Marketing Management: A Case Study of Coca-Cola in Nigeria

This report discusses the importance of marketing management in helping a business boost its existing market share in domestic markets and capture new markets in foreign countries with the context of Coca-Cola company's successful marketing campaign conducted in Nigeria. The report analyses the case study presented to highlight the various roles played by marketing management in achieving their goals and objectives setup by the organization and the importance of market orientation and the role it plays in planning, strategy making and implementation in the current context of Coca-Cola operating in Nigeria.

Marketing
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Marketing Management is denoted as the overall collection of tools, techniques and
analysis models that are used in tandem with an overall agenda to promote a product or service.
Properly segmenting a market, keeping a firm market oriented and building a positive perception
in target customer's mind regarding the value of the market offering are all parts of this process.
The Coca-Cola company was established on 29th January 1892 in Atlanta, Georgia,
United States by Asa Griggs Candler after he purchased the secret formula of the carbonated soft
drink Coca Cola which originated in 1886 from it's creator, John S. Pemberton. Over the course
of many years the Coca-Cola company has grown leaps and bounds and has become a
dominating worldwide presence in the soft-drink industry (Daniel, 2018).
This report will discuss the various effective approaches of marketing management that
were undertaken by the Coca-Cola company to successfully expand it's base of operations in
Nigeria where it has become an emerging leader in the soft-drink market. The role that marketing
management plays in helping an organization capture and move into new business territories,
segment and target new consumer demographics and building a strong brand perception in the
operational context of Coca Cola will be described in detail.
MAIN BODY
Simply selling and letting people know about your products and services isn't enough, inn
order to become a reckoning force in a business segment, it is important to master the
fundamentals of sound marketing management. The process of marketing goes beyond selling
as marketing is not just concerned with converting goods into money but rather than that, it's
primary focus is on servicing and satisfying the customer. The process of marketing starts much
before sales enter the picture with market segmentation and continues after a product has been
sold via after sales services.
When it comes to strategic marketing and promotional tactics, the Coca-Cola company is
one of the industry best examples as it is a business giant in the field of beverage and soft drinks
which is not only intensely competitive but is also subject to strict regulation and authority
benchmarks (DeBerry-Spence, Bonsu and Arnould, 2020). Since it's onset in the early 90's, it has
constantly undertaken new ways to promote it's products with catchy slogans and inventive

catchphrases. It has also received the fruits of it's technological labours as the firm constantly
innovates it's labels, packaging and advertisements.
Every company fields personal perimeters and goals to evaluate it's progress in it's day to
day business operations and in order to effectively realize it's business vision and approach their
goals in a systematic manner, a company sets certain statement of purpose which are called
strategic objectives. Marketing Management plays many roles when it comes to achieving an
organization's strategic goals and objectives which are listed from here on.
It is very helpful in evaluating both the external and internal environment of a firm to
present a reliable and current time picture of the recent happenings around the industry and the
segment in which the business operates (Fournier and Alvarez, 2019). It is very important to
track the amount of resources a firm possesses and the efficiency with which it utilizes the same
and marketing management includes a wide range of analysis models and concepts such as
SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) and 4 P's of marketing (Product, Place,
Price and Promotion) which when applied give plenty of relevant market information to a
company. This information helps a company to capture new markets and make futuristic plans
and strategies which was also seen in the case of the Coca-Cola company in Nigeria where it
utilized the 4 P's of marketing mix expertly to gain a stronghold in the Nigerian beverages and
soft drinks market. The company advertised Coca-Cola with catchy and local slogans, the pricing
was fair without bias on either sides, the product was of top notch quality and the opening of
numerous plants and contracted middle men and retailers were instrumental in Coca Cola
gaining success in Nigeria.
It is used extensively for establishment and achievement of clear and concise marketing
objectives and also helps in streamlining the product line development in a company. However
the objectives so formed have to be achievable in a limited time frame and be within
organizational limits as many a times goals fail because they are unrealistic instead of the
company or the workforce being responsible. Marketing Management helps put relevant market
information to beneficial use for the company by using it to develop better product and better
market competencies (Gotteland, Shock and Sarin, 2020). Coca-Cola studied the Nigerian
market exclusively before deciding to venture in it and it also made step by step systematic
objectives to be achieved as the initial sales were slow and it was through constant promotion

and extensive partnership with local deliverymen and retailers that is was successful in
penetrating Nigerian beverage industry.
When it comes to attracting new customers and retaining the currently existing ones,
brand recognition and public perception is everything. Marketing Management helps a
company's products to attain and deliver a high perceived value to the target customers as
perceived value refers to the behavioural tendency of a brand's consumers to evaluate the amount
of satisfaction and personal servicing they gain from one particular product and service by
comparing it to other products from other brands in the same market niche. Marketing improves
the same mostly by using means of promotion schemes and technological innovations (Hunt and
Madhavaram, 2020). Coca-Cola company is a major player in the global beverage business
segment and now owns multitude of product lines in the soft drink and energy drink segments
and as such uses means of marketing management frequently to deliver high perceived value to
customers of Coca Cola. It made Coca Cola feel like the only refreshment worth drinking using
extensive advertising using peppy slogans and even released Diet Coke, a new much healthier
variety of soft drink which made their customers feel cared and looked after by the company.
This has helped Coca-Cola company dominate countries across the globe including the given
context of Nigeria.
The way to undergo business operations have changed with time and the conventional
methods of marketing are slowly going out of fashion making firms which still operate by using
these techniques as base obsolete (Jancenelle, Storrud-Barnes and Buccieri, 2021). The modern
and correct way of conducting marketing operations and becoming a renowned name in the
industry is to put the needs, wants and existence of customers front and center while designing,
advertising and selling the product. This people centric approach to marketing is called Market
Orientation and the firms which are market oriented put the interests of their target audience in
mind before making any business move as opposed to the traditional approach which promotes
products and focuses on people after it's made. Being market oriented provides a firm with many
benefits as it leads to boost in captured market share, customer loyalty and brand building,
increased sales and profitability and it helps a business attain seamless product innovation and
technological integration in the marketing mix. Being market oriented has helped companies like
Coca Cola expand and capture new markets such as Nigeria and it has had a distinct impact on

Coca Cola's business operations as it has successfully completed 70 years in Nigeria as a
beverage market leader.
Being market oriented affects the planning of Coco-Cola company in Nigeria as the
sole reason why it has spent 70 years leading a segment of a market in a country which is
exhaustively competitive and full of legal and governmental disruptions is because it's planning
is fully catered towards identifying and satisfying their customers in such a manner that Coca
Cola becomes an important part of their life and culture (Kozhukhar, 2021). The company has
planned to invest $1 Billion in Nigeria in the coming 5 years as opposed to their previous
investment of the same amount which took more than a decade to realize and they also planned a
variety of people centric relief activities to shield the Nigerian population from COVID-19 by
suspending it's marketing operations to provide food and shelter along with a planned awareness
of vaccine and precautionary awareness in all it's promotional channels.
Market Orientation has also played a keen role in the strategy formulation of Coca-
Cola company in Nigeria as involving the customers and making them the focal point of it's
business initiatives has helped Coca-Cola dominate the Nigerian Market. It's strategies are built
around serving the community along with it's profit concerns with a focus on employment and
value based servicing. Coca Cola Company's recent strategic partnerships with Nigerian E-
Commerce giants Konga and Jumia to implement a DTC (Direct to Customer) sales channel to
provide instant and better customer service without the middle man hassle has been the perfect
example to showcase their market oriented strategies as it led them to display a sale increase of
300% in a pandemic where many brands slipped and faded away (Narula, and et.al., 2021).
If we take a close look at the prospects of the Coca-Cola company in Nigeria, their
methods and results of the implementation of their planned strategies have all been impacted
and been subject to Market Orientation as it has successfully created over 50000 jobs along it's
product value chain while also training close to 30000 Nigerian youth and inculcate them with
entrepreneurship and professional skills To consolidate their commitment to the people of
Nigeria, it has also led the classroom innovation and school block buildings and it has also
trained teaching professionals under it's TRT (Tech Relevant Teacher) program.
Coca-Cola company's journey in Nigeria which began 70 years ago has been quite stellar
and the analysis of the case study from which this report takes information from accurately

describes the efforts it put in it's marketing campaigns. From the use of effective promotional
collateral and the continued huge investment in it's marketing campaigns, it has a significant
presence in Nigeria with 12 factory plants, 60 depots and approximately three hundred thousand
dealers nation wide as of 2011 according to the case which is a significant scaling of business
operations.
The case study also highlighted the market oriented approach of the company over the
years as it brought forward numerous innovations to reduce the plastic waste and harmful
emissions that generate from it's business operations and also it doesn't scam or manipulate it's
customers by discriminatory and unpredictable price structure, the cost of Coca Cola remains fair
and uniform across all major channels (Stocker, Zanini and Irigaray, 2021) . All these efforts
from the company has made it an important part of Nigerian everyday culture.
The concept of Market Orientation has always helped a business capture it's intended
audience and gain new market share by the use of innovative tactics and customer centric
promotional campaigns. It has profound impact on 3 of the most important processes in a firm
which is informed planning, strategy formulation and proper implementation to achieve
desired results.
By focusing the entire approach of marketing by using customers and their needs as the
focal point a firm can plan and formulate impactful strategies which can correctly identify the
market pain of people and impart proper solutions to keep customers satisfied and happy
(Meylananda, Sarkumand and Halim, 2021). The human element of society has to be carefully
studied to figure out the consequences of every strategy formulated and being market oriented
helps avoid backlash and aversion to change.
CONCLUSION
The above concluded report discussed in detail about the definition, roles, need and
importance of marketing management in helping a business boost it's existing market share in
domestic markets and capture new market in foreign countries with the context of Coca-Cola
company's successful marketing campaign conducted in Nigeria. The report analysed the case
study presented to highlight the various roles played by marketing management in achieving
their goals and objectives setup by the organization and the importance of market orientation and
the role it plays in planning, strategy making and implementation in the current context of Coca

Cola operating in Nigeria. The case was duly studied and a conclusion was reached that Coca-
Cola company expanded into Nigeria and dominated for 70 years now due to it's market
orientation and use of smart marketing management.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Daniel, C.O., 2018. Effects of marketing strategies on organizational performance. International
journal of business marketing and management, 3(9), pp.1-9.
DeBerry-Spence, B., Bonsu, S.K. and Arnould, E.J., 2020. Market development in the African
context. In Marketing Management (pp. 72-87). Routledge.
Fournier, S. and Alvarez, C., 2019. How brands acquire cultural meaning. Journal of Consumer
Psychology, 29(3), pp.519-534.
Gotteland, D., Shock, J. and Sarin, S., 2020. Strategic orientations, marketing proactivity and
firm market performance. Industrial Marketing Management, 91, pp.610-620.
Hunt, S.D. and Madhavaram, S., 2020. Adaptive marketing capabilities, dynamic capabilities,
and renewal competences: The “outside vs. inside” and “static vs. dynamic”
controversies in strategy. Industrial Marketing Management, 89, pp.129-139.
Jancenelle, V., Storrud-Barnes, S.F. and Buccieri, D., 2021. Market orientation and firm
performance: can there be too much of a good thing?. Management Decision.
Kozhukhar, M., 2021. The analysis of the Coca-Cola advertising campaign „COCA-COLA–take
the Happiness to your Dream” attributed to the problem of the children’s
nightmares (Doctoral dissertation).
Meylananda, S., Sarkum, S. and Halim, A., 2021. Analysis Market Orientation and Knowledge
Management to Improve Innovation and Business Performance. Budapest International
Research and Critics Institute (BIRCI-Journal): Humanities and Social Sciences, 4(3),
pp.4241-4255.
Narula, and et.al., 2021. Improving firm performance using market orientation and capabilities: a
case study approach. South Asian Journal of Business Studies.
Stocker, F., Zanini, M.T. and Irigaray, H.A.R., 2021. The role of multi-stakeholders in market
orientation and sustainable performance. Marketing Intelligence & Planning.