Marketing Principles: Coca-Cola's Marketing Strategies

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MARKETING PRINCIPLES
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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................3
LO1 Describe the underpinning and current practice of marketing and its role in organizations:. 4
LO2 Discuss and explain marketing research methods and collection of data within organisation
contexts.........................................................................................................................................5
LO3 Explain key marketing theory and techniques and their application to practical solutions
within organisation contexts:.........................................................................................................8
LO4: Discussing the ethical issues that are faced by the organisation.......................................10
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................12
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Introduction
The Coca-Cola Company was originally planned to be a patent medicine organisation and was
invented by John Stith Pemberton in the 19th century. But it was brought to success in the soft
drink industry by Asa Griggs Candler in the 20th Century (Coca-cola.com. 2019). The names of
the company’s products are made from the name of their intergradient. The production
strategies and formulas of the company are still kept secret. The company is mainly the
manufacturer of non-alcoholic sweeteners and beverages. The company boasts a vast
distribution of its products throughout the world. This leading company have several child
productions, like Coke Zero, Diet Coca-Cola , and etc.
Efficient practices in marketing are very important for any company to achieve the success in
the market. From further study, we can know about the marketing principles of The Coca-Coal
Company. The various strategies and tactics that the company has used to attain universal
success are provided. The separate marketing strategies and brand research methods of two
subsidiary companies under the Coca-Cola Company are given. The child companies are Coca-
Cola Classic and Coca-Cola Zero. A fine detailing has also been provided on how the company
has achieved the different targets on the marketing fields. The analysis is done with the help of
the 7 Ps technique. In addition, the ethical constraints that are faced by the company are also
described in this study.
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LO1 Describe the underpinning and current practice of marketing and its role in
organizations:
Marketing Strategies in Coco-cola:
Segmentation, targeting, positioning of Coco-cola: To understand a customer’s need of a
specific product type, the company needs segmentation. Coco-cola does not follow a single
segment but by manufacturing new products, the company adjusts with the strategies of
marketing. In addition, to increase the sales of a new product, the company follows mass
marketing strategies that helps the company to gain success in this challenging market. For
example, while the original coco cola targets audience of all ages, the diet coco cola is directed
more towards the new generation who are concerned about their health (Mason, 2015). An
efficient positioning strategy is used by the company to have greater status compared than its
rival companies are. The positioning strategy consists of different factors like the price of the
product, the product mix, the brand quality of the product, and the manufacturing process of the
product.
Market Mix:
Product in marketing mix: The Company boasts of producing almost 3300 products. The
beverages are divided into fruit juices, fruit drinks and energy drinks etc (Patil, 2014). The
company has branding on over 200 countries and consists of brands like Nested iced tea, Coco
cola zero, Thums up, and etc.
Price in the marketing mix: This is one important factor in the marketing. The pricing of the
products are depended on the demographic areas, the pricing of the competitors products and
the type of the products.
Place in the marketing mix: The Company has efficient distribution techniques, which has
helped them to outclass all the competitor companies. The efficiency has also lead to higher
market shares. This helps in increasing the fame of the company and brand name all the over
the world.
Promotions in the marketing mix: The advertising and promotion techniques of the company
are unique in nature and they follow the life styles and conditions of the separate demographic
areas and mainly target value-based advertising.
BCG Matrix in the marketing strategy of Coco Cola:
The Company uses the BCG Matrix to analyse the different types of the products, which are
manufactured under its production label. It helps the company to understand the various factors
that affect the brand and the steps that can be taken to improve the sales of those brands. This
helps the survival and growth of a certain brand in this challenging environment.
Distribution strategy in the Marketing strategy of Coca Cola
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Several processes are followed by the company to ensure efficient distribution of their products
among the potential consumers. They are:
 Pre registering the trucks to deliver the goods is a method that is used by the company
to provide the retailers with their orders.
 The company follows a conventional technique of delivery of the goods, which makes
immediate sales through the vehicle.
 A hybrid system of delivering the goods in which, a single vehicle delivers to all the
retailers and immediate sales.
 It follows a high quality telemarketing system.
 The company also initiates Third party wholesalers.
Brand Equity of the company:
Coco Cola is a type of brand that is known all over the world. The brand equity depends on the
company’s values, involvements, history, associations, and human participation. The company
boasts about having a rich brand value over the years. The company has always targeted in
encouraging positivity, high quality products.
Competitive Analysis:
The Coco Cola has always encouraged innovation and motivation in the company. This helps
the company to have a upper hand than the other companies in the same market. Pepsi has
been the main rival of Coco Cola over the years. Coco Cola has almost nullified all the other mid
level and small companies.
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LO2 Discuss and explain marketing research methods and collection of data within
organisation contexts.
Coca Cola:
Brand positioning: The Coco-Cola is the largest non-alcohol beverage in the world right now.
It generally is a thirst quencher and non-alcohol. The Coco Cola has almost 45% of the market
shares with the help of its diversification and globalisation. There are different factors that affect
the brand positioning, they are the consumer benefits through the brands, meeting consumer
expectation, competitor attributes, and the price of the product.
Pricing of the brand: The Coca Cola is manufactured in different quantities. In addition, the
price depends on the quantity of the product. The sole target of the pricing is to satisfy the mass
by setting a reasonable price. Factors like, economic condition of the country, the price range of
the products of rivalry Company and the political factors affect the price of the product
(DiMartino, 2016). Coco Cola has been setting the prices efficiently over the years, which has
produced a mass appeal in the market.
Promotional Strategies of the brand:
The brand has used vast number of promotional strategies over the years. From advertisements
on television, radios, and newspapers to social marketing, the brand has done it all. This is one
of the oldest brands under the head company and often referred to as Coco Coal Classic. The
company has made sure that the brand adapts with the changes in the business environments
and the technological advancements. This brand has been successful on the social networking
sites and received better response from the customers compared to the other brands.
Coca Cola Zero:
Product analysis:
The variants and ingredients of the coca cola zero are carbonated and have almost same
flavour. A one-litre bottle of Coke Zero consists of 96 mg caffeine. It consists of preservatives
and sweeteners. There are several flavours of the Coke Zero.
Brand Position in the Market:
This has a global approach and is available in many countries. An efficient policy for distribution
is used by the company for the marketing this product. The distribution is initiated from the
warehouses, which receive the products from the plants. The company to ensure that the
products are delivered to the retailers uses trucks. The intermediaries are well handled by the
company to have an increase in the sales figure.
Pricing of the Brand:
The pricing of the product is a very important factor. The demand of the product is directly
affected by this factor. There are different sizes of the Coke Zero, which has different prices.
The customers are provided with choices. A favourable pricing is done so that the company can
provide products in reasonable price range. The sole target is to increase its sales and the
revenues.
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Promotion Strategies of the Brand:
The brand has ensured that their advertisements are innovative and appealing. To satisfy these
conditions, the company hired a group of innovative people. The nickname that the brand was
given is Bloke Coke. The main target of the brand is the male population. The brand has been
launched as a calorie free product (Kim, 2015). Strategies like advertisements, sales
promotions, and personal retailing has been done to increases the brand name in the
customers. The promotion was done through devices like radio, magazines, televisions,
newspaper, and billboards. The company representatives of Coca Cola were the main personal
sellers. They ensured that the product was sold on their fast food outlets.
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LO3 Explain key marketing theory and techniques and their application to practical
solutions within organisation contexts:
The Marketing Mix 7 Ps:
Product: The product manufactured by the company should meet the expectation of the
customers. Over the years, Coco Cola has made sure that have satisfied customers. A separate
group of people are employed in the company to make sure that they notice the changes in
trends and all the factors in the dynamic business environment and implement the required
changes on the products. This helps the product to meet demands of the customers.
Place: The products should be easily available to the customers. If the product is highly
accessible to the customers, then they remain in demand. Coco-cola has ensured that there is
unique distribution of the products throughout the demographic areas (Mason, 2015). First, the
products are manufactured in the industries and then they are delivered to the warehouse. From
there, the products are transferred to various retailers with the help of trucks through roads.
Efficient roadmaps are used so as to ensure efficient distribution of the products.
Price: The product must be a value for money and the customers must be satisfied with the
price ranges. The idea of this factor is not to set the lowest price but to set the price to an extent
that the customers will be happy to pay. The products of the Coca-Cola are of different
quantities. The company sets different prices for the different quantities and ensures that the
pricing is reasonable. The average prices of the Coca-Cola products have been satisfying for
the customers. The pricing also needs to be done based on the pricing of the products of rival
companies. Many factors affect the pricing factors, like political factors, and economical factors.
The company has made sure that it follows all these factors and still price their products
accordingly.
Promotion: This is one of the most important factors, which includes advertising, promotions,
and personal retailing. The social media are the most important factor in promotion of the
product. Coco-Cola have been excelling on these grounds for several years now. In the early
90s, the company relied heavily on the advertisements on the newspapers, radios, and
televisions. This created awareness of the product in the general people, increases the sales
rate, and enhances the growth rate in the market. The biggest achievement of the company is
its adaptability with the change in technology (Karababa, 2014). The company has been highly
effective on the social sites and the customers have largely supported the company. The reason
being its communication rate with the customers and the company has ensured that the
customers stay updated with the daily occurrences. The company has used social platforms like
Facebook, Twitter to promote their products, conduct polls, and to receive their feedbacks from
the customers. The promotions are also dependent on the independent retailers, like the fast
food centres and malls.
People: This is the core to any company. These refer to the employees and the workers of the
company, who are the core of the organisation. Over the years, Coca-Cola has ensured that
they have efficient members in their company. It includes a promotion team, sales team, and the
general workers, etc. The high qualities of workers are hugely responsible for the success of the
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company. The innovation ability of the promotion team has been proved several times by their
methods of promoting their products.
Processes: The processes highly affect the economic conditions of the company. Coca-Cola
has ensured a unique and balanced delivery system, so that all the retailers and front line
customers are satisfied. The cost prices are set to subsequent levels. The basic processing
starts from the industrial plants, where the products are manufactured. After the production
process they are transferred to the warehouses (McColl-Kennedy, 2016). There the products
are divided are loaded on trucks. This company mainly uses roadways for delivering its products
and the roadmaps are created in a manner, so that all the retailers receive the products on time.
The company also does deliveries to the malls and the independent outlets like the fast foods
efficiently and at reasonable prices.
Physical Evidence: This refers to the physical product that is delivered to customers. For
Coca-Cola, the products has been non-alcoholic beverages and soft drinks. There are several
variations in their products. For example, Fanta, Sprite, Coke Zero and etc are some of the
different products under the banner of Coca-Cola. The company ensures to manufacture
products on the basis and trends of the demographic area, and this has led to success of the
company at huge rate (Hogan, 2017). The company has set a group of workers that have role to
inspect the final product and ensure that the product will able to satisfy the general mass.
Several factors like eco-friendly, recyclable etc. are kept in mind. These are some key factors
that affect the sales of the product.
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LO4: Discussing the ethical issues that are faced by the organisation
Coca Cola is regarded as one of the largest beverage companies in the world and therefore, the
management of the organisation has to ensure that the ethical issues are analysed and
mitigated properly. The ethical issues of an organisation are concerned towards the employees
as well as the customers. Coca Cola is active in terms of social as well as environmental issues.
Several initiatives have been taken by the organisation in order to reduce the harmful impacts to
the environment of the production procedures of the products that are developed by the
organisation (Parrott, 2014). The management of Coca Cola has announced that every drop of
water shall be replenished by 2020. However, Coca Cola has been facing various issues that
include its loss of reputation in Belgium in the year of 1999 as few children fell sick after
consuming coca cola product. This resulted in all coca cola product to be removed from the
shelves of the retail stores of Belgium. However, according to Ulman et al. (2015), an
organisation has to ensure that the organisation is associated with various CSR activities. CSR
activities help an organisation to gain reputation in the existing markets and gain the trusts of
the customers. Coca Cola has been associated with several activities towards the development
of the society.
An estimation of 22 million dollars has been invested by the organisation on numerous
scholarship programs in different parts of the world. Being one of the most renowned
organisations the management of Coca Cola has to ensure that the employees are provided
with all their needs and requirements in the organisation. However, Coca Cola has been blamed
for several discriminatory activities within their organisation and issues that are faced by the
employees. Fifteen hundred Afro-American employees of Coca Cola sued the organisation in
terms of racial discrimination in the year of 1999 (James et al., 2017). The employees blamed
the organisation, as their pay scale was lower than the rest of the employees although they
provided the equal effort and gave the same products and outcomes. The difference in the pay
scale was extremely unusual. The difference between the pays scale of the black employees
and res of the employees was around $26,000 less per year. In order to gain the lost reputation
back, Coca Cola had to pay an amount of $193 million that finally settled the discrimination
lawsuit.
Coca Cola operates in different parts of the world and therefore, the management of the
organisation has to ensure that the ethical issues are mitigated. Different countries have their
own unique cultural perspectives that can affect the ethical constraints of the organisation.
Therefore, the management of the organisation has to focus on development of different
strategies and operations on different countries (Berg and Feldner 2017). The name of the
brand gets highly affects as well as influenced due to the ethical constraints and the
management has to constantly analyse the environment and seek for developing an overall
suitable atmosphere within the workplace that shall promote the growth of productivity as well
as efficiency of the employees.
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Conclusion
From the above study, we learn about the different marketing strategies that the Coca-Cola
Company follows and has helped the company to reach the successful heights in the industry.
With the reference to the company, we can learn the basic strategies that are required to be
followed for efficient functioning in the market. The inner and outer factors that affect the
functions of the company are discussed in the above analysis. In addition, two productions of
the company are considered for better understanding. The productions are Coca-Cola Classic
and Coca-Coal Zero. The brand analysis is done for both the productions and they are
compared so that we can gather further knowledge on the working principles of the company.
Further, the main challenge that is faced by the company that is the ethical issue is described in
the above study. With the help of this study, one can gather the ideologies and strategies that
are required to initiate successful functioning in this dynamic environment.
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