Capitalizing on the Value of a Brand Name - Case Study Example

Name Course Instructor Date Coca-Cola Brand Audit Mission The Coca-Cola brand declarers its purpose as the mission to create value and inspire optimism and happiness through refreshing the world and making a difference (Coca-Cola® | Taste The Feeling!). Vision The vision for Coca-Cola notes that the brand intends to create a workplace for inspiring people while nurturing a successful network through developing productive and long term returns on the wide range of quality brands of average (Coca-Cola® | Taste The Feeling!). Values Coca-Cola is governed by key values as: Quality Leadership Accountability Diversity Passion and integrity Audit Objectives The objective for conducting this audit was to conduct a thorough audit on aspects related to Coca-Cola as a brand (Coca-Cola® | Taste The Feeling!). Thus, the audit examines key internal and external processes involved in maintaining and enhancing Coca-Cola brand equity. Scope The scope of this audit was inclusive of examining the mission and vision of the brand, promise, personality and performance of Coca-Cola considering its values and position in the beverages market (Coca-cola.co.uk). Approach As noted under scope, the audit involved retrieving documents from Coca-Cola like financial report and publications on the brand. Besides, interviews were conducted to collect information on brand equity and other preliminary findings. The findings were then summarized to reflect the different levels of the brand. Background on the Brand And Company Coca-Cola as a brand is produced by Coca-Cola Company which is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. It is sometimes referred to as cola in European countries and parts of the United States or Coke, soda, or pop in other parts of the world (Coca-Cola® | Taste The Feeling!). The original purpose for the brand was to be used as a patent medicine at its invention by John Pemberton and later turned to Coke by Griggs Candler becoming a dominant soft drink (Coca-cola.co.uk). The brand has led to other drinks like Diet Coke, and other editions with lime, coffee or lemon like krest. Figure1.0 Source: Coca-Cola® | Taste The Feeling! Consumer Analysis Coca-Cola has inculcated three major ways in its market segmentation. These include mass, differentiated and niche marketing. Of these, differentiated marketing dominates whereby Coke provides diet coke for weight conscious consumers and regular sprite and Fanta for average human. Brand inventory Brand element Brand logo- Coca-Cola is presented in a distinguishing symbol of the name written in red. Having gone through a series of changes over the years since 1886 where the logo was just a name written in black, the company has retained the name in its logo demonstrating that the effect on customers still remains the same (Staff). Having the logo on any product therefore allows the customers to perceive it as a Coca-Cola product implying quality and creativity. As such, the icon presents as the element of Coca-Cola’s brand Figure2.0 Coca-Cola logo 2016 Source: Coca-Cola® | Taste The Feeling! Packaging The products for Coca-Cola are packaged in simple bottles and cans that bear unique characteristics to Coca-Cola besides being transported in crates designed specifically for the Coca-Cola bottles. The department responsible for packaging has managed to create packaging that appeals to the consumer creating an emotional connection with them in a way that the consumers gain memorable moments while opening the bottle (Greenfield, 1942). This was also included in the logo design for Coca-Cola in 2011 whereby the company represented its celebration of 125 years of happiness by an open bottle with bubbles bursting at the bottle contour, shown in figure 3.0 Source: Coca-cola.co.uk. and appendix 2.1 Source: Coca-Cola® | Taste The Feeling! Official Coca-Cola® US Website Figure 3.0 Coca-Cola packaging-emotional connection with consumers Source: Coca- cola.co.uk. Slogans Coca-Cola over the years has utilized various slogans in promoting their products with each slogan describing different importance and benefit to the consumer and the times. For instance, in 1906, the United States society was moving away from alcoholic drinks and at the time, Coca-Cola provided the best alternative and thus the slogan “The Great National Temperance Beverage” (Coca-cola.co.uk). The most recent ones include the 2006 slogan- the Coke Side of Life, Open Happiness for 2009 and the Share a Coke campaign slogan (O'Reilly). Figure 4.0 Share a Coke slogan for 2012-2014 Source: Coca- cola.co.uk Figure 5.0 The Great National Temperance Beverage- 1906 Source: Coca- cola.co.uk Figure 6.0 1939 slogan Source: Coca- cola.co.uk Figure 7.0 “Have a Coke and a Smile”- 1979 slogan Source: Coca- cola.co.uk Supporting marketing programs Coca-Cola has set up marketing strategies that involve supporting litter collection for sustainability of the brand in the market. Having realized that the Coca-Cola cans are found almost everywhere including beaches, roadsides and waterways, it became necessary for the company to partner with communities and find proper disposal means that least pollutes the environment. The company set off a campaign dubbed “Keep America Beautiful” to keep United States clean and beautiful (Hayran, 105). Moreover, the company has formed partnership with global bodies like Ocean Conservancy which launched a cleanup in 1986 in the United States. Besides, Coca-Cola runs International Coastal Cleanup having over 10 million volunteers in 153 countries. Through funding educational programs that focus on educating the public on environmental conservancy, Coca-Cola creates positive perception with its customers within the community engagement (Lindemann, 205). The Coca-Cola Foundation donated $1.5 million as a grant in 2011 to Ocean Conservancy that was intended to support an initiative dubbed “Trash Free Seas”. Furthermore, the company has formed partnership with European countries to generate diversity in employment. In 2015, a report from the Director of Operational Marketing for the company noted that Coca-Cola had joined other companies in setting a 40 percent female representation target by 2025. In 2015, the company had 26 percent female workers around the world. Moreover, these women are distributed almost equally within the management system of the company with 33 percent in the board of directors, 30 percent in the executive grades, 26 percent I the leadership grades and 38 percent of the employees in the management grades. This indicates that the company is embracing diversity in its workforce by developing and motivating employees in which the company operates (Greenfield, 1942). Figure 8.0 Coca-Cola Female Workforce for 2015 Source: Coca- Cola European Partners In addition, the company has designed safe and healthy workplaces with world class safety standards which are operated by Safety Councils in conjunction with safety committees (Coca-Cola European Partners). 16 out of 17 manufacturing operations in 2015 were Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems. This has ensured that the company reduces its lost time due to accidents within the distribution system. Figure 9.0 Coca-Cola reduction plan on accident rate lost time Source: Coca- Cola European Partners Over the years, Coca-Cola has invested in music to promote its products and services as a marketing strategy. The launch of Coke Studio that has been experienced across the continents has featured performances from artists around the world (Harris et al, 15). For instance, Coke Studio in Middle East and North Africa brings together international artists from North Africa and from Arab countries. This began in 2012 and continues up to date whereby the program is based on fusion of different music genres in a live studio including pop, hip hop and rock and indigenous genres. The same has been included in Africa as Coke Studio Africa, Coke Studio India, and Coke Studio Pakistan among others. Profile of competing brands Pepsi Figure 10.0 Pepsi logo Source: Forbes.com The brand was invented when the company was founded in 1898, 12 years after the founding of Coca-Cola. It is headquartered in Purchase, New York in United States (Brick, 5). The brand has had 117 years in the market and has generates a brand icon that is universe reflecting as the brands logo. As of May 2016, Pepsi had a brand value of $19.4 Billion being ranked 29 as the world’s most valuable brand by Forbes Lists. Moreover, Pepsi provides three lines of products as Pepsi Max, Pepsi and Pepsi Diet (Forbes.com). These products are shown in appendix 2.0 source: Pepsico.com Of interest, Pepsi is noted to have passed Diet Coke as a second most popular soda in 2014 for Americans (Brick et al, 10). The company has been known to deal in soft drinks, energy drinks and snacks which focus on fun, global joining and happiness. Dr. Pepper Figure 11.0 Dr Pepper logo Source: Forbes.com The company, Dr Pepper Snapple headquartered in Plano, Texas, was founded in 1885 a year before Coca-Cola and has Dr Pepper brand in 23 flavors in the market that have unique taste different from any soda in the market (Forbes.com). Having been in the market for over 129 years, the company has developed a compelling brand name represented by iconic logo that stands out to be one of its kind (AMA_SanAntonio). In 2015, the brand had $5.7 billion sales while the company is rated to have $16.2 billion worth. It has been ranked as 1011 in the world by Forbes Lists (Forbes.com). The company is known to deal in soft drinks, carbonated drinks, non-alcoholic drinks for sport energizers and family fun. These are demonstrated in appendix 3.0. Source: AMA_SanAntonio, "Dr Pepper Snapple Group Branding Presentation Points of Difference Coca-Cola is known to offer distinctive tastes in its profile like in the case for Fanta which provides different tastes like orange flavor, pineapple, among others (Butler and Linda, 25). The slogans presented by Coca-Cola points at a view of life that is optimistic like in the slogan “Open a Coke Open Happiness; On the Coke Side of Life”. Furthermore, the brand stands out as a classic and iconic imagery that is memorable for the people. Through utilizing the colors and symbols in the advertising like the case for Coke Africa having the African map in the logo makes it distinct besides the bottle in red (O'Reilly, 4). In addition, the brand has developed emotional connection with its customers by being involved in appealing activities like music and sports which are loved by most of its customers (Du Plessis, 22). For example, in 2016, the company began a campaign through advertising with a slogan of “Taste the Feeling” which has been formed to connect all the emotions for people. Points of Parity The brand has involved technology and innovation in its distribution and advertising such that it is up to date with the current trends (Gürhan-Canli et al, 6). This is experienced through the advertising trends that took place on social media like Facebook where users were in a position to include the name of their friend they would wish to share a coke with during the Share a Coke campaign. Besides, the brand is presented in refreshing flavors like sprite, Fanta, and Coke. As a matter of fact, the brand exists as a beverage that are tasty and healthy considering Coke zero that is perceived to have to be free from obesity causing elements (O'Reilly, 3). Brand mantra Logo Emotional modifier Descriptive modifier Brand functions Fun Family Beverage Figure 12.0 brand mantra Source: Coca-Cola® | Taste The Feeling! Figure 11.0 brand mantra Coca-Cola exists as a unique brand and in a survey, the most possible encapsulation of this brand is can be “fun beverage for family and friends”. According to one Coke executive, the brand mantra for Coca-Cola has been “within an arm’s reach of desire” (Coca-cola.co.uk.). Brand Portfolio Coca-Cola as a company is comprised of numerous product categories and brands within the stock (Stobart, 35). These categories include: Soft drinks- under this product, Coca-Cola distributes frozen drinks, carbonated and diet drinks. These drink include sodas like Fanta, sprite and Coke. Juices-this product is comprised of fruit juices and smoothies that include Coca-Cola Raspberry. Tea and coffee-this product is comprised of fruit tea and coffee drink that includes most of the Coca-Cola drinks except caffeine free Coca-Cola. Water- this is comprised of mineral and enhanced water like Coca-Cola clear that is presently sold in France and Canada. Other drinks-these refers to the rest of the products sold by Coca-Cola including energy and sports drinks and mixers. Coca-Cola orange is included under this category. Branding strategies The products from Coca-Cola are sold in restaurants, vending machines and stores worldwide. For the company to retain its uniqueness, a concentrate is produced and sold to Coca-Cola bottlers that are registered (Paugam et al, 52). In order to retain brand loyalty with the customers, the company has redesigned its development policies as a move to cope with the trends within the changing mindset of the consumers. Following the redesigning, the company developed new strategies that were focused on price value, consumer preference and more emphasis on pervasive penetration (Lindemann, 109). In order to attain pervasive penetration, the company has developed a brand name through creating accessibility to customers by opening up outlets in as many regions as possible including hospitals and football pitches. Besides, the pricing has been made affordable to as many people as possible through different packaging to cater for all walks of life. Having invested in brand advertising through celebrities and entertaining aspects of life like music, Coca-Cola has created a unanimous acceptance with the consumers globally. The advertisement of products like Coca-Cola classic and Diet Coke provides the consumers with a variety of products to choose from by catering for various preferences (Lindemann, 220). This in turn develops the brand loyalty among the consumers. Furthermore, the company developed Coca-Cola zero which has been subdivided into sub-brands as: Coke Zero Diet Coke Coke Classic Brand equity For Coca-Cola Company, brand equity can be termed as a way in which the brand influences consumers to purchase certain product and not to buy the other of the level. According to David Aaker, brand equity can be viewed in five components (2): Brand loyalty Brand awareness Perceived quality Brand associations Other proprietary assets Brand loyalty Coca-Cola has developed reduced marketing costs over the years after the consumers establishing loyalty to the brand. For instance, most of the African countries consider Coca-Cola to be the most reliable soda and thus saves the company the cost of advertising the essence of the brand (Aaker, 2). In the same way, since more consumers perceive the brand as reliable, it gives Coca-Cola time to respond to threats from competitors like Pepsi since the customers loyal to Coca-Cola cannot be easily swayed to switch brands. Brand awareness Having developed a strong brand name, Coca-Cola stands a better chance to introducing more brands under the same name since the consumers have developed trust towards it and can therefore purchase similar products under the same brand name (Aaker, 2). That is to say, one consumer familiar with the Coca-Cola brand can talk about the brand and hence spreading the awareness of the brand. This is further reflected in the manner consumers shop for Coca-Cola brands during purchases (Hayran and Zeynep, 125). In a survey by Sagar in 2012 in Canada, Australia, United States, France, United Kingdom and Germany, it was established that Coca-Cola had 90percent brand awareness. In the same survey, the brand had 54,406 Twitter followers, 55,738,549 Facebook likes and 1,913,995 views on YouTube. Perceived quality For years, the brand has been viewed as reliable for providing good quality products (Aaker, 2). The pricing for Coca-Cola which suits every consumer has contributed to its quality to be perceived as high considering caffeine free products to be expensive and also non-obesity causing like coke zero are more expensive than other drinks at the same level. In addition, being available in different channels like energy drinks, carbonated drinks among others contribute positively to the perception of the Coca-Cola brand quality. Brand associations. The Coca-Cola brand has been known to retrieve many associations form the mind of consumers especially due to television advertisements (Aaker, 3). The associations are further influenced by the consumers’ mindset in a way that they are influenced during purchases. Moreover, the associations have been triggered by the positive feelings and attitudes like happiness and fun that comes with the sharing of Coca-Cola drinks among families and friends which has in turn influenced the brand equity (Coca-Cola® | Taste The Feeling). Having extensions of the brand like beverages, juice products, music and the bottling operations contribute positively to the perception of the brand by consumers. These associations are demonstrated in Figure 13.0 Coca-Cola brand associations Source: Þãŕŷåņī and Sarah The advertisement that “Open Happiness” is not backed up by logical reasoning but instead, Coca-Cola has structured it in a way that directs people not to focus on the drink itself but the moments associated with the Coke taking (Coca-Cola® | Taste The Feeling). For example, the customizable labels on Coke packaging have allowed people to associate the Coca-Cola brand with families and friends, just like an athlete holding signature cups lead the consumer into perceiving the brand as a form of celebration. Figure 13.0 Coca-Cola brand associations Source: Þãŕŷåņī and Sarah Other proprietary assets The Coke brand has been known to relate with other partners in other dimensions like education and entertainment. For instance, the participation of coke in entertainment like sponsoring shows like Coke Studio enhances the Coca-Cola brand competitive advantage against its competitors (Lindemann, 120). Strategic brand management recommendations Technology Coca-Cola Company has to realize that the markets demand products through a simple interaction network and therefore, the company should consider embracing the technology and developing reusable packaging (Butler and Linda, 78). This can be done through utilizing the packaging technology in which the beverages are packed to be useful to consumers in a way that they can be edible. Just like it has been done by the manufactures of ice cream and cakes, Coca-Cola can move away from the traditional glass bottling and metal cans to more environmentally friendly means whereby the consumer can have the drink and eat the wrapper (Greenfield, 1945). This organic packaging can positively influence the perception of the product in the market as an initiative towards organic food packaging. Competition The ultimate tool to beating the competitors is influencing the customers mind. Therefore, Coca-Cola should consider creating alternative advertisement channels like backpack and trendy packaging that bears in mind the changing lifestyles of the 21st century (Hayran and Zeynep, 72). This is because some consumers, especially the youth would love to be a part of Coca-Cola but fail due to the traditional form of advertising like creating a whole advert to block their favorite show and therefore creating something more appealing like outfit and proper pricing will boost the brand equity and consequently stay ahead of the competitors (Gürhan et al, 4). References Aaker, David A. "Managing Brand Equity: Capitalizing on the Value of a Brand Name." (1991). AMA_SanAntonio, "Dr Pepper Snapple Group Branding Presentation". Slideshare.net. N.p., 2013. Web. 20 Sept. 2016. Brick, Danielle J., et al. "“Diet Pepsi Again?” Brand Compatibility, Power and Life Satisfaction." NA-Advances in Consumer Research Volume 43 (2015). Butler, David, and Linda Tischler. Design to Grow: How Coca-Cola Learned to Combine Scale and Agility (and how You Can Too). Simon and Schuster, 2015. Coca-Cola® | Taste The Feeling! Official Coca-Cola® US Website. N.p., 2016. Web. 20 Sept. 2016. Du Plessis, Charmaine. "Brand storytelling: the case of Coca-Cola's Journey Corporate Website." (2015). European partners, Cocacola. "Coca-Cola European Partners : Employment And Diversity". Coca- Cola European Partners. N.p., 2016. Web. 20 Sept. 2016. Forbes. "The World's Most Valuable Brands". Forbes.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 20 Sept. 2016. Global 2000, Forbes. "The World’S Biggest Public Companies". Forbes.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 20 Sept. 2016. Greenfield, Scott. "Giving the Global High Sign: Coca-Cola Advertising of the “American Way” in Life Magazine, 1941-1947." (2016). Gürhan-Canli, Zeynep, Ceren Hayran, and Gülen Sarial-Abi. "Customer-based brand equity in a technologically fast-paced, connected, and constrained environment." AMS Review (2016): 1-10. Harris, Jennifer L., et al. "Evaluating sugary drink nutrition and marketing to youth." New Haven, CT: Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity (2011). Hayran, Ceren, and Zeynep Gürhan-Canli. "Brand extensions." The Routledge Companion to Contemporary Brand Management (2016): 136. Lindemann, Jan. "Brand Valuation: Identifying and Measuring the Economic Value Creation of Brands." The Definitive Book of Branding (2014): 253. O'Reilly, Lara. "Brand Audit: Coca-Cola". Marketing Week. N.p., 2013. Web. 20 Sept. 2016. Paugam, Luc, et al. Brand Valuation. Routledge, 2016. "Pepsico Announces Q2 2016 Earnings". Pepsico.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 20 Sept. 2016. Staff, Journey. "The History of The Coca‑Cola Logo | Our History | Coca-Cola GB". Coca- cola.co.uk. N.p., 2016. Web. 20 Sept. 2016. Stobart, Paul, ed. Brand power. Springer, 2016. Þãŕŷåņī, Sagar and Sarah Khan Chandio. "Coca Cola Brand Audit". Slideshare.net. N.p., 2012. Web. 20 Sept. 2016. Appendix 1.0 Cocacola packaging Source: Coca-Cola® | Taste The Feeling! Official Coca-Cola® US Website Appendix 2.0 Pepsi Brands Source: Pepsico.com Appendix 3.0 Brands for Dr Pepper Source: AMA_SanAntonio, "Dr Pepper Snapple Group Branding Presentation” Read More