Coca Cola

Discuss which form of brand awareness, recall or recognition, is likely to be involved with purchase decisions for brands in a number of categories, and why. Coca Cola Coca Cola has a strong brand awareness. The first thing everyone in the world will probably recognize are the colors red and white, these are the colors Coca Cola uses in their logo from the beginning.

Related to these colors is the Coca Cola font that hasn’t changed a lot over the years, it always had the same style and size. Coca Cola also sponsors a lot of sports, charities and events; people like to be seen with a product that does such things as it makes them feel right or cool! Coca Cola stand for sustainability this attracts people who are focusing on environmental awareness. These days being environmental friendly is very important also to people that are not very aware of these subjects will see that it’s a good thing to recycle.

The Coca Cola commercials are very famous for their Jingles, tunes and creativity. These commercials are broadcasted so many times the Coca Cola tunes will be remembered by consumers which will most likely result in a purchase. Since people recognize Coca Cola pretty easy, they know It’s an A brand product. Apple One of the strong characteristics from Apple Is their design; It’s always smooth, fancy and one of a kind. Besides It’s a catch for the eye It’s also useful for very diverse In aspects in the CIT and design world.

The Apple logo Is placed on every product In every technology line, this makes the products recognizable for consumers. A lot of Apple products are shown In TV shows and movies all around the world. This makes the product more desirable for consumers as they see their ‘heroes’ using these rodents. Apple Is the number one brand In the world this means most of the people In the world know this product as popular, people want to be popular as Apple Is the popular brand they will buy It!

Apple has an entire family of products, you can synchronize all these products so you will have all your Information at every time. If you made a video on your phone and watch It on your TV you simply synchronize your Apple TV to your Phone, there Is no need to buy any other products. Every Apple product has It’s charisma and Is known for It reliability and easy usage. Consumers Like easy to handle products and Apple has proven Itself so many times In this field. It’s easy and won’t let you down! Recognize Coca Cola pretty easy, they know it’s an A brand product.

One of the strong characteristics from Apple is their design; it’s always smooth, fancy and one of a kind. Besides it’s a catch for the eye it’s also useful for very diverse in aspects in the CIT and design world. The Apple logo is placed on every product in Apple products are shown in TV shows and movies all around the world. This makes products. Apple is the number one brand in the world this means most of the people in the world know this product as popular, people want to be popular as Apple is the popular brand they will buy it!

Apple has an entire family of products, you can synchronize all these products so you will have all your information at every time. If you made a video on your phone and watch it on your TV you simply synchronize your Apple TV to your phone, there is no need to buy any other products. Every Apple product has it’s charisma and is known for it reliability and easy usage. Consumers like easy to handle products and Apple has proven itself so many times in this field. It’s easy and won’t let you down!

In an increasingly competitive business environment, organizations, particularly corporations, have to seek for ways to cope with the intensity of the competition or to get ahead of it (Gelder, 2005). Amongst other critical factors, branding has been used as a key strategic tool for enhancing the competitive ledge of corporations, and its applicability, though varying from organizations to organization, has been proven to almost always guarantee business growth.

Given the importance that branding has, it is an important strategic measure for organizations to carry out extensive brand audits to ascertain their level of competence in the market (Heding, 2009). This audit mainly focuses on the determination of the strengths and opportunities that a given brand possesses in comparison to its weaknesses and threats. A common trend for organizations has been to develop strong brands as a deterrence of the unfair competition that usually results particularly in markets where there is an excessive supply of close substitutes (Fioroni, 2008).

In the beverages and soft drinks industry of this country, for instance, there has been a historical battle for supremacy between two leading corporations – Coca-Cola and Pepsi – because both offer similar products. But it is the thin dividing line of product differentiation that each company has adopted which has set the two apart. This paper carries out a brand audit of the Coca-Cola brand to ascertain its competitive edge in the beverages market. The Coca-Cola Company

As a market leader in the beverage industry both locally and globally, the Coca-Cola Company has demonstrated its understanding of the need to have a brand audit for its numerous brands done because such an audit is an important informational and diagnostic tool which when used appropriately helps brand marketers to ascertain the overall state and health of their brands (The Coca-Cola Company, 2010a). Having such knowledge has in turn helped the company to outcompete most of its rivals, particular the second beverage maker globally – Pepsi.

The famous cola wars that pit these two giants have been specifically providing the impetus for the Coca-Cola Company to engage in more product differentiation so as to overcome this intense rivalry. Through a brand audit, the Coca-Cola Company has managed to steer ahead of the competition for it has been better placed to offer customers what they want as opposed to what the company wants fro them (Heding, 2009). The Coca-Cola Brand The leading brand of the Coca-Cola Company is the Coca-Cola drink which has been largely responsible for the company’s success in the market (Hays, 2005).

As the world’s leading beverage manufacturer and distributor, the Coca-Cola Company has used this brand as well as others to get ahead of the competition. While the Coca-Cola drink is the main brand, the company has many other brands that are distributed all over the world. As the world and the company’s leading brand as far as value is concerned, the Coca-Cola beverage is produced alongside concentrates of other beverages before they are further processed by licensed bottlers across the world (The Coca-Cola Company, 2010b). The Coke Brand

Although the Coca-Cola Company has been widely using the Coca-Cola brand, it has many other brands which are in response to market demands (The Coca-Cola Company, 2010a). In the recent times, the company has been expanding the use of its Coke brand name and a number of revolutionary products have appeared in the market under this brand. They include Diet Coke that has recently become highly ranked as a major diet cola; Diet Coke Caffeine-Free; Coca-Cola Zero; Cherry Coke; and Vanilla Coke. In addition to these brands, the company has been developing beverages with different flavors so that customers can be lost for choice.

For instance, there are special Coke brands with coffee, lemon, and lime flavors (Harford, 2007). Brand Inventory In order for any company to be in a position to understand the position it holds in the market as far as its products are concerned, it is critical that a profiling of its main brands is conducted. For the Coca-Cola Company, its brand inventory has been a continuous process and a source of invaluable information about competition and customer preferences. The marketing of Coca-Cola has been determined to be very successful owing to the brand’s success in the market.

This is even after the Coca-Cola Company introduced the other products under the Coke brand. For a long time, the Coca-Cola brand has been the most valuable of the company’s brands and this has been attributed to the constant appraisal that the marketing team of the company conducts about it as opposed to its superior quality. As such, the Coca-Cola Company has been able to understand the basis upon which the perceptions of the customers are based on from time to time (The Coca-Cola Company, 2010a). At one time, the inventory revealed that product quality was very important for customers.

But when competitors began offering similar beverages, it became clear to the company that quality alone would not suffice to distinguish its products (Pendergrast, 2000). With the cola war between the Coca-Cola Company and Pepsi growing fierce each passing day, the Coca-Cola Company has had to carry out a brand inventory more often. The findings have been compiled in not only verbal form but in visual forms as well because what is observed as customer behavior and reactions has been no less important than what is actually expressed by word of mouth.

The company has been able to develop a concise description of its main brands and the relative marketability of each brand based on these visual and verbal outcomes. One notable feature about the Coca-Cola Company’s brands is that there has been less concern about the quality. Instead, a lot of emphasis by customers has been placed on aspects like packaging, flavor, and convenience (The Coca-Cola Company, 2010b). Prior to the introduction by the company of plastic bottles that could be taken away, customers seemed to be bothered with the glass bottle that had to be returned to the vendors.

This has since changed and now there seems to be a concern about quantity or pack size especially in the developing countries where pricing is an issue (The Coca-Cola Company, 2010b). To appeal to different people with different income levels, the Coca-Cola Company introduced different quantities of its main Coke and Coca-Cola brands. For instance, the Coca-Cola beverage comes in the mini pack size, the 300-ml bottle or can, as well as in quantities of 500 ml and 1000 ml. Different quantities are sent to different markets as determined by the demand there.

In Africa, for instance, the company’s main brand that gets the most sales is the 30- ml one while in Europe the 500 ml Coca-Cola beverage is sold the most (Hayes, 2007). As far as climatic conditions are concerned, the Coca-Cola Company has been able to establish that customers are not able to use certain packaging material comfortably in certain seasons. For example, participants in games such as the Winter Olympics find the glass-bottled beverages rather difficult to handle given the extremely low temperatures (Pendergrast, 2000). In response to this, the company introduced special aluminum bottles for such events.

These bottles are warmer and generally less susceptible to climatic changes. For instance the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Torch Relay had these kinds of bottles used both for the convenience of the users as well as for marketing purposes (The Coca-Cola Company, 2010b). The idea to use aluminum bottles has also been as a result of the concerns that people around the have about climate change and global warming that have necessitated the need for a reduction in the use of packaging material with a high carbon footprint such as glass and plastic bottles (The Coca-Cola Company, 2010a).

The company also has brands that are free from caffeine so that the health-conscious customers can benefit from such. Another critical consideration by the company has been color. Different brands come in different colors for different reasons. For instance, Sprite, a colorless beverage, is packaged in green bottles to make it more attractive while the main Coca-cola brand that is colored is packaged in transparent glass bottles for the same purposes (Pendergrast, 2000).

The need to have an understanding of what customers actually want as opposed to what the marketer has for them is a critical one because failure to respond to customers’ needs can bring about a shrinking of the market. In view of this, the Coca-Cola Company has been increasingly seeking to design brands that are capable of meeting the unique needs of its customers who, being scattered across the globe, have different tastes and preferences (Pendergrast, 2000).

The company has had the understanding that the customer is the key determinant of its success in the market and has adopted a policy of getting feedback from them in order to understand their perceptions about the different brands in the market. Market segmentation has been done by the company to be able to understand the needs of individual customers. Markets in the tropics are served with specially refrigerated beverages made with the high temperatures under consideration (The Coca-Cola Company, 2010a).

One critical finding about the company’s brands is that they have been able to penetrate rather easily into even the most hostile markets like in Russia, China, and the Middle East (Pendergrast, 2000). Traditionally, it has been easy for the company to sell domestically but with rapidly expanding global demand stemming from the company’s focus on developing customer-specific brands, the company has had to expand almost indefinitely. Today, it is common to find a Coca-cola booth in a remote village in Africa or by the beachside of the Black Sea.

This is just a demonstration of how far the Coca-Cola Company has been able to use brand exploration to its benefit (Pendergrast, 2000). Data Mining The Coca-Cola Company has developed a marketing strategy that mainly focuses on an understanding of the behavioral characteristics of customers (Keller, 2003). Through an investment in the collection of statistics about the market response to its brands, the Coca-Cola Company has managed to divide its global market into segments which can then be served.

Each segment has its own unique needs and every time these needs are met the company has benefitted from the resulting loyalty that these customers develop in these brands. On successive purchases, such customers just go seeking for the products they have been using. The Coca-Cola Company has had to understand the customers that it actually appeals to and with which brands. For instance, through data mining as part of the brand exploratory process, the company has come to realize that age is a critical factor in the determination of acceptance of a given brand.

For instance, the elderly in society prefer the beverage in the traditional contoured bottle that is also a brand of the company (Pendergrast, 2000). However, young people are more comfortable with the canned beverage which they can carry around and consume whenever they feel thirsty. Perhaps because the young move about more frequently than the old, they want a package that will not keep them grounded in one spot. The elderly, on the contrary, seem to have the time to use the beverage at home more leisurely and then get the bottle back to the vendor (The Coca-Cola Company, 2010a).

To appeal to customers who are so much concerned about flavor, each of these Coca-Cola and Coke brands comes in different flavors. As a beverage, Coca-Cola finds use at different times of the year and the provision of complementary commodities alongside it has been determined to be a key method in enhancing the marketability of the beverage. For instance, the Coca-Cola Company has noted over time that public events of all nature tend to filled with people who might need to be refreshed. As such, the company’s different brands come with refrigeration facilities to ensure the brands retain their taste and flavor in all seasons.

They also provide branded chairs, tables, tents, and other accessories which people might need when using its brands. Customer Relationship Management The interaction that takes place between the marketers and the customers is very critical to the Coca-Cola Company (Neumeier, 2006). The company’s staff has been engaged in the overall branding strategy, where they particularly offer their assessments of what they believe is happening in the market. As a company that highly appreciates its staff, the Coca-Cola Company has been using these views to plan its marketing strategy using the brands.

For instance, the most popular brands have been used to serve new markets with the main aim being to win over a large segment of the market in a shorter time. Ethnographic approaches are also used by the company to understand consumer behavior. It has been established that pet bottles were introduced only after the realization by the company that some clients were not comfortable with the enormous size of the contoured bottles (The Coca-Cola Company, 2010b). Some customers, it was found, just wanted a variety of all forms – including the appearance of the bottle.

The company, therefore, responded by changing not only the shape but the material as well (The Coca-Cola Company, 2010b). Still, the company employed the use of qualitative research methodologies like projective techniques, word associations, brand personification, visualization, and laddering to discover that the bottle cap was undesirable by some people who found themselves without appropriate equipment to open the caps. The introduction of the tin cans partly addressed this concern. Besides, the plastic bottles are fitted with caps that can be easily removed unlike the caps on the glass bottles.

In addition to this, the company has been distributing bottle openers bearing the company logo so that such concerns can be dealt with. These bottle openers can be easily carried around as they are also designed to work as key-holders (The Coca-Cola Company, 2010b). The combination of preliminary research findings and actual qualitative research has been beneficial to the company in several ways (Kapferer, 2008). First of all, it has ensured that there is a good relationship between the company staff and the customers whose loyalty has tended to grow as more of their concerns have been addressed by the company.

Secondly, the company has been in a position to ascertain the extent to which certain information has been true and so decide whether or not such information could be acted on. This is largely because preliminary findings, particularly as presented by staff, tend to be very diverse, making it difficult to prove their authenticity (The Coca-Cola Company, 2010b). Actual researches conducted in the market have been useful in the setting apart of false impressions from true customer concerns. Brand Equity

The value of the Coca-Cola brand to the Coca-Cola Company cannot be overstated. Today, Coca-Cola is a household name in many countries around the world (Pendergrast, 2000). Sometimes it is even difficult to tell that other brands of the company like Sprite and Fanta actually exist as they have all come to be commonly referred to as Coca-Cola. And from this one brand, the company has been able to benefit a lot in its sale of other brands. The presence of the Coca-Cola trade mark or that of Coke has been enough to attract demand for the product.

The brand equity of Coca-Cola has been measured on three levels and for each of these levels it has been found that the brand is of positive equity (Ailawadi, Donald & Scott, 2003). The first level is that of the firm where the value of having the Coca-Cola Company as the sole manufacturer and distributor of not only the Coca-Cola beverage but others as well has been determined to be very high. The Coca-Cola Company has been able to measure the brand equity as a financial asset (Grannell, 2009). Usually, Coca-Cola is not a real or tangible asset but since it adds value to the overall worth of the company it must be an asset as well.

Therefore, measured as an intangible asset, the value of the tangible assets of the company has been subtracted from the overall value of the company as determined by the company’s market capitalization (Chu & Hean, 2006). The different is the . The second level has been the product level where the branded Coca-Cola has been compared with the non-branded one. It has been ascertained that when products are found not to bear the Coke or Coca-Cola brand name they are less likely to be bought than when they have the brand name. This is partly because there is suspicion by customers that unbranded products are not genuine.

So branded products sell more and have higher brand equity (Ailawadi, Donald & Scott, 2003). Finally, the consumer level measures the awareness that consumers tend to have regarding the Coca-Cola brand. Whenever the brand name is missing, there has tended to be a shunning of the products by consumers. The Coca-Cola Company has been carrying out extensive research to ascertain such market trends as consumer behavior. Now there is an understanding that the Coca-Cola brand holds the key to the company’s continued market expansion throughout the word (Ailawadi, Donald & Scott, 2003). Conclusion

Brand auditing is a very critical strategic tool that can be used to enhance a company’s competitive advantage in any given market. This is because a brand audit not only makes available to the company information about the preferences and perceptions of the customers but also helps the company to assess its brand equity based on the relative value of its non-tangible assets. For the Coca-Cola Company, its Coca-Cola brand has been highly successful in the market and its brand equity is very high. Used alongside the Coke brand, the Coca-Cola brand has managed to help spur the company to the position of global leader in the beverages industry.

The company uses various approaches and strategies to gather information about its customers as well as to profile the performance of its main brands on the market. What has been a regular practice at the company is the speed with which it has been moving to act on the information it receives and verifies about customer perceptions. This has made many customers to develop trust in the company’s products so much so that it is difficult for any brand to be purchased unless it bears the Coke or Coca-Cola mark.

The company, after carrying out a brand inventory, follows it up with a brand exploratory audit that narrows down the findings to the customers themselves. With an understanding of the concerns of the people, the Coca-Cola Company responds by designing brands that meet those new needs. This process has been ongoing since the late 19th century when the Coca-Cola Company became operational; and is bound to continue as market trends keep changing. Word count: 3,137 References Ailawadi, K. , Donald R. & Scott A. (2003). “Revenue Premium as an Outcome Measure of Brand Equity.

” Journal of Marketing, 67 (October), 1-17 Chu, S. & Hean, T. (2006). “Brand Value Creation: Analysis of the Interbrand-Business Week Brand Value Rankings. ” Marketing Letters, 17, 323-331 Fioroni, M. (2008). Brand Storming: Managing Brands in the Era of Complexity. Palgrave Macmillan Gelder, S. (2005). Global Brand Strategy: Unlocking Brand Potential Across Countries, Cultures & Markets. Kogan Page Publishers Grannell, C. (2009). “Untangling Brand Equity, Value and Health. ” Brandchannel, Fall. Harford, T. (2007). “The Mystery of the 5-Cent Coca-Cola: Why it’s so hard for companies to

raise prices. ” Slate. Retrieved 07/30/2010 from: http://www. slate. com/id/2165787/. Hayes, J. (2007). “Coca-Cola Television Advertisements: Dr. John S. Pemberton. ” Nation’s Restaurant News. Retrieved 07/30/2010 from: http://memory. loc. gov/ammem/ccmphtml/colainvnt. html. Hays, C. (2005). The real thing: truth and power at the Coca-Cola Company. Random House Heding, T. (2009). Brand management: research, theory and practice. Taylor & Francis Kapferer, J. (2008). The new strategic brand management: creating and sustaining brand equity long term. Kogan Page Publishers Keller, K. (2003).

“Brand Synthesis: The Multidimensionality of Brand Knowledge. ” Journal of Consumer Research, 29 (4), 595-600 Neumeier, M. (2006). The Brand Gap: How to Bridge the Distance Between Business Strategy and Design. Berkekley, CA: New Riders Publishing. Pendergrast, M. (2000). For God, Country and Coca-Cola. Basic Books The Coca-Cola Company (2010a). “Brand Fact Sheet”. Coca-Cola official website. Retrieved 07/30/2010 from http://www. virtualvender. coca-cola. com/ft/index. jsp. The Coca-Cola Company (2010b). “Coca-Cola — Our Brands”. Retrieved 07/30/2010 from: http://www. coca-cola. co. uk/ourbrands/default. aspx? id=9.

Bottled Water Industry BY Man-gyms Bottled Water Industry Case In order to see if the bottle water industry is attractive to potential entrants, we have to use the five competitive factors that shape strategy which are: threat of new entrants, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, threat of substitute products or services, and rivalry among existing competitors. Threat of new entrants in the bottle water industry is low. The three major market leaders in the bottled water industry are Nestle, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi.

All three of these companies have diversified from other markets which have helped them leverage existing capabilities and cash flows which have shaken up the existing competition. Factors that make it hard for new competitors to enter the market are supply-side economies of scale, capital requirements, incumbency advantages independent of size, and unequal access to distribution channels. Nestle, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi are all well-known companies around the world which makes it hard for new competitors to enter.

The power of suppliers isn’t a big factor when it comes to competitive forces. Suppliers in the bottles water industry include municipal water systems, spring operators, bottling equipment manufacturers, etc. Packaging supplies for bottled water are available from a vast amount of suppliers so not much power is involved there. The suppliers are often in competition with one another because they are trying to get the big producers of the bottled water industry because it saves them costs and earns them a greater profit.

The power of buyers has a lot more power than that of suppliers and is an area of concern for companies in the industry. Buyers have power in this industry because there are many bottled water producers so customers can dictate the price at which they buy at and also can demand for a sigh quality product. Also since the buyers purchase in high quantity and the products are undifferentiated, the buyers have the upper hand and can control some key factors in the industry such as price and quality.

The threat of substitute products is high in this industry. Substitute products include soft drinks, Juice, energy drinks, flavored water, vitamin water, milk, Gator, etc. Since there are many substitute products, the industries profitability will suffer. This happens because it puts a limit on the amount you can charge for a product because if it is too high, no en will buy the product and instead will buy one of the substitute products.

Rivalry among existing competitors is very high in this industry. The companies in this industry are always competing with one another to gain a higher percentage of the market. Companies such as Nestle, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi are always fighting with each other in order to gain a competitive advantage. They are continuously trying to innovate their products and are competing for the global market of bottled water. They compete with each other by offering different products, quality of products, and price.

Role of Ethics and Compliance in Pepsi-Cola PepsiCo has a deep commitment to bring forth sustainability in growth by the empowering of its people (PepsiCo Inc. , 2011). PepsiCo employees embrace a culture that promotes responsibility and provides the building blocks to trust (PepsiCo Inc. , 2011). The company prides itself on being both environmentally responsible and socially conscious this pride is garnered by six guiding principles (PepsiCo Inc. , 2011).

PepsiCo set forth principles that encompass total care of both consumers and customers, offering the highest quality products, conducting business truthfully, creating an equal balance of short-term and long-term goals, being victorious through inclusion and diversity, and being respectful of others and succeeding as a team (PepsiCo Inc. , 2011). PepsiCo has in place a compliance committee that oversees the compliance program at PepsiCo (PepsiCo Inc. , 2011).

The compliance committee makes recommendations that are upheld by the utilization of issue resolution strategies (PepsiCo Inc. , 2011). Four sub-committees make up the compliance committee, they are Anti-trust- whose emphasis is on sales; Safety and Environment- this committee gives oversight to fleets, plants, and the personnel that staffs them; Human Resources- they cover labor issues and employment; Finance- their umbrella covers all financial integrity, Sarbanes-Oxley, and the requirements that has been placed on the company. Ensuring Ethical Behavior

Laws and regulations are imposed by the various state, local, and federal governmental bodies within the United States and beyond its borders. As with any laws and regulations the way that they are interpreted are subject to dramatic change (PepsiCo Inc. , 2011). Changes that are brought about are more often than not, political, economic, and social implications (PepsiCo Inc. , 2011). The affect of food and drug laws; how the products are labeled; practices used in marketing and advertising; the importation and exportation of the various ingredients used to create the product (PepsiCo Inc.  2011).

Many laws are geared toward the reduction of certain ingredients including but not limited to sugars, fats, and sodium (PepsiCo Inc. , 2011). PepsiCo has many policies and procedures in line to ensure regulatory and legal compliance, however, suppliers or an occasional employee may commit serious violations that could institute enforcement of civil and criminal actions this could adversely affect business at PepsiCo (PepsiCo Inc. , 2011). In terms of accounting, strict policies are in place and are necessary to gain a understanding of financial results (PepsiCo Inc.  2011). The policies at PepsiCo call for management to make sometimes difficult decisions in regards to uncertainties that may have an impact on the financial results of the company (PepsiCo Inc. , 2011). PepsiCo does not involve themselves in any alternative accounting methods, other than in terms of pension plans (PepsiCo Inc. , 2011). Estimation methods and critical accounting policies are applied on a consistent basis and are reviewed upon by the Audit Committee at PepsiCo (PepsiCo Inc. , 2011).

Critical accounting policies are upheld in conjunction with pension and retiree medical plans, intangible assets including goodwill and other assets, accruals and income tax expense, and revenue recognition (PepsiCo Inc. , 2011). SEC Compliance at PepsiCo Corporate accountability plays a big role at PepsiCo and all steps have been taken to promote that (PepsiCo Inc. , 2011). PepsiCo uses a formal process for approval as outlined in the Political Contributions Policy (PepsiCo Inc. , 2011). Contributions made by PepsiCo are a reflection of business and strategic interest at PepsiCo (PepsiCo Inc.  2011).

Contributions are not made in the areas of the company’s individual officers or directors; There are no reimbursements to employees for contributions made on their own behalf; an official act with not promote anticipation or the recognition of a contribution; and there is full disclosure of all contributions on the corporate website (PepsiCo Inc. , 2011). Periodic reviews of practices and policies dealing with expenditures and political contributions and are conducted by the Board of Directors at PepsiCo (PepsiCo Inc.  2011). Activities concerning lobbying can be found at http://disclosures. house. gov/ld/pdfform. aspx? id=300437081 (PepsiCo Inc. , 2011). References PepsiCo Inc. (2010). PepsiCo. Retrieved from http://www. pepsico. com/Company/Corporate-Governance. html   PepsiCo Inc… (2010). Pepsico. Retrieved from http://www. pepsico. com/Investors/SEC-Filings. html PepsiCo Inc. (2010). PepsiCo. Retrieved from http://www. pepsico. com/Company/PepsiCo-Values-and-Philosophy. aspx

The Coca-Cola Company| | | | | An Analysis of The Coca-Cola Company| 6/13/2010| | Table of Contents Title Page1 Table of Contents2 Introduction3 5C’s Analysis4-10 4P’s Analysis11-14 SWOT Analysis & Final Remarks15-17 Introduction In May 1886, John Pemberton, who was a pharmacist from Atlanta, Georgia was the first founder of coca cola. He concocted the coca cola formula in kin three legged brass kettle which the suggestion was given by bookkeeper Frank Robinson. Coke was fist sold at the pharmacy as a non alcoholic version of French wine coca.

However, the sales were loss due to over expansion and health problems such as, disease, morphine, addictive, and headache. Because “Coca-cola” belonged to Charley, it was named coca-cola. Afterwards, Asa Candler, the Atlanta pharmacist/businessman bought the formula from John. His marketing skills were a huge success to the company during the 50th anniversary. His best skills were his promotion ideas. He gave away coupons for complimentary first takes of coca-cola, gave calendar, urns and clocks to pharmacist. These promotions increased the sales by over 4000% during 1890-1900.

Also, he gave minor changes in the ingredient and sold it in bottle, which was first sold in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Because the company was not too happy about the proliferation of copycat beverages and to safeguard the brand, they advertised that focused the authenticity of coca-cola. Later in 1923, Robert Woodruff brought the company from Asa Candler. He was a marketing genius because he observed potential overseas opportunities. He would capitalize on these opportunities by introducing Coke products in the 1928 Olympic Games.

Woodruff made innovation by making distribution of 6 packs, open top cooler that was easier for people to drink at home or away, which was a huge success. Coca-Cola would reiterate its dedication towards the globalizing Coca-cola by initiating a series of advertisements linking Coca-Cola to the world. A specific advertisement that helped Coca-Cola shine its international appeal occurred in 1970 where Coca-Cola made young people from all over the world sing a song called “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke”.

Coca-Cola continually succeeded even amid protests of Coca-Cola’s changing of its formula. After protests, Coke Company returned to its old formula. This helped regain its market share over competition and led to the Coca-Cola Company’s introduction of a diet coke product that used Splenda sugar, which was its trademark. In the 21st century, in 2007 it came up with diet coke that contained vitamin B6, B12, magnesium, niacin, and zinc. Diet coke plus was made to be considered as a healthier soda. Coca-cola stopped printing the word “Classic” on the labels of 16 oz bottles.

Coca-cola is committed to local markets and has bottling partners. Currently it is ubiquitous brand, every single time, it is known as “the most exciting and satisfying beverage. ” This report will analyze why and how The Coca-Cola Company was able to achieve its title as the number one soft-drink company in the world. Beginning with an analysis of the 5C’s regarding the company, followed by a 4P’s analysis, and ending with a SWOT analysis, will highlight what factors drove towards Coca-Cola’s dominance in the soft-drink market. 5 C’s Analysis

Having been in the soft-drink industry for over 100 years says a lot about their experience in the soft-drink industry. Coca-Cola’s long endeavored success has led to their ability to sustain a high market share in the non-alcoholic drink market with their driving force product in Coca-Cola but also in its other products as well. According to their website, Coca-Cola serves up to 1. 6Billion servings a day of their products, which poses the question on how they are able to keep up with such a high demand? An answer lies in their company mission statement, which is to: * To refresh the world… To inspire moments of optimism and happiness… * To create value and make a difference. (Source: http://www. thecoca-colacompany. com) It is this making Coca-Cola a “part of one’s lifestyle” mentality that has allowed Coca-Cola to expand its brand image from a national level to a global level, which has fueled their dedication to keep up with these mind-boggling demand figures ever since the year of the inception of the Coca-Cola company. Their global image has reached the point where global sales have triumphed over the once dominant national U. S. market.

For example, Coca-Cola’s 2008 revenue levels indicated that 75% of its revenues came from global sales, whereas only 25% came from North America. This statistical figure indicates that the Coca-Cola is indeed a global brand. In fact, according to a 2006 study done by Businessweek and Interbrand, Coca-Cola was rated the world’s number one brand: (http://www. interbrand. com/images/studies/BGB06Report_072706. pdf) Coca Cola’s ability to recognize the global market size and actually capitalize on it represents a huge part of why Coca-Cola has attained this sort of recognition.

Although Coca-cola represents the biggest company in the world, it surprisingly doesn’t bottle and distributes its own products. Instead, franchises of different bottling collaborating companies represent the bulk of the bottling and distribution of Coca-Cola’s products. Coca-Cola does maintain a high amount of market shares in most of these bottling companies, ensuring that heavy demand goals can be met for the Company. Coca-Cola’s biggest collaborators represent Coca-Cola Enterprises, Coca-Cola Femsa, and Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Co.

The Coca-Cola Company owns 31. 6%, 32%, and 23% respectively of each of these bottling companies. Coca-Cola Enterprises represents the biggest franchisee bottling and distributing company. It bottles and distributes for 80% of U. S sales and bottles and distributes for 18% of worldwide sales. Here is a diagram that explains the logistics behind Coca-Cola Enterprises’ operations: Coca-Cola Femsa is heavily focused in Central and South-America, and the Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Co is heavily focused within regions pning from Africa, Europe, and Asia.

It is this collaboration methodology that has allowed Coca-Cola to focus more on the development and maintaining of its products and brands. The number of shares that the Coca-Cola invests in most of these bottling companies ensures the alliance will be strong between the two, because they do represent the main driving force behind the bottling and distribution of Coca-Cola’s products. There is recent speculation though that Coca-Cola may indeed fully acquire its biggest collaborator in Coca-Cola Enterprises in wake of Pepsi’s Co. ’s acquisitions of some of their bottling collaborators.

Another set of collaborators are represented in its relationships with other companies. As a prominent brand image, many companies have worked with Coca-Cola to help further advertise their own company. These companies can be directly related to Coca-Cola in that Coca-Cola might represent a compliment with their product. These industries include restaurants of all sorts, movie theaters, convenient stores, supermarkets etc. Coca-Cola has usually teamed up with all these type of venues to ensure that its brand gets spread throughout all kinds of settings.

This usually results in promotions associated only with Coca-Cola products, the selling of only coca-cola products, or special promotions that include receiving Coca-Cola product if a certain product of the company’s is purchased. A notable relationship in this regard was the deal between McDonald’s and Coca-Cola. In 2009, Coca-Cola and McDonalds continued its over 50 year relationship with each other by reworking a deal where McDonalds would feature not only Coke, but many of Coca-Cola’s newer brands as well. This includes Coke-Zero, PowerAde, Fanta, and now even Vitamin Water.

Their good relationship with each other helps benefits both companies in that people will link the quality of both brands with each other. It is these direct companies that represent the bulk of Coca-Cola’s sales, since most of Coca-Cola’s products are distributed at these venues. It is up to Coca-Cola to maintain good relations and a strong brand image in order for these direct companies to collaborate with Coca-Cola. Also there are indirectly related company collaborators with Coca-Cola. For example, in 2006 Coca-Cola launched MyCokeRewards.

This promotional project allowed users to reap points for the purchasing of any of Coca-Cola’s products. These points could then be redeemed for various prizes, towards a contest, or towards the entering of a sweepstakes. Partnered relationships included in this rewards program included: Holiday Inn, Nike, Block Buster, Delta, and Six Flags. Another notable indirect collaborator with Coca-Cola is Apple. In 2006, Apple and Coca-Cola agreed to a collaboration in which a Coca-Cola themed music site was created to promote bands all across Europe with the integration of Apple’s ITunes system.

These examples of indirect company collaborators show that though they don’t distribute Coca-Cola’s products, these indirect collaborators help promote their own product along with products of Coca-Cola. Beginning with a smaller form of competition, local drink brands represent the bulk of these competitors. Their only strength is their prevalence in their local location but they have a huge list of weaknesses when compared to the Coca Cola Company. These weaknesses include small amount of assets, lack of product extension, and prevalence outside of their local location.

With most of these competitors, the Coca-Cola can simply acquire them through payment, or drive them out through a bunch of schemes. These schemes include price gauging or high amounts of advertisements. Since Coca-Cola produces so many types of non-alcoholic drink products, Coca-Cola can easily enter all sects of the drink market in most countries of the world. However it is no doubt that Pepsi Co. represents the biggest competitor of the Coca-Cola Company. Pepsi Co. began in a similar fashion of the Coca-Cola in that Pepsi Co. s most popular product in Pepsi was developed by a pharmacist in 1903. Like the Coca-Cola Company, Pepsi Co. has variations on Pepsi and has a huge product listing of different drinks encompassing the non-alcoholic drink spectrum as well. Pepsi Co. also follows a horizontal integration system with the merger and acquisition of other similar drink products. Some Pepsi Co. ’s other popular drinks besides Pepsi include, Diet Pepsi, 7-Up, Tropicana, Gatorade, Mountain Dew, Aquafina and a bunch of other products.

These companies are indeed direct competitors because they both represent the two biggest drink companies in the world and each one wants to make sure it has the vast majority market shares. The two companies aren’t entirely the same though. Merging with Frito Lay in 1965, Pepsi Co. enjoys the strength benefit of advertising its products along side Frito Lay’s products. This food/drink combination allows both Frito Lay and Pepsi to benefit, since both can make promotions for each of its products. Nevertheless, this can also be induced as a weakness of the company as well.

This is because Pepsi has to allocate some resources to the development and production of Frito Lay products, which allows The Coca-Cola Company the ability to slowly take control of the drink market since that is its only focus. Also any negativity with any Frito-Lay products could be linked to Pepsi products if both products are too frequently marketed together. It is these two ideas that could prompt why The Coca-Cola still enjoys a higher level of market shares on Pepsi. It’s not entirely because of these two ideas that Coca-Cola still enjoys a higher market share; there are many other factors as well.

One specific advantage that Coca-Cola had over Pepsi was that The Coca-Cola Company owned Columbia Pictures from 1982-1989. Between this time, Coca-Cola easily advertised their products indirectly by including it in a multitude of films. Both companies employ similar marketing tactics, in that both try to popularize its main product in Pepsi and Coke respectively. Both companies have used celebrities, sponsorships, multitudes of TV ads, appearances in TV shows/movies, and all kinds of advertisement strategies. However these marketing schemes have caused the two companies to engage in what many call the “Cola Wars”.

Since the 1970’s both companies had countless of ads trying to devalue the other company’s main product: Pepsi initiated this by starting a set of commercials of having Blind Tastes. Deemed as the “Pepsi Challenge”, these types of ads would extenuate Coca-Cola refuted to some of these ads by producing similar ads and also by producing a new recipe of coke in the 1980’s. It slowly reverted back to its classic formula later on but despite these devaluation schemes, both companies seem to employ the same advertising schemes by portraying their product as a something that should be a part of one’s lifestyle.

It has come to a point where whenever Coca-Cola has an advertisement, you’ll most likely see a similar Pepsi advertisement as well. At this point, both companies have become so prevalent in the global market that people usually don’t differentiate between the two main products in Coke and Pepsi. Sure some diehard fans of each company will disagree, but there are plenty of examples where this idea can be seen. For example, you go to a restaurant and you ask for a Coke.

When the waitress responds, “Oh sorry we only have Pepsi”, you’ll most likely respond with “oh that’s fine. ” It has come to this point where both companies can benefit from the competition aspect, but at the same time if one company drops the ball or messes up badly, the other company can easily capitalize on the market since both companies represent the top 2 drink companies in the world. When evaluating the customer of Coca-Cola, it practically has no limits. Besides the alcoholic customer, the Coca-Cola Company has products that encompass all parts of the drink market.

The market size of the drink market practically covers the vast majority of the world since it compliments a biological function in replenishing thirst. However it depends on the motive and likes of the customer that will dictate which product he/she will buy. With a huge 3300 different kinds of beverages, Coca-Cola does a great job of not devaluing its most successful Coke brand with its other brands that target different parts of the non-alcoholic drink market. There are examples of devaluation may have occurred, such as in the production of Diet-Coke and Coke-Zero.

In the 1980’s was labeled as a time where individuals wanted to live a healthier lifestyle, so Coca-Cola had no choice but to develop a healthier version of its product in Diet Coke since its competitors were following suit. This theme again was reintroduced in the late 2000’s when health issues re-sparked. However realizing certain customer trends and behaviors, The Coca-Cola Company made a separate healthy drink in Coke Zero in hopes of targeting the male population. That’s because trends showed that males didn’t drink Diet-Coke due to the nature of its name being associated with a diet.

It was due to immense popularity and recognition of the Coca-Cola brand name and a culmination of systematic advertisements highlighting the healthiness of these diet Cokes that led most of its customer base to not deter away from the original product in Coca-Cola. A following section will dive into the marketing aspects that drive this popularity in its original product of Coke. According to this graph: carbonated soft-drinks represent the higher amount of gallons consumer per capital from 1991-2008.

It is because of this staggering trend that Coca-Cola’s most popular products are in its carbonated drinks. This trend has also transcended to the global level because of course Coca-Cola wanted to popularize its main product in Coca-Cola. Here are some statistical figures of per-capita consumption of Coca-Cola throughout the world: Coca-Cola knows the initial popularization of its Coke product will eventually help the sales of its other products. All labels of Coca-Cola’s products in some sort of form state it was manufactured by “The Coca-Cola Company. Since people can relate to the high brand quality of Coca-Cola, it will interest individuals to try out The Coca-Cola Company’s other products. And since the Coca-Cola Company has a product that covers every part of the soft-drink spectrum, customers will soon discovered that the Coca-Cola Company has a product that meets all its non-alcoholic drink needs. This is reflected in recent a sales figure which lists all of The Coca-Cola Company’s products that have garnered over $1billion in sales: The Coca-Cola Company has always strived to respond according to its context.

There weren’t many complications in the first half of the company’s history so it was easy for Coca-Cola to flow in into the drink environment and promote itself. But soon after the start of the 1980’s to 2000’s, complications behind the ingredients of Coca-Cola started to arise. This was because health officials noted that Coke could have potential health effects with its high content in sugar and caffeine. More specifically health and government officials noted that Coca-Cola utilized a cheap form of sugar called High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Developed from corn, this sugar is definitely considered an alternative to natural cane sugar due to its increased availability and its cheap cost. However it does pose a higher health risk since it has been linked to cause obesity and type-2 diabetes at a faster rate than cane sugar. In response to this, Coca-Cola developed product extension lines initially with Diet-Coke and Coke-Zero following suit in 2004. These two products responded well to these health-conscious environments. These types of examples show how the Coca-Cola Company stands behind its mission statement.

In no matter what shape or form, the Coca-Cola Company does its best to accommodate towards the current environment of the market. 4P Analysis Product: Coca-Cola offers a portfolio of more than 3,300 products in over 200 countries. Major Brands of Coca-Cola are: Coca-Cola sodas/soft drinks that generate > $1billion in annual sales (http://www. wikinvest. com/stock/Coca-Cola_Company_(KO)) Coca-Cola Dasani Diet Coca-Cola Vitamin Water Fanta Powerade Sprite Minute-Maid Coke Zero Aquarius Barq’s Rootbeer Nestea Odwalla Sokenbicha

Coca-Cola classic is the most popular and biggest selling soft-drink in history. Coca-Cola Classic is the best-known product in the world and was created in Atlanta, Georgia, by Dr. John S. Pemberton. By 1895 Coca-Cola Classic was being sold in every state and territory in the United States. As stated the driving force of The Coca-Cola company is in its original product of Coca-Cola, but they have slowly evolved their company to not only encompass the soda part of the soft-drink market, but literally of all of the other parts representing the non-alcoholic soft drink market as well.

It boasts a total of 3300 different beverages, with some of these beverages having high market share in the soda market as well as the other segments of the non-alcoholic soft drink market. However it can’t be overlooked that the Coca-Cola has participated in Product-Line extensions with the creation of alternative Coca-Cola brands, such as Diet-Coke, Coke-Zero, Vanilla Coke, Green Tea, Cola Lemon, Cola Lemon Lime, Cola Lime, Cola Orange, and even Cola Raspberry, and Cherry-Coke.

In a sense, The Coca-Cola’s company approach throughout the years can be seen as a form of Horizontal Integration in that Coca-Cola has expanded internally, with its external growth following suit. This external expansion is reflected by all the mergers and acquisitions of companies that offered similar products. All these factors show why the Coca-Cola Company has evolved to become biggest leader of the soft drink market. Another very popular Coca-Cola soft drink is Sprite. Sprite was introduced in 1961 and is the world leading lemon-lime flavored soft drink.

Sprite is sold in more than 190 countries and is ranked Number four in the soft drink worldwide industry because of its crisp, clean taste that really quenches your thirst. Sprite has a strong appeal to the “young” generation because of its honest and straightforward attitude that sets it apart from other soft drinks. Sprite encourages you to be true to whom you are and obey your thirst. Product packaging includes products of sparkling drinks and still beverages (water, juices, juice drinks, teas, coffees, sports drinks, energy drinks).

Through innovative fountain distribution, Coke-Cola is able to be more flexible and reliable towards consumer satisfaction. Packaging beverages where through plastic bottles and aluminum cans. The Coca-Cola Company is recognized by 94% of the world’s population. According to Coca-Cola product packaging strategy their approach is to identify and utilize the most compelling combination of packaging elements that best communicates what Coca-Cola stands for around the world – Unique taste, great refreshment and authenticity. PLACE: The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest beverage company.

Beverages are sold in over 200+ locations throughout the world. The Coca-Cola headquarters is located in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Coca-Cola has an employee net force of approximately 92,400 members. The operating groups are division as: –Eurasia & Africa Group –Europe Group –North America Group –Pacific Group –Bottling Investments Group –McDonald’s Group The Coca-Cola system is a global business that operates on a local scale (community business) that allows Coca-Cola to create a global reach with local focuses because of the strengths of the Coca-Cola system which involves their 300+ bottling partners worldwide.

Coca-Cola and their 92,000+ associates around the world live and work in the markets that serve more than 87 percent of outside markets in the U. S. This geographically diverse environment helps Coca-Cola learn from each market and share those learning’s to develop collaborative company culture. PRICE: Pricing varies according to brand and size. Approximately Coca-Cola 2L costs about $1. 68 and a pack of 375mL x 18 cans of Coca-Cola is approximately $9. 98. Studies show that instead of pricing a pack of Coca-Cola as $10. 00, pricing a price even one cent cheaper as $9. 9 is due to the psychological perception of cost strategy that makes the product of the price seem much cheaper even if it is just one or two cents cheaper from the nearest whole number. Coca-Cola’s pricing influences are contributed to Coca-Cola’s products that are sold and distributed to retail stores and set by their pricing strategies. Convenient stores and petrol stations usually sell Coca-Cola products at a fixed price. Discount prices are often set and marked down during sale periods and special occasions to increase sales and profits.

Prices are set around competitors and seasons also have an influence in pricing. PROMOTION: Coca-Cola cares about the welfare of animals and supports their proper treatment. Coca-Cola and their U. S. bottling partners will not sponsor events or attractions that feature animals unless the event organizers have policies and procedures in place to support the humane treatment of animals and provide ready access to quality veterinary care to protect the animals’ health and safety.

For more than 50 years, Coca-Cola has had a policy not to advertise full-calorie, sparkling soft drinks on TV programming that targets children under 12. The Coca-Cola Company believes that children under 12 should not be the audience of Coca-Colas advertising and marketing practices because of the nutritional contents in the beverages that may not be suitable for children under the age of 12. The Coca-Cola Company may have more than one promotion running at any given time and may use many different types and strategies to promote their products.

Coca-Cola uses shelving strategy that is the positioning of their products in stores, eye catching position strategy that is the attraction of customer attention to Coca-Colas products, sale promotions through sponsorship with schools and sport events ex. FIA World Cup, and UTC (Under the Crown) offering prizes to promote Coca-Cola products. Coca-Cola uses advertising as its main source of increasing consumer awareness. Television is their main advertising source. The music used in advertising is often an original recording produced by agencies specifically for that commercial.

Coca-Cola also uses POS (Point Of Sale) that is used through posters and stickers of Coca-Cola and billboards to promote products and the Coca-Cola Company at different site locations. The following amounts reflect the total worldwide amounts spent on print, radio, internet, and television advertising. Advertising expenses included in selling, administrative and general expenses that were approximately: 2006: $2. 6 billion 2005: $2. 5 billion 2004: $2. 2 billion 2003: $1. 8 billion 2002: $1. 7 billion 2001: $2. 0 billion 2000: $1. 7 billion 1999: $1. billion 1998: $1. 6 billion 1997: $1. 6 billion 1996: $1. 4 billion 1995: $1. 3 billion 1994: $1. 1 billion 1993: $1. 0 billion SWOT Analysis A SWOT analysis was done on the Coca-Cola Company to pinpoint key factors that led to Coca-Cola’s past and current success in the soft drink market. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, so to begin with the analysis, the strengths sector will be looked at first. Coca-Cola’s strengths include; strong market strategies, product diversification, and many distribution channels.

Coca-Cola uses a mix of great advertisements which include catchy slogans, a strong family-brand image, and also sponsors sporting events. A prime example of one of their successful advertisements was seen with their launch of Coke Zero. Coke Zero is a dietary substitute to the original Coke, like Diet Coke, but claims to have the same flavor as the original Coke. Their slogan that was used was, “A clear case of taste infringement. ” Advertisements were run on television of lawyers from Coca-Cola trying to “sue” Coke Zero for copying their flavor, even though Coca-Cola obviously made Coke Zero.

In the end Coke Zero proved to be a big hit for Coca-Cola and continues to be a success. As for their family-brand image, Coke has always been seen as family friendly in the United States of America for a very long time. To illustrate this image, Coca-Cola has utilized a general heuristic marketing, generally aimed at making people link fun and family friendly with the Coca-Cola Company. Some examples include; Coca-Cola’s holiday campaigning, partnerships with “family-friendly” venues, and prizes that appeal to a typical American family.

Santa is seen as the biggest icon and representative of the holiday season. Coca-Cola is the reason for the present-day image of Santa. “Coca-Cola® advertising actually helped shape this modern-day image of Santa. ” As for their partnerships, Coca-Cola has been a long-time partner with McDonalds. Along with McDonalds, Coca-Cola teamed up with Regal Theaters and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). McDonalds and Regal Entertainment Group provide family friendly venues targeted for dining and entertainment purposes, respectively. The WWF is a charitable worldwide wildlife and agricultural conservation organization.

They teamed up with Coca-Cola to help regulate Coke’s water usage and its effect on the world’s agriculture. All three mentioned companies are seen as family friendly or have a mission statement that is family-approved. Coca-Cola expands their brand awareness by constantly being associated with worldwide sporting events. Coca-Cola is sponsoring the FIFA World Cup, which is the biggest sporting event in the world, the NBA, the NCAA, and NASCAR. Many commercials and billboards can be seen during these sporting events, as they are all advertisements of Coca-Cola. Product Diversification is a valuable piece to Coca-Cola’s success.

Along with the original Coke line, Coca-Cola also produces various sports drinks, bottled water, energy drinks, and also clothing and merchandise. Coca-Cola is the owner of PowerAde, Dasani, and Full Throttle. Currently, these three brands have a significant presence in the U. S. market that can’t be ignored. Coca-Cola’s many distribution channels may be what makes Coca-Cola so dominant. Coca-Cola created the contour bottle in 1916, and they own shares of major bottling factories around the world. This has led Coca-Cola to be one of the world’s most recognized brands, being recognized by 94% of the whole world.

The main weakness that has been found with Coca-Cola is their poor nutritional content. Although Coca-Cola is enjoyed by many different age groups worldwide, Coke is high in sugar and calories, has caffeine, and is associated with many fast foods. This is a problem with Coca-Cola as they have many different partnerships and distribution channels. The fact that Coke is so widely distributed and known gives them a larger opportunity to affect a large number of people. Coca-Cola has been linked with many different diseases and health issues which include; tooth decay, obesity, and diabetes.

Although Coca-Cola is the current leading company in the soft drink market, there are still many new opportunities that exist to further strengthen their market share and keep other competitors at bay. Some opportunities that exist include, more sponsorships and diversifying into other segments. As mentioned before, Coca-Cola is currently involved with various sports sponsorships. However, Coca-Cola could broaden their sports sponsorships and gain more visibility. For the events that Coca-Cola is sponsoring, they have little visibility, as they are briefly mentioned in a name or seen on small billboards across the television screen.

A suggestion that was thought of was the endorsement of a soccer team. It is a common practice for a corporation to endorse a team, and in return, have that corporation’s name and logo printed all over the uniform. An example of this that may be popular in Korea would be the player Park Ji-Sung. Park Ji-Sung plays for Manchester United and they are currently sponsored by AIG. The justification in this form of advertising would the fact that soccer is the world’s most watched sport, and there is no better way than to get a company’s name out to sports fans.

Another solution that was taken into consideration is the expansion to different sectors in the food industry. Following the examples of A;W Root Beer and Baskin Robbins, if a Coca-Cola cafe opened up, the results could be great financially. The original idea for a Baskin Robbins Cafe to open up was part of a plan to revitalize the company after years of falling sales. Although Coca-Cola doesn’t have a failing company, this could still boost sales and increase Coca-Cola’s dominance in the soft-drink industry, while boosting brand awareness among consumers. The last part of the SWOT analysis is threats.

When Coca-Cola is thought of, Pepsi is almost always mentioned in the same sentence. Coca-Cola and Pepsi have been battling for the top position in the soft-drink market for years. Although Coca-Cola sits at the top spot for now, Pepsi has and always will be threatening Coke for soft-drink supremacy. From the infamous “Cola Wars” in the 1980’s-1990’s to the present day market situation, there is always a sense of insecurity and uncertainty of who will be the next #1. Different marketing schemes and ploys have been taken in the past to outdo one another. Starting with clever advertising, blind taste tests, rewards rograms, and partnerships with other members of the food and beverage industry, every new project fuels a constant battle between the two companies. As explained before, Pepsi can be seen as a direct competitor to Coke in a very direct and narrow perspective. However, if the soft drink industry is seen as whole, or rather the beverage industry, any drink offered in the market can be seen as a potential competitor of Coca-Cola. Healthier alternatives include; tea, water, and coffee. Tea and coffee can be seen as a healthier source of caffeine, while water can be seen as a healthier drink alternative in general.

Overall, this SWOT analysis was done to see the present issues and potential problems in Coca-Cola’s current market, as well as to find solutions to these issues. Coca-Cola is mainly a provider of their staple drink, Coca-Cola Classic, but they also produce different products within the soft-drink industry. Although there is no correct answer to any current and potential issues, diversification into other food segments and new venues seem like a profitable venture for Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company’s has been on path towards dominance since its inception.

Initially popularizing itself nationally then capitalizing on global opportunities has led to the major expansion of the Company, which originally started off as a single-product drink company to now a company that boasts a very solid single-product in Coca-Cola with alternatives in all aspects of the non-alcoholic drink market. It’s popularization of Coca-Cola through its schemes of labeling it as fun and family friendly has helped the company strive towards is goals as a company highlighted in its mission of making its products widely available and refreshing the world.

Coca-Cola’s current state has shown that it can continue to utilize the same strategies explained towards its success in the future. The Coca-Cola Company has already shown that it can succeed at all types of time periods since the company is well over 100 years old. It’s experience and its smart and effective strategies will be key towards its positive future. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. http://www. thecoca-colacompany. com/heritage/cokelore_santa. html

When you think of Coca Cola what comes to your mind? It wouldn’t be surprising if you thought first of Coke ads. In the history of advertising perhaps no other company has had such a strong and continuous impact on society through advertising. Not only have Coke’s ads been successful at selling its soft drinks, but decade after decade Coca Cola’s ads and campaigns have influenced our very culture by making their way into the hearts and minds of the consumers.

A Brief Ad History

In the 1920s Coca Cola shifted its advertising strategy, focusing for the first time on creating brand loyalty.

It began advertising the soft drink as fun and refreshing. Coke’s 1929 campaign slogan was: The Pause that Refreshes. To this day, that slogan remains number two on Advertising Age’s top 100 slogans of all the time. How about those famous Coca Cola Santa Clause print ads? Most people probably have seen an example of such. What most people don’t realize is that our modern-day vision of Santa as a jolly old man with a white beard in a red suit and hat is to some extent a result of those Coke ads that began emerging in popular magazines in 1931.

Before that, the world’s image of Santa was fragmented, with physical portrayals of the legendary holiday visitor ranging from a pixie to a leprechaun to even a frightening gnome. But Coca Cola’s long-running series of ads solidified what was becoming a common U. S. image, making our beloved Santa Clause recognizable around the world. Those Coca Cola campaigns were probably a little before your time. but what about Coca Cola’s 1971 “Hilltop” campaign. Perhaps you remember its lyrics, “I’d like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony.

I’d like to buy the world a Coke, and keept it company. ” The song was sung by a choir of young people from all over the world, perched high on a hilltop, each holding an iconic hourglass-shaped bottle of Coke. Within months, Coca Cola and its bottlers received more than a hundred thousand letters about the ad. The ad actually received requests at radio stations; so many in fact, that a version of the song was released as a pop-music single. The jingle’s tagline, “It’s the real thing,” served as the foundation for Coke ads for years. Still too long ago for you?

Maybe you have heard of Coke’s ad showing a bruised and battered Mean Joe Green tossing his shirt to a young fan after the boy shares his Coke with the pro football player. The ad appears consistently at the top of “Best Super Bowl Ads” lists. Or how about “Coke is it? ” “Can’t beat the feeling? ” certainly you would remember the jingle made famous in the 1990s, “Always Coca Cola”. And who doesn’t make some associate between the sweet, dark, bubbly beverage and polar bear? Innovative animation technology put those lovable creatures in only a handful of ads, but they are forever etched in the memories of consumers everywhere.

These are only some highlights of Coca Cola’s long advertising history, stretching back to the company’s origin in 1886. With so many hits and such a huge impact on consumers, it’s hard to imagine that the beverage giant ever gets into an advertising rut. But as the new millennium began to unfold, many considered that Coke had lost its advertising sizzle. The company was struggling to create ads that resonated with younger folks while at the same time appealing to older consumers. And the company’s ads were routinely out-pointed by those of rival Pepsi. Coca Cola needed some new advertising fizz.

Back to the Bowl Where does a company turn when it wants to make a big ad splash? For Coca Cola, it’s thoughts turned to the marquee of all advertising events – the Super Bowl. The company had certainly had success with the ad venue before. But scoring big with a Super Bowl ad isn’t guaranteed. In fact, many cynics view the ad venue as a waste of money. One team of researchers found that average brand recall one week after the 2008 Super Bowl was an unimpressive 7%. Recall for specific commercials and the brand represented therein was even worse at only 4%.

That doesn’t speak very highly for a 30 second ad that costs $ 2. 7 million to air. And perhaps even more to produce. The Super Bowl has its share of critics who think it is far too costly for a single event, regardless of how many people tune-in. But for all the misses, there have been plenty of hits. In 1999, Hotjobs. com blew half of its $ 4 million advertising budget for the year on a single 30-second spot. The result? Traffic on its web site immediately shot up 120%, choking its network and server system. Monster. com saw similar results that same year.

And hundreds of advertisers throughout the Super Bowl’s history have been very satisfied with the results of their ads. For its 2008 campaign debut, Coca Cola was confident that the Super Bowl was just right for its broad target market. It assigned Wieden + Kennedy the task of crafting a 60-second commercial. Hal Curtis, one of the top creative directors for the agency, took charge of the project. Two years before, Mr. Curtis had come up with an idea for an ad while working on a different campaign. He thought the idea was perfect for Coke. By now, you’ve probably seen the ad.

Titled “It’s mine”, the spot is set at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, a parade famous for its blimp-sized balloons marched through the Central Park area on long tethers. The Coke ad focuses on two particular characters, Stewie Griffin from Fox network’s comedy television show Family Guy and the classic cartoon character Underdog. Both balloons sidle up to a huge Coke balloon. The two characters begin fighting over the coke, bouncing around in a kind of slow-motion ballet against the New York skyline, bumping up against buildings.

As the scuffle progresses above the streets, moving higher and higher, New Yorkers look on from hot dog stands, cabs, and even inside buildings. At the story’s climactic moment, a giant balloon depicting the cartoon character Charlie Brown emerges from nowhere, swooping and claiming a giant Coke, leaving Stewie and Underdog empty-handed. The spot cost Coca Cola $ 2. 3 million to make and more than double that to air. It was also the most difficult ad that Mr. Curtis had ever produced. For starters, he encountered mounds of red tape in negotiating the rights to use the well-known cartoon characters in the ad.

Choreographic and shooting footages of giant balloons in one of the world’s biggest cities brought its own set of challenges. At one point, bad weather forced the project indoors and all the way across the country to the Paramount Studios on the West Coast. The post-shoot animation was considered yet a third shoot for the ad. It all added up to four months of production and postproduction. When asked about the challenge of simultaneously reaching consumers of all ages with an advertisement, Mr. Curtis responded, “A good story appeals to everyone.

And a story that is well told appeals to young and old. Certainly, there are times where we want to skew a message younger, but for this spot that wasn’t part of thinking. ” Pio Schunker, Coca Cola’s head of creative excellence, added, “We are at our best when we speak to universal values that appeal to everyone rather than try and skew it to specific segments. ” According to Mr. Schunker, the universal value referred to here was that “Good really wins in the end”, a point that he thought was made strongly with the contrast of Charlie Brown over a character like Stewie.

In fact, Curtis originally pitched the ad with an ending that had the Coke bottle getting punctured on a flagpole and neither balloon getting it. But Coca Cola wanted something that was emotionally more positive, something that expressed optimism. “I felt it was such a downer of an ending to have these characters chase the Coke and not get it,” stated Mr. Schunker. It was Curtis’s 12 year old son, Will, who gave him the idea for what became the ending when he said, “Why can’t another balloon get it? ” For Hal Curtis, the next logical step was Charlie Brown.

Everyone was happy with the end result. Both Coca Cola and Wieden + Kennedy felt that the ad communicated the desired message perfectly while bringing out the kind of warm emotions that had emanated from Coca Cola ads for decades. The hunches of these ad veterans proved correct. The day after the game, Coke’s balloon ad had 350 blog posts, while Pepsi’s ads had only 250. A week after that, the “It’s Mine” ad was the most talked about ad online. SuperBowl-Ads. com had it rated as the top ad of the dozens that aired on the 2008 gridiron matchup.

And later in the year, the spot won a Silver Lion at the Cannes Lions festival, the most prestigious award event in the industry. There is no doubt that the “It’s Mine” ad achieved more buzz and more size than Coca Cola’s ads in recent history. But that’s only a first step to advertising success. In the end, the only result that really matters is whether or not the ad has the intended effect on consumers. Although the impact of Coca Cola’s “it’s Mine” ad or its history of other outstanding ads on actual beverage sales may never be known, one broader conclusion is clear.

Every year, Interbrand publishes the premier ranking of global brands based on monetary value. And every year since Interbrand began publishing the list in 2001, Coca Cola has held the top spot. At $ 65 billion, Coca Cola is the world’s most valuable brand. Thus, it’s pretty easy to make the connection between Coca Cola’s brand value and more than 100 years of stellar advertising.

Questions for Discussions

1.  Consider Coca Cola’s advertising throughout its history. Identify as many commonalities as possible for its various ads and campaigns. (For a list of Coca Cola slogans over the years, check out http://en. ikipedia. org/wiki/Coca-Cola_slogans)
2. Analyze the “It’s Mine” ad based on the process of creating an advertising message.
3. Discuss issues of selecting advertising media for the “It’s Mine” ad. How might this process differ from that of other Coca Cola’s campaigns? From another campaigns for other companies?
4. Based on the information given in this case, how might Coca Cola measure the effectiveness of the “It’s Mine” ad? What else might Coca Cola want to measure?

(I) Project ONE: ELEMENTS OF BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT The teachers should help the students in selecting any one element of the following: 1. Changes witnessed over the last few years on mode of packaging and its economic impact. The teacher may guide the students to identify the following changes: a) The changes in transportation of fruits and vegetables such as cardboard crates being used in place of wooden crates, etc. Reasons for above changes. b) Milk being supplied in glass bottles , later in plastic bags and now in tetra pack and through vending machines. ) Plastic furniture [doors and stools] gaining preference over wooden furniture. d) The origin of cardboard and the various stages of changes and growth. e) Brown paper bags packing to recycled paper bags to plastic bags and cloth bags. f) Re use of packaging [bottles, jars and tins] to attract customers for their products. g) The concept of pyramid packaging for milk. h) Cost being borne by the consumer/manufacturer. i) Packaging used as means of advertisements. 2. The reasons behind changes in the following: Coca – Cola and Fanta in the seventies to Thums up and Campa Cola in the eighties to Pepsi and Coke in nineties.

The teacher may guide the students to the times when India sold Coca Cola and Fanta were being manufactured in India by the foreign companies. The students may be asked to enquire about a. Reasons of stopping the manufacturing of the above mentioned drinks in India THEN. b. The introduction of Thums up and Campa cola range. c. Re entry of Coke and introduction of Pepsi in the Indian market. d. Factors responsible for the change. e. Other linkages with the above. f. Leading brands and the company having the highest market share. g. Different local brands venturing in the Indian market. . The rating of the above brands in the market. i. The survival and reasons of failure in competition with the international brands. j. Other observations made by the students The teacher may develop the following on the above lines 3. Changing role of the women in the past 25 years relating to joint families, nuclear families, women as a bread earner of the family, changes in the requirement trend of mixers, washing machines, micro wave and standard of living. 4. The changes in the pattern of import and export of different Products. 5.

The trend in the changing interest rates and their effect on savings. 6. A study on child labour laws, its implementation and consequences . 7. The state of ‘anti plastic campaign,’ the law, its effects and implementation. 8. The laws of mining /setting up of industries, rules and regulations, licences required for running that business. 9. Social factors affecting acceptance and rejection of an identified product. ( Dish washer, Atta maker, etc) 10. What has the effect been on the types of goods and services? The students can take examples like: a.

Washing machines, micro waves, mixers and grinder. b. Need for creche, day care centre for young and old. c. Ready to eat food, eating food outside, and tiffin centres. 11. Change in the man-machine ratio with technological advances resulting in change of cost structure. 12. Effect of changes in technological environment on the behaviour of employee. PRESENTATION ? Cover page should include the title of the Project, student information, school and year. ? List of contents. ? Acknowledgements and preface (acknowledging the institution, the places visited and the persons who have helped). Introduction. ? Topic with suitable heading. ? Planning and activities done during the project, if any. ? Observations and findings of the visit. ? Conclusions (summarised suggestions or findings, future scope of study). ? Photographs (if any). ? Appendix . ? Teacher’s observation. ? Signatures of the teachers. ? At the completion of the evaluation of the project, it should be punched in the centre so that the report may not be reused but is available for reference only. ? The projects will be returned after evaluation. The school may keep the best projects.