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.