Marketing Strategies and Coca-Cola's Performance: A Detailed Report

This report delves into the marketing strategies and organizational context of Coca-Cola. It begins by outlining the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function, including customer satisfaction, social media management, trend tracking, budget management, strategic planning, market expansion, innovation, promotion, and market information gathering. The report then explores the interrelationship between the marketing function and other departments within Coca-Cola, such as Human Resources and Finance, highlighting how these departments collaborate to achieve overall organizational goals. The analysis further covers the marketing mix of Coca-Cola and its competitors, providing insights that can inform better decision-making for increasing market share. Finally, the report emphasizes the importance of adapting to the marketing environment and formulating strategic plans for specific product launches to gain a competitive edge. The report underscores the dynamic nature of marketing and the need for continuous adaptation to meet customer demands and competitive pressures.

MARKETING ESSENTIAL

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is considered as the continuous activity in which plans are made for selling the
goods in the market. The plans and tactics for marketing is made as per the current need of
customer's and strategies of competitors. It is very much essential for the organisations to
formulate plans as per the demand of customer's. This is because it can directly lead to increase
in market share and profitability within limited period of time. It is the responsibility of
marketing department to make use of appropriate distribution channel so that final product can
be made available to the customer's(Akroush, 2011). With the help of innovative strategies for
marketing long objectives of every organisation can be easily achieved within prescribed time
period. The organisation chosen for this report is Coca Cola which one of the top manufacturer
of carbonated soft drink. It headquarter was established in Unites States in the year 1886. Coca
Cola is currently operating its business in different parts of the word with the motive of
providing better satisfaction to customer's. This report will majorly cover some roles and
responsibilities of marketing function, interrelationship between marketing function and other
functions of the organisation. Marketing mix of Coca Cola with its competitor will also be
covered in this, with the help of this management of company will be able to take better decision
for increasing their market share. Strategic marketing plan will also be prepared for a particular
product which will be launched by the organisation(Blakeman, 2011.).
TASK 1
P1 The key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function.
The marketing function in very organisation have different set of roles and
responsibilities which are to followed in order to achieve the goals and target. Major role of
marketing function is to formulate strategies after evaluating various things for the future. This
type of function also have different kinds of responsibilities for managing the market
environment. As with the help of this internal as well as external environment can be maintained
and managed in the proper order. Decisions for the management of marketing are generally taken
by the top authorities in Coca Cola(Brooks and Simkin, 2011). This is because with the help of
these individuals better and effective decisions can be made. But it is essential for the
management of Coca Cola to make flexible plans for its marketing functions. This is because
marketing environment is uncertain, so by making such plans changes in the working structure

can be easily made by the management. Employees of Coca Cola also helps the organisation in
managing the marketing function in appropriate manner. There are different kinds of roles and
responsibilities of marketing function some among them are discussed below-
Customer satisfaction- It is the top most function performed by marketing of every
organisation. Marketing majorly works for enchancing the satisfaction level of its customer's.
Coca Cola considers its customer's as the king of market and due to this they are able to satisfy
the unlimited need of customer's. Innovative and attractive strategies are made by the
organisation for enhancing there satisfaction level within limited time period. Since the
organisation is operating its business in various parts of the world so satisfying there customer's
is the top most priority(Burke and Friedman, 2011).
Monitoring and managing social media – If the goal of organisation is to introduce any
new product in the market than social media can be used as the tool for attracting ample number
of customer's. With the help of this tool Coca Cola will be able to achieve competitive advantage
in the best possible manner. As in social media organisation can directly connect and interact
with its potential customer's to know there current demand. Social media will also guide the
management of Coca Cola in using various promotional strategies for increasing the market
share and profitability. The demand of market is to use latest techniques for enhancing their
satisfaction, so with the help of this tool sale and profitability of Coca Cola can be directly
increased.
Track trends and monitor competition- Marketing also performs the function and role
for tracking the strategies and tactics of its competitors. Monitoring of the competition can be
done by researching and analysing the market situation. The trends in market are uncertain and
involves high degree of uncertainty. So it becomes necessary for the organisation to track such
trends and than formulate strategies accordingly. There are large number of competitors
available for Coca Cola, so by tracking these trends organisation will also be able to maintain its
market-share in the proper manner(Cabrera and Williams, 2014).
Managing marketing budget- Management of the marketing budget is another major
role which is performed by most of the organisation. The major focus in this is emphasised on
using the financial resources in effective and efficient manner. If the management of Coca Cola
is not able to formulate appropriate budget than goals and objectives will not be achieved and
chances of decrease in market share will be increased. Marketing budget is generally made after

knowing the financial position of the company. As by doing this better utilisation of resources in
done.
Strategic plan- The responsibility of market is also to formulate and implement
appropriate strategic plan for the current and future situation. Innovative and attractive tactics
will enable Coca Cola in sustaining in the market for longer period of time. Such strategies can
be regarding price, promotion and sale of the product produced by Coca Cola. If the organisation
is successful in making effective strategic plan than competitive advantage can be easily attained
and satisfaction level of customer's can also be enhanced(Cavusgil and et. al., 2014).
Expansion of market- With the help of marketing function plans and tactics can be
easily made for expanding the market. As in this innovative and new strategies will be made for
gathering large number of customer's. Expansion of the market can be done by analysing the
current and past demand of customer's. As with the help of this management of Coca Cola will
be able to identify and implement correct strategies for the expansion of market. If the
organisation is successful in doing this than sale and profitability can be attained within
prescribed time period.
Innovation- It is also one of the major role of marketing to implement innovative
strategies in the best possible manner. Innovative strategies can be implemented as per the need,
preferences and taste of the potential customer's. But the demand and preferences of customer's
are uncertain and ever changing, so it becomes quite difficulty for the management to use
appropriate strategies for the same(Clow and James, 2013). Latest techniques and tools can be
used by the management of organisation for implementing innovative strategies in the best
possible manner. With the help of this organisation can easily capture large market in the
effective and efficient manner.
Promotion- Promotional strategies directly helps the organisation in attracting large
number of customer's and also increasing their sale. Promotional strategies generally include
providing discount offers, using effective advertising policy, social media, etc. These strategies
helps the organisation in increasing the demand of Coca Cola product. For example if company
is able to provide various kinds of discounts on its products than customer's will be automatically
end up buying the company's product.
Market information- It is necessary for every organisation to collect and gather
information from the market in the systematic and coordinated manner. These type of

information can include- knowing competitors strategy, evaluating demand of customer's,
analysing availability of resources, etc. If the organisation is successful in knowing the actual
demand of the market than effective strategies can be made by the marketing department of Coca
Coal to cater such demands within limited period of time.
These were some of the major roles and responsibilities of marketing function. Apart
form these marketing also have some responsibilities for the management of marketing
environment. This type of environment generally consist of internal and external factors which
directly affects the working of marketing department. The marketing environment is uncertain in
nature so it is essential for the management of Coca Cola to implement strategies as per the
current situation of the market(Dudzevičiūtė and Peleckienė, 2010). This type of environment
generally influences the working of organisation in the negative manner, so it becomes duty of
the manager to form strategies as per the demand of customer's and competitors strategy.
Revenue of Coca Cola can be directly increased of the management is successful in managing
the marketing environment. Negative impact form marketing environment can be reduced by
analysing and evaluating the market conditions and also be using latest techniques. By doing this
chances of mismanagement can be decreased by the organisation and targets can be easily
achieved. The elements of marketing function are also inter-related with other functions in the
organisation. This means if the Coca Cola is not able to perform its marketing function in the
proper manner than other functions related to it will be negatively affected. For example if the
organisation is planning to launch any new product for its customer's than management will be
required to coordinate other functions in the proper manner(Hsu, 2011). As by doing this
organisation will be able to achieve competitive advantage because strategies will work as per
the plans. This will also lead to increase in brand image of Coca Cola in the efficient manner.
P2 Roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to wider organisational context.
Marketing is the function and process in which vital information related to the product is
transferred to the customers with the motive of increasing the sale and profitability. Marketing
department of different organisation is inter-related with each other. An organisation generally
consist of different departments which works for the motive of overall development of the
organisation. Some of the major departments which Coca Cola has are Human resource,
marketing, research and development , finance, etc. It is very much essential for the organisation
to make plans and strategies keeping in mind the goals and objectives of each and every

department. This is because by doing chances of mismanagement within the organisation can be
decreased. As each and every activity will be planned and coordinated in the best possible
manner. The sustainability of Coca Cola directly depends upon the functions of these
department. If any one department is unable to function well than it will lead to increase in
improper functioning of the organisation(Hugos, 2018). The marketing department of Coca Cola
majorly works for making plans related to what to produce, how to produce and for whom to
produce. Other departments in Coca Cola plans there polices according to these objectives ,so
that high quality of goods are offered to their customer's. Each and every department in Coca
Cola mainly works with the motive of producing goods and services as per the current and future
demand of the market. The inter-relation of marketing department with other departments of
Coca Cola are mentioned below-
Marketing and Human resource- The work of marketing department in Coca Cola is to
analyse and evaluate the need and demand of customer's. It also works with the motive of
promoting a particular product in the market by implementing innovative strategies. While
human resource department works for hiring and selecting appropriate candidates who can
contribute in the growth of marketing department. These employees be hired from various new
and different sources such as from internal and external sources. Skilled and talented candidates
will provide better ideas to marketing manager of Coca Cola. This means if right candidate is
placed by the human resource department than work will be completed before its deadline and
objectives will also be achieved(Ionita, 2012). Marketing and HR department of Coca Cola is
directly inter-related with each other as talented manpower will help the organisation in
gathering accurate and relevant data for its marketing department. So these departments can help
in achieving objectives within limited period of time and also in the effective and efficient
manner.
Marketing and Finance- The work of finance department in every organisation is to
implement plans for using the financial resources in the efficient manner. The competition level
of Coca Cola can be maintained and managed by marketing and finance department. Finance
department of the organisation mainly works for increasing the sale and profitability of the
organisation(JAIN, 2017). For achieving this plans are made as per the financial position of
Coca Cola. This means if the organisation is financially stable than high amount of money can be
invested by the marketing department in order to increase its market share. Marketing

department will be able to make use of new and latest technology for attracting large number of
customer's in the best possible manner. With the help of this better plans regarding the promotion
of company's product can be made. Different advertising and selling techniques can be easily
implemented if the organisation has sufficient amount of the financial resources available with
them.
Marketing and R&D- The research and development department plays a very important
and crucial role in the every organisation. As the work of this department is to properly analyse
and evaluate the current conditions of the market. Research in this is generally done as per the
current and past situation. This department interprets various things for marketing department so
that satisfaction level of the customer's are increased. With the help of R&D department current
trends of the market can be easily known by the organisation. Taste and preferences of potential
customer's can be known by this department. This information can be further transferred to
marketing department so that effective plans are made for achieving the goals and objectives.
The work of these departments are inter-related with each other as with the help of these chances
of loss and failure can be directly reduced(Koontz, 2010). This is because plans will be
implemented after analysing and interpreting various things in advance by the research
department.
Marketing and sales department- This type of department generally works for selling
the company's product to potential customer's. Plans and tactics for the sale of product can be
made by the marketing department after knowing the actual demand of customer's. It becomes
the duty of sales department to make the product available to customer's so that they can end up
buying the product. Marketing department of Coca Cola formulate plans and tactics so that
market-share can be directly increased.
Marketing and production- The major motive of production department is to produce
products as per the current demand in the market. The demand for a particular product can be
increased by marketing department. As this department can formulate strategies for increasing
the demand within limited period of time. Marketing department of Coca Cola will communicate
information regarding the actual demand of the product to production department. Than plans
and strategies will be made for the manufacturing of product(Lamb, Hair and McDaniel, 2011).
This will directly lead to increase in sustainability of the organisation within prescribed time

period. With the help of these two departments Coca Cola will be able to increase the brand
image and value of organisation in the mind of customer's.
Marketing and IT- The major work of IT department in Coca Cola is to make use of
latest techniques in the process of production and also for attracting large number of customer's.
It is very much essential for the organisation to use latest and innovative techniques because
competition level in this type of industry is very high. So to maintain the competition level
management of the organisation can try to use latest techniques. As by doing this more and more
customer's will be attracted towards the company's product.
All these departments are inter-related with each other, any change in one department can lead to
improper functioning of the entire organisation. Such departments has there own significance
because with the help of this goals and target can be achieved within limited period of time. With
the help of this relevant information can be gathered and effective plans can be made for the
overall development of the organisation.
TASK 2
P3 Marketing mix along with other organisation.
Covered in PPT
TASK 3
P4 Produce and evaluate a marketing plan for the organisation.
Covered in PPT
CONCLUSION
As per the given report it can be concluded that there are different set of roles and
responsibilities of marketing function which must be taken into consideration by the manager.
These functions directly and indirectly lead to increase in sustainability. This means every
department can guide the company in increasing the market share and sale. With the help of
seven P's organisation can easily identify its target customer's and can also analyse the
marketing condition in the best possible manner. Before introducing any new product in the
market the management of organisation can make plans for formulating marketing plan in the
systematic manner. As this plan will provide appropriate guidance to high authorities of the
government. Chances of failure of the new product can be decreased if proper marketing plan is

formulated and implemented by the organisation. Tough competition can also be given after
researching and analysing the current and past situation in the efficient manner. This can directly
lead to implementing new and better strategies for the future action plan.

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