University Marketing Plan for the Coca-Cola Company

This report provides a comprehensive marketing plan analysis for the Coca-Cola Company, examining its internal and external environments through frameworks like PEST and Porter's Five Forces. It identifies Coca-Cola's target market and analyzes its segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategies. The report outlines the company's aims and objectives, focusing on revenue growth and market expansion. It also delves into the implementation of the 4Ps of the marketing mix, suggesting changes in distribution and promotional strategies. The analysis highlights Coca-Cola's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, concluding that global strategies must adapt to environmental changes. This report is a valuable resource for understanding Coca-Cola's marketing approach and its adaptation to the dynamic market.

Running head: MARKETING PLAN FOR COCA COLA COMPANY
MARKETING PLAN FOR COCA COLA COMPANY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1MARKETING PLAN FOR COCA COLA COMPANY
1.Executive Summary
This report is based on the analysis of the marketing plan that is prepared for the Coca Cola
Company so that they can increase the revenues in their operations all over the world. The
organization has been successful in its all over global operations in the world. The company
further has a strong brand value among the various customers. However, loss of revenues has
been experienced in some of the countries. The marketing plan will be developed for
improving the revenues of the Coca Cola company in the low revenue areas. The report is
based on the internal and external analysis of Coca Cola with the help of the appropriate
framework and the industry in which it has its operations is also analysed in the report. The
processes related segmentation of the market, targeting the specific groups and positioning of
the brand in the market is analysed in the report. The aims and objectives of the plan are set
and the changes that need to be made in the distribution networks and the promotional
strategies of the company are discussed and suggested in the report. The analysis is
concluded by stating that the strategies of the global organizations need to be changed on a
periodic basis with respect to the changes in the environment.

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Table of Contents
2.Introduction.................................................................................................................3
3.Situation Analysis.......................................................................................................3
Target Market of Coca Cola Company......................................................................3
Influence of the PEST factors on the business...........................................................4
Porter’s Five Forces Analysis of the industry............................................................4
SWOT Analysis of Coca Cola company....................................................................5
4.Aims and objectives of the Coca Cola company........................................................6
5.Segmentation, targeting and positioning strategy of Coca Cola.................................7
Communication strategy that is used by Coca Cola...................................................8
6.Implementation of the 4 Ps of the marketing mix.......................................................9
Conclusion....................................................................................................................14
7.Appendices................................................................................................................15
Background of the organization...............................................................................15
References................................................................................................................16
Other Appendices.....................................................................................................20
Appendix 1...............................................................................................................20
Appendix 2...............................................................................................................20

3MARKETING PLAN FOR COCA COLA COMPANY
2.Introduction
The report will be mainly based on the formation of a marketing plan for the Coca
Cola Company. The plan will be mainly based on the objective of the company to increase its
revenues and presence in the industry where it has its operations. The internal and external
environment of the organization will be analysed with the help of the specific frameworks.
The external environment will be analysed with the help of the PEST framework. The
industry in which Coca Cola operates will be analysed with the help of the Porter’s Five
Forces Framework which help in the clear understanding of the levels of competition that the
company will need to face (Banerjee 2017). On the other hand, the internal analysis is
performed with the help of the SWOT framework which will help in understanding the
internal operations of the company in an effective manner. The aims and the objectives of the
organization will be analysed based on which the marketing and the promotional plans of
Coca Cola will be decided (McDONALD 2016).
3.Situation Analysis
Target Market of Coca Cola Company
Coca Cola is considered to be brand name in the world and the company is
globalizing with a huge speed. The company has been able to form huge number of
customers all over the world. The products that are offered by Coca Cola are liked and
consumed by people belonging to different age groups. The company is mainly planning to
target its marketing plans towards the consumers belonging to the age group of 18 to 34 years
as the highest number of customers of the company are a part of this group (Coca-Cola
Company.com 2018).

4MARKETING PLAN FOR COCA COLA COMPANY
Influence of the PEST factors on the business
Political – The political factors of the country in which the business operates affects
the operations. The stability of the political conditions is a major factor that influences the
profitability of the company in that area.
Economic – The economic situation of the country also has huge effect on the
profitability of the organization. The long-term sustainability of the organization is also
affected by the economic factors of the country. However, the consumption of the products
that are offered by Coca Cola are affected by the economy to a large extent (West, Ford and
Ibrahim 2015).
Social – The social conditions have huge effect on the consumption of Coca Cola as
the health conscious consumers can try to avoid the extreme use this product. The consumers
mat tend to shift to the healthier drinks from the unhealthy options provided by Coca Cola.
Technological – The Coca Cola company has become one of the topmost brands in
the world. The changing technologies have been readily adopted in the different processes of
the company in the international and the local markets as well (Payne and Frow 2014).
Porter’s Five Forces Analysis of the industry
Rivalry in the industry – Coca Cola is the leader in the market where it operates.
However, tough competition has been provided to the company by another major player in
the market named Pepsi. The organization has many other competitors in the market.
However, the entire soft drinks related market is dominated by these two organizations.
Threats related to new entrants – Coca Cola does not have huge threat from the entry
of the new organizations in the market. The organization wishing to enter the soft drink

5MARKETING PLAN FOR COCA COLA COMPANY
industry have to face huge number of barriers related to the channels of distribution which are
already dominated by the major players (Tomczak, Reinecke and Kuss 2018).
Threats of the substitutes – The soft drinks based industry has to face huge threats
related to the availability of substitutes for the customers. The various substitutes that can be
considered by customers in the software industry include, tea, coffee, juices, mineral water
and many more.
Power of the suppliers – Coca Cola is a huge global organization of the world. The
organization thereby owns a huge number of suppliers as well. Therefore, the power of the
suppliers is low in the industry for Coca Cola (Morschett, Schramm-Klein and Zentes 2015).
Power of the buyers – The buyers of the company have high power in the industry in
which Coca Cola has its operations. The main reason is the huge number of substitutes and
options that are available for them in the market (Liebl 2015).
SWOT Analysis of Coca Cola company
Strengths – The strong value of the brand is a key strength of Coca Cola in the
industry. The customers belonging to the local and the international prefer the products that
are offered by the company over the other products.
Weaknesses – The lack of the own bottle manufacturing setup is a major weakness of
the company. The organization thereby has to depend on the suppliers for the manufacturing
related purposes of the bottles of the products (David and David 2017).
Opportunities – The changes that are taking place in the standards of living of the
consumers of Coca Cola have helped in the increase of its profitability to the highest levels.
The company also has the huge opportunity to form strategic alliances with the hotels and the
restaurants so that the products can be promoted in an effective manner (Varadarajan 2018).

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Threats – The main threat that is faced by the manufacturers like Coca Cola are
related to the entry of the local players in the market. This has affected the revenues of the
company as the local organizations are able to offer the products at lower rates as compared
to the organizations like Coca Cola. The barrier of distribution channel is also present for the
local companies as they are easily able to source their raw materials from the various local
suppliers in the countries in which Coca Cola has its operations (Kerr and Patti 2015).
4.Aims and objectives of the Coca Cola company
The marketing plan that is being designed by Coca Cola will be mainly based on the
various strategic objectives that are to be achieved by the company within the stipulated
amount of time. The objective that is designed by the company is important for the successful
operations of the expansion related plans that are made by Coca Cola. The main aim of the
objective will thereby be to achieve the goals that are set for the company related to the fast
increase of its revenues in the market (Felix, Rauschnabel and Hinsch 2017). The objectives
that will be set for the company will be SMART in nature so that they can be time bound and
achievable in nature. There is absolutely no point in setting the huge goals which cannot be
achieved by the company. The strategic marketing based plan that has been designed by Coca
Cola is based on one year of its operations and expansion related objectives (Rosenbaum-
Elliott, Percy and Pervan 2015). The major SMART objectives of the company for the next
one year are as follows,
 Redefining the entire channel based on distribution so that the presence of the
company can be increased like its competitor Pepsi.
 The visibility and the availability of the products manufactured by Coca Cola
needs to be increased so that the awareness of the brand also increases.

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 The taste of the products need to be changed or improved (Hill, Jones and
Schilling 2014).
 The product portfolios of the company need to be increased so that it is able to
attract customers from the various age groups of people.
5.Segmentation, targeting and positioning strategy of Coca Cola
Segmentation process used by Coca Cola – The organization has proved itself to be
the largest advertiser, producer, and the merchant of soft drinks in the whole world. The
multi-segment focussing based procedure is used by Coca Cola to perform the segmentation
of its target market in the world. The company tries different blends of the products for the
different segments of the market (Milichovsky and Simberova 2015). The organization has
400 items in its product portfolio. Oasis is a product manufactured by Coca Cola which is
targeted towards the age group of 20 years to 30 years. The product of the company named
Diet Coke is targeted towards the consumers belonging to the age group of 30 to 50 years of
age. The company has also been designing special packs that are offered to the customers on
the special occasions. Coca Cola thereby tries to blend the products according to the
geographic, psychographic, demographic and the behavioural process of segmentation
(Villeneuve and Pasquier 2017). Coca Cola uses the mixes of the strategies related to
undifferentiated marketing and mass marketing. This strategy is used by the company for
some of the products that it offers in the market.
Targeting process used by Coca Cola – The company has been targeting the specific
groups of consumers based on the media habits that are displayed by them. The youthful
group of people are the major target customer group of Coca Cola in the world. The company
has designed advertisements in such a manner so that it is able to target the sentiments of the
potential customers or the existing customers directly (Kaleka and Morgan 2017).

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Positioning strategy used by Coca Cola – The organization has positioned itself in the
world soda market. Coca Cola has used the same positioning strategy in 200 countries where
it has its operations. The organization gains the trust of the consumers with the help of the
advertisements and the nature of its products. The positioning strategy that is applied by Coca
Cola is mainly based on the specific goal that is has to keep the picture or the image of the
company similar in all the global locations of the company (Tomczak, Reinecke and Kuss
2017). Coca Cola has created such an image in the minds of the consumers that just by taking
the name of the company an image of diversion and fun comes in their minds. The
competitive positioning based strategy is also used by Coca Cola to stay ahead of the
competitors that is has in the market. The one brand marketing strategy has been given huge
importance by Coca Cola. This has helped the brand to maintain its same image in the all the
global locations (Galliers and Leidner 2014). The countries where the brand has its operations
have similar sentiments for the company and can instantly connect with the products. The
link of the products with the sentiments of the customers has further enabled the successful
operations of Coca Cola in the world.
Communication strategy that is used by Coca Cola
The communication based strategy or the marketing campaigns of Coca Cola have
been designed in order to address the various needs of the organization which are related to
providing the messages to consumers about the brands and the products to the consumers.
The messages are sent to the consumers with the help of images, audio based materials and
others (Icha and Agwu 2015). These materials help in promoting Coca Cola based on three
different categories which are, satisfying the thirst of the buyers, increasing the style quotient
of the consumers and further making the products a part of the lifestyle. The drinks of the
company are associated with style and coolness which is related to the image of Coca Cola in
the industry. Coca Cola also uses famous celebrities for the promotion of their brand (Archer-

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Brown and Kietzmann 2018). This is also associated with the wishes of the consumers who
desire to become famous like the various celebrities who are endorsing the products. The
communication process has been set up by the company in such a manner so that the main
vision of the products which is mainly related to the satisfaction of thirst can be fulfilled
effectively by the product that are offered to the consumers. The marketing campaigns of
Coca Cola have been highly successful in the enhancement of the brand value of the
company in the industry (McDonald and Wilson 2016). The company has been able to
strengthen its brand and further increase its revenues in the market as well.
6.Implementation of the 4 Ps of the marketing mix
The marketing mix that has been formed by Coca Cola has been able to create the
position which the company currently enjoys in the market. The product portfolio of the
company is also quite huge which has been helpful in the creation of the huge global
customer base of Coca Cola. The increased brand value of Coca Cola is also a major effect of
the marketing mix that has been applied by the company (Heding, Knudtzen and Bjerre
2015). The 4 Ps of the marketing mix of Coca Cola are as follows,
 Product – Coca Cola provides an extensive portfolio of various products
which are mainly made up of the 500 still and the sparkling brands of the
company. The leading product of the Coca Cola company is Coca Cola which
is considered to the flagship product. The various products that are offered by
the company include, Coca Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Diet Coke, Coca Cola Zero,
Minute Maid, Ciel, Powerade, Poweradw Zero, Fresca, Glaceau Vitamin
Water, Dell Valle (Frynas and Mellahi 2015).
 Place – Coca Cola company has an extensive system of distribution which has
enabled the company in providing its products successfully to all the corners

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of the world. The products of Coca Cola company are available in greater than
200 countries which are present across six major regions which include, Latin
American Pacific Eurasia, North America and Africa. The company
completely relies on the packaging and the bottling based systems for the
successful reach of its products to the different areas (Cegliński 2016). The
system of the Coca Cola company operates with the help of a huge number of
local channels of distribution which are responsible for the consumer brand
marketing related initiatives of the company. The bottling partners of the
company work closely with the customers like, the grocery stores, the
restaurants, the street based vendors, the amusement parks and the movie
theatres. The partners of the company work together with Coca Cola Company
to implement the localized strategies (Feng, Morgan and Rego 2015).
 Price – The closest rival and competitor of Coca Cola in the soft drink market
is Pepsi. The prices of both the brands are decided in a competitive manner.
The prices of the products are not kept too high which will be beyond the
reach of the normal customers. Too low prices are also not acceptable as it can
put a question mark on the quality of the products (Benyoussef Zghidi and
Zaiem 2017). The pricing strategy that has been implemented by Coca Cola is
mainly related to the increase in the loyalty of the brand among the various
customers. The reduction that has been detected in the demand for soda
recently has also led to the competitive pricing that has been implemented by
Coca Cola. The prices that are charged by the company decrease with the
increase of the purchase size of the products (M’zungu, Merrilees and Miller
2017). The bulk purchasers of the different products are able to gain more as
compared to the purchasers who buy single products.

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 Promotion – The promotional strategy that has been implemented by Coca
Cola is based on the increase of the revenues of the company and
enhancement of the value of the brand. The expenditure that is made by Coca
Cola over the marketing related activities are more than 4 billion dollars. The
organization has been using the traditional and the modern channel based on
marketing and promotion to successfully promote the products in the industry
(Tamayo-Torres et al. 2016). The recent campaign that has been launched by
Coca Cola for the purpose of marketing the products in an effective manner is
the “Taste the feeling” strategy. The same campaign has been used by the
company in all its global locations. This has thereby marked a shift of the
brand from the previous marketing strategy that has been implemented by the
company. The advertisements of the brands are placed various media like TV
which is traditional medium, social media and internet which ate considered to
be modern mediums (Slater 2015).
Coca Cola has its global operations in many areas all around the world. The company
has built the brand value of the products to the highest level. The major reason behind the
huge growth of the Coca Cola company has been the promotional and distribution based
strategies that have been implemented by the company in all the areas of its global
operations. The organization has continued its successful operations in the areas like, Europe,
Middle East, Africa where the sales have increased by 1% in the year 2917. The regions
where the sales of the company have dropped in the same year is Latin America which
include countries like, Venezuela and Brazil (Karjaluoto, Mustonen and Ulkuniemi 2015).
The sales volumes of the company have also been flat in different areas of North America.
The sales of Coca Cola have been lifted by around 3% in the year 2017.