Marketing Plan and Research Report of Coca-ColaTable of ContentExecutive summary (2)External environment analysis (2)Market strategy (6)Marketing research result (6)Marketing mix summary (7)Detailed strategy for promotion (9)Controls (11)Reference list (13)Executive summaryThe Coca-Cola Company (“Coca-Cola”) was founded in 1886 which is ranked number one in the beverage industry. The company manages more than 500 nonalcoholic beverage brands, and four of the top five nonalcoholic sparkling beverage brands are owned by Coca-Cola. According to its 2012 annual report, the whole group’s net operating revenue amounted to 48.02 billion USD (The Coca-Cola Company Annual Review, 2012). In addition, Coca-Cola accounts for approximately 37.1% of all the soft drink market, followed by PepsiCo at about 30.2%, and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group at 21.4% (Faber, 2012).In the long-standing viewpoint, Coca-Cola has an inclination to expand its market share to 50% and its sales revenue to 500 billion USD in the 2015 (Hofstede, 2012). Although its prosperous status quo, the company is also facing against an intensified competition. This report is aimed at analyzing the overall marketing strategy of Coca-Cola to find out the potential vulnerabilities. Then, based upon the analysis and in-depth research, it will outline the strategic plan for the future in order to further enhance Coca-Cola’s marketing status.External environment analysisA well-rounded analysis of company’s environment will be beneficial for the comprehensive understanding of the situation. First, it is better to research Coca-Cola’s external situation which includes three parts: macro-environmental factors, micro-environmental factors and competitive strategy.For the macro aspect, this report utilizes PEST model which examines the changes in a marketplace caused by Politics, Economy, Social and Technological factors.•Political AnalysisShifts of government’s attitude towards the foreign-invested enterprise may pose a threat to the company. Especially in the emerging countries, the political stability is essential to a successful business. In addition, changes of laws and regulations, including non-alcoholic drinks regulation should be considered.•Economic AnalysisAccording to IMF, while there have been some encouraging signs of economic recovery, the global economic growth seems to be losing momentum. In other words, the company still needs to be vigilant to the outside world and the emerging economy to seize opportunities.According to the Standard and Poor's Industry surveys, "For major soft drink companies, there has been economic improvement in many major international markets, such as Japan, Brazil, and Germany." These markets will continue to play a major role in the success and stable growth for a majority of the non-alcoholic beverage industry.•Social AnalysisLiving a healthier lifestyle is so prevalent all around world that has affected the non-alcoholic beverage industry as some consumers are switching to bottled water and diet colas instead of beer and other alcoholic beverages. This continued tendency will impact the non-alcoholic beverage industry by increasing the demand overall and in the healthier beverages.•Technological AnalysisThe rapid advancement of science and technology may deeply impact Coca-Cola as well. For example, novel distribution channel, diversified promotion campaign and new production line etc.In terms of micro-environmental factors, it is advisable to use Porter's Five Forces model to analyze the market condition.•Threat of new entrantsCompared with other industry, soft drinks industry has a relatively higher gross profit rate and lower barriers to entry, accordingly, there do exist many potential entrants. •Threat of substitute productsAs is mentioned above, healthier drinking has been a new trend for the consumers. So, enough attention must be paid to the substitute products such as tea drinks, bottled water and sports drinks.•Bargaining power of customerWith thousands kinds of non-alcoholic beverage in the market, consumers have a wide range of options. Additionally, they are also becoming sensitive to price which render them to have more bargaining power.•Bargaining power of suppliersAs the leading company in the market, Coca-Cola stays strong to the suppliers who are willing to collaborate with such a giant enterprise. In other words, bargaining power of suppliers is comparatively weak.•Intensity of competitive rivalryRelied upon its sales and distribution channels, Coca-Cola has undoubtedly established a mature marketing network. But what can’t be ignored is the threats posed by companies out of carbonated beverage, they all spare no effort to gain market share inBroadNarrow the relevant industry.After the analysis of the above two factors, keeping alert and further developing the core competency are extremely significant to Coca-Cola. Thus, how will the company compete with the major players in the market?Competitive AdvantageLower Cost DifferentiationAs can be seen in the chart, the company used differentiation and cost leadership tactics. Differentiation is achieved through superb quality of its product, which surpasses the company’s major rivals in the brand image and high customer recognition. What’s more, its promotion campaign and packaging strategy also differentiate Coca-Cola from competitors, for instance, its unique bottle design has become a world famous symbol.The positioning of cost leadership is achieved not only through economies of scale in research, development and promotion, but also through learning, knowledge and experience in production and operational processes. Furthermore, the company’s Cost LeadershipDifferentiation Cost Focus Differentiation FocusCompetitive Scopeefficient distribution networks and manufacturing systems contribute significantly to its cost saving..Market strategyBased on the above analysis, this report researches the interior part of Coca-Cola to determine its marketing and financial objectives, segmentation, positioning, and target market(s) in the future.Future growth for Coca-Cola will be embodied in two main areas: global emerging market health drinks. Besides United States Coca-Cola will continue to market to countries around the world. The company has an impressive performance in emerging markets like Latin America, the BRIC, and Western Europe which will be their major focus in the future for this is where major growth opportunities lie.In addition, consumers are moving towards a healthier lifestyle, which accordingly is causing Coca-Cola to expand product line to satisfy their needs. This new market is huge and creates a lot of growth opportunity for Coca-Cola.More specifically, Coca-Cola intends to increase its current market share in the soft drink to 50% in the end of 2015 (Hofstede, 2012), in particular, it will invest heavily in the health drink product to grab this developing cliché market and to cater for consumer’s aptitude. Then, the whole group will achieve 50 billion USD sales revenue and 13 billion USD profit margin (Marcial, 2007).Marketing research resultTo stay competitive, Coca-Cola has done well in understanding and satisfying consumers. It have been found that customers expect more from their beverages. To fill this desire Coca-Cola has developed the Beverage Institute for Health and Wellness. This institute develops new product ideas that can contribute to their product line. In addition, Coca-Cola is capable of maintaining their market vitality, so they continue to do research that will benefit their consumers, as well as being profitable for the company.Apart from flavor diversification, profitability in certain region has also been a major consideration. For instance, Coke Zero is a product that carries no carbohydrates orcalories and was not quite meeting the expected profits in the United States, but Coca-Cola started to advertise it more in Europe to areas that to enjoy it. This region seemed more concerned about their health and well-being, which contributed to Coke Zero becoming more of a profitable product.Special marketing techniques such as B2B strategies are also used to make their products more attractive to the young people. For example, Coca-Cola united with iTunes, so that whenever someone purchased a Coca-Cola product they would receive free songs to promote both products (Fuhrman, 2007).Even though, Coca-Cola is confronting with a number of challenges in the days to come. The most striking one is that the beverage industry is moving toward a health conscious consumer. “ In many European countries, the increasing consumer trend toward a healthier lifestyle continues to grow demand for functional beverages that offer physical or mental well-being, lower calories and other added values” (Fuhrman, 2007). Consumers’ value products that are going to help them live a healthy lifestyle and feel better both physically and mentally. Coca-Cola has to reconsider its existing product, pricing, distribution channel and promotion strategy to better adapt itself to the ever-changing atmosphere.In order to formulate a well-rounded market strategy for Coca-Cola, this report carefully establishes the relevant tactics which are in line with the analysis and data collected. It is recommended to use 4P which consists of product, place, price, promotion to analyze the specific details in the next part.Marketing mix summaryIn this report, 4P model is utilized to illustrate Coca-Cola’s marketing mix, i.e. product, place, price, promotion.Item DetailsProduct Coca-Cola has a huge product mix which contains about 400 brands, including diet and light beverages, waters, juice and juice drinks, teas,coffees, energy, and sports drinks (Coca-Cola Company, 2012).To attract new consumers and markets, product line must be extended,especially in the health drink product like tea, juice and sports drink etc.In addition, proper modification for the current product is also neededto maintain the current consumers.Price With the careful consideration of consumer’s price elasticity, the prices of the Coca-Cola's Companies products vary according to the brand andthe size in which they come in (Coca-Cola Company, 2012). Differentregion has differed preference and sensitivity to price. The distributorsand retail stores that the Coca-Cola Company deals with shouldimplement their own pricing strategy to gain the best profit marginwithin an accepted sales volume.Promotion There are four major parts of the promotional mix that integrate together to create a competitive advantage for an organization includingadvertising, public relations, sales promotion, and personal selling.Ads: Coca-Cola has invested heavily on advertising. The main purposeof ads are maintaining of brands awareness. Then, the ads in the futureshould focus on health conscious and environmentally friendly to caterfor the existing trend.Public relation: Product placements and sponsorships are frequentlyused by Coca-Cola (Marcial, 2007). Positive spokesperson to appeal tothe younger generation is another effective tool to publicize (Truini,2007)Personal selling: Personal selling in the Coca-Cola Company often isdone in a business-to-business fashion. This can be used in big businessalliance to satisfy consumers’ diversified needs.Sales promotion: coupons and rebates can be often used because theyare more likely to influence customers’ buying decision. Another typeof sales promotion that the Coca-Cola Company is currently using istheir coke rewards points promotion.Place Coca-Cola Company also uses intensive distribution strategies to makesure their products can be available everywhere. Moreover, automaticvending machines are effective to extend distribution network. To copewith the changing diet conception, Coca-Cola should focus more onCoca-Cola’s Diet Coke and Coke Zero sales, especially in LatinAmerica, the BRIC, and Western Europe (Fuhrman, 2007).Detailed strategy for promotionOnly with superior product, efficient distribution network and sufficient inventory is far from a successful business. Promotion is the key element of the marketing mix designed to build a useful channel with the marketplace and to persuade the customers buying decision. The promotional mix is the combination of personal selling, advertising, sales promotion and public relations that it uses in its marketing plan. •AdvertisingThe Coca-Cola’s innovative ads are extremely impressive to consumers. So, next step, what the company should do is keep this unique advantage and focus much more on the localization with respect to different culture background. This can be contributable to develop the emerging market.•Public relationSponsorship in the sport area has been successful in the last few decades and left a positive brand image. To comply with the healthy trend, Coca-Cola needs to invest more in public benefit activities, for instance, giving sponsor Hope Primary School, making contributions to medical treatment cause. These activity may establish a positive image in all kinds of people.•Personal selling & sales promotionThe negative implication of several media has exerted a relatively profound impact upon carbonated beverage. Accordingly, juice, tea and sports drinks should be the main products for promotions. The company can improve health drink market share by using more personal selling booth and more sales discount or lottery coupon. These activities are effective for getting people's short-term attention.Survey experiment in the Fenwick’s department store also proved the above analysis. In the survey of consumers’ attitudes towards health consideration when purchasing drinks, more than 45% agree with the viewpoints (as is shown in the bar chart below).In addition, when asked about familiarity, 50% agree with that it plays a major role in purchasing decision.ControlsImplementationImplementation is the process on how well the business mixes its people, organizational structure and company culture into a cohesive program that supports the marketing plan (Clark, 2005).Coca-Cola should implement several major transformations. First, production capability need to be modified to meet the quota demanded. It must also be cost-effective to avoid inventory stocks wastes. The marketing team should be aware of knowledgeable management about the product. The styles and types of promotion must be appealing to target customers to obtain the potential amount of exposure for the product. Another thing is efficient distribution network. The pertinent issue is taken care of with expedient transportation routes to commercial areas and traffic. Monitoring And ControllingMonitoring and controlling allows Coca-Cola to take the necessary actions to meet the marketing goals. There are three methods Coca-Cola may use to monitor the marketing scheme.•Sales AnalysisThe sales analysis analyzes sales revenue by market segmentation to discover advantages and disadvantages in the different regions. Sellers of Coca-Cola products vary from big retail supermarkets to small corner stores. This tool gives the products maximum exposure to customers at their convenience.•Market Share AnalysisThis approach is a comparison to the major rivals in the relevant market. With the shifts Coca-Cola is currently undergoing, they aim to get an aggressive position to stable its strong power. Target market various age groups and lifestyles from high school students too universities, and male or female.•Marketing Profitability AnalysisThis method takes the cost factor into consideration which deem profitability as a key index. Three ratios can be used for supervising marketing profitability; they are market research to sales, advertising to sales and sales representatives to sales. These three indicators can assist Coca-Cola determine any developing tendency, such as the requirement for a novel product. Scientific and careful comparison of these outcomes with actual results offers the company a clear instruction.Reference listAlarcon, Camille. (2007, January). Coke grows from zero to hero. B & T Weekly, 6-7 McKenzie, M., Linden, R. W. A., & Nicholson, J. W. (2009). The effect of Coca-Cola and fruit juices on the surface hardness of glass–ionomers and ‘compomers’.Journal of Oral Rehabilitation,31(11), 1046-1052.Belch, G. E., Belch, M. A., Kerr, G. F., & Powell, I. 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Business Week,15(2), 51-53.The Coca-Cola Company 2012 Annual Review, 12-15Truini, J. (2007). Beverage maker plans biggest plastics plant. Waste News, 13. (10), 4-4.Tucker, W. T. (2006). The development of brand loyalty.Journal of Marketing Research, 32-35.。
