Marketing Assignment: CSR Practices of Coca-Cola and Recommendations

This marketing assignment explores the definition of marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), highlighting how companies like Coca-Cola integrate CSR into their operations. The assignment defines marketing as the promotion of products and services to a target audience, while CSR is presented as a business approach that fosters sustainable development through environmental, social, and ethical benefits for all stakeholders. The solution analyzes Coca-Cola's CSR initiatives, which include water conservation, community projects in India, and packaging recycling. Recommendations are provided to improve Coca-Cola's CSR practices, emphasizing the importance of transparency, a balance between planet, people, and profit, and continued commitment to environmental and social betterment. The assignment provides a comprehensive overview of marketing and CSR principles, along with practical examples and suggestions for improvement.

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Marketing
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Answer 1: Definition of Marketing and Concept of CSR
Marketing refers to the promotion of a product or service to the target audience, for
example, promotion of products through television commercials, newspapers or billboards
falls under marketing (Elliott, Rundle-Thiele & Waller, 2014). Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) is defined as a business approach, which cause sustainable development
through delivering environmental, social and ethical benefits to all the stakeholders by taking
into account their expectations (Elliott, Rundle-Thiele & Waller, 2014). There are several
ways in which different company practices different CSR programs. For example, some of
the companies specialize in the job training for the adults who are disable, some business
seeks to find other alternative uses for the used products in order to keep them out from the
lowlands. These are some of the examples of CSR practices that help in filling societal needs.
Two of the most popular companies that are well known for their CSR practices include IBM
and Starbucks.
Answer 2: How Coca Cola display CSR initiatives and evaluation of their current
initiatives against the CSR model
Coca cola used a large amount of energy and water in the production of beverages and
tons of materials for packaging of its products (Hasan, 2013). It has taken up many initiatives
in order to act as one of the responsible companies and reduce its impact on the environment
(Karnani, 2014). It has also focused on various community initiatives in India as a part of its
CSR initiatives.
It has initiated projects on drinking water in several cities of India including Gujarat
and Maharashtra (Batra & Vikas, 2013). It has also initiated rainwater harvesting projects and
watershed protection. It has reduced the emission of CNG to the environment by three-
fourth. It has designed the packaging framework, which aimed at recycling. It collects its

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packaging materials such as cans, glass bottles etc after they gets disposed. It has conducted
several blood donation camps as well and has supported a 24*7 emergency service for the
children. Apart from these, in some of the districts of Andhra Pradesh, the company has
conducted camps for malaria eradication, eye checkups and Hepatitis B vaccinations. With
the same, the company has also taken several initiatives to curb the waterborne diseases and
has set up more than two thousands schools for children.
Answer 3: Recommendations for Coca Cola to improve their current CSR Practices
Coca cola should become a more proactive company in spite of being reactive. Being
more open regarding their Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability performance
will make the coca cola more transparent (Tai & Chuang, 2014). If the company becomes
more open about its CSR activities, it will help it gain more popularity. It should also look
forward to make a balance in between the three P’s- Planet, People and Profit. With the same,
the company should also contribute to decrease poverty in the poor parts of the nations.
Furthermore, it is recommended that the company should continue its CSR and sustainable
strategies for the betterment of the environment and the society without any pause.

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References
Batra, S., & Vikas, S. (2013). Global Competitiveness and Corporate Governance
imperatives in Emerging Economies.
Elliott, G., Rundle-Thiele, S., & Waller, D. (2014). MARKETING (AU) 3E. Melbourne:
Wiley.
Hasan, M. (2013). Sustainable supply chain management practices and operational
performance. American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, 3(1), 42.
Karnani, A. (2014). Corporate social responsibility does not avert the tragedy of the
commons. Case study: Coca-Cola India. Economics, Management and Financial
Markets, 9(3), 11.
Karnani, A. (2014). Corporate social responsibility does not avert the tragedy of the
commons. Case study: Coca-Cola India. Economics, Management and Financial
Markets, 9(3), 11.
Tai, F. M., & Chuang, S. H. (2014). Corporate social responsibility. Ibusiness, 6(03), 117.