any company is ok to analyze Understanding Marketing Strategies and Tactics

1. Brief background of the company, or the product, or related products.

2. Marketing objectives and major business problems/challenges facing the company or the product, or related products.

3. Marketing strategies and tactics for the company, or the product, or related products, which include the following:

 

a.    Target markets, product differentiation and competitive advantage, and positioning

b.    Relevant consumer and or business buyer behavior

c.    Specific products/services strategies and tactics - Existing and new

d.    Pricing Strategies and tactics

e.    Distribution and retailing strategies and tactics

f.     Promotion strategies and tactics - Advertising, Public Relations, Sales Promotion,      Personal Selling, Social Media Marketing.

g.    Global entry and marketing strategies (Suggest a country for the company and product to enter and justify).

4. Based on your analysis, recommend specific marketing strategies and tactics to improve performance for the company, or the product, or related products.

 

Answer:

Company  : Coca - Cola Company 

1. Brief background of the company, or the product, or related products 

- The Coca-Cola Company is the world's number one maker of soft drinks, holding 51 percent of the global market. Coca-Cola's red and white trademark is probably the best-known brand symbol in the world. Headquartered since its founding in Atlanta, Coca-Cola makes two of the top three soft drinks in the world, Coca-Cola Classic at number one and Diet Coke at number three. The company also operates one of the world's most pervasive distribution systems, offering its more than 160 beverage products in nearly 200 countries worldwide. Coca Cola is a carbonated soft drink produced by Coca Cola company. It has a diverse product portfolio in the beverage industry. Coca Cola was founded in May 1886.

Cola's development into one of the most powerful and admired firms in the world has been credited to proficiency in four basic areas: consumer marketing, infrastructure (production and distribution), product packaging, and customer (or vendor) marketing.

 

2. Marketing objectives and major business problems/challenges facing the company or the product, or related products.

• Medicinal challenge- the beverage and the drink is said to contain the coca plant and cola nuts (a valuable brain tonic and cure for all nervous affections, sick head-ache and melancholy among others). With governments across the globe and media publicizing health problems arising from obesity and inactive lifestyles represents a significant challenge.
• The bottle challenge - the company is experiencing the problem of uniformity in its bottles with hundreds of bottlers selling the Coca-Cola around the country. Hence this leads to know uniformity on how the products look like. This is because there are different designs of bottles.
• The Pepsi challenge- there was one problem with the contour bottle: It held only 6.5 ounces. But strange as it might seem, it took Pepsi-Cola 23 years to exploit this weakness. "Pepsi-Cola hits the spot. Twelve full ounces, that's a lot. Twice as much for a nickel, too. Pepsi-Cola is the drink for you." (The 1939 radio jingle that greatly increased Pepsi's sales.) As the years rolled by, Coca-Cola's market share slowly eroded. But it took 16 years for Coke to respond to the Pepsi challenge by introducing larger-size bottles and another five years before introducing a 12-oz. can, today's dominant cola package.
• The sugar challenge -  three years after the New Coke debacle, per-capita consumption of carbonated soft drinks (mostly colas) reached its all-time high. Since then, it has declined every year for 14 years in a row. On average, a decline of 1.5 percent a year. (About the same rate as the decline in smoking.)

What should Coca-Cola do?

They should take their sugared colas off the market, drop the "Diet" name from their diet colas and market them as "Coca-Cola: The real thing without the calories."

 

What will Coca-Cola do?

If they are customer-oriented, they will do nothing. It's customers who are leading the country into obesity. Not companies. When you're customer-focused, you cannot lead. The customer leads. You follow.

 

3. Marketing strategies and tactics for the company, or the product, or related products 

 

Coca-Cola bases its marketing strategy on the well-known marketing mix of the "4Ps": Product, Price, Promotion, and Place.

 

• Product Strategy - Coca-Cola's unique bottle concept originated out of the company's defensive marketing strategy. In 1915, when the brand was losing market share to hundreds of competitors, a national contest for a new bottle design was launched. It would signal to consumers that Coke was a premium product not to be confused with any other brown cola in a similar clear glass bottle.
• Price Strategy - Coca-Cola had a fixed price, and it only cost five cents. However, challenges from competitors like Pepsi have led Coca-Cola to bring flexibility into its product pricing. If it didn't, consumers would start to doubt the quality of the product should its price drop significantly, or its value if the price unreasonably increased. The contest winner used an illustration of a cocoa pod with its strange and appealing shape. Coca-Cola commissioned the bottle design and began promoting the shape as well as the logo. Over time, as plastic replaced glass as the standard means of drinking Coke around the world, the company continued promoting the image of the Coke bottle as an icon.
• Place Strategy -  Coca Cola being in the market for more than 130 years and operating in more than 200 countries worldwide, it has developed excessive distribution network. The wide distribution network highlights the place strategy in Coca Cola marketing mix. The Coca Cola company produces the beverage using its secret formula and transports it to the bottlers located in various parts of the globe. The bottle shapes and sizes are predefined by the company. The bottlers then fill the bottles with the adequate beverage and then ship it to the carrying and forwarding agents. From there the bottles are transported by road to the stockists, then to the distributors and finally to the retailers from where the final consumers buy the products. Most of the times the goods from the distributor are transported to the wholesalers who distributes these to the retails according to the demand on regular basis. Coca Cola has an extensive distribution channel and its products are available in almost all retail outlets and supermarkets across the globe. In India Coca Cola products are made available across 2.5 million outlets.
• Promotion Strategy - Due to intense competition in the market, Coca-Cola focuses on different promotional and marketing strategies. They mostly focus on aggressive marketing. According to statistics, Coca-Cola spent 4$ million in 2016, and in 2018 it spends 4.1$ million in promotion of its brand. It utilizes both traditional and international mediums for the advertising of its brand.  

a.  Target markets, product differentiation and competitive advantage, and positioning

 

Target Market - the core target audience of Coca Cola is youngster or youth. Their targeting is not based on gender but the results show that both genders like this product and use it (almost 50/50). Finally, Coca Cola consider each customer as a target and a potential consumer.

 

Competitive Advantage - Coca Cola is a leading brand with several sources of competitive advantage. Its market leading position is owing to its focus on product quality, marketing, research and innovation as well as several more factors. Being a leading soda brand, its only main rival is Pepsi.

 

Product Differentiation - This refers to differentiation that aspires to make a product more attractive by contrasting its unique qualities with other competing products, as in the case of Coca-Cola, other soft drink brands. Successfully adopting this strategy would have a company gaining a competitive advantage, as the customer would then view the product as unique or superior. This is what coca cola has managed to do, and has managed to do it on a scale that is globally unique, and globally recognized. 

 

Much proof would indicate that Coca-Cola has definitely chosen a differentiation strategy since its early days. To prove this, a look will be taken into how it has being done. According to softdrinkcolar blogspot (2012:1), the company spends about 20% of their total advertisement budget for maintaining and communicating on its differentiation strategy.

 

Positioning - Coca Cola has strategically positioned itself within the world soft drink market. It faces a vital question: does it have to keep the same positioning or to adapt according to the 200 countries where the brand sells its products. The brand has understood this principle while ago: "think global, act local". Coca is thus willing to keep the same core product which is coke, but it adapts the offer to local needs. They use strategic positioning in order to have the same image all around the world, which is a success because it is perceived today as a part of daily life everywhere. This perception of the brand by the consumer leads to a high degree of loyalty and makes the purchasing decision more automatic. 

Coca Cola has been successful by using Unique Selling preposition as "Live the coke side of life", related to joy and happiness. Consumers basically associate this brand with these emotions. When the name of Coke is mentioned, the first thing that comes into mind is fun and entertainment.  

 

b. Relevant consumer and or business buyer behavior

- Along with the positive brand spirit expressed in its exposures, Coca-Cola delivers an active lifestyle and a perception of good life which are accessible for customers. The perception is enhanced by its repeated exposures over and over again through its ads in different ads, media, and places.

 

Coca-Cola takes every customer as a target, however its segmentation is mainly based on "age, family size and income." The perfect segmentation was a main factor for Coca-Cola's success.

 

c.    Specific products/services strategies and tactics - Existing and new

- Coca-Cola is evolving its business strategy to become a total beverage company by giving people more of the drinks they want -including low and no-sugar options across a wide array of categories -in more packages sold in more locations.

 

d.    Pricing Strategies and tactics

- Coca Cola has intense competition with Pepsi so its pricing can't exceed too much nor decrease too much as compared to the price of Pepsi Cola. If price of the Coca Cola exceed too much from the Pepsi then people will shift to the Pepsi Cola and on the other hand if the price of Coca Cola decreases people might get the impression that its quality is also low.

 

Following factors Coca Cola kept in mind while determining the pricing strategy.

? Price should be set according to the product demand of public.

? Price should be that which gives the company maximum revenue.

? Price should not be too low or too high than the price competitor is charging from

    Their customers otherwise nobody will buy your product.

? Price must be keeping the view of your target market.

 

The price of Coca Cola, despite being market leader is the same as that of its competitor

Sometimes, Pepsi places its customers into some psychological pricing strategies by reducing a high priced bottle and consumers think that they save a lot of money from this.

 

In the sense they charge different prices for products in different segments. The beverage market is considered to be an oligopoly in which there are few sellers and many buyers. Coca Cola and Pepsi are the dominant players. Coke products are priced similar to that of Pepsi products in that particular segment. If Coke prices its products too high as compared to Pepsi in a particular segment, then the consumers might switch especially in developing countries where the consumers are price sensitive. Hence both come to an agreement of maintaining price parity in each segment. However, Coca Cola offers discounts on bulk purchases by sometimes even bundling the products.

 

e.    Distribution and retailing strategies and tactics

 

- The Coca-Cola Company is a global business that operates on a local scale, in every community where they do business. The term is second most well known after okay, making it recognisable in nearly all communities and cultures across the globe. The Company is able to create a global a global reach with local focus because of the strength of its system, which comprises the Coca-Cola Company and their more than 250 bottling partners worldwide.

 

While it is generally perceived that Coca-Cola runs all its operations globally it, this process it done through various local channels. The Company manufactures and sells concentrates, beverage bases and syrups to bottling operators. It still however, owns the brand and is responsible for consumer brand marketing initiative. The bottling partners manufacture, package and distribute the final branded beverages to customers and vending partners, who then sell products to consumers.

 

All bottling partners work closely with suppliers- grocery stores, restaurants, convenience stores, amongst many others- to execute localised strategies developed in partnership with Coca-Cola. More precisely, although Coca-Cola is a global company, its products never have to travel far to reach the final consumer, making the product more local than you may think, the product is made local to the market where it is sold.

 

f.     Promotion strategies and tactics - Advertising, Public Relations, Sales Promotion,  Personal Selling, Social Media Marketing.

 

-The promotional strategy of Coca Cola focuses on aggressive marketing through ad campaigns using media like TV, online ads, print media, sponsorships etc. Coca Cola engages in the following major sponsorship events like American Idol, BET Network, NASCAR, NBA, NCAA, Olympic Games, FIFA worldcup etc. Coca Cola also launches TV advertisements in various national languages across the globe. In India in March 2016, Coca Cola launched "Taste the Feeling" Campaign which seeks out to remind its customers about the joyous and happy moments Coke brings to their lives. He was chosen so as to connect well with the Indian youth. The ads were telecasted frequently across various channels. Coca Cola has become a mass product which is expected to be available everywhere at any time. This gives opportunity to Coca Cola to increase its business and keep it stable as well.

 

Special incentives are given to the distributors and retailers for pushing Coke products. Also these retailers are given refrigerators and Coca Cola hoardings for advertising the brand. At supermarkets, special emphasis is given on the shelf spaces to generate more visibility of its products. Coca Cola also engages in various CSR activities to help support environmental and social issues across the globe. Hence, all these points give an overview on Coca Cola marketing mix.

 

g.  Global entry and marketing strategies (Suggest a country for the company and product to enter and justify).

 

-The company sells its products in more than 200 countries. However, they pursue a different strategy depending on the region, because the needs of potential customer differ from each other due to climate, income, culture or custom.

 

An example would be America and China: In America the products of Coca-Cola almost reached maturity level, whereas in China there is a high growth potential, but the needs and habits differ.

 

In Asia people are more used to drink tea instead of soft drinks. Also, the Marketing Channels, the advertisement, looks and taste of the drink can be totally different adapting to people's diverse tastes.

 

 

4. Based on your analysis, recommend specific marketing strategies and tactics to improve performance for the company, or the product, or related products.

 

I think these are the most effective marketing strategies to improve performance for the Coca Cola Company :

 

• Social Media Marketing - Social media marketing focuses on providing users with content they find valuable and want to share across their social networks, resulting in increased visibility and traffic. Social media shares of content, videos, and images also influence Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts in that they often increase relevancy in search results within social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram and search engines like Google and Yahoo.
• POINT-OF-PURCHASE MARKETING (POP) - Point-of-Purchase marketing (or POP marketing) sells to a captive audience — those shoppers already in-store and ready to purchase. Product displays, on-package coupons, shelf talkers that tout product benefits, and other attention-getting "sizzle" often sway buying decisions at the shelf by making an offer simply too good — and too visible — to pass up.
• STORYTELLING - Brand storytelling uses a familiar communication format to engage consumers at an emotional level. Rather than just spew facts and figures, storytelling allows you to weave a memorable tale of who your company is, what you do, how you solve problems, want you value, and how you engage and contribute to your community and the public in general.
• Earned Media / Public Relations - Earned media (or "free media") is publicity that is created through efforts other than paid advertising. It can take a variety of forms — a social media testimonial, word-of-mouth, a television or radio mention, a newspaper article or editorial — but one thing is constant: earned media is unsolicited and can only be gained organically. It cannot be bought or owned like traditional advertising.
• Industry Events - within a specific industry into one location for demonstrating their latest products and services. Rarely open to the public, trade shows give companies the chance to establish or strengthen relationships with key industry partners, customers, and prospects; identify market trends and opportunities; and gain an understanding of what their competition is offering in the market. In light of the pandemic-driven "new normal," networking has met with some limitations. However, technology is a decided advantage, as in-person events can often be converted to virtual events that offer similar benefits, including:

1. Meaningful interactions and relationship-building
2. Good attendance, creating a target-rich environment for lead generation
3. Opportunities for businesses of every size to access the same audience and information

Step-by-step explanation

Hello there! I hope you find my answers useful and helpful, I really work on this. Hope you appreciate. Thank you so much dear and always take care! :)) 

 

Here are the important links for your reference. :) 

https://www.ries.com/2013/04/01/the-seven-challenges-of-coca-cola/

https://mpk732.wordpress.com/2015/05/17/the-coca-cola-companys-distribution-strategy/amp/

https://www.mbaskool.com/marketing-mix/products/16786-coca-cola.html

https://www.grin.com/document/232661