Strategic Management and Theory: A Case Study of Coca-Cola

This report delves into the strategic management and theory of Coca-Cola, focusing on their competitive positioning strategy. It examines the company's strategic position plan, rationale for the choice of strategy, literature review, and strategic performance success factors. The report concludes with recommendations for the company's future strategy.

Strategy management and theory
5/25/2019
Coca-Cola

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
About the company..........................................................................................................................3
Strategic position plan.....................................................................................................................3
Rational for the choice of strategy...............................................................................................5
Literature review..............................................................................................................................5
Strategic performance success factors.............................................................................................7
Summary and recommendations......................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
The purpose of the report is to through light on the strategic management and theory related to
the Coca-Cola Company. The major motive is to develop a plan majorly for the company that
includes the description of the service and the strategy that is implemented by the company. It
includes the opinions of the different authors on the specific strategy that is considered as the
best option to sell the product in the market. Further, the performance success factors that the
Coca-Cola Company is looking for from the strategy are discussed. At the end of the report, the
recommendations have been given to the company so that they can improve the strategy.

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About the company
Coca-Cola Company is a well-known American Multinational Corporation, manufacturer,
retailer, as well as the marketer of the concentrates beverages. The products of the company
include aerated beverages, packaged fruit juices, dairy-based drinks that suit the unique taste
(Coca-Cola, 2016). Also, it also offers coffee, Fanta in different flavours, tea, Fresca, and many
others. Out of all the products, the company is the flagship in the market because of its product
Coca-Cola that was introduced in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton (Coca-Cola,
2019). Thus, the selected product for the analysis is Coca-Cola which is a carbonated drink
provided by the company to its customers.
Strategic position plan
The strategic positioning is considered as one of the more sophisticated approaches related to
strategic planning. This process is considered as systematic as well as the analytical process that
is majorly used to define as well to differentiate an organisation. The below given is the strategic
position plan of the Coca-Cola carbonated drink provided by the Coca-Cola company.

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The above-given graph presented the positioning plan for the company in the market which
shows that it positions itself in High-quality products and moderate prices that remains
affordable for the company.
The strategy of positioning is used by the Coca-Cola Company that has allowed them to maintain
a suitable image in the mind of the customers presents in the market. The company positioning
strategy is designed in a way that it shows the effective picture of their products provided to the
customers (Bhasin, 2018). The strategic positioning plan of the company includes the
comparison of the products of the company with their rivals which include Pepsi as they lead to
their customers to believe that the product can reflect the high quality and the standard. The
strategic plan of the company is to offer high-quality products at a moderate cost. Thus,
considering all it can be said that the company make use of the competitive positioning strategy.
Low Quality High Quality
High Cost
Low cost
Red bull
Pepsi Coca-Cola

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This strategy defines how the company will differentiate the offering and lead to the value of the
market (Jones and Comfort, 2018). According to this strategy, the company compare the quality
as well as the prices provided by them and considering that they will make their unique image in
the market.
Rational for the choice of strategy
The strategic positioning that has been selected for the Coca-Cola product in this plan is
competitive positioning strategy. The reason due to which this strategy has been selected is that
there is the presence of the many players in the market who offer the same sort of services due to
which the competition in the market is intense. Thus, considering the intense competition present
in the market they compare and form the unique value for the customer. The position of the
company shows the crucial part of the people everyday life as it forms the intimacy with its
customers by evoking the memories as well as the experiences with the different brand as well as
their unique selling proposition (Wang, 2016). It welcomes the people who like to consume
quality product with happiness. Thus, this is the reason due to which the company has selected
the competitive positioning strategy in the market.
Literature review
According to the Shao and Bao, 2015, the competitive positioning strategy is used by the
company to position its product Coca-Cola in the market. The positioning strategy of the
company majorly focuses on their distinct as well as the unique characteristics of their
competitive brand that is majorly stressing on the individual people. In addition to this, it has
been found that in the research that apart from focusing on the market implications there are
three techniques through which the company can conduct the modern marketing that offer the

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maximum benefit. These techniques include focusing on the customers, coordination, as well as
the profit orientation. The company ensure that they always consider the thoughts presented by
their customers present in the market as this will help them to meet the needs of the buyers. The
accomplishment of the buyer's needs is the way through which the company can form the unique
brand recognition that helps them to make effective positioning.
Agreeing to this, author Krzywoszynska, 2015, the positioning strategy of the company consists
of the comparison of the products with the rivals that include Pepsi and many others so that they
can make their customer believe that the product is equipped with the high standard as well as
the high quality. In the research, it has been found that in the market where the company is
performing its business operation has the presence of intense competition due to which
competitive strategy is implemented by the company. The competitive positioning strategy helps
the brand to evaluate the strategy that is implemented by the Coca-Cola Company for their
product.
Contradicting this, the Menon and Yao, 2017 says that strategic position plan of the company
shows that they use the brand recognition strategy for making the good brand value in the
market. The brand is considered as one of the most recognizable as well as the popular brand
among the beverages present in the market. The company has applied different brand
management strategies that depend on the market situation as well as the target market of the
company.
Agreeing to this Nalca, Boyaci and Ray, 2018 says that the company make use of the
advertisement strategies through which they make brand position in the market. Thus, brand
recognition is used as a strategy to form the position of Coca-Cola in the market. It has been

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found that the branding strategies of the company accurately define the individuality of the
organisation as well as the products and services offered by them in the market.
Strategic performance success factors
It has been found some of the strategic performance success factors that are expected from the
strategy of competitive positioning of the brand for Coca-Cola Company include -
 Sales: - The strategy of competitive positioning will allow the company to attract the
customers that is the only way through which the sales of the products will increase in the
market (Grant, 2016). This will give success in attaining the high profit of the company
that is essential for effectively performing the operations.
 Brand image: - The strategic performance success factor includes the improvement in
the brand image that is possible with the implementation of the strategy of competitive
positioning. The improvement in the image of the brand is essential as it helps the
company to get maximum loyal customers in the market.
 Dealing with the competitors: - The competition positioning strategy allows the
company to evaluate the competitor’s strategy so that they can take essential steps to deal
with their competitors present in the market (Grant, 2016). This will help the Coca-Cola
product to face its competitors in the market.

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Summary and recommendations
At the end of the report, this can be concluded that the Coca-Cola brand can make its different
position in the market. The company strategic position is between the moderate prices as well as
high quality of products. In addition to this, the company apply the competitive positioning
strategy that helps them to make a unique place in the market where they are offering the Coca-
Cola product. Also, the different opinions of the researchers have been considered on the strategy
that is followed by the company. Further, the strategic performance success factors related to the
strategy are discussed in the report. It is recommended to the company’s manager to focus on the
broader perspective of the customers towards the products instead of any kind of short-term
plans. It is also suggested to the company manager to understand the need of the people towards
the Coca-Cola as a carbonated drink because the shift of customer due to diet as well as a health
concern is increasing in the market.

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References
Bhasin, H. (2018) Marketing strategy of Coca cola – Coca cola marketing strategy [Online].
Available from: https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-strategy-of-coca-cola/
Coca-Cola (2016) About Coca-Cola Journey [Online]. Available from: https://www.coca-
colacompany.com/our-company/about-coca-cola-journey
Coca-Cola (2019) Our Products [Online]. Available from: https://www.coca-
colaproductfacts.com/en/products/
Grant, R.M. (2016) Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley & Sons.
Jones, P. and Comfort, D. (2018) The Coca Cola Brand and Sustainability. Indonesian Journal of
Applied Business and Economic Research, 1(1), pp.34-46.
Krzywoszynska, A. (2015) Wine is not Coca-Cola: marketization and taste in alternative food
networks. Agriculture and human values, 32(3), pp.491-503.
Menon, A.R. and Yao, D.A. (2017) Elevating repositioning costs: Strategy dynamics and
competitive interactions. Strategic Management Journal, 38(10), pp.1953-1963.
Nalca, A., Boyaci, T. and Ray, S. (2018) Brand positioning and consumer taste
information. European Journal of Operational Research, 268(2), pp.555-568.
Shao, A.T. and Bao, Y. (2015) Unique positioning to an elusive market: Targeting teenagers.
In New Meanings for Marketing in a New Millennium (pp. 111-117). Springer, Cham.

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Wang, H.J. (2016) Green brand positioning in the online environment. International Journal of
Communication, 10, p.23.

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