Ch. 4 - The Marketing Environment

Coca Cola has different drinks targeted at different groups. For example, Coca Cola drinks appear to be targeted at young people around the age of 29 and under. It appears so due to the advertisements and the way they promote their drinks. In television commercials we generally see a young musician or sports player promoting the drinks. These commercials tell young people to buy Coca Cola because their idol or favorite celebrity drinks it. Through commercials, we also see teens having parties and choosing Coca Cola as their drink of choice. Coca Cola also has drinks targeted at people who are big such as diet coke which is allegedly healthier and contains no sugar. Diet Coke serves as a healthier alternative to regular coke so that people can enjoy the same taste of Coca Cola. Finally, Coca Cola makes Dasani Water. In order to get people thirstier and buy more water Coca Cola adds salt to the water mildly so that people won’t taste it but will make them more thirsty.

There are many different factors that affect the marketing environment of Coca Cola which includes economic factors, social factors, technological factors and natural factors. Economic factors affect Coca Cola due to inflation which is a rise in prices but a decrease in value. Rising prices can lead to costumers going to cheaper competitors. Social Factors include making cost efficient products that are recyclable and environmentally friendly to conserve resources. Technological factors include adapting to new technology which includes ways to fill bottles and refrigeration methods. Finally, natural factors affect the marketing environment because there is a need to make sure that the water is safe and pure before giving beverages to consumers.       

Today, Coca Cola operates in more than 20 countries worldwide and sells 3000 beverage products. Some beverages include, sparkling drinks, carbonated drinks, coffee, juices and energy drinks. The Coca Cola Company also employs over 90000 people. Coca Cola has a marketing department which creates advertisements and promoting their products. There is a finance department which does book keeping for the company and gives the company budgets. The sales department deals with the distribution of Coca Cola products and working at finding low cost transportation routes to deliver Coca Cola. The packaging department deals with packaging the products and making sure that the bottles catch the eyes of consumers either with the unique shape or with the bold colors used on the labels. Finally, Coca Cola also has a research and development department which is responsible for creating and developing new products to attract new/more consumers and yield more profits for the company. These departments affect the Marketing environment of Coca Cola because it affects people who buy the products. The different departments helps the company to grow by keeping the company organized, finding ways to adapt to consumer preferences and providing budgets to ensure that the company is gaining more profits than it loses.

Ch. 3 - Ethics & Social Responsibility

Coca Cola has an ethics and compliance program which is their code of ethics and business conduct. The program stresses that honesty and integrity is important to the success of the business. All employees are expected to follow the rules of the program. If not, the cross functional senior management team determines the violations and penalties. As a way to enforce the program, Coca Cola gives ethics and compliance training courses to its employees. They monitor and audit employees of the company regularly, and make adjustments to the policy when necessary. When hired, the new associates are trained once every three years to make sure that they continuously follow the rules the company. Coca Cola states that “Our code of business conduct serves to guide the actions of our employees consistent with our Company values. The Code helps our people do the right thing and play by the rules wherever we operate around the world”. The first page of the program books states that employees must act with integrity, be honest, Follow the law, and Comply with the Code. They define integrity as doing what is right. By having integrity they can reflect positive attitudes and maintain a good reputation with their customers. The back of the book also has a hotline and website where employees can report dishonest activities in the workplace.

Coca Cola sums up their social responsibility in three points. The first one is to make everything the company does, environmentally sustainable. The idea includes having efficient energy and resources that protect the climate, waste/water management and responsible packaging. This contributes to Coca Colas efforts to “go green”. The second point is to grow the business responsibly. Growing the business responsibly means financial growth, ethical practices and assurance of supply. This contributes to boosting the economy as well as maintaining the success of the company. Finally, social sustainability is the third point which requires producing safe and quality products, having functional workplaces i.e. equal opportunities, safety AND workplace rights. The third part of social sustainability is making society sustainable which involves enterprise development and corporate investments.

Ch. 2 - Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage

Strategic planning for a company involves creating and maintaining a fit between a company's objectives , resources and the marketing opportunities. Creating a marketing plan is an effective way to specify the company's objectives and devise actions to attain them. A SWOT analysis is an example of an effective marketing plan, where it identifies a company's strengths , weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The marketing plan for Coca Cola is as follows...

Strengths
Coca Cola is known for promoting its products through advertising and by having famous people promote their products  for them. Coca Cola is also the worlds best selling soft drink company which shows that consumers are satisfied with their products and that they are also loyal to the company. Coca Cola is known for having their products sold in many places/events, currently Coca Cola is sold in over 20 different countries worldwide. Coca Cola also has a variety of different products available to consumers who don't drink coke such as Fanta, Dr.Pepper,Nestea and many more. Finally, Coca Cola has earned billions of dollars in revenue which contributes to making better/more products and prospering as a company.

 

Weakness

Coca Cola's weaknesses include failing to Increase customer satisfaction in the United States. Today, over 70% of Coca Cola sales are in countries outside of the United States. The company has also lost customers due to making a new formula for Coca Cola. Although Coca Cola has a lot of beverages, many of them do not make sales and have a negative impact on the company's revenue. Coca Cola has also discontinued a lot of beverages which has dissatisfied the customers who enjoy those beverages. Finally, Coca Cola has had disagreements with companies over the pricing of their products which has resulted in bad relationships with wholesalers  such as Costco.

Opportunities

Coca Cola is able to create more drinks to adapt to different customer preferences. Teaming up with other famous companies can also draws more customers into drinking Coca Cola. Expanding to more countries can also lead to the company's growth. Increasing its awareness in environmentally friendly bottles and helping a cause can bring about a New form of success by adapting to Neww consumers who are non soda drinkers. Finally, creating health conscious beverages and products Will attract people who do not drink soda due to its sugar content.

Threats

 PepsiCo has been a big threat for Coca Cola by creating similar products and increasingly taking Coca Cola customers. Another threat is the different number of beverages on the market forconsumers to choose from. Health concerns for people who are at risk for diabetes and heart disease influence them to find other drinks with less  sugar and beneficial  to their health. Finally, the cost of materials used to manufacture Coca Cola are going up which Will later force Coca Cola to raise its prices.

 

Ch. 1 - Overview of Marketing (Brief History and Mission Statement)

Coca Cola was introduced to the world in 1886 when an Atlanta pharmacist John S. Pemberton was on a search to create a cough medicine. Dr. Pemberton wanted to create a medicine that his pharmacy could make exclusively to attract more customers. He created brown syrup and took it down to the neighborhood pharmacy called “Jacob’s Pharmacy”.  He named it “Pembertons French wine coca” which initially contained alcohol. After prohibition laws were passed, the Alcohol was taken out of the medicine and was replaced by carbonated water. The name was then shortened to Coca Cola and was sold at soda fountains for 5 cents per glass. People loved the taste and Coca Cola became in high demand.

Two years later, Dr. Pemberton died and the business was sold to a business man name Asa Candler. The shareholders of the company wanted to expand the business elsewhere and make it more convenient for people to buy Coca Cola elsewhere than the fountains at” Jacobs pharmacy”. In 1894, a Mississippi businessman named Joseph Biedenharn began the bottling process for the drinks.

The company wanted to create a unique bottle shape for the drink so that people could recognize it easier, even in the dark. The root glass company won a contest for introducing the contour bottle. it was believed to be the most attractive. Today, the bottles are manufactured with the same contour shape and the original Coca Cola Signature by Dr. Pemberton.

In 1923, Robert woodruff’s family purchased the company from Candler. Woodruff used his marketing skills to distribute the beverage all over the US.  He introduced the open top cooler design and the six pack to make it easier for customers to drink the beverage.  He eventually brought Coca Cola overseas to other nations.

                Today, Coca Cola is the #1 best-selling soft drink in the world and is sold in over 200 countries worldwide. It remains number one due to the company’s exceptional marketing skills in maintaining customer satisfaction, coming up with new innovative ways to attract customers and by keeping their prices fair.

Mission statement:

Our Roadmap starts with our mission, which is enduring. It declares our purpose as a company and serves as the standard against which we weigh our actions and decisions.

 • To refresh the world...

• To inspire moments of optimism and happiness...

• To create value and make a difference.