Account Planning & Audience Insight Marketing Summary

Coca Cola has shown through its market share, profitability, and the quality product itself that it is a leader in the soft drinks industry. Aside from being an industry forerunner, Coca Cola also upholds a positive reputation for sharing its optimism through happiness, hope, independence and self-confidence. All of these attributes have contributed to the brands soaring equity and customer preference. The company also sets itself apart from competitors through its original taste that people have loved for more than 125 years. In order to reach the target audience of Hispanics in Los Angeles, CA, 23 35 years of age, the development of price is one of several important tactics that will be discussed. This plan will also illustrate what tactics we will use to implement our marketing strategies. These unique media tactics and strategies will help obtain our goals and objectives in this area of multicultural marketing. Centralizing Hispanics core values and using the best methods to reach consumers in L.A. is the overall plan for marketing, which includes a mix of traditional and non-traditional advertising and marketing. We have recognized opportunities for Coca Cola to grow within its Hispanic audience and propose individual ways to implement each of these growth tactics, which includes TV and radio advertisements, event marketing, digital media as well as direct mail. These methods will nurture the rapport we have with our customers to increase brand recognition of Coca Cola. To execute an effective IMC campaign, we also use budget-friendly digital mediums like relatively new social media channels to open a direct line of communication with our customers. With all these methods in place, we believe it will be the most effective campaign for our target

 audience. We also think the design of our compelling campaign will promote buzz and relationship building. As a result, Coca Cola will gain both sales and loyalty from new and existing markets. Product The Original Coca Cola has been spreading optimism and hope since 1886 and this

product has the most value when positioned as the original with no alterations. Coke is one of the leading soft drink companies in the industry and holds an operating principle of providing products and services that meet the beverage needs of consumers (Coca Cola, 2003). Not only does Coca Cola produce a product that is consumed over one billion times per day, but Coca Cola also focuses on the community, which is valued highly by minorities (Coca Cola, 2003). Typical delivery channels for Coca Cola include grocery stores, restaurants, street vendors, convenience stores, movie theaters, and amusement parks (Coca Cola, 2008). With a per capita consumption increase of $137 million from 1988 to 2008 (Coca Cola, 2010), Coca Cola has an established a market for future growth, especially within the Hispanic market. Statistics show that Hispanics are more likely to check prices and shop around for the best value therefore the pricing strategy is critical in capturing the Hispanic market (AJW Warehouse, 2006). To arrive at an appropriate pricing strategy, a value analysis was formulated to calculate overhead costs and the frequency of buying habits of the target market. Direct revenue from the customer minus the direct cost of product and the allocated costs will achieve a net profit if the product is sold at a price of $3.50 per 12 packs of canned Coca Cola (Lesson 6). The cost of Coca Cola must be seen as a value to the indicated Hispanic market in order to reach the group and create loyalty.

 The buying habits of Hispanics support continued growth of products due to many factors, one in particular being the Hispanic buying power. Research shows that Hispanic buying power is expected to increase 9.2% over the rest of the U.S. population (AJW

Warehouse, 2006). This statistics are significant considering the income of the Hispanic segment is significantly less than others in the United States. This fact further supports the objective to strategically market to the Hispanic segment and maintains the role of price on the marketing strategy. Competition The most obvious and direct competition is from the other soda-making giant corporation, PepsiCo. Because both of these large, global manufacturers are producers of so many other products other than ranges of Coca Cola and Pepsi products, its difficult to determine the clear leader in the soda industry. Since Neville Isdell took over the Coca Cola Company in 2004 and began quickly shifting the brands beverage lines, the company sells more than 400 brands in 200 countries (Sivy, 2007). Sivy also says, Over the next decade Coke's global reach should give it the edge in the regions that offer the greatest growth (2007). While the main competition remain from PepsiCo. Cadbury Schweppes and the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc., Coca Cola still sits on top. Domestically there are still competitors from the generic sodas, especially in the Hispanic markets. However, Coca-Cola still has a relatively narrow product range (2003, COMPANY SPOTLIGHT). Demographics Understanding a products target market is obtained through a mix of demographics and psychographics (Lesson 6). Based on the demographic data for Los Angeles, California, Original Coca Cola will target Hispanics, age 23-35 (Melissa Data, 2010). Los Angeles represents the

largest Hispanic market in the U.S. at 43.3% (AJW Warehousing, 2006). Los Angeles has a total population of 54,481 of which 46,044 are Hispanic or Latino. The secondary target market would be Caucasians, with a population of 13,422 (Melissa Data, 2010).

The Hispanic demographic has an average family size of 4.61 (Melissa Data, 2010) and an average adjusted gross income of $31,102 (City Data, 2010), which is staggeringly lower than the $57,988 medium income of California residents (U.S. Census, 2008). This gap creates a tendency for Hispanics to spend less on average than the American population. However, Hispanics do account for 10% of carbonated drinks annual sales (AJW Warehouse, 2006). Therefore, the Hispanic segment is an important and growing market for Coca Cola. The data above provides insight for the Coca Cola marketing strategy that is aimed at the Hispanic market and lays the groundwork for media channel selection.

 Communication Channels

There are several communication channels that will be used to effectively reach the target audience, from traditional mass media and mobile advertising, to event sponsorships and outdoor advertising. Since an overwhelmingly large percentage of those in the chosen demographic are Hispanic, choosing a language for the communication tools is a matter of making the entire target audience comfortable. The median age of the target group is 23.2 years old, and even though advertising in English would effectively reach these young Hispanics (Armbruster, 2007), the target audience also includes older Hispanics who may feel more comfortable with ads in Spanish. However, its important not to alienate those members of the group who may feel that a campaign using just Spanish would discount any English abilities they may have (Sullivan, 2008). Additionally, according to a national survey conducted in 2009 by the Pew Hispanic Center, 23% of youths said they use Spanglish, an informal mix of English and Spanish, when speaking with their family and friends; 37% said they use it some of the time (pewhispanic.org, 2009). Therefore, a combination of English and Spanish will be the most effective choice. Traditional Mass Media Hispanics have a special affinity for television and radio (Sonderup, n.d.). Television viewership among Hispanics is also growing and outpacing that of other groups; there was an estimated 12.9 million Hispanic homes with TVs during the 2009-10 television season, according to Gisela Girard, chair of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies. (Westlund, 2009). In addition to television, communicating through radio would also effective since Hispanics often listen all day (Sonderup, n.d.). An entire family may tune in to a particular

 station as much as 26-30 hours per week, which ranks more than 13% above the general population (Sonderup, n.d.). Additionally, the campaign will include newspaper ads in minority newspapers, which provide news specifically geared to the Hispanic community (Sonderup, n.d.). Hispanics aged 34-54 are the ones reading newspapers most often (Sonderup, n.d.). Since 21.5 percent of our target audience is within this age group, it would be an effective communication tool. Event Sponsorship The campaign will include an event sponsorship, such as a festival or concert, because brands using types of events are viewed as more authentic to Hispanics (Armbruster, 2007). In fact, when surveyed, 500 acculturated Hispanics ranked experiential marketing first over other forms of media, according to a survey by marketing company Jack Morton Latino (Wentz, 2008). Sponsoring an event would also create excitement while continuing to enhance the image of Coca-Cola (Sonderup, n.d.). This would provide a softer sell approach, involving more passive marketing messages at an event conveyed through signs or videos, which Jack

Morton Latino found Hispanics preferred (Wentz, 2008). One possible event would be a concert featuring a popular Hispanic artist such as Daddy Yankee or the group Sin Bandera. Mobile Mobile marketing would also be effective, whether it's part of an event sponsorship or as an initiative on its own, since 53% of Hispanics use mobile broadband, a much greater percentage than Caucasians at 33%. (Perez, 2009). The campaign would take advantage of this avid usage by offering members of the target audience the opportunity to get free music and special Coca-Cola downloads. Hispanics, more than the general population, download digital

media at a much greater rate: In 2008, 42% of Hispanics downloaded audio music, music videos, movies, etc., as opposed to 35% of the general population (Perez, 2009). Social Networking Social networking would also be valuable, either as a component of an event sponsorship or a stand-alone initiative, because 65% of Hispanics who are online use social media (O'Leary, 2009). In fact, a large percentage of Hispanics are using MySpace and Facebook daily. Fortyone percent of Hispanics visit MySpace each day and 44% visit Facebook at least once a day (Brown Johnson, Morrison & Wentz, 2009). Additionally, Facebook users in Los Angeles alone increased to 2,166,840 users, an increase of 240.6% from 2009-2010 (Corbett, 2010). Outdoor Advertising The campaign would also have an outdoor component since Hispanics enjoy group outings, such as festivals or games, and outdoor ads with simple messages can generate the biggest reach and frequency at a low cost (Epstein, 2005). Direct Mail Sending direct mail solicitations to the target audience would prove to be a constructive tool. While many people in the general population consider direct mail junk and toss it, Hispanics don't. In fact, Hispanic households are 3.5 times more likely to respond to a direct mail approach than a non-Hispanic household (Sonderup n.d.). Nearly three-quarters of Hispanics say they always read their mail even if it's a solicitation (Sonderup, n.d.). Internet This campaign will also incorporate an online presence, in addition to the social networking sites, because of Hispanics' high Internet usage. Seventy-seven percent of Hispanics aged 18-34, and 65% of those aged 35-49, use the Internet (Fox, Livingston, & Parker, 2009).

 Supporting Advertisements

Do you see
Fizz or Efervescencia Bubbles or Burbujas Excitement or emocin?

It doesn(t matter.
You(ll still get pure refreshment.

No matter how you say it

Happiness Felicidad Joy Alegra Delight Deleite

It all starts with a Coke.

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Although the Hispanic cultural is very influential in the Los Angeles there are also other demographics that would be significant in the growth of Coca-Cola Original in this area. Two segments in particular that would fall in this category would be African American moms and teenagers. Coke is infamous for being one of lifes simple pleasures, giving the consumer a chance to step back and take a moment. Coke uses optimism, self-confidence and independence as core points of differentiation. Hope and optimism are always in demand and coke gives consumers the opportunity to experience these feelings. They make the consumer believe in happiness, while creating loyal customers. Understanding these attributes helps give insight on future segments that Coke can obtain. Cokes product differentiation could impact African American mothers and convey the Coke message through this segment, to their families, which includes teenagers. Coco-Colas consumer base could be expanded through an effort to target the subculture of African-American moms and would be a continuation of their brand attributes. Multicultural marketing for the brand would capture the strength, joy and wisdom of the African-American market. Particularly in these tough times, this group could look around every day and find optimism. (Hein, 2009). This optimism takes a unique approach to bringing in consumers based on how the product makes them feel. It also embodies the fact that African American moms are a growing population, with growing power in income (Zmuda, 2009). A holistic approach in capturing these demographics would prove beneficial in capturing this groups attention. Teens are also influential in the African American homes and among society. They are trendsetters and have the capacity to shape civilization. Thanks to technology multicultural consumers, like these teenagers, have the capability to integrate Coke throughout the demographics entire population.

 Social network sites and blogs are just a few examples of how Coke can create relationships among this market that is normally untouched and overlooked. Coke is a way of life and one of the biggest attributes of the product is the optimistic

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experience felt by the customer. E. Neville Isdell, chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company says, Optimism and hope have been part of our secret formula since the first glass of Coca-Cola was poured 121 years ago. (Coca-Cola 2009). This concept is critical to the campaign and will help develop relationships among the target market, giving them the opportunity to experience Coca Cola.