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.