim, J.E. and Marshall, R., 2016. Are two arguments always better than one?
Persuasion knowledge moderating the effect of integrated marketing communications. European
Journal of Marketing, 50(7/8), pp.1399-1425.
Petty, R.E., 2018. Attitudes and persuasion: Classic and contemporary approaches. Routledge.
YouTube, 2018. Here’s to an Epic Summer. Coca Cola Australia [online] YouTube. Available
at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqgTc1OG_KM [Accessed 19 Apr. 2018].

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Appendix
IMC mix of Coca
Cola (Australia)
Promotional activities and strategies
Advertisements Tagline: ‘Taste the feeling’, usage of print and digital media, POS,
billboards, TV commercials
Direct marketing Partnerships with restaurants, hotels; sponsorships in various sports
events and sports clubs
Online media Usage of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for social media campaigns,
video streaming in YouTube
Personal selling Direct approach to the consumers visiting the shopping malls, grocery
market, supermarket and departmental stores to try out the new products
Sales promotion Increasing the visibility in the store shelves by keeping the products in an
eye catching positions; offering free gifts and merchandized products,
discount offers, coupons, cash back options
Public relations Creates public relation with the customers through events of social
causes, CSR activities
Table 2: Current IMC mix of Coca Cola Australia
(Source: Author)