Coca-Cola Marketing Paper



Abstract

Coca-Cola is the largest retailer of beverages in the world with market share of 24 percent, and is the brand of choice in the US. Its closest rival is PepsiCo. which is striving hard to get Coca-Cola's share of the market. However, the difference in the market share of the two companies is fairly defined. There are many reasons behind the success. Marketing strategies adopted by Coca Cola across various markets is one such reason. The company is very active in terms of marketing, and although it has made mistakes, the future seems bright and vows for a comprehensive win.

Table of Contents

Introduction1

Product and branding strategies1

Pricing strategies3

Supply chain strategies4

Promotional strategy5

Next Big Hit5

Battle for Everything6

London Olympics 20127

Woe remedies7

Presence in global markets8

Customer relationship management (CRM)8

Market segmentation9

Geographic profile10

Demographical profile10

Psychographic Profile10

Behavioural Profile11

Promotional activities and integration of IMC tools11

Conclusion12

References13

Coca-Cola Marketing Paper

Introduction

Coca-Cola is one of the largest global companies and ranks in the list of most recognized brands across the globe. The company, which has its headquarters in America, started off as a beverage manufacturer and retailer back in the year 1886 with its flagship brand Coca-Cola. Today, the public limited corporation has a much wider portfolio of products ranging from carbonated drinks to concentrates and non-alcoholic syrups. Creativity and innovation is embedded in the very culture of the organization, and if there is one thing that has achieved the company all the success it enjoys today, it is its customer relationship management and out of the box marketing efforts. Coca-Cola's share in the international beverage market is shown in the graph hereunder (Weakland, 2012).

Product and branding strategies

In order to understand the branding strategies used by Coca-Cola, it is first imperative to define what we mean by brand. A brand is something that target market can relate to, have emotional feelings for and give value. It is so much more than a product. It has a unique selling proposition and an identity of its own (Hochfelder, 2011). As stated earlier, Coca-Cola is one of the most recognized brands not only in the US but also in countries around the world. In this context, it is imperative to state that by merely increasing the advertising budget, no company can turn an ordinary product into a brand.

The massive recognition could not have been possible without the various branding strategies that were formulated and implemented by the company with effect. It has become so strong a brand that it has practically overshadowed the product category itself. Coca-Cola as a company has seen many ups and downs. The company was criticized for creating drinks that are detrimental for the human health. In addition, they were also accused in certain markets for exploiting the land and resources of the host countries where Coca-Cola was operational.

In order to rectify its positioning as a drink which is hazardous for health, Coca-Cola came up with Minute Maid which is the pulpy and purest juice bottled for the rejoice of the target consumers and is free of any ...