Coca-Cola vs. PepsiCo: A Comparative Marketing Analysis

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Marketing Essentials
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Executive summary
The assignment focuses on the company of Coca Cola with regards to the marketing
functionality and its various associated processes, and presents a comparative study with
PepsiCo, one of its primary competing organizations. A Marketing plan has also been included
with the objective of mitigating the current constraints within Coca Cola and significantly
increasing its market position and sales figures.
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Table of Contents
Activity 1.........................................................................................................................................3
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function and relationship to the wider
organizational context......................................................................................................................3
Analysis of the interrelationship between marketing and other organizational functions 600........6
Critical analysis and evaluation of the key elements of the marketing function 300......................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
Activity 2.........................................................................................................................................9
A comparison of how different organizations apply the marketing mix to the marketing planning
process to achieve business objectives and an evaluation of different strategies applied by
organizations to demonstrate how business objectives can be achieved.........................................9
Comparison of the different elements of the marketing mix for Coca Cola and PepsiCo..............9
An evaluation of a detailed, coherent and strategic marketing plan for a product for one of your
chosen organizations that applies to the 7Ps in order to achieve the business objectives.............12
Marketing plan and its importance in businesses..........................................................................12
Link between marketing plan, marketing objectives and strategies..............................................12
Marketing Plan for Coca Cola.......................................................................................................13
Specific business objectives..........................................................................................................13
Competitive analysis of the organization in the market................................................................13
Identification of the target market and customers.........................................................................14
Marketing strategy.........................................................................................................................14
Budget............................................................................................................................................16
Action Plan....................................................................................................................................17
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................18
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References......................................................................................................................................19
Activity 1
Introduction
The notion of marketing has been present since a long time in the context of organizations and
measures taken by them to ensure a timely availability of their products and services. The
various roles and responsibilities that are typically contained within the marketing function are
possibly the most integral parts within an organization, and it is all the more important in the
FMCG sector where Coca Cola has been a consistent performer over a considerably prolonged
period. Primarily dealing in beverages and related merchandise, the company has been a massive
influence within the beverage industry and has operations in almost every country possible. The
company has attributed their widespread success to effective marketing strategies that were
implemented with a focus on accommodating local needs and preferences. Marketing and its
various functions largely relate to the integration and accommodation of the needs and
preferences of consumers, and implementing business decisions based on the analysis.
Key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function and relationship to the wider
organizational context
Concepts of marketing and organizational context
The marketing concept is fundamentally divided into five different functions, and these relate to
a number of aspects such as product, production, selling, marketing and societal marketing
(Kukanja et al., 2017).
The production concept focuses on the qualities of availability and affordability, and is based on
the principle that consumer bases irrespective of economies will prefer products that inherently
entail a relatively high degree of availability and affordability (Fine, 2017). However, over
emphasis on the same can lead to system of tunnel vision for companies and they might end up
focusing heavily on a part of their operations while overlooking the core organizational
objectives. The production concept of marketing is largely relevant in today’s times as well, and
several organizations including that of Coca Cola.
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The product concept of marketing focuses solely on the intrinsic value that a product or a service
offers, and holds that consumer bases irrespective of social classes and nature of their economies
will prefer products over alternatives based on the utility provided, durability of the product or
the service, degree of innovation and so on. Needs and wants of the consumers are the primary
focus of organizations within this concept, and companies including that of Coca Cola have
experimented heavily with their products in order to accommodate the needs and wants of the
consumers in a more strategic and efficient manner.
The selling concept of marketing focuses on the sales and strategic generation of sales volumes
as opposed to the core qualities of the product or a service, and the concept relies on the principle
that primary objective is to generate sales and not provide the best quality (Noormoradia and
Mozafarib, 2017). The selling concept focuses heavily on advertising and creating demand for
products, and pushes customers towards the product instead of pulling them towards the product
through quality and innovation. This concept is typically seen in products and services that are
typically not bought by consumer bases and function as tertiary products within markets. Coca
cola integrates the selling concept as a measure to gain an advantage over its competitors owing
to the extreme levels of competition in the beverage industry (Fine, 2017).
The marketing concept is possible the most pronounce among organizations including that of
Coca Cola, and the concept is inherently customer-centric. The concept focuses on developing
products and services based on specific and accurately gauged needs of the consumers while
relying on a pull principle instead of inorganically pushing customers towards a monetary
transaction.
Societal marketing is essentially a subset of the marketing concept, but certain organizations
including Coca Cola have utilized the same in a highly efficient manner that has resulted in a
significant number of benefits both in the short-term as well as the long-term (Mallik and Farhan,
2018). Societal marketing fundamentally includes the principle of societal emphasis and bringing
value to the customer through sustainable measures, and this can be present both within the
product as well as the various marketing approaches that an organization undertakes. Human
welfare is essentially the core concept within societal marketing, and efficient implementation of
the same typically generates the most organic consumer bases and sales figures.
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Key roles and responsibilities
The key roles and responsibilities within the marketing function typically relate to the various
measures that marketing teams need to undertake, and they are as follows.
 Developing efficient strategies of marketing is a key responsibility within the marketing
function that is directly related to achieving the core organizational objectives. Market
strategies essentially factor in the tastes, preferences, demands, grievances and so on with
regards to consumers and their various groups, and develop products and strategies based on
them to efficiently generate highest possible sales figures (Pogorelova et al., 2016).
 Ensuring effective information systems are another important responsibility within the
marketing function, and marketing teams often rely on third party agencies as well to develop
efficient information systems. A majority of the logistical issues that a company faces like
managing databases, issues related to procurement and supply of goods requiring assembly
and so on can largely be mitigated with the help of these information systems (Mohammadi
et al., 2018).
 Another key responsibility within the marketing function lies in targeting specific consumer
groups based on the products and services offered by an organization as well as the core
objectives. Targeting improper consumer groups can significantly hamper the operational
flow within an organization, and naturally, the segmentation process becomes an integral part
within the marketing function (Warrink, 2015).
 Establishing strong brand equity through the intrinsic value provided by the product or the
service is an extremely essentially part within the marketing function. The presence of strong
and healthy brand equity ensures that a company enjoys strong brand reputation and
awareness, especially owing to the competitive nature of industries in a global perspective.
The degree of competition within industries has significantly gone up post the advent of free
trade and globalization, and it is a key factor as to why companies engage in the various
marketing strategies and techniques.
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Analysis of the interrelationship between marketing and other organizational functions
Marketing as a core function within an organization, is directly linked to the other organizational
functions and essentially permeates all the levels that typically exist within a company or an
enterprise. The primary interrelationship exists within the marketing and financial departments
within every organization. Budgetary allocation are possibly the most integral part within
organizational operations, and these allocations include every aspect of an organization like costs
for production, employee remuneration, procurement of raw materials, assembling and so on.
Marketing measures are also undertaken with certain budgetary allocations and timeframes in
mind, and this ensures a strategic and efficient approach to the same. Market research and
analysis of consumers is fundamentally an expensive ordeal owing to the vast majority of
consumer groups and the diversity within markets. Naturally, the marketing departments must
work in a closely coordinated manner with the finance departments with the objective of
increasing the operational efficiency.
Marketing as a function is also heavily linked with production and the manufacturing
departments, and this is all the more pronounced within the beverage industry and specifically
within the company of Coca Cola (Serôdio et al., 2018). An efficient system of marketing would
enable organization to gauge the actual levels of demand and supply, and the production
department could engage in manufacturing based on those projections. The interrelationship
between marketing and production departments is extremely crucial in the case of new products
or modifications of existing products. Both the departments are crucial to the smooth running of
operations, and as a result, a high degree of interrelationship is inherently witnessed.
Marketing and procurement departments are also heavily interlinked, and this largely due to the
link between the production and marketing departments. Raw materials and necessary items are
crucial to maintain the flow of production within any organization. The materials required for
production would have to be based on the results of market research, as the manufactured
products would eventually be based on them.
The research and development departments are another important segment within organizations,
the link with the marketing department is also relatively pronounced. The development or
creation of a new product or a service is essentially the key aspect where this interrelationship
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exists in the most effective manner. Both the marketing and R&D departments work in a closely
coordinated manner in all the stages that a new product or a modified product goes through, and
this is extremely important to ensure any degree of success for the product post introduction.
The marketing department is also interrelated heavily with the personnel management and
human resource departments in the context of developing marketing teams and absorbing
effective candidates who can further achieve the core organizational objectives in an aligned
manner with the specific organizational objectives. The selection and recruitment process is
typically overseen by the marketing departments and the human resource departments, as the
sales teams and the marketing teams are the most integral parts with regards to reaching the
product to the customer. The efficiency within marketing teams and their various responsibilities
are largely correlated to the other organizational functions and it is important to understand that a
major portion of these interrelationships are necessary and almost inherently natural. However,
in some cases, it has been noticed that these interrelationships can often lead to hindrances in the
means of conflicting situations and scenarios of disagreement, as opposing viewpoints may exist
within one organization. The leaders and managers are important in this aspect, and must manage
the situations in accordance with the organizational objectives to maintain a level of efficiency.
Critical analysis and evaluation of the key elements of the marketing function
Marketing as a function includes a variety of key elements that together form the entire
functionality, and the absence of any element would significantly hinder the level of efficiency
with the overall marketing process. These key elements typically include the likes of market
research, marketing strategies, planning procedures, implementations and so on.
Market research is possibly the most crucial element within the entire marketing functionality,
and a thorough system is extremely crucial for any organization to succeed in the long-term.
Efficient market research and analyses enable companies to accurately study their consumer
groups, and develop their products and services accordingly. However, several companies have
fallen victims to a poor system of market research and have eventually suffered losses to the
extent of liquidation and shutting down of operations. Naturally, the core element of market
research must be dealt with in a very careful manner.
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Marketing strategies are another crucial element within the marketing functionality, and must be
strategically formulated and implemented in order to gain the best possible resultant outcomes.
The strategies must be specifically targeted towards the focus groups within the consumers, and
without this policy of segmentation, it becomes relatively difficult for companies to generate
healthy sales figures based on their marketing policies.
Planning procedures refer to the physical jotting down of these aforementioned strategies, and
are typically carried out in collective sessions including the management, senior authorities and
the individuals associated with the marketing department as well. Any sort of planning and
formulation must include a high degree of emotional maturity and intelligence, without which
situations of disagreement and discontentment could become very likely. Conflicting scenarios
typically bear a negative influence on the marketing process specifically and the organization in
general as well, and the managers and leaders must work in an effective manner to avoid or
resolve them in the most efficient manner possible (Bakan, 2016).
Implementations refer to the actual execution of the marketing strategies, and this process is also
very crucial to the overall organizational efficiency. However, the strategies must be
implemented in a targeted and optimized manner, as wrongful or half-minded marketing
implementations can be significantly harmful for the organization and severely deter the
operational flow in general.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be stated that marketing is an essential part of every organization. All the
elements contained therein must be adhered to and carried out in a strategic manner, without
which organizational efficiency would be extremely difficult to obtain. The beverage industry is
extremely competitive and predatory by nature, and any form of advantage can ensure a long-
term trickle effect for the companies possessing it. Efficient marketing strategies have been a key
contributing factor towards Coca Cola’s consistent market dominance, and the same has been a
model for various new establishments as well.
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Activity 2
A comparison of how different organizations apply the marketing mix to the marketing
planning process to achieve business objectives and an evaluation of different strategies
applied by organizations to demonstrate how business objectives can be achieved
Marketing mix
Marketing mix refers to the functional model of the business that helps the companies to
successfully apply different techniques to fulfill the marketing objectives. There are mainly
seven elements in the marketing mix such as place, promotion, product, price, process, people
and physical evidence. It is effective for evaluating the business activities for improving market
position and enhances profit.
Comparison of the different elements of the marketing mix for Coca Cola and PepsiCo
Product
Coca cola has wide range of products such as Coca Cola, Coke Zero, Coca Cola Life, Sprite,
Fanta, Diet Coke, Dasani, Thumbs-up and others. On the other hand, there are different products
that are produced by Coca Cola such as tea, bottled water, averted and fruit based beverages.
Coca-Cola offers more than 500 brands over 200 different countries with more than 3800
products (Greenhalgh, 2019).
In comparison with that, main product of PepsiCo is carbonated soft drinks. Alongside, the
company has other products such as carbonated beverages, snacks and fruit juices. CSD, Tea,
Chips and Wafers are also included in PepsiCo products. Wide variety of products is provided by
the organization. However, the company has less number of products than Coca Cola.
Price
Price discrimination strategy has been taken by Coca Cola. In this process, the company provides
different prices for different products (Sheth, 2017). However, the company sets high prices to
their products as compared with PepsiCo. Coca Cola provides different prices based on the
consumer demand. It indicates that the company set fewer prices for the products in the areas
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where the consumers are price sensitive. On the other hand, PepsiCo takes premium pricing
strategy in which the company sets high prices for different products. Different rates are
provided by the company for different products and they mainly target the health conscious
people for selling their products (Gertner and Rifkin, 2018).
Promotion
Coca Cola targets the youth for promoting their bottled products and beverages. Basically,
aggressive marketing strategy has been taken by Coca Cola in order to advertise their products in
different media such as electronic media such as TV, radio and digital media such as company
websites and social media. Print media is also used by the organization. The company engages in
several sponsorship events such as FIFA, Olympic Games, NBA and NCAA. Coca Cola has
launched a campaign called “Taste the Feeling” and engaged CSR activities for reducing social
and environmental issues (Bragg et al., 2016).
On the other hand, PepsiCo uses different market channels such as TV, print, online ads and
outdoor and use 360 degree branding for advertising. The Tropicana brand of PepsiCo targets the
fitness oriented people. They provide advertisement in world cups of football and cricket along
with the sponsor global lifestyle and music (Vassallo et al., 2018).
Place
Coca Cola operates over 200 countries across the world and maintains their market for 130 years.
The organization has wide distribution network to successfully distribute their products to a large
number of customers through direct selling. It is identified that the company provides their
products to the wholesale retailers and distributors of supermarket. The organization also
distributes their products in restaurant and hotel chains across the world. Effective supply chain
of the company helps them to save costs and include additional resources (Confos and Davis,
2016).
PepsiCo products are also available to more than 200 countries and they target health conscious
customers for providing their products. PepsiCo distribution strategy helps the company to
create relationships and network with several supermarket, grocery stores and retailers. On the
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