Branding Strategies and Competitive Advantage for International Businesses

This research focuses on the impact of branding strategies on providing a competitive advantage for international businesses, with a specific focus on Coca-Cola. It explores different branding strategies, the benefits of global branding, and evaluates the effectiveness of branding strategies in gaining a competitive advantage for Coca-Cola. The aim is to enhance understanding of branding strategies and their impact on international businesses.

Research

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Overview of Research.................................................................................................................1
Background of research...............................................................................................................1
Rationale of Research.................................................................................................................2
Aim..............................................................................................................................................2
Objectives....................................................................................................................................2
Questions.....................................................................................................................................3
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................4
Branding strategies......................................................................................................................4
Benefits of global branding to Coca- Cola at at global level......................................................5
To evaluate the effectiveness of branding strategies in gaining competitive advantage for
Coca- Cola organisation..............................................................................................................7
RESEARCH METHEDOLOGY ....................................................................................................1
Research philosophy...................................................................................................................1
Research approach......................................................................................................................1
Time horizon...............................................................................................................................2
Research design...........................................................................................................................2
Research method.........................................................................................................................2
Data collection............................................................................................................................3
Data analysis...............................................................................................................................3
Research sampling......................................................................................................................4
Research ethics............................................................................................................................4
Research limitation......................................................................................................................4
OUTCOME OF RESEARCH..........................................................................................................5
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................6

Topic: Branding strategies and its impact on providing a competitive advantage for
international businesses.
INTRODUCTION
Overview of Research
Branding refers to process included in developing unique image and name for product in
mind of consumers by advertising campaigns with consistent theme. Its main is to develop
differentiated and significant presence at market place that help in attract and also sustain the
loyal consumers. It is all of ways to establish image of an organisation in mind of consumers. In
order to branding of company, there is a need to developing website that explains about offer,
designing that ads that can promote services and products, choosing particular colours that will
be related with firm and also featuring this on social media sites. The main purpose of branding
is to simply and help consumers to understand about offers and differentiation. In context to this,
branding aim is to develop differentiate and significant precedent at marketplace that attracts as
well as sustain the loyal consumers (Bromber, 2016). The branding strategy is long term plan for
development of successful brand to attain particular objectives. Well explained and executed
brand strategy impacts all the business aspects and connected to consumer emotions, competitive
environments and requirements directly. An effective branding strategy provides company main
edge in enhancing competitive markets.
Background of research
Branding is necessary for goods and services which sold in the large consumer markets.
The branding strategies are action plans that companies use to differentiate their services,
identities and goods from their rivals. It is long term brand that aids to determine what image
need to be develop for consumers. Branding is necessary that customers determine with the
particular brands for variety of the reasons. Goods services or products at better cost are the main
reasons but what the drives consumers goes beyond this. The branding strategies explains what
company stand for, promise make and personality convey. This consists logo, slogan, colour
palette and those are creative the components which convey brand. The branding strategy help in
bring competitive positioning to the life and also works to the position in mind of prospects and
consumers. The branding strategies impact on providing a competitive advantage for
international businesses (Byrd, 2018). Under this, companies use the effective or better branding
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strategies help to expand at the international business and also gain the competitive benefit.
Competitive advantage is set of the qualities that provide the businesses leverage over
competition. This permits the businesses to provide the target market service or goods with high
value than the industry competitors. In addition to this, competitive benefit can come in variety
of the forms, ranging from the expert branding to the intelligently designed to distribution
networks. Cola- cola is carbonated soft drink that manufactured through Coca- cola firm. This is
an American multinational corporation and retailer of non-alcoholic beverages syrups and
concentrates. Objective of this company is to known globally as business that help in conduct the
business ethically and responsibility and also to accelerate the sustainable development to
operate the world. Main strategy and the slogan of Coca- cola are acceptability, availability and
affordability of brand throughout whole world. The sustainable development of firm keeping the
pace with market in order to assure future presence.
Rationale of Research
This research is taken into consideration on effective branding strategies and its impact
on providing a competitive advantage for international businesses. The main reason behind
conducting this research is to increase the understanding about specific research area that is
related to the branding strategies related to Coca- cola company in an effective manner. It
enhance the skills and core competencies of the researcher so that it can able to perform the
research activities in significant way (Flikkema and et. al., 2019). With the help of conducting
this investigation, core competencies of learner will be enhanced that help in specific idea. On
the other hand, from this research, learner can able to deal with the arisen challenges so that there
will not be any kind of issues faced and also conduct research in an effective manner.
Aim
The aim of this research is “To determine effective branding strategies and its impact on
providing a competitive advantage for international businesses.” A study on Coca- Cola.
Objectives
 To identify different branding strategies.
 To examine benefits of global branding to Coca- Cola at at global level.
 To evaluate the effectiveness of branding strategies in gaining competitive advantage for
Coca- Cola organisation.
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Questions
 What are various branding strategies?
 What are the benefits of global branding to Coca- Cola at at global level?
 What is the effectiveness of branding strategies in gaining competitive advantage for
Coca- Cola organisation?
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature review is more than summary of source and this has organisational pattern that
can combine the synthesis and summary. This might provide new interpretation of combine the
new with old interpretations. In context to this, secondary method of data collection has been
been used to collect information and data for getting positive outcomes in an effective manner.
While main focus of the academic research is to support own argument, focus of literature
review is to synthesize and summarise ideas and arguments of others (He and et. al., 2016).
Literature review can have argument but this is not necessary as covering various sources. The
literature review gives handy guide to branding strategies. Books, articles and journals are the
secondary sources to collect information and data in an effective manner. In context to this,
literature review is an in- depth and critical evaluation of the past investigation and summary of
the branding strategies related to Coca- cola that helps in gaining the competitive benefits at
market place.
Branding strategies
According to opinion of Susan Gunelius (2019), Branding is most necessary aspect of
the branding strategy that gives competitive benefit a market place. This permit business to
differentiate its services and goods from those of rivals. The branding is process of quantifying
value as well as authenticity of company, service or goods. Brand strategy is long term plan for
development of successful brand to attain particular objectives. Executed and well defined brand
strategy impact all the business aspects that connected directly to requirements, competitive
environments and emotions of consumers. The brand strategy explained guidelines and the rules
on what, how when and where company can communicate the brand messages. The
organisations mainly develop the brand strategies which determine short and long term
objectives, impact on the brand equity and also communication channels (Henninger and et. al.,
2016). In context to this, brand strategy is plan that encompasses long term and particular
objectives which cab be attained with evolution of the successful brand. The main objective of
branding strategies is to develop identification and also helpful in product promotion in
international market. Under this, there are different branding strategies mention below:
Brand name recognition- Under this, well established organisation will use weight of
own brand name to extend its goods. An organisation with the large name of brand recognition
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canb be identified through its slogan, colours and logos. The Coca- cola company is iconic while
featuring the many subsidiary goods which featured under name of company (Herstein and et.
al., 2017).
House of brands- Under this kind of the branding strategy, company should have the
large number of services or goods to provide to consumers, this kind of strategies has to be used
at initial stages of brands but impact is often to see when business become the large corporation.
When the company promote upcoming goods then it need to use house of the brand strategies to
fullest. In context to this, house of brand is strategy where the parent brand is varied from sub
brands that produced through organisation. Reason behind using this strategy is that legacy of
parent brand is not to be transferred to sub brands (Hestad, 2016).
Branded house- In this, new brands and goods are seen as branches of main organisation.
An individual existence of brand is to be there. In context to this, large number if services and
goods have to be large in the number of branded house strategy too. There is a need to company
to make decision regarding adopting this type of strategy at the time of launching second service
or product at market place (Magnus, 2016).
Individual branding- Sometimes, big organisations many produce goods which carried
their own weight independent of parent organisation. This kind of strategy included establishing
brand as unique identify that recognizable in an easy manner (Marland, Lewis and Flanagan,
2017).
Attitude marketing- Under this, ambiguous marketing can go above actual goods itself in
context of the attitude branding. All the brands use this strategy because it brings personality and
also customized experienced with services and products effectively.
Benefits of global branding to Coca- Cola at at global level
According to Julien Cayla (2019), Global brands have gained a lot of importance for
corporations. Bteh estimated net worth of Coca Cola in recent years has been more than around
sixty billion US dollars. There has been lot of benefits of Global branding for brand like Coca-
Cola, this is a tool which is helping such companies in spreading & expansion their market
across various parts of world. The brand recognition which such type of brands get is totally
different and is very helpful in attracting new customers. Some of elements associated with the
type of branding for Coca Cola is discussed further (Martinus and Chaniago, 2017). Consistency
is a attribute which can be created and enables this brand in communication of consistent
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messages in various international markets. Delivering of a consistent message is a very effective
tool to reach maximum customers. Consistency is important but is never possible to deliver a
same message it to every segment of customer for this there comes a need for localization in
which messages are modified according to various cultural requirements of country which is
being targeted by the brand.
Understanding of local preference of customers is very important in such type of
situations by Coca-Cola and this is with the help of global branding. When a consistent global
branding is run by a company then it also helps in reduction of cost and different types of
complexities which arise in course of managing campaigns. In Today's scenario it can be said
that marketing structure and various branding strategies can be formulated with context of
globalization (Moss, 2016). This helps various global marketers in development of and forming
of strategies of branding which is distinguishing a global brand's services & products from
various competitors already prevailing in market. Contemporary global marketers have to act
locally while they are entering a new country or willing to form newer strategies to attract
increased number of customers. This can be done more effectively is global branding is adopted
by Coca-cola and will help in spreading over heterogeneous markets across world. Management
is also a big benefit in case of global branding for Coca Cola as running a consistent global brand
is very helpful in reduction of complexity and cost in managing campaigns. When a single global
brand is developed by a company then it leads to reduction in cost as there is no duplication of
activities and number of agencies are also reduced. This leads to better management and
increase in effectiveness in functions of a company. Global branding is very useful in
establishment of communication and delivering of message to the target segment in an more
effective manner. Risk is also reduced in case of global branding as company can communicate a
consistent message to all their customers and message
Basic meaning of Global branding is extending of domestic marketing strategies to
various international markets. This is in relation with standardized approach of branding.
When Coca-Cola is willing to expand its operations and functions in other countries they
eventually use a strategy of Global branding. This has a large number if benefits for coca cola as
they have to invest a very minimum amount in their marketing and promotional activities as their
brand is already well known across world. This also leads to creation of a consistent position in
global markets with help of quality products which these brands are selling across world. Global
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branding is helpful for Coca cola in creation of various cost effective strategies and a brand
which is well known across all countries of world (Okonkwo, 2016).
To evaluate the effectiveness of branding strategies in gaining competitive advantage for Coca-
Cola organisation
According to view point of Robert Azuayi, (2019), with the changing time effectiveness
of various branding strategies have grown to a large extent. Also together with the cross-channel
marketing a brand strategy has full potential that they can grow and reach their target market in
a more effective way. There has been a very important part which is played by branding
strategies such as it provide brand recognition in case of Coca-cola this recognition has helped
them in having a differentiation advantage as people recognize very easily by its slogan, colour
and logo which is completely different from its competitors. Individual branding is also
adopted by coca cola which has also resulted into establishment of a advantage with their
competitors as they have successfully able to establish a unique and different identity which
gives it a completely different recognition. Private labels have al;so gained lot of attention and
is helping brands like Coca Cola in establishment of a different identity which can compete with
other competitive brands who are also having a effective position in the same target market
which is of Coca Cola (Papadopoulos, Hamzaoui-Essoussi and El Banna, 2016).
Attitude branding is also a tool which has helped Coca Cola in having a competitive
advantage as they have believed in providing their customers a totally different and best
experience such as names printed in bottles of coal cola has helps people in connecting with this
brand in a personal manner which has not been possible with other brands. This has lead to a
situation that Coca cola has successfully established a different image amongst their target
segment of market. Many times minimal approach is also a strategy which is very effective such
as “No-brand” Branding is also a strategy which has helped Coca-Cola in offering their core
product but doing very leads of marketing or promotional activities. This has resulted into people
getting attracted towards them as they have started trusting this brand over years. On other hand
extensive marketing strategies which is used by other competitive brands leads to a situation of
customers getting confused and not understanding basic motive of a product or brand. Crowd
sourcing is also a aspect which was used by Coca cola in which they used various platform of
social media and took help of internet so that they are able to reach to a large base of customers
and with the help of that that tried to use personal opinion of their customers on naming process
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of the company (Prasetyo and Maulani, 2018). This has effectively driven up personal interest
of people towards coca cola as they stared feeling some sort of connection with the brand and
this leads to increase in sales up to a large extent. This also resulted into a different identity
which was established by Coca cola and this helped them in entering in any new country which
they were willing to by usage of their brand name they adopted positioning strategy in an
effective manner.
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RESEARCH METHEDOLOGY
Research methodology is defined as a theory based scenario that offers knowledge and
guidance about different techniques by which a research can be carried out in a systematic and
ethical manner. In this chapter, researcher is going to use different tactics to justify the used tools
for research. Main purpose of carrying out research methodology is to acknowledge the
technique relevance that are utilised in performing research. Here, research methodology is
carried out in context with “Branding strategies and their influence in providing a competitive
advantage in case of international businesses”. Under this research methodology, researcher can
use research onion framework (Rufaidah, 2017). Research onion helps in explaining right
methodology for investigating about selected topic. Aspects of this framework are mentioned
below:
Research philosophy
This is basically a set of beliefs which is associated with nature of reality. Research
philosophy is examined in context with ontology and epistemology. It involve some beliefs and
values that helps in gaining positive result for a research. In general, there are two kind of
research philosophies which are Interpretivist and positivist philosophy. In order to preform this
research, research is going to use interpretivist philosophy in which information and facts can be
collected via personal interviews, observations etc. This philosophy believes in information
gathering from diversified sources (Seraphin and et. al., 2018).
Research approach
This is referred as the plan or procedure which includes steps for wider assumptions. By
this, activities like interpretation, analysis and data collection is performed in a desired manner.
Appropriate approach for research helps in attainment of research objectives and aims in a timely
manner. Basically, there are two approaches of research i.e. inductive and deductive research
approach. In inductive approach, researcher moves towards generalisations and theories where as
in deductive approach, pre-determined theory and hypothesis is considered. For this specific
research, the researcher is going to use inductive approach as it is based on qualitative
investigation so that reasoning for an opinion can be provided accurately (Séraphin and et. al.,
2019).
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Time horizon
Time is considered as one of the most essential and basic factor that is needed to be
considered when research investigation is carried out. Timely achievement of objectives and
aims helps in getting advantageous outcomes. Basically, there exist two kind of time horizons i.e.
cross sectional and longitudinal. In order to perform this research, cross sectional time horizon is
considered by the investigator so that appropriate time to perform this research can be calculated
and tasks can be given priority accordingly. By this, all the work related with research can be
performed within deadlines (Shinnar and Siméon, 2016).
Research design
This is a general framework in which multiple research components are combined so that
research related issues can be sorted out in a systematic manner. There exist some basic designs
that allows an investigator to carry out research tasks in productive manner. Generally, there are
three research designs i.e. descriptive, exploratory and experimental research design. In order to
accomplish this research, descriptive design is used as it helps in giving detailed knowledge
about a subject area. This research design will help in evaluating non-qualified issues so that
proper consideration can be given to the issues which are disrupting the effectiveness of research
(Steenkamp, 2017).
Research method
These methods are the frameworks that assists an investigator in carrying out each
activity of research in a justified and systematic way. Main methods in this context are
Quantitative and Qualitative research methods.
 Qualitative research method: This method is basically used to understand reasons and
opinions behind a concept or activity. This research method offers an insights to the
research related problems so that investigation can be performed efficiently. This kind of
research is expressed in the form of words. This research will helps the researcher in
acknowledging experiences, thoughts or concepts (Sziva and et. al., 2017). Main ways to
conduct this research are focus groups, discourse analysis, case studies and interviews.
 Quantitative research: This type of research is carried out and expressed in terms of
graphs and numbers. By using quantitative research methods, theories and assumptions
can be confirmed or tested in a proper manner. This further assists in establishments of
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generalised factors about a specific topic or subject. This research can be carried out with
the help of techniques like observational research, experimental research, content analysis
and surveys (Theurer and et. al., 2018).
In order to perform this research, researcher will use qualitative research method so that
gathered information can be depicted in the form of charts and graphs. By this, finding and
results of research will be more clear to the readers and investigator.
Data collection
This is defined as a procedure to measure and collect information so that expected
questions can be answered in a proper manner. By this technique, activities like testing of
hypothesis, evaluation of outcomes, answering research questions became a simplified task.
Appropriate collection of data helps in maintaining integrity of the research. In usual basis, thee
are two ways to collect data i.e. Primary and secondary method. Information about these
methods is provided beneath:
 Primary method: In this kind of data collection tactics, investigator gather information
for the first time. Collected data is available in raw form and use for the first time in a
research (Truong and et. al., 2017). A researcher can collect primary data with the help of
questionnaire, surveys, observations etc.
 Secondary method: Under this method, data is mainly collected from internet or
published books and Journals. This kind of data is already used by a person in some other
research. Due to this, collecting secondary data is very simple and require less time.
Different mediums to collect secondary data is through journals, books, magazines,
internet etc.
In this research, both methods are used to collect data. Primary method is used in the
form of questionnaire and secondary data is collected in the form of literature review.
Data analysis
This is a process to examine information or data with the help of analytical and statistical
tools so that business decisions and policies can be formulated in a beneficial manner. With the
help of data analysis, a researcher can model, transform and clean data so that right outcomes
can be gained (Zhao, Sun and Kakuda, 2017).
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Research sampling
This is a very necessary approach in research methodology which helps in reaching to
conclusion and recommendations. A sample is the representative of whole population size and as
whole population cannot be considered by researcher hence they always prefer to take a small
sample so that research work can be done in a more effective manner. Sampling is a basic
process which help researcher in selecting respondent from a large area of population so that
research work can be completed in an effective manner. This is divided into Probability sampling
& Non probability sampling method (Bromber, 2016).
Probabilistic sampling method- This is a sampling method in which sample is taken
from a large population sized and then selected based on probability method. Each member
posses a equal chance of getting choose.
Non- Probabilistic sampling method- In this method of sampling odd of any members
can be chosen from a sample which cannot be calculated. This is a sampling technique is used in
collection process which provides equal chance to everyone.
In this report both these methods are important but depending on requirements,
probability sampling method is chosen in this research work. There are 40 respondents who have
been taken into consideration. In probability method all have a equal and a fair chance of getting
selected by the researcher (Byrd, 2018).
Research ethics
Ethics is related to principles, norms and values which have to be followed while a
investigation is being conducted. This is one of most important aspect while conducting of the
investigation. Research ethics deals with analysing various types of ethical problems which may
arise in the course of investigation. Respecting dignity of of al research participant is also a duty
of researcher which they have to perform in due course if their research work. Researcher must
try to obtain consent from respondent before taking any information from them (Flikkema and et.
al., 2019).
Research limitation
Limitation of research is that many times the findings are interpreted into a different
manner which may leads to moulding of the actual facts. This leads to wastage of time of
researcher and data collected may not reflect authentic information. Many times respondents are
also not willing to share their personal information and their opinion which may leads wrong or
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lack of information by researcher. These are constraint which occur in the course of research
work which have to be dealt by researcher and effective solutions have to be find out so that they
are not imposing nay negative impact on outcomes of research (Marland, Lewis and Flanagan,
2017).
OUTCOME OF RESEARCH
This research helps in provide the understanding and study about the branding strategies
and also its impact on the competitive benefits at international market. In this research, different
branding strategies has been studied such as Individual branding, Branded house, Brand name
recognition and House of brands. Through using these strategies, company can gain competitive
benefits and target the population in global market. Coca- Cola company conduct its global
branding with the help of using effective branding strategies at global level.
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