To Study Promotional Mix Of Coca Cola Products Marketing Essay

Coca-Cola is the most recognised brand name in the world with 94 per cent recognition. This profile has spread with increasing rapidity in recent years as evidenced for example in China, where Coca-Cola became the most recognised trademark in the late 1990s. Today you can buy a Coke almost anywhere from Beijing to Buenos Aires, from Moscow to Mexico City. The Coca-Cola Company sells half of all soft drinks consumed throughout the world.

Coca Cola Great Britain 5 Image 1

The Mission Statement of the Coca Cola Company

Their mission statement is to maximize shareholder value over time.

In order to achieve this mission, they must create value for all the constraints they serve,

including their consumers, customers, bottlers, and communities. The Coca Cola

Company creates value by executing comprehensive business strategy guided by six key

beliefs:

1. Consumer demand drives everything we do.

2. Brand Coca Cola is our core business

3. We will serve consumers, broad selection of the non-alcoholic ready-to-drink

beverages they want to drink through out the day.

4. We will be the best marketers in the globe.

5. We will think and act locally.

6. We will lead as a model corporate citizen.

The ultimate objectives of our business strategy are to increase volume, expand our

share of worldwide nonalcoholic ready to drink beverages sales, maximize our longterm

cash flows, and create economic value added by improving economic profit.

The Coca Cola system has more than 16 million customers around the world that sells or

serves our products directly to consumers. We keenly focus on enhancing value for these

customers and helping them grow their beverage businesses. We strive to understand

each customer’s business and needs, whether that customer is a sophisticated retailer in a

developed market a kiosk owner in an emerging market.

There are nearly 6 million people in the world who are potential consumers of our

company’s product. Ultimately, our success in achieving our mission depends on our ability

to satisfy more of their beverage consumption demands and our ability to add value for

customers. We achieve this when we place the right products in the right markets at the

right time.

COCA COLA INTERNATIONAL

HISTORY

Coca-Cola Enterprises, established in 1986. Each of its franchises has a strong

heritage in the traditions of coca cola that is the foundation for this Company.

The coca cola Company traces it’s beginning to 1886, when an Atlanta

pharmacist, Dr. John Pemberton , began to produce Coca-Cola syrup for sale in

fountain drinks. However the bottling business began in 1899 when two

Chattanooga businessmen, Benjamin F. Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead ,

secured the exclusive rights to bottle and sell Coca-Cola for most of the United

States from The Coca-Cola Company.

The Coca-Cola bottling system continued to operate as independent, local

businesses until the early 1980s when bottling franchises began to consolidate.

In 1986, The Coca-Cola Company merged some of its company-owned

operations with two large ownership groups that were for sale, the John T.

Lupton franchises and BCI Holding Corporation’s bottling holdings, to form

Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. The Company offered its stock to the public on

November 21, 1986, at a split-adjusted price of $5.50 a share. On an annual

basis, total unit case sales were 880,000 in 1986.

In December 1991, a merger between Coca-Cola Enterprises and the Johnston

Coca-Cola Bottling Group, Inc. (Johnston) created a larger, stronger Company,

again helping accelerate bottler consolidation. As part of the merger, the senior

management team of Johnston assumed responsibility for managing the

Company, and began a dramatic, successful restructuring in 1992.Unit case

sales had climbed to 1.4 billion, and total revenues were $5 billion.

Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries.[1] It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke (a registered trademark of The Coca-Cola Company in the United States since March 27, 1944). Originally intended as a patent medicine when it was invented in the late 19th century by John Pemberton, Coca-Cola was bought out by businessman Asa Griggs Candler, whose marketing tactics led Coke to its dominance of the world soft-drink market throughout the 20th century.

The company produces concentrate, which is then sold to licensed Coca-Cola bottlers throughout the world. The bottlers, who hold territorially exclusive contracts with the company, produce finished product in cans and bottles from the concentrate in combination with filtered water and sweeteners. The bottlers then sell, distribute and merchandise Coca-Cola to retail stores and vending machines. Such bottlers include Coca-Cola Enterprises, which is the largest single Coca-Cola bottler in North America and western Europe. The Coca-Cola Company also sells concentrate for soda fountains to major restaurants and food service distributors.

The Coca-Cola Company has, on occasion, introduced other cola drinks under the Coke brand name. The most common of these is Diet Coke, with others including Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola, Diet Coke Caffeine-Free, Coca-Cola Cherry, Coca-Cola Zero, Coca-Cola Vanilla, and special versions with lemon, lime or coffee.

Based on Interbrand’s best global brand 2011, Coca-Cola was the world’s most valuable brand.

https://sites.google.com/site/engineeringmbaproject/mba-project-report-on-marketing-strategies-of-coca-cola

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola

Acquisitions

The company has a long list of acquisition history. Coca-Cola took over Minute Maid in 1960, the Indian cola brand thums Up in 1993, and Barq’s in 1995. In 2001, it took over the Odwalla brand of fruit juices, smoothies and bars for $181 million. In 2007, it acquired Fuze Beverage from founder Lance Collins and Castanea Partners for an estimated $250 million. The company’s 2009 bid to buy a Chinese juice maker ended when China rejected its $2.4 billion bid for the Huiyuan Juice Group on the grounds that it would be a virtual monopoly. Nationalism was also thought to be a reason for aborting the deal. In 1982, coca cola made its only non-beverage acquisition, when it purchased Columbia Pictures for $692 million. It sold the movie studio to Sony for $1.5 billion in 1989.

Coca-Cola Brands n UK

CocaCola

Diet Coke

Coke Zero

Powerade

Powerade Zero

Powerade Energy

Glaceau

Schweppes

Schweppes Water

Schweppes Mixers

Schweppes Lemonade

Schweppes Cordials

Schweppes Slimline

Sprite

Sprite Zero

Fanta

Fanta Zero

Dr Pepper

Dr Pepper Zero

Lilt

Lilt Zero

Oasis

Oasis Light

5 Alive

Kia Ora

Kia Ora No Added Sugar

Relentless

Relentless Sugar Free

Competitors

Direct Competitor Comparison

KO

DPS

NSRGY

PEP

Industry

Market Cap:

170.12b

9.33b

204.90b

108.57b

1.29b

Employees:

146,200

19,000

328,000

297,000

3.53k

Qtrly Rev Growth (yoy):

0.01

-0.00

0.08

-0.05

0.14

Revenue (ttm):

47.60b

5.97b

93.06b

65.70b

1.60b

Gross Margin (ttm):

0.60

0.58

0.47

0.52

0.41

EBITDA (ttm):

13.01b

1.31b

17.32b

12.59b

201.40m

Operating Margin (ttm):

0.23

0.18

0.16

0.15

0.11

Net Income (ttm):

8.80b

625.00m

10.61b

5.92b

N/A

EPS (ttm):

1.91

2.92

3.32

3.76

0.50

P/E (ttm):

19.83

15.33

19.39

18.69

22.62

PEG (5 yr expected):

2.28

2.07

3.34

4.02

1.59

P/S (ttm):

3.52

1.53

2.16

1.63

1.42

DPS = Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc.

NSRGY = Nestl

PEP = Pepsico, Inc.

Industry = Beverages – Soft Drinks

Nonalcoholic Beverage Makers Ranked by Beverage Sales

Company

Symbol

Price

Change

Market Cap

P/E

The Coca-Cola Company

KO

37.93

0.01

170.12b

19.83

Pepsico, Inc.

PEP

70.19

0.01

108.57b

18.69

Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc.

DPS

44.81

0.02

9.33b

15.33

Groupe Danone Water Division

“Private”

Nestlé Waters

“Private”

ITO EN, LTD.

“Private”

Red Bull GmbH

“Private”

Cott Corporation

COT

8.71

0.01

822.98m

24.47

Britvic Plc

BTVCY

11.64

0.00

1.41b

14.62

Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.

“Private”

Nestl

NSRGY

64.43

0.02

204.90b

19.39

Diageo plc

DEO

120.69

0.02

75.28b

24.27

Heineken NV

HINKY

32.14

0.02

36.96b

17.83

SABMiller plc

SBMRY

45.52

0.08

72.21b

17.26

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV

BUD

86.98

0.02

139.16b

19.17

Suntory International Corp.

COMPETATIVE ADVANTAGE OF COCA COLA

Competitive advantage than a company has over the rivals by providing better customer satisfaction, by means of cost, benefits or due the services.

STRONG BRAND NAME: Coca cola has developed a very strong brand by its strategies that it has followed during so many years and as a result has came up with a global brand name that is almost known by 90% of the global population.

STRONG MARKETING STRATEGIE: Coca cola concentrates on the customer in whatever they do. And it focuses on all the age group of people that is children, youngsters and matured customers and come with marketing strategies that influence on all the targeted consumers.

NEW PRODUCT INNOVATIONS: With time to time Coca cola comes with new product innovation that attracts it customer towards itself again and again. These days people are becoming more and more health conscious, so coca cola has came up with non carbonate drinks and fruit juice products for example

Diet coke, juices etc.

BOTTELING SYSTEM: Bottling system is one of the most significant advantages that the company enjoys, among its other competitors and that allows infinite growth all over the the world. Coca cola has given rights to the bottlers companies around the globe to make and sell its products.

Marketing strategy

Marketing involves getting the right product to the right place, at the right time, at the right price and with the most suitable promotional activity. Coca-Cola has always been successful in creating the most appropriate marketing mix.

Since the beginning, coca cola has built its business using a universal strategy based on three timeless principles:

Acceptability- through effective marketing, the company ensurs that coca cola brands are an integral part of consumer’s daily lives, making coca cola the preferred beverage everywhere

Affordability- Coca-Cola guarantees that it offers the best price in terms of value for money

Availability – Making sure that Coca-Cola brands are available anywhere, where people want refreshment.

Coca-Cola has created well organized and extensive global distribution network guaranteeing the ubiquity of its products. (Ubiquity means ability to appear to be present everywhere at once.) Its approach is founded on the belief that coca cola must try to quench the thirst of everyone in the world -of all 5.6 billion people

The Company operates a worldwide franchise system supplying syrups and concentrates to over 1,200 bottling operations, (there are more than 350 in the US alone) which thus include local companies and suppliers in the 200 countries in which coca cola is sold.

The bottling companies distribute the world’s favourite brand using the most sophisticated technology and distribution networks that is available. The Company supports its international bottler network with sophisticated marketing programs seeking to guarantee that the company’s brands are available where anyone is seeking refreshment. Coca Cola’s bottling system is the largest and most widespread production and distribution network in the globe.

Pricing Strategy

Coca cola has a high market share, competitor pressure has forced customer sensitivity to price to be fairly high, sales volume is of course high and profit margin is fairly low as the Coca-Cola products are fast moving consumer goods. This points to penetration strategy.

Penetration pricing means the setting of lower rather than high prices to achieve potentially dominant share in the market.

This can only be done when the demand for the product is believed to be highly flexible, basically demand is price-sensitive and either a new consumers will be involved, or existing consumers will buy more of the product because of a low price.

A good penetration strategy may lead to large amount of sales and large share in the market.

The strategy may also promote complimentary products. The main product may be priced low to attract sales, customers are then sold accessories. This strategy will work nicely in promoting re-use of Coca-Cola packaging via a beverage holder of vessel which is purchased separately and refilled.

The potential disadvantage of bringing in this strategy is the likelihood of competitors doing the same by reducing their prices, therefore damaging any advantage of the reduced price.

Price Penetration is most appropriate in industries where standardization is important. The product that achieves high market penetration often becomes the industry standard, in regards to the new Coca-Cola beverage vessel, it is trying to create a standardization of how consumers use the beverage container. Coca-Cola are likely to receive stiff competition soon after introduction of the product, although the product that achieves high market penetration often becomes the industry standard and other products, even superior products, become marginalized. Standards carry heavy momentum.

Global branding

The ability to engage in global branding is a key advantage to any large company.  Coca-Cola is fortunate in that it possesses a number of instantly recognisable icons which go beyond the familiar taste of its product. In particular the Company benefits from its registered trade mark, the characteristic classic shapes of its bottles and the highly familiar red and white Coca-Cola can

No story of Coca-Cola would be complete without the Coca-Cola glass bottle. The design for the bottle was created in the early 1900s when the bottlers of Coca-Cola faced constant threat of imitation of both product and packaging. ‘We need a Coca-Cola bottle which a person will recognise as a Coca-Cola bottle even if he feels it in the dark. The bottle should be so shaped that, even if broken, a person could tell at a glance what it was.’ (The Coca-Cola bottle design brief in 1915.)

Today the glass bottle is seen as an icon. An icon is a symbol or image which directly refers to a specific entity or moment. Acclaimed as one of the most famous packages, the Coca-Cola glass bottle was re-launched in 1997 in a unique new format for Britain at “The Coca-Cola Bottle” exhibition at London’s Design Museum.

Coca-Cola also produces the world’s most popular flavoured soft drinks: Fanta and Sprite, as well as diet Coke and Cherry Coke. These products can be mass marketed across the globe using standard promotions and advertising campaigns. This dramatically cuts promotional and advertising costs as these are distributed over a large market area.

As Coca-Cola is the flagship of the Company, more money is spent advertising and promoting Coke than any of the other drinks. In the United Kingdom, Coca-Cola advertises all year round.

Sponsorship and brand recognition

The relationship Coca-Cola has with sport seeks to advance the development of sport overall. It aims to make sporting competitions possible by supporting events for the participation and pleasure of athletes and spectators.

Coca-Cola has a long history of sports sponsorship including the Olympic Games, football, tennis and Special Olympics. Coca-Cola has been involved with the Olympic Games since 1928. It has been sponsoring the football World Cup since 1978 and is actively involved with the Wimbledon Championships. Coca-Cola’s support is at all levels.

In 1993, Coca-Cola became sponsors of The Coca-Cola Cup in England, with Scotland following in 1994. Support is also provided for the English National Football Team and the Scottish International Youth Teams with a grass roots programme for mini-soccer with the Football Association Development Programme. Through sponsorship in leisure activities, Coca-Cola is able to combine the promise of refreshment with a sense of thrill, celebration and passion together with the universal necessity of a healthy, active lifestyle.

Coca-Cola is a global product and can largely be marketed using a global approach, but the Company also engages in national and regional marketing strategies which illustrate a recognition of local and cultural differences. The first advertisement of Coca-Cola was an oil-cloth sign containing the phrase ‘Delicious and Refreshing’ Now throughout the world, you can see Coca-Cola advertised in the cinema, on TV, on posters and in magazines.

The Coca-Cola Company’s overall advertising strategy is summed up by the phrase ‘Think Global, Act Local’ Some campaigns are designed for worldwide use and others developed for individual markets. In some cases a product is developed for local consumption, such as Lilt in Great Britain and Ireland.

The ‘Always Coca-Cola’ campaign theme has been used worldwide to reinforce the universality of the brand which is ‘always’ there. However, different advertisements are also made for each market. This enables Coca-Cola to choose the most relevant advertisements for its consumers and to choose how and when they should appear.

In Great Britain, for example, where football is a national passion, ‘Eat Football, Sleep Football, Drink Coca-Cola’ is a massively successful advertising campaign reinforcing the link between Coca-Cola and football while continuing the brand’s support of the game and fans.

Sponsorship

Sports

Coca Cola sponsored the english football league in the beginning of the 2004-05 season (beginning August 2004) to the start of 2010/11 season, when the Football League found a new sponsor in NPower.

Along with this, coca cola sponsored the coca-cola Football Camp, otherwise known as a soccer camp, that took place in South Africa, Pretoria during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, during which hundreds of teenagers from around the world were able to come together and share their passion for the game, partly due to Best Buy’s efforts through their program.

Other major sponsorships include NASCAR, the NBA, the PGA Tour, NCAA Championships, the Olympic Games, the NRL, the FIFA World Cups and the UEFA Euro.

In the Philippines, it has a team in the Philippine Basketball Association, the Powerade Tigers.

Television

The company sponsors the hit Fox singing-competition series American Idol. Coca-Cola is a sponsor of the nightly talk show on PBS, Charlie Rose in the US.

Marketing Strategies of Coca Cola in UK

Coca-Cola’s long-running ‘Holidays are coming’ Christmas ad is to return to TV this weekend, this year with added social media integration.

Coca Cola Trucks

This year’s campaign will also see the return of the Coca-Cola Christmas Truck tour. The truck in the advert will visit more than 60 towns, cities and supermarkets in Great Britain and Ireland over the coming weeks.

A dedicated hub will be set up on cokezone.co.uk to let consumers know where it will be visiting and will highlight “local heroes”, who will be nominated by their local communities to win the chance to have the truck visit their homes.

The Christmas theme will continue on-pack, with the Sundblom-designed Coca-Cola Santa featuring on 2 litre bottles, 330ml cans and multipacks.

Coca-Cola’s spot on London’s Piccadilly billboard is also part of the activity and will play the “Holidays are Coming” on rotation over the coming weeks.

Zoe Howorth, marketing director for Coca-Cola Great Britain, says: “Coca-Cola has a rich history of spreading Christmas joy through our marketing campaigns, with our ‘Holidays are Coming’ ad and truck which are loved across the world. We’re excited to be joining together with consumers in the countdown to Christmas and sprinkling some Coca-Cola Christmas magic, harnessing both the brand’s heritage and core media platforms to spread some festive cheer.”

http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/coke-holidays-are-coming-ad-returns/4004676.article

Olympic marketing boosts Coke volumes

Coca-Cola’s marketing to promote its sponsorship of the Olympics helped boost the number of products bought by consumers in its last financial quarter, but revenue was hit by promotional pricing across the sector.

CocaCola

Level of customer service

Personal Selling

When the distributor want to purchase the new product made from coca cola, the staff need to provide the suitable information to the distributor to ensure they have the understand on the new products.

After sales service

When the customers and distributor discover that, there may be some damage on the product after they purchase the product, the company has the responsibility to solve the problem.

Warranties and guarantees

Coca Cola make sure all machine is in good condition, has been factory tested and cleaned. Equipment may have some minor cosmetic imperfections but works perfectly and it has 30 day warranty for people who want to change the drinks.

Conclusion

Global companies need to generate high levels of profit in order to build on existing competitive advantages. For example, Coca-Cola needs to continually build on its brand image through successful advertising, promotion and provision of value for money products.

The Company requires consistent expansion and development in its distribution systems. Coca-Cola is able to do this effectively due to its strategy of growth which has enabled the Company to develop international market leadership.

Through manipulating and co-ordinating the tools of branding and advertising via image and activity, such as through sport sponsorship, The Coca-Cola Company seeks to provide refreshment for all of the people on the planet – not just the 20% who currently account for 80% of sales.