Integrated Strategic Marketing
Plan: Section Two
Jessica
Grimminger
Zachary
Martin
Erin
McIver
Russell
Rowan
Ryan
Village
Company Overview
Coca-Cola has been a major player in the beverage industry
throughout the United States and international markets. The beverages are all
non-alcoholic and they include flavored water, sports drinks, and energy
drinks, ready-to-drink tea, coffees, dairy, and carbonated soft drinks.
Popularity for the original Coca-Cola is dwindling and Coca-Cola is working to
bring back customers with Coke Plus.
Business Description
Coca-Cola is a
corporation and their headquarters is in Atlanta, Georgia. Coca-Cola is a beverage
company and they became incorporated in 1919. As of 2016 the company owned and
licensed over 500 non-alcoholic beverage brands. (Reuters, n.d.) The
red and white Coca-Cola logo is recognized by 94% of the world’s population.
Operating in 5 different regions of the world and encompassing over 200
countries, this makes Coca-Cola the largest beverage company in the
world. (Coca-Cola B, n.d.)
Company History
An Atlanta pharmacist Dr.
John S. Pemberton created the Coca-Cola Company in 1886, his curiosity led him
to create a distinctive tasting soft drink that could be used and sold at soda
fountains. He created a flavored syrup and added carbonated water, and the
people who tasted the creation said it was “excellent” (World of Coca-Cola,
n.d.) Dr. Pemberton’s partner at the pharmacy called it Coca-Cola and created
the design for the logo that is known to this day.
· Coca-Cola (CC) used
Couponing in 1886 to market their product
· 1899 Coca-Cola is bottled
and sold around the United States
· 1906 “CC” Goes international
· 1916 the unique Coke
contour bottle was created.
· 1977 the Coke contour
bottle is trademarked.
· In the 1970’s Coke
connected with people with their brand of fun, friends and a good time.
· 1980’s CC released Diet
Coke.
· In the 90’s the Coca-Cola
Polar bear came out and it has been success since then. People connect the
mischief, fun and innocence of the polar bear with Coca-Cola products.
· As of 2016 CC is severed
over 1.7 Billion times daily.
· 2017 Coke Plus is to be
released in Japan.
Key People
Coca-Cola employs
over 700,000 individuals from around the world in order to operate one of the
most successful global brands. The leader of this company, Muhtar Kent,
is Chairman of the Board and CEO of Coca-Cola. Kent started with
Coca-Cola in 1978 and worked his way to the top of the organization when he
assumed his current position eight years ago. His commitment to the
improvement of the global business community is evidenced by active participation
in a variety of political, educational, and business boards around the world.
James Quincey is President and COO of the Coca-Cola corporation.
According to Coca-Cola’s official website, he plays a vital part in the
organization “In this role he has responsibility for all of the company's
operating units worldwide” (“Our Company,” para. 1, n.d.). Quincey has a
variety of strategic business experience due to previous high level operational
roles. Marcos de Quinto serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing
Officer (CMO) of the Coca-Cola Company. Similar to Kent, De Quinto has
been with the organization since 1982 and is responsible for developing global
marketing strategies. These three key individuals head the organization
and establish the direction of Coca-Cola Company (“Our Company,” n.d.).
Location and Subsidiaries
According to Coca-Cola’s
main website, the company was founded in 1886 in Atlanta, Georgia by John
Pemberton and remains the corporate headquarters today (“Who We Are,” n.d.).
Coca-Cola services over 200 countries in regions including Asia Pacific,
Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and North America.
Essentially, Coca-Cola can be found in any part of the world due to their
extensive distribution network and recognizable brand. As far as
subsidiaries are concerned, Coca-Cola holds a variety of stake in many other
companies. In the article “The Top 5 Companies Owned by Coca Cola (KO)”
by Nathan Buehler, he explains that Coca-Cola subsidiaries include Monster
Energy, FUZE, Vitaminwater, Minute Maid, and the Bottlers Investment Group.
As a result, these companies have benefitted from the huge network
created by Coca-Cola in order to be provided in stores, gas stations, and
vending machines globally. These subsidiaries combined with the vast
location network developed by Coca-Cola are the main factors contributing to
their sustained success (“Who We Are,” n.d.).
Brands, Major Products, and Services
Coca-Cola has an impressive
list of brands and products that are recognized both nationally and overseas.
These include brands such as Coke, Sprite, Fanta, Powerade, and Mello
Yello in addition to the subsidiaries previously mentioned. These major
products are sold in markets around the world, to age groups both young and
old. The popularity of these brand name products has facilitated
organizational growth and expanded product offerings annually. It is a
core strategy of Coca-Cola to increase its portfolio in order to maintain its
position as the market leader in the beverage industry (“Brands,” n.d.).
Corporate Vision
Our vision serves as the
framework for our Roadmap and guides every aspect of our business by describing
what we need to accomplish in order to continue achieving sustainable, quality
growth (The Coca-Cola Company, n.d.). Coca-Cola offers a great work
environment, where people are inspired to be the best they can be. We offer to
the world a unique portfolio of quality beverages that satisfy people’s desires
and needs. Our partnerships ensure a winning network of customers and suppliers
that create one of a kind value. Our vision is to make a difference in the
world we live in, by helping build and support sustainable communities, maximize
long-term return to shareholders, and maintain a highly effective and
fast-moving organization.
Corporate Mission
Our Roadmap starts with
our mission, which is enduring. It declares our purpose as a company and serves
as the standard against which we weigh our actions and decisions (The
Coca-Cola Company, n.d.).
· To
refresh the world...
· To
inspire moments of optimism and happiness...
· To
create value and make a difference.
Promotional Strategy
Coca-Cola just recently
announced that for the first time, all Coke Trademark brands will be united in
one global creative campaign: “Taste the Feeling” (Moye, 2016). This
strategy focuses on the iconic appeal of the world’s number one beverage brand
to Coca-Cola Light/Diet Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero, Coca-Cola Life, and the all
new Coca-Cola Plus. Through this promotional strategy, we can show our
commitment to choice, offering consumers whichever Coca-Cola suits their taste,
lifestyle, and diet – with or without calories, with or without caffeine, and
with or without healthier alternatives. We are reinforcing that Coca-Cola is
one brand with different variants for everyone, all of which share the same
values and visual iconography (Moye, 2016).
Product Sales History
Coca-Cola, with its 3,500
products, is the world leader among soft drinks with a 44 percent market share.
Approximately 1.8 billion bottles of coke are sold every day and 10,450
Coca-Cola brand drinks are consumed every second, bringing in a total Annual
Revenue of $47.51 billion.
Coca-Cola was originally
created by Pharmacist Dr. John Styth Pemberton in 1886. Only 25 bottles were
sold its first year. Coca-Cola was incorporated in 1892. Three years later, in
1895 it was sold in every U.S. state. By 1916 Coca-Cola was being sold in Cuba,
Jamaica, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, England, France, Germany, and the Philippines.
Today, Coca-Cola products are sold in 200 countries worldwide.
For decades Coca-Cola was
hesitant to extend its trade mark to other products, however, in the 1980’s
with consumers gravitating toward low calorie beverages, Coca-Cola created Diet
Coke. Released in 1982, Diet Coke was the first new trade mark brand for
Coca-Cola since 1886. Today, Diet Coke holds a 17 percent market share and is
considered the number two beverage. The next extension of the Coke trade mark
came in 1985 with the release of Cherry Coke.
In 2016, Coca-Cola had
six brands listed as the most valuable soft drink brands worldwide. Coke topped
the list with a brand value of $67,749 million. Diet Coke came in second with a
worldwide brand value of $12,565 million. Fanta was ranked seventh, with a
$5,637 million value, Sprite was in the tenth spot with $5,236 million, Dr.
Pepper was in the thirteenth spot at $2,687 million, and Minute Made was ranked
in the fourteenth spot with a worldwide market value of $2,644 million.
Although the Coca-Cola
Company has seen slowly declining sales consistently since 2012, this decline
can be reversed with the introduction of new products and marketing focus on
other strong brands within the company.
Current Marketing Objective
Currently, Coca-Cola’s
marketing objective is to increase sales by bringing the brand closer to the
consumer on an emotional level. To accomplish this, Coca- Cola has launched a
new marketing strategy called “Taste the Feeling.” This campaign, through a one
brand approach, will be extending the iconic appeal of Coke to the other trade
mark brands such as Diet Coke, Coke Zero, and Coke Life.
The objective of the
“Taste the Feeling” campaign will show the correlation between the product and
how it makes everyday moments more special, by displaying both the functional
and emotional aspects of the brand experience. Through T.V. Commercials, print
ads, and digital storytelling, The Coca- Cola Company will be aiming to remind
their consumers about why they love the brand.
Media Expenditure
In 2016, Coca- Cola had a
total advertising budget of four billion dollars. Television advertisements
make up the bulk of this budget with spending at $1.9 billion. However,
Coca-Cola has recently discovered that mobile video offers a much higher return
on investment. In order to drive profit, the Coca-Cola Company has started
investing 15 percent of their advertising budget into creating mobile videos.
Part 2- SWOT Analysis
A. Strengths
There is no denying that
Coca-Cola is a well-known brand. Even in many other countries, the companies
red and white logo is easily recognizable. Because of this, it is number four
on Forbes’ 2016 list of “Most Valuable Brands” (Forbes, 2016). It is worth
noting that their main competitor PepsiCo, is listed as number 29 on this
same list (Forbes, 2016). Brands that are easily recognizable tend to be more
popular and have higher sales figures. This basically means that their strength
is in their stability.
Another strength that the
Coca-Cola Company has is its large distribution network. They are able to meet
the needs of customers all over the world because of their unique system. The
main company owns the brand and is responsible for global marketing efforts,
but they actually do not bottle or distribute the final products. They
manufacture the syrups and concentrates and then send them off to “bottling
partners” in local communities. The bottling partners are in charge of “manufacturing,
packaging, merchandising, and distributing the final branded beverages to our
customers and vending partners, who then sell our products to consumers”. This
strategy allows the bottling partners to distribute based on the specific needs
of their local community. (Coca-Cola A, n.d.)
B. Weaknesses
One weakness for Coca-
Cola that has been going on for quite a while is the negative publicity
associated with health concerns. Around the mid-90’s to mid-2000’s era, an
uptick of obesity in Americans had researchers pointing their fingers at fast
food and soda companies (Suddath, 2014). Coca-Cola took a lot of the heat, and
has seen a decline in sales (along with many other soda companies) since its
peak in the late 80’s (Suddath, 2014). The problem is that research has made it
hard for the company to deny that their main product is not a possible reason
for national health concerns, so they have had to bite the bullet, admit to
their products problems, and try to come up with healthier alternatives.
Another one of
Coca-Cola’s weaknesses is the public’s concern over the company’s water usage.
In 2007, news broke that Coca-Cola was taking control of the subterranean
aquifers in some of the more underdeveloped countries in which it operated (War
on Want, 2007). And considering it takes three liters of water just to make one
liter of the finished products, many social justice groups and local
communities were understandably upset (War on Want, 2007). The biggest issue
with overcoming the water sustainability problem is that the process to make
Coca-Cola will always require more water than what is in the finished product.
Even though the company has made steps to lessen the excessive water usage
(down to using 2 liters by 2015), there is still a lot of public disapproval
put on their tapping into natural resources (Coca-Cola, 2017) (War on Want,
2007).
C. Opportunities
While new health trends
may have caused headaches for the Coca-Cola Company, they are also a source of
possible growth. The company will be able to expand their current options in
ways that may not have been accepted by consumers in the past (Suddath, 2014).
For instance, with Coca-Cola Plus, the company can appeal to consumers looking
for the newest health trend. This meshes the ideal of trendiness and the
classic Coca-Cola taste, without going too far into the trends which can
sometimes limit the size of consumer market.
Coca-Cola should also
continue taking advantage of the advertising opportunities for younger markets.
Younger generations have grown up with Coca-Cola and know the brand well, but
they have also seen the tremendous shift in perspective caused by the rise in
obesity. This negative narrative will only grow stronger if the youngest
generations are ignored by the company’s marketing campaigns. However, by
tapping into the culture of e-sports (gaming tournaments with online viewers or
audiences in stadiums), Coca-Cola could become a major player in the minds of
younger consumers.
D. Threat
As consumer’s tastes
change, Coca-Cola has not been the only company that has had to change its
offerings. The company now has to deal with incoming products from brands such
as Dr. Pepper Snapple Group and PepsiCo. Dr. Pepper Snapple Group has recently
introduced Bai, a fruit water drink that has little sugar and other artificial
ingredients (Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, 2017). And PepsiCo has been doing well
offering its Naked brand juices as a premium health drink offering (PepsiCo,
2017). It is also worth noting that Pepsi has recently started offering a new
mix of their popular soda with 30% less sugar and no artificial sweeteners as
Pepsi Next (Pepsi Next, 2015). This could be a threat to the success of the new
‘good-for-you’ offering Coca-Cola Plus
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