Coca Cola Marketing Mix - Case Study Example

Coca Cola started its operation in 1886 and since then it has grown to become the leading beverage manufacture. “Coca Cola operates in more than 200 countries, produces more than 300 beverages brand and over 1.06 billion drinks are consumer every single day”. (Company Website, 2010) The company has launched their drinks in many sizes so that they can attract the entire segment. Having beverages in different sizes ensures that Coca Cola is able to price its product and also have product for different occasions. Coca Cola has ensured that “they refresh people who have a beverage from the company ensuring that the needs and requirements of the people are met”. (Company Website, 2010) Coca Cola has ensured that all its strategies are directed properly. The marketing mix based for Coca Cola will help us to better understand how the marketing factors are used by Coca Cola to ensure a steady market and growth. Marketing Mix The 4P’s of marketing helps to understand the marketing strategy has been used by Coca Cola. The analysis of this will help new entrants to understand the strategy that will help them to be successful. Product Coca Cola offers beverages in many different sizes and brands. “Coca Cola has over 300 brands of beverages and it includes Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Fruit Juice and many more”. (Coca Cola Marketing Plan, 2008) Apart from the different beverages the company also offers the product in different sizes. The sizes available are “2 litres, 1.25 litres, 600ml, 300ml and 375ml aluminium cans”. (Coca Cola Marketing Plan, 2008) The availability in different sizes has ensured that the product can be used in different occasion depending on the quantity required. Coca Cola beverages “falls under the consumer products and are purchased frequently making it a convenience product”. (Kotler, 2001) Coca Cola due to the variety and presence has built a good reputation. Today, “it is known by 94% of the population showing the reputation the company has been able to build over the years”. (Tanzeel, 2009) This has made coca cola get a good base of customers When we look at Coca Cola in the from the product life cycle as seen below “Coca Cola falls under the maturity group which is evident from the fact that Coca Cola has a large and loyal group of stable customers”. (Joe, 2006) This can further be analyzed from the slow growth rate and market share Coca Cola has gained. A look in the foreign market suggests that Coca Cola is “in the growing stage due to proper branding and introduction of more products in the product line”. (Joe, 2006) When we look at the three levels i.e. “the core product, the actual product and the augmented product” (Kotler, 2001) offered by Coca Cola shows a good marketing strategy. The core product is a beverage to quench thirst, the actual product is the soft drink and the augmented product is limited as it is a beverage used to drink. The product of Coca Cola has been positioned after looking into “the positioning of the competitor i.e. Pepsi and also comparison with other product is taken care of”. (Joe, 2006) This has ensured proper branding. Coca Cola to ensure that its image and brand has “given its name i.e. Coca Cola to all its product like Fanta, Sprite and many more to brand itself as a company which is gaining prominence”. (Joe, 2006) Coca Cola has also considered the packaging aspect by ensuring that “pet bottles and aluminium cans are available in different sizes so that while being placed at the store it attracts customers and helps in house promotions”. (Joe, 2006) Coca Cola has innovated continuously which has made them develop their product. This has ensured that the company offers something new for every customer. Price Coca Cola while deciding the price has considered the beverage and the packaging size to decide the price to be charged. Coca Cola has ensured that while they price the product special consideration is being paid to the brand. The company while pricing also sees whether “the beverage will be sold at a retail store, convenient store, petrol stations, shopping malls, fairs or at other places’. (Coca Cola Marketing Plan, 2008) Coca Cola devises the price to be charged based on the premium the customers are willing to pay at a particular location. The strategy employed for pricing by Coca Cola is “competitive based pricing where the price is set very near to the competitor’s price” (Coca Cola Marketing Plan, 2008) so that customer get a choice to choose from. For example, it was seen that during Easter Coca Cola priced the of 2 litre as $1.68 close to their competitor Pepsi which was priced at $1.87 for 2 litres. This ensures that differentiation between the products is ignored as both the company offer similar product. During special occasion Coca Cola ensures that “the prices are marked down to ensure rise in sale”. (Coca Cola Marketing Plan, 2008) This will ensure that sales rise during this period. Coca Cola also looks forward towards “psychological pricing where they price in such a way to attract customer like Coca Cola price it pack of 375ml X 18 cans for $9.98 instead of $10”. (Coca Cola Marketing Plan, 2008) This will create an impression on the minds that the prices they have to pay is low and will thereby make customer to be attracted towards this offering. Coca Cola over the years have “used penetration pricing to penetrate the market and improve their market share to increase its recognition in the market and improve their customer base”. (Joe, 2006) The pricing strategy used by Coca Cola has ensured that they use a mechanism where they price the product based on the competitors and the target market. This is helping Coca Cola to pursue with the marketing strategies. Promotion Coca Cola to sell its product has relied on aggressive marketing strategy. Coca Cola uses “a combination of personnel selling, advertising, sales promotion and public relations to market its product”. (Joe, 2006) Despite the different option available Coca Cola uses advertising as the most prominent medium to sell beverages. Coca Cola to advertise their product uses “television, radio, magazines, and newspaper and bill boards to advertise their product”. (Joe, 2006) In store promotion is also used where the beverages are displayed providing ample viewing space to capture the attention of the buyer. Coca Cola has also been using “below line promotion like contest, coupons and free sample”. (Joe, 2006) This has earned the company more accolades as it presents with a theme which helps to attract more customers and also provide the customer with an opportunity to have fun. Coca Cola to promote its beverage is looking for “pull promotions where customers are given benefit and push promotion where dealers/retailers are given incentives”. (Dutt, 2008) Here the company also looks to inculcate the different sales promotion tactics. This tactics include even sponsoring different events where customers get an opportunity to have free sample and ensure that the demand rises. Place Coca Cola has looked into this aspect and special effort has been made to ensure that distribution is sound. The most important part for Coca Cola here is selecting the mode and channel of transport to ensure that delivery is fast. Coca Cola based on their business model has chosen “intensive, selective, exclusive and direct distribution so that the beverages are available from the local kirana shops to the hyper markets”. (Joe, 2006) To improve the process of distribution special efforts have been made to ensure “proper order processing, warehousing, transportation, inventory control and materials dispatch”. (Joe, 2006) Coca Cola to ensure proper distribution has a network of “retail outlets, milk bar, corner stores, restaurant and petrol stations”. (Coca Cola Marketing Plan, 2008) To ensure proper coordination and delivery Coca Cola uses intermediaries. The company doesn’t deal with the customers directly and a medium is used for it. Coca Cola while using the “intensive technique ensures that the beverages are delivered to every store and corner so that each customer can be touched upon”. (Coca Cola Marketing Plan, 2008) The selective technique ensures Coca Cola touches those distribution networks where the demand is high. When the company has special variant it ensures that the product is sold exclusively in certain stores. Coca Cola by using a mix of different ways to reach the customer ensures that the coordination activity improves. For this Coca Cola has ensured that the beverages passes from “the manufacturer to the stockist to the retailer to the final consumer”. (Dutt, 2008) Following the series ensures that the distribution network follows a pattern. Conclusion Coca Cola thus, follows a model to build a relationship with the customer. With the different brands and varieties offered has ensured that Coca Cola is able to decide on its marketing mix properly. Strategies based on the marketing mix are ensuring that Coca Cola is able to lead the beverage industry and grow. References Coca Cola Marketing Plan, 2008, “Coca Cola Marketing Plan”, retrieved on April 20, 2010 from http://www.bookrags.com/essay-2003/6/14/53228/5227 Company Website, 2010, “Coca Cola Company Website”, retrieved on April 20, 2010 from Dutt A, 2008, “Marketing Management on Coca Cola”, Indian Institute of Management, India Joe D, 2006, “Coca Cola Marketing Plan”, Adobe Reader Version, New Jersey Kotler P, (2001), Marketing Management, page 201, 11th edition, Prentice Publication, Upper saddle River, New Jersey Tanzeel, 2009, “Marketing Mix”, Article Study, Word Press Read More