Marketing Strategy and Plan: Diet Coke

This case study examines the marketing strategies of Diet Coke in Ireland and Malta, focusing on cultural influences and market penetration. It analyzes the Irish market's preference for tea and how Diet Coke attempts to establish itself, including the use of men in advertising. The study also explores the cultural barriers in Malta, such as religious differences and traditional cuisine preferences, which pose challenges for Diet Coke's market entry. The case study concludes that while Diet Coke can achieve success through effective marketing, cultural factors significantly impact its market potential in different regions.

Running Head: Marketing Strategy and Plan
marketing strategy and plan
[Document subtitle]

Marketing Strategy and Plan 1
Introduction
Diet coke is considered as a sugar-free soft drink which is provided by the Coca-Cola
organization. It is a type of coke which also maintains the health of the people with their taste
and preferences. There is a huge demand for drinking products in the Irish market. Most of the
people are maximum depends on the drinking products such as tea, milk, cold-drink, and soft-
drink (Friedman, 2016). All these drinks give the feeling of comfort to them. The given us
provide us knowledge of marketing campaign and initiatives of the Coca-Cola towards the soft-
drink market of the Irish. It is considered the top soft-drink company of the Irish offering
different types of products to its consumers.
Answer 1
Ireland is considered one of the biggest per capita consumers of tea in the overall world. It is
significantly similar to the culture of UK. The culture of Irish team is a combination of different
elements such as citizens of Ireland usually taken tea with sugar or milk and is little stronger or
spicier than the traditional English Blend (Islam, 2013). There are various reasons for the cultural
strength of tea in the Irish market, some of them are following:
 Having tea is considered as a household task for Irish people. It is their first priority of
Irish citizens.
 Tea is considered as a ground for welcome people. Offering a cup of tea is considered the
backbone of the Irish hospitality.
 As per the culture of Irish, tea is considered the main source of their comfort which gives
the feeling of relaxing and comfort to them. It is considered the symbol of their
hospitality services.

Marketing Strategy and Plan 2
All these reasons make the tea very popular among the Irish people. Having a cup of tea gives
large satisfaction to the Irish people (Solomon, 2014). Thus, it can be said that there is a strong
relationship between the demand for the tea and satisfaction of people.
The culture of every country is different from others. Diet cock achieved high growth in the
market of the Ireland. It places itself in the eyes of customers. It satisfies the different levels of
cultural meaning which are following:
 National cultural level: It is a type of culture that deals with the awareness of cultural
patterns and dynamics by nationality. As per the given case, it can be said that the diet
coke placed itself in national cultural level in an efficient manner. This will give the
opportunity to the organization to continue to enhance its sale by providing large
satisfaction to customers of the whole nation. With the diet coke, the organization is able
to build international outsourcing relationships which helpful in capturing the other
potential market of the different countries.
 It mainly attacks the market share of the different products that are outside the traditional
fuzzy soft drinks market. This will be helpful in placing a significant position and
minimize the market share of tea. In Ireland, tea is considered the most desirable social
drinks then it is necessary for the Coke diet to come with a better plan with better quality.
The management of the Coca-Cola faced various problems in marketing of the diet coke. It is
because the Irish culture demands tea rather than any other soft drink or diet drink because it
gives them a feeling of comfort and they mostly attached with the tea. On the other hand,
creating demand for soft drinks is considered very difficult for the organization. But, in the USA
sale of the diet coke is higher than the Ireland which brings a challenge in front of the
organization to establish diet coke in the Irish market. Adopted porter five forces model or the

Marketing Strategy and Plan 3
PESTEL analysis helps the organization to analyze its internal or external factors in an efficient
manner. This will help the organization in creating market demands for its product. With the help
of Porter analysis, the organization can significantly measure the demand and behavior of
competitors as well as customers who can further utilizing in developing an appropriate strategy
for product development and promotion of the diet coke in the target market of the Ireland or the
other country (Dahl, 2014). The organization can resolve its all problems by adopting
appropriate promotion strategy and adding attractive features of its diet coke. This might prove
helpful in attracting the attention of people in large context.
Answer 2
It can be said that every organization chooses men for doing advertisements of their soft drinks.
They don't choose women to do their advertisement. There can be several reasons behind it. The
first and the foremost reason behind it can be that the soft drink which is advertised by women is
not suitable for the health of women (Wilson, 2012). If a woman is doing an ad for a soft drink, it
means that it is healthy for both women and men. On the other hand, it is also considered that
advertisement of soft drinks by women may be against the culture of their regions which
influence the sale in a larger context. Furthermore, Coco-cola knows the facts that drinking diet
coke may harm the body of women. Diet coke made with such ingredients which have presence
sugar in large quantity. The presence of sugar may enhance the weight of women. It is the main
reason behind for which women do not select for promoting the product further (Deans, 2016).
Today, women are considered the most concerned about their health and they like those products
which help them in losing weight instead of increasing it. That is why the management of the
organization is not choosing the women for the promotion of its diet coke among all existing
people of the world. The artificial diet soda is considered so sweet that dulls the senses of women

Marketing Strategy and Plan 4
and also enhances the level of fat which may bring various diseases like sugar. The absence of
women in advertisements of diet coke gives a significant message that it is useful only for men
not for women (Hodel, 2013). Apart of this, the organization using women in advertisements if
the proposed product is suitable for the men and the women. Consumption of diet coke by
women may enhance the risk of heart diseases and the diabetes stroke. So, it can be said that
women do not perform the advertisements of diet coke.
Men prove a good advertisement source for diet coke producing organizations. It is because they
produced such things by concerning the tastes and preferences of the men. Drinking diet coke is
considered the first passion of young age boys, or the middle age boys. All this is because
drinking diet coke gives them huge satisfaction with which they can enjoy their life in a
significant manner (Wonderlich-Tierney, 2013). Diet coke manufactured with such ingredients
which provide benefits to the health of men. It is the main reason behind choosing men for
promoting the diet coke in their potential market. With the help of diet coke advertisement, the
organization is able to successfully reach their message to the different person. Advertisements
of diet coke by men conclude that it is very beneficial for the men and they can consume it to
enhance their energy level and perform day to day tasks with high energy. On the other hand, it
can be said that men contribute a large proportion of the population. In that case, men can easily
attract a large number of men and can also attract women. Enhancement in consumers can only
possible due to the advertisements on a large scale and men considered the efficient way to fulfill
this motive. Furthermore, utilization of diet coke makes them cool and energetic in their life.
With the help of this way, they can attract a large number of customers whether they are men and
the women (Pelletier, 2014). On the other hand, men are also considered more responsible, and
they have freedom to perform functions according to their wish. Due to this reason, most of the

Marketing Strategy and Plan 5
functioning organizations only select the men for making advertisements of different types of
drinks. Thus, it can be said that men and women both are important at their place, but they help
the organizations in delivering their message to a large number of people in a significant manner.
Answer 3
The diet of Irish is considered similar to the Northern European nations. Diet coke campaign
changes the social values of Irish in a significant manner. It changes their overall food culture.
The main tradition of Irish people was drinking tea at most of the times in a single day. Tea is
considered their tradition which gives them huge satisfaction and comfort. The introduction of
diet coke changes the overall preferences of the people (Reamer, 2013). It replaces the tea.
Generally, it is considered the first priority of young generations of Ireland. It is because they
spent their huge time out of their houses and diet coke gives them large satisfaction as given by
the tea. Due to this, now citizens of Ireland preferred diet coke first then the tea. Now, it gives
them such satisfaction which is not given by the other drinking item like tea. The below
mentioned are some forces which bring change in the culture of Ireland:
 Taste of Irish: Taste and Preferences are considered the big factor of driving change.
With the passage of time, taste of people being changed which popular the demand for
diet coke in the eyes of Irish. Diet coke play an important role in fulfilling the demands
and preferences of Irish citizens.
 The growing trend of "Out of Home" consumption: Most of the population of Ireland is
working, and they spent more part of their time out of the home. This influences their
preferences and demands in a greater manner. During 2002, more than 35% population
of Ireland spent on drink and food away from their home (Webb, 2014). Due to this, they

Marketing Strategy and Plan 6
don’t like to drink tea but their want to change themselves as per the current trends
prevailing in their generations.
 Another force which brings change in the culture of Irish is the failure of young people
to progress to coffee and tea as they grow older. It can be said that the 15-25 age group
people don't like to consume tea as their parents do (Mahon, 2016). They like to do such
activities which are done by their friends and the higher class people. They mostly like to
consume fruit juice, soft drink products, and mineral water. All these things enhance the
demand of diet coke in the soft drink market in the Ireland. This force influences the tea
market in Ireland in a negative manner, and the soft drink market in a positive manner.
 Another important force in bringing change in culture is the promotion of diet coke.
Promotion is considered an efficient tool for attracting large number people (Fullan,
2014). Coca-Cola utilizes the efficient market promotion strategies to attract a large
number of customers in Ireland. Such marketing activities attack the mind of consumers
directly. Due to it, aggressive marketing strategies are considered the main force which
derives significant changes in the present culture of the country. The success of
marketing approach can be judged by the success of Lyons tea during 1997 (Graham,
2013). On the basis of its marketing strategies, the organization successfully positions
itself as the number one grocery brand of the Ireland.
Apart of the Irish culture, diet coke also influences the European culture. Europe is known for
the western cuisine. It is the first priority of European people to consume cuisine. But, diet coke
replaces it and become the first priority on the basis of its tastes and marketing strategy. It creates
its market by its different promotion strategies or the quality (van Riper, 2012). Thus, it can be
said that diet coke plays an important role in changing the culture of Ireland as well as Europe.

Marketing Strategy and Plan 7
Answer 4
Maltese people love cuisine in a great manner. The Cuisine of Malta is considered the
relationship between the civilizations who occupied the Maltese Islands or the Islanders. The
taste of cuisine gives them huge satisfaction by providing an eclectic mix of Mediterranean
cooking (Ping, 2014). If the Coca-Cola wants to establish itself in the Malta market, it faces
various cultural barriers. Diet coke product of the organization will become a failure because it
influences the overall culture of the Malta in a larger extent. The following can be the primary
cultural barriers for the establishment of diet coke in Malta market:
 Different religions: Due to the difference in religions of Malta people, Coca-Cola
can become a failure in establishing its product in Malta market. Most of the
people are there who follow all rules and regulations of their religions (Colson,
2016). Such type of persons does not like to consume diet coke because it may
against their religions. Due to this, they restrain from the consumption of diet
coke. This will ultimately reduce the sale of diet coke, and the organization will
feel the requirement of exit the market.
 Taste and preferences: As the Malta people like only the taste of their cuisines. In
such situation, it may be possible that they don't like the taste of diet coke. This
will influence the sale of diet coke in a larger extent. Furthermore, the preferences
of consumers are considered the first priority of every organization. But, due to
the high attachment with traditional cuisine products, they will not like any other
product at that place (Barbara, 2013).
 Lifestyle and Income: It is considered the most important factor which
significantly works as the cultural barrier in the establishment of diet coke in

Marketing Strategy and Plan 8
Malta market. Income level and lifestyle of Maltese is slow than the other
countries. Due to this, the organization cannot sell diet coke at high prices. On the
other hand, they mostly like to purchase only the traditional cuisine and at the low
price which ultimately influence the market of diet coke in Malta (Grech, 2016).
Thus, it can be said that all the above-mentioned barrier influence the market of diet coke in
Malta effectively. Promotion and other attractive strategies of the organization can become
successful in achieving the confidence of people (Pace-Asciak, 2013).
Yes, it can be said that the approach adopted by the Coca-Cola to capture the market of Ireland
can become successful in Malta. But, it can be possible up to a certain limit. It is because most of
the Maltese are highly attached with their religions, and they don't like to break their traditions
and culture. But, approximate 70% people are such who don't attach with religion; they want to
change themselves as per the changes in trends and culture (Zammit, 2012). So, the diet coke can
establish in Malta by the same approach as followed in Ireland. Promotion and its marketing
strategies will attack the mind of customers, and they become excited to utilize it in their day to
day life. Marketing strategies and promotion are such efficient tools which can provide great
success to an organization in its life. In the same way, by utilizing attractive marketing strategies,
the organization can successfully create the demand for diet coke (McKenzie, 2016). Thus, it can
be said that promotion and marketing strategies can prove helpful for the organization to fulfill
its predetermined objectives and can easily capture a large size of the market.
Conclusion
After studying all this, it can be said that tea of Ireland really has the potential to capture the
large size of the market. Use of efficient marketing strategies enables the diet market to establish

Marketing Strategy and Plan 9
itself and change the mind of people. On the basis of its taste, it places its good position and gets
huge success in a short span of time period. On the other hand, it can also be said that the
organization may not be able to get success in Malta market. But on the basis of its penetration
and marketing strategies it can fulfill its objective and can successfully change the culture of
Maltese. Apart from promotion strategies, the organization can also make different market
penetration strategies which significantly help the organization in capturing the market of Malta
in an effective manner (Hui, 2013). On the other hand, innovation is such factor on the basis of
which it can successfully position itself in the different culture country. By doing all these things,
the organization can successfully introduce itself in the other markets of different countries.

Marketing Strategy and Plan 10
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Marketing Strategy and Plan 11
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