The Coca-Cola Company

6/4/2014
 GROUP E

Group Members:

Sarah Javed
L1S13BBAM0148
Nida Saeed
L1S12BBAM0012
Hussain Haider Naqvi
L1F11BBAM2103
Umer sarfraz
L1S13BBAM0137
Elisha George
L1F12BBAM2150

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 Submitted to : Prof. Shehzad Alam

BBA (Section D)

Introduction:

Coca-Cola is the worlds most popular CSD (Carbonated Soft Drink) beverage brand
introduced in almost 120 countries worldwide. The brand is consumed on daily basis with
consumers spread worldwide. Created in Atlanta, Georgia on 8 May 1886, the first Coca-Cola
was described as delicious and refreshing. Not much has changed since then, and theres still
nothing better than an ice-cold Coke to quench your thirst. It represents the power of optimism
and positive thinking. It is happiness in a bottle, it connects people and it brings out the best in
the human spirit.

Coca-Cola demonstrates excellence in its all actions and is committed to deliver quality
products and superior customer service by conforming to Companys and Regulatory
requirements. It does utmost to ensure food safety and endear to achieve agreed goals and
metrics as defined by the company.

The Coca-Cola Companys devoted team recognizes the trade mark as a symbol of
quality and strives hard for continual improvement in its system to achieve customer satisfaction.

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 Marketing Mix
Product:
Product attributes:

Quality: The quality of coke is the best among the leading beverages brands all
over the world. The best thing about coke is that it never compromises on quality
and values.
Features and design: The color of the Bottle will be transparent and the official
Logo will be Red. Appearance of the product is of two types i.e. the narrow bottle
neck and broad bottle neck shape. The Coca-Cola product has been introduced in
different sizes, quantity and packs:

o 330 ml Can
o NRB (Non Returnable Bottle) 250 ml
o RGB (Regular Glass Bottle- Standard) 250 ml
o 500 ml (PET Bottle)
o 1.5 Liters (PET Bottle)
o 2.25 Liters- Jumbo Pack

Branding strategy:

It includes the brand names, brand mark and trade characters and trade logo of the
company.

Brand names:

Coca cola:

Diet coke

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 Trade logo and trade characters:

Coca-Cola is a registered trademark of The Coca-Cola Company

Packaging strategy:
The coca cola products are packed in different packages according to
customer requirements.

o 330 ml Can
o NRB (Non Returnable Bottle) 250 ml
o RGB (Regular Glass Bottle- Standard) 250 ml
o 500 ml (PET Bottle)
o 1.5 Liters (PET Bottle)
o 2.25 Liters- Jumbo Pack

Nature of the product:

Coca-Cola is a convenience product which is consumed on daily basis by
almost every consumer.

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 Usage/consumption:
Customers can use this product while they are traveling, or to quench their thirst,
out of home or even in their leisure and recreation time vis--vis while they are among
family or friends too.

The regular glass bottle (Standard) is immediate consumption pack and Non-
returnable bottle are future consumption packs.

Differential advantage:
Coca-Cola product is differentiated from its direct competitor i.e.
Pepsi Cola in terms of taste and quality.

Price:
Like all other beverages Coca-Colas price is government regulated and the price is fixed for
consumers as compared to retailers and other business partners. Coke has to keep its price in
pace with its competitors as the consumers in beverage industries have a chance to easily
switch to other brands. Moreover, the discounts are offered to the retailers and distributors in
accordance with the company policy. The price fluctuations are not mostly caused by the
changes in product life cycle curve. The objective of the company is to set a price that covers the
costs and keeps a significant profit margin at the same time.

Placement:
The distribution strategy of coke is one of its core competencies as the primary focus
is direct distribution for the base market. Coca-Cola Company makes two types of selling i.e.
direct and indirect selling. It sells directly in the major cities of the country including Lahore and
hence ensures the quality of the product.

Channels of Distribution

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 Distributors

End
consumers
Production wholesellers

retailers

The other defined channels of Distribution are twenty six which are under company matrix.
The channels include three priority and seven sub trade channels:

Priority Channels

-Groceries

Sub Trade Channels

Modern general store

Traditional general store

-Street Vendors

Sub Trade Channels

Beverage Street Vendors

Pan/Cigarette vendors

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-HORECAS:

Sub Trade Channels

Conventional Horecas

Traditional Restaurants
Local Food Stand

-MODERN HORECAS

Sub Trade Channels:

Fine restaurants
Fast food restaurant
Cafs
-KEY ACCOUNTS

Hotels, Hospitals, School/Colleges, Parks, Railways, Bus Stands, Airports, Military

Clubs, Food Courts, petrolium food marts, Banquet halls and others

The product is available in all the main and posh areas of the big cities in Pakistan and
some of the main areas of small cities.

Mode of distribution:
The company distributes its product by road. The primary focus of the company is direct
distribution; the company manages the vehicles at its own which operate on specific territories
and routes allocated to each area and its Sales force. The company uses direct distribution for the
big cities while it also uses indirect distribution for delivering coke to villages.

Product Availability:
Buyers can look our products in retail outlets, general stores, beverage street outlets, pan
cigarette outlets, petroleum marts-convenience buying stores, restaurants and cafs and where
ever the services are available and it is within their reach. There is no such specification as from
where to get the product as this is a beverage product so it is available everywhere.

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 Target Market:
Coke markets its product to SEC A, B, and C. As its a convenience and daily consumption
product so it is consumed by almost every person in the society. Hence, coke has to do
undifferentiated marketing (mass marketing) in order to fulfill market demand.

Market structure and demographics:

The product is a beverage so it has a widespread market structure and the target market has
wide spread demographics. As people of different age groups, income levels, education and
backgrounds consume this product. They have their own tastes and preferences even their needs
and wants are different.

Difficulties in distribution:
A major difficulty faces by the company in distributing its product was that its
distribution is not based on franchising; rather it has its own outlets for selling. Whereas,
Pepsi has its franchises all over the country so it has a bigger edge as compared to coke.

Promotion:

The company views promotion as a vital part of marketing mix and hence strives to
produce eye-catching ads and promotional messages in order to increase its market share.

Media Choice:
Coke approaches its customers through Digital media, Electronic media (TV and
radio), print media and brand activations.

Time frame of new promotion:

The time frame for new promotions is 1.5 to 2months and there are a number of
ads running at a time so all of them need to be changed from time to time. In this way the
customers also keep attached to the brand by getting intrigued by the newer ads.

Message content
The message that coke delivers to its customers through its offerings is open
happiness. They say it this way that It is happiness in a bottle enduring the customers
with an ultimate experience of happiness each time they grab a coke.

Marketing campaigns/advertisements:

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 The current official marketing campaign for Coca-Cola is psscht!! Summers ko refresh karo
naaa which gives the consumers a sensation of refreshing themselves with coke in summers.

Previous campaigns include Khaaaa Lay peee Lay Jee lay !! and Hur dum
Pakistani these campaigns are basically for particular target market that is a combination of
teenagers, middle aged and even old age people.

Seasonality factor:
Nowadays, summers are on the peak and its the time to boost the sales and maximize
profitability. Summers are a very profit seeking season for beverage industry. So, the
seasonality factor exists in the market. Its also a significant time to boost up advertising and
increase promotion in order to increase brand image and brand recognition.

Public relations:
The promotional budget is allocated by the management of the company which is in
billions. Heavy budget is set to run these activities. In this regard, public relations play an
important role during the launch of the product and while any marketing campaign has to be
run for the current product, media plays an important role and jointly, if any branding for the
product is required public relations play their part in helping the marketing campaign to be
successful.

EVENTS AND SPONSERSHIPS:

Concerts and Charity Programs:

The Coca-Cola Company sponsors Pakistani leading pop group and organizes concerts and
charity shows throughout the country for teen agers and underprivileged children. Moreover, it
also sponsors concerts in leading universities for students in order to improve its brand image.

Coke Studio:

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 The Coca-Cola Company has given the privilege to the music industry of Pakistan. In a way
that renowned musicians of the music industry unite together to experience the live music
sessions and performances of different genres of music. Coke Studio is the largest marketing
campaign of the industry that is aimed to enhance the companys brand image as well as
enhancing the countrys repute in music industry.

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS:
The biggest strength of Coca-Cola is its quality. As the company has no concept of
distributed bottling unlike Pepsi so there is no compromise on quality.
Company enjoys customer loyalty as well as a strong brand image. They have one of
the most loyal consumer groups.
Firm has the largest beverage market share in the world (about 40%).
Coca-Cola Company is the most valued brand in the world
Firm has strong marketing and advertising.
Coca-Cola is strongly focusing on corporate social responsibility (CSR) Such as
recycling /packaging. It gives a social image of a good company that results in a
competitive advantage over competitors.
It has the most extensive distribution channel. Coca cola serves more than 200
countries and they have more than 1.7 billion servings a day.

WEAKNESSES:

COCA COLA is still focusing on carbonated beverages while the world is fighting
obesity and is moving towards consuming healthier food and drinks.

Coca cola is selling many brands but only few of them meet the requirement of sales.

There is a negative publicity; firm is often criticized for high level of water consumption
in water scarce regions.

Coca-Cola has a high debt level, interest rate and borrowing cost.

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OPPURTUNITIES:

Coca-Cola Company has an opportunity to expand its product range with drinks
containing low amount of sugar.

Coca-Cola can easily penetrate into new markets with its existing product by acquiring
other companies.

Consumption of soft during is increasing in emerging markets where Coca-Cola can

increase and maintain its market share.

Many people like juices so Coca-Cola can increase its product range by introducing new
juices.

THREATS:
Now consumers are becoming more health conscious and they are reducing consumption
of carbonated beverages containing high sugar. This is the most serious threat to Coca-
Cola as Coca-Cola has a significant focus on carbonated drinks.
Water is becoming scarce around the world and a large amount of water is used in its
production which increases both cost and criticism for Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola significantly relies on carbonated beverages sales while the market of
beverages is not growing, even it is declining.
Coca-Cola gross profit and net profit margin was decreasing over the past few decades
and may continue to decrease due to the higher water and other raw material cost.
People are changing the trend of drinking beverages by consuming juices like Nestle and
others that can eventually decrease the market share of coke.

BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP MATRIX

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 Coke

Coke is a cash cow as it has low market growth as compared to the high market share.

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE CURVE

C
O
K
E

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COKE is in the maturity phase.

Recommendations:

Marketing team should try to increase the availability of Coke in rural areas. Nowadays,
young generation is developing a trend to drink two regular bottles of coke at same time,
so the company should introduce liter disposable bottle in order to increase the sales.
Moreover, the company should also produce bottled water and juices in order to sustain
its position in the market in long term. This would improve the market share as coke will
be able to target the children as well after introducing juices.

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