Running head: Coca-Cola Company
NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS UNIVERSITY
Marketing Business Case
Coca-Cola Company
Molina, Ines
The Coca-Cola Company has an intensive distribution and bottlers systems that its products are available
everywhere in the world. The company ‘consumers are people of all ages and cultures. The company’s
presence is growing rapidly worldwide and year after year, Coca-Cola finds a home in more and more
places.
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Company
The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest producer of soft drink concentrates and
syrups as well as the world’s biggest producer of juice and juice related products (Kwon, 2008).
Today Cola-Cola is a well known company around the globe. In 1886, John Pemberton, a
curious Atlanta pharmacist who stirred up a fragrant, caramel- colored liquid and mixed it with
carbonated water creating the famous Coca-Cola Classic (The Coca-Cola Company). The CocaCola Classic started the company that in time would expand to more than 3,000 different
beverages. Coca-Cola later became the best- selling soft drink in the world (Kwon, 2008).
Customers
Coca- Cola does not have only one specific market because Coca-Cola is a product that
can be used by everyone irrespective of age and gender from all over the world (Bilaras). The
Coca-Cola brand adopted the strategy of global marketing in 1919. After going global its
operations expanded beyond national boundaries and marketing research was started in Central
America, China, and many other countries. The successful and efficient marketing research
allowed Coca-Cola to produce globally in different regions of the world. Today the trends are
changing and different marketing campaigns are being designed for different regions around the
world (Bilaras). The company’s trademarks are now available in more than 200 countries
(Kwon, 2008).
In order to meet consumer’s evolving needs and preferences the company continues to
expand their beverage portfolio. For example, they developed Nutri Juice, and orange flavored
drink fortified with iron, zinc, lysine and vitamins A and C, to help address iron- deficiency
anemia and malnutrition in children in the Philippines (The Coca-Cola Company). The product is
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helping approximately 36,000 children who consume this free product that is provide to
elementary school children throughout the school year (The Coca-Cola Company).
After the company began to sell its products in international market it demanded the
company to have a marketing team in line with a country’s consumers in order to have effective
sales and good relations with employees abroad (Bilaras). In order to meet the customer’s needs,
the company markets other products that were developed for specific markets (Kwon, 2008). The
company is committed to individual local markets, paying attention to what people of diverse
cultures and different backgrounds like to drink as well as where and how they like to drink it
(The Coca-Cola Company).
Marketing Mix
Product, Place, Price, and Promotion
The Coca-Cola business encompasses the production and sale of products that are sold to
the company’s authorized independent and company- owned bottling/ canning operations, and
fountain wholesalers (Kwon, 2008). Coca-Cola offers more than 3,500 beverages that vary from
diet and regular sparkling beverages to still beverages such as 100% fruit juices and fruit drinks,
waters, sports and energy drinks, teas and coffees, and milk-and- soy- based beverages all around
the globe (The Coca-Cola Company).
Coca-Cola products are found on every retail outlet store in the world. The company’s
brand name can be easily recognized by customers in all places. Coke products are not only offer
in convenient places; they are also sold at low- affordable prices. For that reason, Coke
consumers can range anywhere from low to high income levels.
Advertising for Cola-Cola has always been an important and exiting part of its business.
Starting in the 1960’s and 1970’s, Cokes competitor Pepsi began to dominate the young market
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with its famed campaign of the Pepsi Generation (Coca-Cola Company). In an attempt to widen
the reach of its marketing efforts Coca-Cola hired other advertising agencies to oversee the
creation of commercials designed to target young African American and Hispanic consumers. In
1993 the Coca-Cola Company launched a global advertising campaign to promote its best-selling
soft drink, Coca-Cola Classic. The Always Coca-Cola campaign took Coke to the top of
consumer polls and for the first time since 1987, the campaign helped defeat Pepsi in winning
viewer’s attention. One of Coca-Cola’s most popular television advertisements was the Polar
Bears commercial (Coca-Cola Company).
One of the most important ways the Coca-Cola Company differentiate themselves from
their competitors is through the promotion of their products. The positioning of Coke products
enables many customers to view Coca-Cola as part of their daily life (Bilaras). Coke consumers
expect the same consistent taste they are used to every time they buy a Coke.
Competitive Advantage
One of the company’s greatest competitive advantages is the Coca-Cola bottling system.
The bottling system allows the company to do business on a global scale while maintaining a
national approach (Bilaras). The bottling companies are locally owned and are operated by
independent people approved to sell Coke products (Bilaras). The Coca-Cola’s strategy is to
utilize its brands, distribution systems, and financial strength to attain long- term sustainable
growth. The Coke system incorporates 900 plants, 500,000 trucks, 10 million cold drink vending
machines, and a $50 billion supply chain across over 200 countries with product availability in
20 million outlets (Kwon, 2008). The Coca-Cola’s sheer size provides a huge competitive
advantage which gives the company a recognized brand name. This strategy gives the company
the opportunity to service to large diverse geographic areas around the world (Bilaras).
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Company’s Future
Consumers concern about their health led to the innovation of new beverages. The
expanding distribution of Energy Brand’s vitamin water, smart water and the Coke Zero are
expected to continue to result in Coca-Cola outperforming its competitors. While PepsiCo is still
the principal competitor, Energy Brands portfolio has kept Coca-Cola’s noncarbonated products
from declining with the rest of the industry. The company sees organic and sparkling beverage
growth as key to its success and is pursuing primarily a strategy if bolt- on acquisitions in
noncarbonated beverages (Kwon, 2008).
The company maintains loyal customers from everywhere in the world and plans to
attract new customers through their new products. Coke products continue to grow strongly and
the company continues to find innovative ways to meet the changing needs of the consumers.
The company’s main goal is to continue to grow by expanding in order to stay as the number one
company in the drink industry.
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References
Bilaras. (n.d.). Coca-cola marketing mix 75. Retrieved April 12, 2011, from HubPages:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Coca-Cola-0
Coca-Cola Company. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2011, from Jiffynotes.com:
http://www.jiffynotes.com/a_study_guides/book_notes_add/emmc_0001_0001_0/emmc_
0001_0001_0_00069.html
Kwon, E. (2008, November 11). Coca-Cola: a powerful brand. Retrieved March 29, 2011, from
bloomberg.com:
http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/nov2008/pi20081110_159147.htm
The Coca-Cola Company. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2011, from Coca-cola:
http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/?WT.cl=1&WT.mm=top-left-menu2-tcccred_en_US