Marketing Strategy: Coca Cola Company

Coca-Cola Company is the world largest beverage company with approximately 500 brands. Apart for coca-cola brand, the company has other 14 brands; Coca-cola zero, vitamin water, PowerAde, minute maid, diet coke, fanta, sprite and Georgia coffee whose portfolio is over a billion dollars. Coca-cola Company is the leading company globally, in supply of sparkling beverages, juice drinks, ready-to-drink coffees and teas, and juices. The company also has the largest distribution system in the world with distribution channels in more 200 countries of the world and serving rate of nearly 1.6 billion per day (The Coca-Cola Company, 2010).

Provided below is a report on marketing strategy adopted by the Coca-Cola Company. Included in the report are the various marketing and/or business issues and opportunities facing Coca-Cola Company as well as the characteristics of its current and potential customers. The report also provides a discussion of the various segmentation options available to Coca-Cola Company and then gives a recommendation of the most appropriate market segmentation that the company can focus in order to achieve profitable sales growth. An analysis of the company’s strengths and weaknesses based on a proposed marketing mix for a positioning strategy is also given.

Key Business and Marketing Opportunities Facing Coca-Cola Company

Being a global company, one of the key marketing opportunities facing Coca-Cola Company is based on its ability to command franchise leadership in the beverage industry (Beverage-Digest.com, 2004). Coca-Cola Company operates franchises in the global market through having numerous bottling partners in the 200 countries of the world where it has distribution channels. Through these bottling partners contracted by Coca-Cola through franchise, the company has an opportunity of improving its economic system. Improvement of the economic system for Coca-Cola means that the company would be able to design different business models for still and sparkling beverages in specific markets through the franchises operated by its bottling partners to ensure that it is able to meet different consumer needs.

Being a franchise leader also provides Coca-Cola Company with an opportunity to build and expand its supply chain network (Beverage-Digest.com, 2004). Even though Coca-Cola Company commands the greatest market share in the non-alcoholic beverage industry as compared to its competitors such as Pepsi, it has a potential to increase its market share and occupy that share currently occupied by its competitors. This opportunity is made possible by existence of franchise leadership held by the company whereby these franchises can be used to expand its supply chain network even wider in order to leverage the size and scale of its marketing system to gain a competitive advantage.

Apart from expansion of supply chain network opportunity provided by bottling franchises for Coca-Cola Company, this bottling system also provides the company with an opportunity to take advantage of infinite growth around the world (Coca-Cola Case Study, 2010). As the world has currently turned into one global village, consumer tastes and preferences are tuning towards global products. By having a bottling systems in many parts of the world, Coca-Cola Company has an opportunity of servicing large geographic and diverse area where by it can be able to meet the infinite customers needs as soon as an opportunity arises.

Coca-Cola brand recognition is yet another area that provides the company with great business and marketing opportunities. The company’s brand is recognized very well in the world with an approximate recognition of 90% in the whole world today. This recognition provides the company with an opportunity to gain a higher competitive edge over its competitors. There are cases where changes in packaging have negative effects on sales and industry positioning of a company. However, due to strong brand recognition, Coca-Cola Company has an opportunity to keep inventing new packaging methods for its products without having any effects on sales and its industry positioning. The Coca-Cola Company Vice President says, “The Coca-Cola Company brands are among the world’s most recognized and valued” (Beverage-Digest.com, 2004).  According to interview response given by Rick Frazier, Coca-Cola has introduced different packaging for its different brands without experiencing significant effects on its sales. Therefore, the company has an opportunity to continue attracting and retaining its customers through innovative brand images and packaging without experiencing negative effects on its sales and industry positioning.

Key Business and Marketing Issues Facing Coca-Cola Company

Despite the fact that Coca-Cola Company is the leading non-alcoholic beverage company in the world, it is faced with certain marketing and business issues that are in the form of challenges and risks. In the recent past, there has been increased awareness on the potential health problems associated with inactive lifestyles and obesity among consumers, government agencies and health professionals. Being a company based in production of consumer food products; this represents a challenge to the Coca-Cola Company. Obesity is a composite public health issue (Coca-Cola Case Study, 2010).