Coca-Cola is one of the most established brands in the world. One of the primary reasons for the brands success was its marketing strategy, which ensured customers interest throughout the years. Slogans were a big part of the companys marketing, along with its famous television advertisements. In this essay, I want to examine the brands 1939 slogan: Whoever you are, whatever you do, wherever you may be, when you think of refreshment, think of ice-cold Coca-Cola.
First of all, this slogan is an excellent example of the use of poetic language in advertisements. There are several key linguistic components in this slogan, including parallelism, repetition, and triple listing. Parallel structures: whoever you are, whatever you do, and wherever you may be are the foundation of the first part of the slogan. They create a certain rhythm of the sentence, which instantly catches the audiences attention.
Sound repetitions of w at the beginning of each part of the sentence reinforce the effect and stress the words whoever, whatever, and wherever, emphasizing the idea of unity and thus the products popularity among different groups people. The quantity of the parallel structures is also essential. The slogan presents them in double triplets: in the first two parallelisms contain three words, and there are three parallel structures in total.
Repetition and listing in triplets help to establish the idea in the audiences minds, thus ensuring that the phrase is memorable. Repetition of the word think, on the other hand, increases the persuasive effect of the slogan: in the last section, think is repeated as a direction, which becomes more efficient due to the previous mentioning of the word.
Finally, the last few words of the slogan present a consonance: ice cold Coca-Cola. The repetition of staccato c sound somehow breaks the overall continuous flow of the slogan, thus attracting the customers internal attention to the brands name. This segment of the slogan is also important as it is easily memorable due to the sound repetition. By making the audience remember this simple phrase, the marketers not only ensure that people will recognize the brand but also that they will memorize the best way to drink the beverage: ice cold.
The most important effect of the use of poetic devices in that they attract the attention of the audience to the central message of the advert. The idea of all-inclusiveness was relevant to the brands strategic goals at the time. The drink was relatively cheap and could be perceived as something only acceptable for the low to middle-class populations. By emphasizing the idea that everyone should drink Coca-Cola, the marketers were able to address the issue and promote the drink to all segments of the potential audience simultaneously. The abundance of poetic language also helps to avoid losing the customers attention due to the size of the slogan, which is considerably longer than the companys previous advertisement statements.
Overall, I believe that this slogan is one of the best historical examples of the use of poetic language in an advertisement. The linguistic devices used by the marketers are varied in their structure and length and have different effects, thus helping the slogan to be efficient in promoting the brand and its product.
Coca-Cola is one of the most established brands in the world. One of the primary reasons for the brands success was its marketing strategy, which ensured customers interest throughout the years. Slogans were a big part of the companys marketing, along with its famous television advertisements. In this essay, I want to examine the brands 1939 slogan: Whoever you are, whatever you do, wherever you may be, when you think of refreshment, think of ice-cold Coca-Cola.
First of all, this slogan is an excellent example of the use of poetic language in advertisements. There are several key linguistic components in this slogan, including parallelism, repetition, and triple listing. Parallel structures: whoever you are, whatever you do, and wherever you may be are the foundation of the first part of the slogan. They create a certain rhythm of the sentence, which instantly catches the audiences attention.
Sound repetitions of w at the beginning of each part of the sentence reinforce the effect and stress the words whoever, whatever, and wherever, emphasizing the idea of unity and thus the products popularity among different groups people. The quantity of the parallel structures is also essential. The slogan presents them in double triplets: in the first two parallelisms contain three words, and there are three parallel structures in total.
Repetition and listing in triplets help to establish the idea in the audiences minds, thus ensuring that the phrase is memorable. Repetition of the word think, on the other hand, increases the persuasive effect of the slogan: in the last section, think is repeated as a direction, which becomes more efficient due to the previous mentioning of the word.
Finally, the last few words of the slogan present a consonance: ice cold Coca-Cola. The repetition of staccato c sound somehow breaks the overall continuous flow of the slogan, thus attracting the customers internal attention to the brands name. This segment of the slogan is also important as it is easily memorable due to the sound repetition. By making the audience remember this simple phrase, the marketers not only ensure that people will recognize the brand but also that they will memorize the best way to drink the beverage: ice cold.
The most important effect of the use of poetic devices in that they attract the attention of the audience to the central message of the advert. The idea of all-inclusiveness was relevant to the brands strategic goals at the time. The drink was relatively cheap and could be perceived as something only acceptable for the low to middle-class populations. By emphasizing the idea that everyone should drink Coca-Cola, the marketers were able to address the issue and promote the drink to all segments of the potential audience simultaneously. The abundance of poetic language also helps to avoid losing the customers attention due to the size of the slogan, which is considerably longer than the companys previous advertisement statements.
Overall, I believe that this slogan is one of the best historical examples of the use of poetic language in an advertisement. The linguistic devices used by the marketers are varied in their structure and length and have different effects, thus helping the slogan to be efficient in promoting the brand and its product.
Tort refers to an infringement on a persons right especially for an individual who is under a contract. This result to legal liability for the person who breaches the contractual terms (Bermingham, & Brennan, 2012).Here, the person refers to a natural person or artificial person, which can be a legal business entity such as companies and other bodies. The Coca-Cola Company is incorporated in the United States and has a large network of manufacturing subsidiaries across the globe.
The company operates in the beverage industry and deals with the manufacture of non-alcoholic drinks. Its main product brands are Coke, Fanta, Sprite, dietary Coke, sports drinks, and a wide range of soft drinks (Coca-Cola, 2012).
Since the company operates in different countries through subsidiaries, it has to sign contractual agreements with these companies regarding patent, trademark, and copyright issues. The common tort liability that can arise in the Coca-Cola Company is product liability. There are various legal principles that can apply to products. These include payment of damages and other legal remedies.
Intentional tort and unintentional tort
Intentional tort is committed when a person commit an act that infringes the rights of another person or persons. On the other hand, unintentional tort arises due to either negligence or recklessness of one party in a contractual obligation (Best & Barnes, 2007).Unintentional tort arises when a person (tortfeasor) fails to exercise his duties in a contractual agreement thereby causing injury to another party or parties covered by the contract. Alternatively, unintentional tort arises when one partys recklessness causes injury to other people that are part of the contract.
Negligence can affect business in a number of ways. For instance, a business that deals with renting out property to clients and fails to give notice that the property requires renovation will be liable to pay damages to individuals who suffer damages due to the collapse of the property.
On the other hand, intention tort differs significantly from unintentional tort. Intentional tort refers to deliberate acts that one party does to hurt or injure another party. Mostly, intentional tort is of a civil nature (Best & Barnes, 2007). The tortfeasor know that their acts can cause damage to one party, but they go ahead and commit the acts. The most common forms of intentional are libel, battery, assault, trespass, false imprisonment, and intentional emotional distress. An example of intentional tort that might affect the business is trespass. This refers to the intentional use of private property that the company did not originally acquire from the landlord. In this case, the business has to pay damages for trespass into private property.
The most common tort liability for Coca-Cola Company is product liability. The company may be compelled to pay for the health damages caused by its products. For instance, the issue of Coca-Cola brands causing cancer is a tort liability (Poulter, 2012). The Company can mitigate this liability by ensuring that the manufacturing process follows the established health and safety standards. This can be achieved through regular inspection and development of tasted syrups used in the manufacture of soft drinks. Furthermore, if there is a reported case of cancer-causing chemical in Company products, the company should withdraw the brands from the market.
The coke brand health issues have been on the rise lately. There have been calls that some of the company products should be banned because of the cancer-causing chemicals linked to their products (Poulter, 2012). The Coca-Cola Company should avoid such product liability by ensuring the chemicals used in the coloration of the drink are safe for human consumption.
Conclusion
The law of tort can negatively affect business performance hence profitability. Companies and other business should be aware of the acts that can lead them to gross tort liability. Thus, companies should have an efficient risk management to deal with such eventualities.
References
Bermingham, V., & Brennan, C. (2012). Tort law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Best, A., & Barnes, D. W. (2007). Basic tort law: Cases, statutes, and problems. Austin: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.
Coca-Cola. (2012). Coca-Cola. Web.
Poulter, S. (2012). Calls to ban Coca-Cola coloring linked to cancer that is still available in Britain despite U.S. health alert. Web.
Companies use different media in advertising their products. Their ads use certain principles in delivering their messages. Many of them appeal to certain desires among different members of the audience (Egendorf 18).
Hence, the analysis of ads is important to both the audience and companies because it helps the audience understand the ads, which enhances their effectiveness. In addition, the analysis helps companies measure the effectiveness of the ads and identifies their strengths and weaknesses.
This paper analyzes a Coca-Cola advert that involves a young man and an old man. The story starts in the morning when both men wake up to take their breakfast. The old man takes tea with bread, but the young man takes his tea with bread sandwich. The old man goes to work on a bicycle but the young man drives to work.
While in their offices, the young man uses a computer while the old man uses a typewriter. They both go back home in the evening, and their wives prepare meals for them. The young man eats meals with many unnecessary ingredients. A note on the screen reminds him to live like the old man. They later meet in a park, each with a bottle of Coca-Cola.
Jib Fowles in his article, Advertisings fifteen basic appeals, argues that each advert follows a certain principle in passing its message to the audience. In this case, the ad uses the need for prominence and the need to achieve. The young man adopts the old mans eating habits because the old man has lived longer than modern men.
Steve Craigs text, Mens men and womens women, is also very crucial in the analysis of this ad. The ad targets men because they take Coca-Cola more than women do. It even uses men as the main characters while women only wake them up in the morning to prepare meals for them. Another relevant dimension in the analysis of this ad is the social equality dimension.
Marchand in his article, The Parable of the Democracy of Goods, argues that some ads make their audience believe that they can have anything regardless of their class. This paper analyzes the appealing principles the Coca-Cola ad uses in convincing its target audience. The ad uses the needs for prominence and achievement, the social equality phenomenon and the mens men ideology in communicating to its audience, who are mostly men.
Firstly, Fowles argues that people who have the need for prominence always look up to others who excelled in certain fields (23). He calls it the need to be admired and respected (Fowles 22). People with this need always wish they could look like their mentors.
Many companies always take advantage of these wishes to create adverts that make the target groups believe that using their products can help them become as prominent as their idols ( Fowles 23).
In the case of the Coca Cola advert, the company realized that many youths in the contemporary world wish to have longer lifespans as it was in past centuries. They are ready to do anything to fulfill this wish. The old man in the ad is very healthy despite his age. According to the advert, the reason for his good health is good eating habits.
Coca-Cola is among the foods he eats to remain healthy. Other than Coca-Cola, he eats simple foods. On the other hand, the young man eats mixtures of foods, most of which are not healthy. Therefore, he must take Coca Cola in order to live long. Coca-Cola symbolizes the healthy foods people used to eat in the past.
Secondly, the ad applies the need to achieve in persuading its audience. Fowles, argues that this need makes people strive for good lives and careers (22). Ads that use this principle always associate products with winners and heroes (Fowles 22). Therefore, the target audience always buys the products because of the belief that they will help them achieve what their role models achieved (Fowles 22).
In the context of this article, the old man lives long because he eats healthy foods. He does not eat what men in the contemporary world eat. Hence, a long life is an achievement, and every young man wants to have it. Therefore, they will emulate the old man by eating simple foods and taking Coca Cola.
Thirdly, some ads purpose to create a sense of social equality among the audience (Marchand 150). They always achieve this objective by informing their audience that the products are not discriminatory.
Marchand argues that the wonders of modern production and distribution enabled every person to enjoy the societys significant pleasure, convenience or benefit (151). For example, the Coca-Cola ad concentrates on the individuals and not their classes or gender. Though the women are passive, nothing in the ad implies they are neglected.
The fourth dimension ads use the sex of the audience (57). Companies design some ads for men and others for women. Craig categorizes men into two: mens men and womens men (59). He also categorizes women into womens women and mens women. Mens men are always preoccupied with heroism and achievement (60). They never worry about pleasing women (61). In the context of this advert, both men have the qualities of mens men.
They do not do anything with the purpose of pleasing women. Women only play a supportive role. They wake their husbands up in the morning and cook for them. When the two men go to work, the women remain at home to attend to the domestic chores. The use of domineering men appeals to many men in the world. This effect is what the creator of the ad intended to achieve because men are the largest consumers of Coca Cola.
In conclusion, ads need to consider the desires, fears, identities, and values of their target audiences. Knowing these aspects helps them play with their emotions and convince them to buy the products. This paper has analyzed the principles used by the Coca Cola Company is advertising its soda.
The ad uses three main principles: the need for prominence, the need to achieve, and the mens men ideology. The need for prominence entails an individuals desire to win the admiration and respect of other people. It also entails the desire for high social status. In the ad, the old mans prominence makes the young man emulate him.
On the other hand, the need to achieve entails striving to be better than other people and to overcome certain difficulties in life. In this ad, a young man wants to live longer than all the men in his generation. Therefore, he emulates the lifestyle of an old man whose lifestyle includes taking a bottle of Coca-Cola. In this context, long life is the goal the young man wants to achieve. The ad also uses mens men as a way to appeal to men. Both men love success, and they work hard to achieve it. They do not worry about pleasing women.
Works Cited
Craig, Steve. Mens Men and Womens Men. [Pamphlet]. Print.
Egendorf, Laura K. Advertising. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Print.
Fowles, Jib 2014. Advertisings Fifteen Basic Appeals. PDF file. Web.
The coco-cola company is the world leading beverage multinational company. As argued out by Lauren (2013), the company boasts refreshing consumers with at least 500 sparkling brands as well. The portfolio of the company features various brands such as Del Valle, Georgia, Simply, Minute Maid, Powerade, Vitamin water , Coca-Cola Zero, Sprite, Fanta and Diet Coke.
The company is also the world-leading provider of juice drinks, ready-to-drink coffees in addition to sparkling beverages. Apart from being the provider of various types of refreshing drinks, the company is focused on environmental sustainability efforts, including creating healthy living, assisting the local communities within its areas of operation to develop and minimize environmental footprint.
Chavadi and Kokatnur (2009) note that for any company to maintain its competitive advantage in the volatile global market, it must develop promotional and advertisement strategies to promote its products and services. Ahmed et al. (2012) carried out a study to investigate the effects of promotional tools such as Billboards, LCDs, LED, TV advertisement as well on-print media on enhancing sales in the suburb part of Pakistan.
The study employed quantitative research technique and structured questionnaires were distributed to the subjects in order to gather information. The findings of the study revealed that LCD and LED did not have considerable effect on enhancing sales while print media as well as TV advertisement demonstrated positive outcome on sales.
In another development, Chavadi and Kokatnur (2009) conducted a study to investigate the effect of short-term advertisement adverts with reference to quantity consumption and footfalls. The study also aimed at examining the effect of adverts on demographic variables. Those who took part in this study included 30 consumers who paid a visit to each store.
The respondents were supplied with questionnaires for data collection. Results from this study indicated that advertisements have the potential to increases footfalls as well as attracting new customers. The study also discovered that majority of customers have a tendency to switch to those goods with more offers and fresh products.
This paper will design an advertisement campaign for Coca Cola Company, which will be incorporated in the digital network. Menon et al. (2004) carried out a study to investigate the best ways to assess the effectiveness of promotional and advertisement strategies. The findings of this study discovered that the best strategy to evaluate the efficiency of advertisement is to look at the volume of sales as well as the number of customers attracted by the advert.
Marketing Communication
Organizations have a responsibility of formulating effective marketing communication strategies to promote themselves and products which they produce. This is essential to create awareness among their potential customers. The objectives of marketing communication strategy is to ensure that all employees in an organization have access to timely and relevant information to assist them deliver their services to the customers effectively.
The strategies also ensure that firms are well positioned to maximize their opportunity of promoting positive activities and achievements of the organizations. Communication strategies also ensure that organizations communicate with a wide range of target markets according to their commitment to equality, inclusivity and diversity in an effective and professional and effective manner (Lamp, 2011).
Towards designing LED billboards
As Coca-Colas game plan has many fronts, from promoting healthy lifestyles and sporting events to diversifying its product lineup (Gara 2013). it is important for the company to effectively spread those ideas with the help of creative and advertisement. As indicated by Banjo and Zimmerman (2013), the process of designing an LED billboards is quite challenging and demands high level of thinking and creativity.
Before, designing advertisement campaign for Coca Cola, I will first determine the kind of product that will be advertised. For the purpose of this study, the product will be Vitamin water manufactured by the company. My target consumers are those living in urban areas of the United States and the message is Drinking Vitamin Water for enhanced Health . I will draw an athlete holding a can of vitamin water and besides the image will be the product message stipulated above. The name of the product will be at least 3 feet tall while the rest of the words will be 2 feet tall for clarity and clear vision. The colors that will be employed in designing this billboard will be red and yellow to attract the attention of pass byes. The ad will be aired for a short period of 30 seconds.
Positioning
Brand position mapping is done when an organization has already identified target market for their products. For the Coca Cola Corporation, it has already identified its target market as local and international travelers and tourists, couples and everyone who can afford the companys mineral water among other products. Brand mapping measures the performance and importance of brands and products in relation to the competitive market place. It also measures market preference, awareness and perception.
Conclusion
It is evident in the above discussion that advertisement and promotional concepts are critical in enhancing the competitive advantage of a company in addition to maintaining its viability in the volatile global market. Some of the consideration an individual should put in mind before designing an LED billboard includes knowing the product, showcasing the product, designing billboard text, using suitable text styles, selecting a good graphic, using attracting colors as well as being simple and creative.
References
Banjo, S., & Zimmerman, A. (2013). Rivals Objects to Wal-Mart Adverts. The Wall Street Journal, 6(2), 1-4.
Chavadi, C. A., & Kokatnur, S. S. (2009). Impact of Short-Term Promotional Ads on Food Retailing. ICFAI Journal of Consumer Behavior, 4(1), 21-35.
Lamp, C. (2011). Essentials of marketing. New York, NY: Cengage Learning.
Lauren, T. (2013). Who Gets the Coke? Fans Determine Storyline of Coca-Cola Big Game Ad in Real Time. The Wall Street Journal, 4(3), 1-6.
Menon, A. M., Deshpande, A. D., Zinkhan, G. M., & Perri III, M. (2004). A model assessing the effectiveness of direct-to-consumer advertising: Integration of concepts and measures from marketing and healthcare. International Journal of Advertising, 23(1), 91-118.
The text in this advert is about the dangers of taking excess calories. The Coca-Cola Company explains to the audience how excess calories can cause obesity. The argument is that one gets the energy to do extra work after taking extra calories. The narrator of the advert says that Coca-Cola offers drinks that have low calories. He argues that the drinks have 140 calories (Educate Inspire Change TV, online video clip).
A commercial is appropriate for this advert since it is likely to catch the attention of many viewers. The video gives more information about the advert. Other media that might work include neon lighting because such a media also uses images that could be combined with sound to deliver more information. Media that might not work are posters since they give limited information with no videos.
Reader or Audience
The target audiences are people who drink Coke. In most cases these are young people. The culture of the audience might influence the perception on this advert in that there are some cultures where taking more calories is approved. In terms of gender, men need more calories than their female counterparts because men use more calories due to the nature of work most of them do. As a result, a female viewer is likely to react to this advert differently from a male viewer.
Author
The author of this argument is the Coca-Cola Company. The experience that might have influenced the company to make this advert is loss of sales due to the criticism leveled against the drink on the basis of its high level of calories. There have been claims that the Coke drink is increasing the risk of obesity among consumers. The company, therefore, has reacted to this criticism by making drinks that have low calories.
The advert explains the risks of high calories and why people should take low calories (Huffington Post para 2). The motive behind this argument is to market the new low calorie drink. In addition, the company is also keen on practicing corporate social responsibility. The motive is to make more sales, create good customer relations and make more profits in return.
Constraints
Viewers reactions to this argument might be influenced by a number of constraints. For instance, the high calorie drinks have more sugars. Most young people like taking sweet things, thus they might ignore the argument and continue taking the high calorie drinks.
Other special constraints could be gender, culture and ethnicity. The author of the advert may also be influenced by a number of constraints. The target audience might not respond to the argument positively. The purpose of this argument may, therefore, not be accomplished, and this could influence the author negatively.
Exigence
The argument is a new commercial by the Coca-Cola Company. The advert was created to counter the increasing criticism about the high level of calories in the Coke drinks. The high calories increase the risk of causing obesity on consumers. The company started losing sales as a result of this criticism as people changed preference to low calorie drinks to avoid obesity.
In return, the company created this argument and started making low calorie drinks that it advertises in the argument. The issue of high calorie drinks in the advert is viewed as a problem due to its likelihood of increasing the risk of contracting obesity (Stewart para 3).
Multinational corporations entail business entities that operate in various countries across the world. The headquarters of an MNC are based in a given country but the facilities are found in all the regions of operation. This research proposal seeks to analyze the Coca-Cola Company. It is a large multinational corporation that operates in over two hundred countries. The company is among the leading beverage producers across the world that specializes in non-alcoholic drinks.
The main reason why the Coca-Cola Company is selected in this research study is to establish the various techniques employed by the company to ensure that it continues to lead in the beverage industry. Coca-Cola has always recorded high level of performance.
Therefore, it has market advantage over its competitors. The research questions for this study will mainly focus on determining the overall operations, investment plans, production sites, destination of sales and location choices of the company. Previous researches indicate that the companys operations are set in a manner that makes it easy for customers to access the products in a convenient manner.
This has been facilitated by the existence of a well defined distribution system in all the countries where the company operates. The company has also continued to invest in areas with ready market. It is currently undertaking continuous improvement of its production sites in order to meet the increasing demand. The company uses different methods to establish the location of its branches and the selling regions.
This research study is very important in the sense that it will help new investors who wish to deal with similar products to have adequate understanding on how to undertake the process. Finally, this research will rely on information from different sources such as books, articles, and journals.
Marketing is the process by which groups and individuals create and exchange goods and services with an aim of attaining what they need with an aspiring to find satisfaction. Consumer needs and wants are the main reason behind why companies design, manufacture and distribute products into the market.
On one hand consumers demand for satisfaction and companies therefore sell to make a profit and meet their other objectives such as growth, and survival. Product and services created by companies such as Coca-Cola are considered of value and therefore create satisfaction when exchange takes place (Kotler 2003).
Therefore the creation value and satisfaction which consumers demand end up pushing companies create strategies that govern their marketing mix and go a step further to create overall corporate strategies that will govern their whole business processes to ensure success in todays volatile business environment (Lancaster & Withey 2006). The Coca-Cola Company is one company that has been able to create a perfect business model that has pushed its products such as Coca-Cola across the world with much efficiency.
History of company and product
Coca-cola is a carbonated soft drink that is sold in restaurants, supermarkets, vending machines in approximately over 195 nations. It is a product of the coca-cola company which is located in Atlanta Georgia USA. The coca-cola company is a company with many product lines which include carbonated soft drinks, water, and juices.
Coca-cola was originally invented by Doctor John Permberton by a drug company in Georgia and was sold as medicine because people back then believed carbonated water had medicinal values being assumed to be a headache remedy, stimulant and stomach ache remedy. Coca-cola as it is known was a proposal that was put forward by Frank Robinson, who was a book keeper.
Initially Coca-Cola was sold in pharmacies by John Permberton. By the 1950s the drink had a huge consumer market U.S.A. Bottled soda was sold first by coca-cola in 1894 and cans of coca-cola appeared first in stores in 1955.Later in 1985 when coca-cola tried to change its formula hoping to follow up with tastes but a public outcry ensued forcing the company to revert back to classic Coca-Cola.
The introduction of diet coke back in 1982 was a huge success back in the in the 1980s. It is between 1923 and 1991 during Woodruffs tenure as C.E.O that Coca-Cola grew from a national company to a global company with an explosive growth of the carbonated bottled soft drinks.
Today Coca-cola is the worlds number one soft-drink company with top five soft drink brands (Coca-Cola, Fanta, Diet Coke, and Sprite).Other brands includes Minutemaid, Powerade, Dasani water and Schweppes which generate an income of over $3 billion annually.
Product Strategy
The Coca-Cola Company has a number of product lines in its product mix these are carbonated soft-drinks, energy drinks, juices, and water. In each product line there is a particular product depth (Bell 2004). The coca-cola company carbonated soft drink product line has a product depth consisting of Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite and Krest.
Within the product line of Coca-Cola itself there consists a further product variety of different types of Coke that are sold in various geographical regions of the world. It is clear that The Coca-Cola Company has invested a lot in the process of research and design of its products, there is a high level of differentiation upon its Coca-Cola product depth.
Coca- Colas packaging strategy involves the use of beautifully designed cans, hobble skirt bottles which range from 300ml-2000ml, and disposable plastic cups. The Coca-Cola Company has gone forward to patent the various dimensions of its famous Hobble skirt bottle meaning that no other soft drink manufacturer can use the same type of bottle.
The classic Coca-Cola symbol is written and surrounded by the colour red making it a unique brand that is easily identifiable and memorable to the consumers. Currently Coca-Cola has a high rand value and equity and commands a lot of loyalty among consumers, its name, awareness, perceived quality, and strong association with excellence add great advantage to its product mix this serves as powerful assets to the product itself.
A distinct and unique product design is necessary for the success of a product (Kotler 1999). Coca- Cola has ensured that its product is unique as far its attributes, and branding are concerned. The secret Coca-Cola formula is well hidden in a volt in a bank located Georgia with very few people whom have who have access and therefore is a trade secret.
Pricing strategy
According to porters generic competitive strategies a company can either choose to serve a broad market or a narrow target market. If a company chooses either it must then choose to either follow a low cost strategy that is good for a wider market due to the existence of economies of scale and efficiencies or either choose to differentiate its products in order to charge a premium (Porter 1990).
Coca-Cola is a profit masking company that aims to remain as the market leader and meet shareholder targets. Pricing can be determined by many things this include target profit, competition, costs associated with production, quality, demand and company objectives (Kotler 2003).
Coca-Colas main objective is to capture a larger market share by selling a large volume of soft drinks at an affordable price with an aim of maximizing profits. It therefore targets the mass market and sells its products at very afford prices but at the same time for its highly differentiated products such as diet coke a much higher price is set.
Therefore coca-cola practices price discrimination among various regions of the world. The price of a Coca-Cola in Kenya, India, and New -York are not the same. This is because every consumer in these countries has different purchasing power (per capita income) and this is factored in the final pricing.
The use of penetration pricing which is low and mass market oriented is advantageous in gaining a large market share for Coca-Cola and that is why Coca-Cola estimated to sell over half a million bottles of carbonated soft drinks in one day. Coca-Cola also gives incentives such as trade incentives to its middlemen and largest distributors for the volume of concentrates they order and sell. (Charles et al, 2009)
Distribution/Place strategy
Coca-Cola itself does not manufacture and sell already manufactured carbonated soft drinks. They mainly do their distribution by using independent co owned distributers/franchises which have specially trained people. It is these people who are considered investors who approach Coca-Cola for business deals and are given training on the various production techniques.
After setting up this franchises and setting up partnerships that The Coca-Cola Company goes ahead to ship consignments of concentrates and syrup that will be used to make the final consumable Coca-Cola to its distribution partners who in turn dilute and carbon dioxide to the product, After which local channels such as depots go ahead to sell Coca-Cola to hotels, supermarkets and retailers in their area of operations.
This model of operation reduces amount of risk and uncertainty that the Coca-Cola Company would have faced if it were to manufacture and distribute its own product Coca-Cola it also reduces the time used reduce the lead time that Coca-cola would have otherwise had to face in case it used other distribution models( Lancaster & Withey 2006 ). The Coca-Cola in turn helps in its independent distribution partners assemble of factories, organizes staff training, and supplies packaging materials and procedures of operations.
Promotion strategy
Promotion is the process of choosing a market and coming up with a comprehensive plan of how to pass across messages that are related to the product to this target market. Therefore a promotion mix is a sum total of all methods that are used to pass message about a product to a given target market with an aim of informing, reminding, educating and persuading (Campbell et al, 2002).
Coca-Cola promotional activities revolve around getting enough shelve spaces in departmental stores to display their products, they also conduct sale promotions for both end consumers retailers and distributors, apart from the above seasonal UTC campaigns ( i.e. under the crown schemes) that involve handing out gifts that can be won under the bottle tops of their carbonated drinks such as Coca-Cola , advertising in television commercial, billboards, and print media, Coca-Cola also use point of sale materials such as posters and stickers Coca-Cola also use sports arenas and teams ranging from soccer, cricket and basketball to promote their product.
The Coca-Cola Company collects an advertising fee from franchisers/partners/distributers and then goes ahead to formulate an overall promotional mix that all its distributers will use to promote Coca-Cola in each and every country in which Coca-Cola is sold. (Kourdi, 2009)
The Environment
The environment that Coca-Cola exists in hasnt been that smooth stiff competition from PepsiCo has led to a massive battle for market share in various parts of the world, the existence of various substitutes, to Coca-Cola has also affected the sales of Coca-Cola leading to an increased product mix by the Coca-Cola company to make more profits.
With the recent recession in the economic environment the sales of Coca-cola was also affected. Coca-Cola has not had a simple time with the legal and political environment its exclusion from the Indian market for 18 years due to differences in political stands gave PepsiCo an advantage. The spirit of Anti-Americanism Coca-Cola has found it hard t penetrate the Asian market but it is now coming up with special arrangements and alliances to have Coca-Cola accepted in this regions (Frey 2008).
The Coca-Cola Company has also been accused of channel surfing and making exclusive sale agreements with retailers in Europe leading the European Union to set specific legal action to stop them from doing this again. There are multiple legal suits of racism and mistreatment of black employees by denying them career advancement opportunities.
In 2003 Coca-Cola India was accused of containing pesticide compounds which were above normal and dangerous to the health threatening in it but this claim was refuted by the company. Apart from this The Coca-Cola has been accused of unfair competition in Mexico and intimidation of union officials in Bolivia and Columbia. This goes ahead to clearly show that there are many challenges in its environment which is very usual in global companies dealing with vast diversified markets (Sinkovics & Ghauri 2009).
Opinion
The Coca-Colas product, pricing, distributing and promotion strategy are almost perfect, but Coca-Cola should go ahead and formulate more flexible corporate citizenship strategies that will help to promote more ethical business operations and reduce the negative image and publicity that is faced by Coca-Cola in certain parts of the world.
Coca-Cola should create a more aggressive competitive strategy to counter PepsiCo. Since PepsiCos strategy of creating multiple product lines that includes Salty snacks has enable PepsiCo increase its sales by a large percentage and have profits margins which are almost at par with The Coca-Cola Company.
The Coca-Cola Company should therefore go ahead and introduce a new product line like PepsiCo and put them side to side in retailer stores. As far as pricing and promotion is concerned Coca-Cola should exploit its efficiencies and economies of scale and if able try to maintain or even reduce its prices to increase volume of purchase.
References
Campbell et al, (2002). Business Strategy an Introduction, 2 edn. Banburd: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Charles et al, (2009). Essentials of Marketing. Natorp Boulevard, South Western: Cengage Learning.
Frey, R.S. (2008) Successful strategies for Small Businesses: using product knowledge, 5 edn. Norwood: Artech House Inc.
Kotler P, (1999), Principles of marketing, 2nd edn. New York: Prentice Hall.
Kotler, P. (2003). Marketing Insights from A to Z: 80 concepts every manager needs to know. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Kourdi, J. (2009) Business Strategy: A Guide to Effective Decision Making, 2 edn. New York: Economist books.
Lancaster, G. & Withey. F. (2006). Marketing Fundamentals: CIM Course book. London: Oxford publishers.
A supply network refers to interrelated business processes whose main aim is successful delivery of products or services of an organization to its end users or consumers. The aim of this task is to identify and describe the total supply net work of the Coca Cola Corporation and to identify factors that have influenced its determination of the parts of business to outsource or keep in-house.
The Supply Network of the Coca Cola Company
Coca Cola Company is one of the biggest multinational companies in the world, with business operations in virtually all independent nations. Busa and Wright (2007, p. 92) states that Coca Cola Corporation has for over a century been manufacturing and selling bottled beverages.
They further add that the actual manufacturing and bottling of its beverages is carried out by its world wide system of business partners. The Company has local bottling branches in various countries world over where its products are made and packaged for markets in the immediate environs.
In reality, success of the production network of a company like Coca Cola which acts globally relies mainly on how well the logistics collaboration between partners is working Stangford-Smith, et al. (2002, p. 640).
These authors argues that the Coca Cola Company maximizes the possible saving possibilities within the European food processing sector through an enhanced collaboration in production systems Stanford-Smith et al. (2002, p. 640). With respect to the supply section the company has automated order taking processes especially in the developed countries.
For instance, in USA its sales agents does this by entering sales on transportable terminals while out in the field which are in turn transferred automatically to the companies main database Scott (1986, p. 33).This enables the company to maintain a superior customer service and satisfaction.
Factors Affecting Coca Cola out Sourcing Decisions
Business out sourcing process refers to situation whereby an organizations part of its business is done by another partner as opposed to its actual employees. For example, a company can seek I.T services for its business from another organization specializing in provision of services in that field.
An organizations decisions regarding business process out sourcing is influenced by many factors which can be economic, social, and political in nature. Russell and Taylor(2005, p. 245) for instance argues that the Coca Cola Company can not in its endeavors to out source reveal its formula to another partner even under circumstances where secrecy is guaranteed.
Most of the factors that have influenced Coca cola Corporation decisions on what parts of its business to out source and which to keep in-house are socioeconomic in nature in that most of the services outsourced are geared towards cutting the cost of operating and enhancing a superior customer service that guarantees satisfaction.
The company for instance aims at reducing its labour and distribution costs through partnership with companies that specialize in certain kind of business processes like distribution. Government policies also play a critical role in determining how Coca Cola Company makes its decisions regarding business out sourcing process.
How Coca Cola Company Has Planned for Location of its Capacity
Coca Cola Company capacity is largely hinged on its ever expanding global market floor space and other competitive strategies such as purchasing of own premises like warehouses in its operational bases. In addition to expanding, the company partners with other organizations whose business activities impacts directly upon its activities.
United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America for instance points out that various companies in the food and beverage sectors have been breaking into new markets by either competing or partnering with MNCs like Coca Cola UNECLA 2008, p. 67).
Reference
Busa, R. and Wright. N. (2007) Total Supply Chain Management. London: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Russell, R. S., Taylor, B. W. (2005) Operations management: quality and competitiveness in a global environment. New York: John Wiley.
Scott, K. (1986) Data to go: Portables a profusion of portables permeate the market place, Net work World. Vol. 3, No. 23, p.33
Stanford-Smith, B., Chiozza, E. and Edin, M. (2002) Challenges and achievements in E-business and E-work. New York: IOS Press.
United Nations Publications, United Nations: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLA) (2008) Foreign Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean 2007. New York: United Nations Publications.
The product life cycle is a key aspect in successful products. Strategic managers often use the events that occur in the products life cycle to form the basis of strategic choices that a commercial entity or business decides to make in order to make sustainable sales and market share.
Coca-cola Company has been there for a century and has undergone the stages of introduction and growth and now has its presence in almost every county of the world but the brand managers responsible for Coca-Cola have been able to rejuvenate the awareness and value of the band over time making it quite popular among various consumers worldwide. The product has matured and stabilized its sales in various countries of the world and is now in the maturity stage.
During the initial stages, the Coca-Cola Company spent a lot of resources developing it brands and has thus created a brand image that has enabled it reach the peak of its sales volumes and it has even reached a saturation point whereby it is hard for its sales to go any higher.
The costs that are used in the prices of production have gone significantly down over time due to increase in economies of scale, this has also contributed to the drop of prices of their product assisting in market penetration of their product. Due to reduced growth in sales the company has often been forced to promote its products vigorously around the world, diversify and introduce other differentiated forms of Coca-cola such as diet coke in order to increase and stabilize sales.
Aims and objectives of small, medium and large scale businesses
The aim of every business is to survive and make profits in todays economic environment. Small businesses often understand upon inception that it will take time before they start enjoying profits; the main aim of businessmen and entrepreneurs is often to survive at the first years of inception, but as time goes by.
The owners usually wish to stabilize their businesses and gain a niche of loyal clientele before they start hungering for more, but once they establish a footing they step up efforts of ensuring that their brands get more brand recognition and sustained profitability within their niche markets.
Medium-scale businesses are most of the time businesses that were once small businesses that have now expanded and grown their capacity and their objectives are often to increase their sales and revenues so that they can continue growing and expanding.
On the other hand, large scale businesses and corporations often aim to dominate the market, create reputation and build superior brand images and compete successfully among other industry participants by selling more and gaining more market share which in turn increases their revenues and funds which can be put into research of enhancing their numerous product lines.
Product oriented routes vs. Market-oriented routes
The Ansoff matrix usually assists product and brand managers to decide whether to pursue a market growth or product growth strategy in order to boost the sales and market position of their brands. Product-oriented routes often aim to concentrate on issues such as the re-arranging the elements of the marketing mix through product diversification and product development.
Product-oriented routes usually require investing more on the product by either expanding existing product lines or even introducing new product lines by launching more product lines companies usually expect that consumers will end up choosing from the wide range of their products and that this will increase the revenues for the company.
Conversely, market-oriented routes usual aim to increase the penetration of brands and products into the market by either entering into new territories or increasing market penetration in the current market. Marketing oriented routes aim to increase brand awareness with the aim of motivating consumers to purchase the product or brand.
Diversification
Kellogs option for product development was highly advantageous because Nutri-Grain had a well-established reputation and image in the market and thus, the company avoided the option of diversifying its products because it would have ended up being highly costly.
In the short run, diversification may seem as expensive in the short run but in the long run if Kellogs decided to diversify its product line by introducing other versions of Nutri-Grain which were made up of different ingredient and nutrient combinations targeting specific niches of the market this would increase their chances of profitability and even increase their competitive advantage.
Introducing new product lines that targeted different age groups, income brackets, occupations would thus appeal more specific to the needs and desires of the market and ensure continued sales. The advantage of product differentiation over product development is that diversification will allow Kellogs create more specified products that will appeal to a particular segment of consumers making it easy to cater to the varying needs of various consumers rather that use a mass-market approach.