ASSIGNMENT

On
Case Study

Course Code: MKT 601

Course Title: Marketing Management
Trimester: Fall - 2021
MBA Program
Batch: 77

SUBMITTED TO
MD. Rabiul Kabir
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Business Administration
Stamford University Bangladesh

SUBMITTED BY

Shourov Ahommed
ID No: MBA 077 18600

Date of Submission: 27-10-2021

STAMFORD UNIVERSITY BANGLADESH

Question
1. What is the nature of Coca Cola business? Why it is called Coca-Cola?
2. What is the SWOT analysis of Coca-Cola?
3. What is the marketing strategy of Coca-Cola?

Executive Summery
The Coca-Cola Company was first established in 1886 by Dr. John Stitch Pemberton. Today the
company is the world’s leading manufacturer in the beverage industry, operating globally in more
than 200 countries with its head office located in Atlanta, USA. It produces more than 300
beverage brands and over 1.06 billion drinks are consumed per day around the world.
As the leading beverages company in the world, Coca Cola almost monopolizes the entire
carbonated beverages segment. Beside it, Coca Cola also maintain their reputation as the leading
company in the world using PESTLE analysis so that Coca Cola can examine the macro-
environment of Coca Cola’s operations.

Introduction
The Coca-Cola company is the world’s largest beverage company and is the leading producer and
marketer of soft drinks. Today, Coca-Cola is consumed throughout the world at the rate of more
than 600 million times per day and this figure is continuing to rise. However, Coca-Cola is not
the sort of company to live in its past glories instead it looks to the future as a challenge and
constantly seeks new markets and ways of increasing its market share in areas where it currently
has a strong presence. It is the world’s largest producer and distributer of syrups and concentrates
for soft drinks.
As we all know, the Coca is today’s one of the biggest corporations that offers different
refreshment in form of a soft-drink. But aside from their historical success, the Coca Cola
Company is still a typical business that is affected and at the same time affecting the different
type of communities.
Coca-Cola has sold more than one billion servings every day. More than 10,450 beverages are
consumed every second. The company achieved earnings of $4,347,000,000 in 2003. It is present
on all seven continents and is recognized by 94% of the world population. How did Coca-Cola
grow from its humble roots as a home-brewed Georgia-based patent medicine to be the
international soft drink powerhouse that it is today? Coca-Cola used numerous technologies to
achieve its rise to the top of the soft drink industry, defining new technologies and establishing
paradigms that popped the status quo like a cap from a soda bottle. Through technology, Coca-
Cola perfected Coke as a beverage and spread it throughout the world. Even today, the US soft
drink industry is organized on this principle. "The Coca-Cola Company" is now the largest soft
drink company in the world. Every year 800,000,000 servings of just "Coca-Cola" are sold in the
U.S alone.

Study
Nature of Coca-Cola
The Coca-Cola Company is a company that sells carbonated drinks. It was uncertain to start for an idea
in 1894, brisk sales of the new fountain beverage called Coca-Cola impressed the store's owner, Joseph
A. Biedenharn. He began bottling Coca-Cola to sell, using a common glass bottle called a Hutchinson.
He then sent a case to Asa Griggs Candler, who owned the company. In 1899, they had the first bottling
agreement as they obtained exclusive rights to bottle Coca-Cola across most of the United States.
Between 1900s to 2000s, the company started growing rapidly as their efforts were boosted by major
progress in bottling technology, which improved efficiency and product quality. In addition, it started to
expand internationally that Coca-Cola

The Company encouraged and invested in a number of bottler consolidations to assure that its largest
bottling partners would have capacity to lead the system in working with global merchants (Investors et
al., n.d.). The nature of Coca-Cola Company focuses on needs of their consumers, customers and
franchise partners. Get out into the market and listen, observe and learn. They work efficiently, remain
responsive to change and be accountable for own actions (Investors et al., n.d.)

The external analysis includes Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal.
Firstly, Political is about the stability of political issues in a country and the extent to which political
issues of government interposes in a country that affects companies and businesses. Coca-Cola is a non-
alcoholic beverage and is within the food category. The government has control over the manufacturing
procedure of these products in terms of regulations. Companies, who fail to meet the standards of law,
are fined by the government. This will lead to competitive product and pricing policy pressures, ability
to maintain or earn share of sales in worldwide market will be harder. Secondly, Economic is about
local companies are affected by local companies

In 2001, the downturn influenced the company’s operations. As of global recession, Coca-Cola can
borrow capital and invest in other products, because the interest rates are lowered. Also, it can borrow to
advance its research of new products and technology. By researching for new products are cost
effective, the company could sell its products at a lower price, so its customers would purchase more
Coca-Cola products at a lower price. Thirdly, Social is about firms are more likely to succeed if they can
adapt products and services to prevalent sociocultural conditions including demographics trends such as
factors such as population size, age distribution, and ethnic mix can have a direct impact on current and
future business.

Why is Coca-Cola Called Coca-Cola?

The beginning, while crafting and experimenting with his medicinal beverage, Pemberton made an
alcoholic drink called French Wine Coca. He registered the drink in 1885, but prohibition laws in
Atlanta prevented him from selling it. In true entrepreneurial fashion, he pivoted, and created a
similar, non-alcoholic version. However, this go-around, he made the syrup similar to the French
Wine Coca.

Pemberton turned to Frank Mason Robinson, his partner and bookkeeper, who suggested the name
Coca-Cola for the syrup formula. Coca, which was derived from Coca leaves and Cola from kola nuts.

He thought the words “coca” and “cola” would look nice stylistically, which is why he dropped the
“k” in kola nuts and replaced it with a “c.”

Pemberton faced a couple hiccups with his beverage at the time, as it contained coca leaves during a
period where cocaine was at the center of a national debate. The substance had traditionally been used
medicinally, but its more insidious effects were being explored. Because cocaine is a highly addictive
substance, the manufacturers of the drink did not want to be known for creating a cocaine addiction in
the market; however, the creators wanted to keep some amount of coca extract in the syrup for their
soda to protect the trademark “Coca-Cola.” By 1902, there was still a trace of cocaine – about 1/400
of a grain per ounce of syrup – in Coca-Cola. By 1929, the soda became cocaine-free, and the
beverage was still able to maintain its name.

In 1985, Coca-Cola changed the formula and introduced “New Coke,” however consumer tests
revealed that an overwhelming majority of them preferred the old taste. Coca-Cola returned to a
variation of the old formula using high fructose corn syrup instead of cane sugar as the main
sweetener, and launched the product under the name Coca-Cola Classic

Today, Coca-Cola is globally recognized brand, thanks to their great product, creative marketing
campaigns and what they stand for as an organization. With dozens of options: Coke, Coke Zero, Diet
Coke, Coca-Cola Life and some of their other brands, like Powerade, Dasani, Fanta, Minute Maid and
Fresca, they likely have something that will cure your thirst. What’s your favourite Coca-Cola
beverage or marketing campaign? Comment below! Thanks for reading why is Coca-Cola called
Coca-Cola!

Swot Analysis
Before going to SWOT analysis, first we’ve known what SWOT actually is. The alphabets in the
word SWOT sands for Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats. In SWOT analysis, we basically
to discuss about the strength, weakness, opportunity and threats of Coca-Cola Company. So, here
goes the SWOT analysis of Coca Cola Company. Now we are going to discuss elaborately on the
points given above in SWOT Analysis table.
Strengths
i. The best global brand in the world in terms of value. According to Interbrand, The Coca
Cola Company is the most valued ($77,839 billion) brand in the world.
ii. World’s largest market share in beverage. Coca Cola holds the largest beverage market
share in the world (about 40%).
iii. Strong marketing and advertising. Coca Cola‟ advertising expenses accounted for more
than $3 billion in 2012 and increased firm’s sales and brand recognition.
iv. Most extensive beverage distribution channel. Coca Cola serves more than 200 countries
and more than 1.7 billion servings a day.
v. Customer loyalty. The firm enjoys having one of the most loyal consumer groups.
vi. Bargaining power over suppliers. The Coca Cola Company is the largest beverage producer
in the world and exerts significant power over its suppliers to receive the lowest price available
from them.
vii. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Coca Cola is increasingly focusing on CSR
programs, such as recycling/packaging, energy conservation/climate change, active healthy
living, water stewardship and many others, which boosts company’s social image and result in
competitive advantage over competitors.

Weaknesses:
i. Significant focus on carbonated drinks. The business is still focusing on selling Coke, Fanta,
Sprite and other carbonated drinks. This strategy works in short term as consumption of
carbonated drinks will grow in emerging economies but it will prove weak as the world is
fighting obesity and is moving towards consuming healthier food and drinks.
ii. Undiversified product portfolio. Unlike most company’s competitors, Coca Cola is still
focusing only on selling beverage, which puts the firm at disadvantage. The overall consumption
of soft drinks is stagnating and Coca Cola Company will find it hard to penetrate to other markets
(selling food or snacks) when it will have to sustain current level of growth.

iii. High debt level due to acquisitions. Nearly $8 billion of debt acquired from CCE‟s
acquisition significantly increased Coca Cola's debt level, interest rates and borrowing costs.
iv. Negative publicity. The firm is often criticized for high water consumption in water scarce
regions and using harmful ingredients to produce its drinks.
v. Brand failures or many brands with insignificant amount of revenues. Coca Cola currently
sells more than 500 brands but only few of the brands result in more than $1 billion sales. Plus,
the firm’s success of introducing new drinks is weak. Many of its introduction result in failures,
for example, C2 drink.
Opportunities:
i. Bottled water consumption growth. Consumption of bottled water is expected to grow both in
US and the rest of the world.
ii. Increasing demand for healthy food and beverages. Due to many programs to fight obesity,
demand for healthy food and beverages has increased drastically. The Coca Cola Company has an
opportunity to further expand its product range with drinks that have low amount of sugar and
calories.
iii. Growing beverages consumption in emerging markets. Consumption of soft drinks is still
significantly growing in emerging markets, especially BRIC countries, where Coca Cola could
increase and maintain its beverages market share.
iv. Growth through acquisitions. Coca Cola will find it hard to keep current growth levels and
will find it hard to penetrate new markets with its existing product portfolio. All this can be done
more easily through acquiring other companies.
Threats:
i. Changes in consumer tastes. Consumers around the world become more health conscious and
reduce their consumption of carbonated drinks, drinks that have large amounts of sugar, calories
and fat. This is the most serious threat as Coca Cola is mainly serving carbonated drinks.
ii. Water scarcity. Water is becoming scarcer around the world and increases both in cost and
criticism for Coca Cola over the large amounts of water used in production.
iii. Strong dollar. More than 60% of The Coca Cola Company income is from outside US. Due
to strong dollar performance against other currencies firm’s overall income may fall.
iv. Legal requirements to disclose negative information on product labels. Some Coca Cola’s
carbonated drinks have adverse health consequences. For this reason, many governments
consider to pass legislation that requires disclosing such information on product labels. Products
containing such information may be perceived negatively and lose its customers.
v. Decreasing gross profit and net profit margins. Coca Cola’s gross profit and net profit
margin was decreasing over the past few years and may continue to decrease due to higher water
and other raw material costs.
vi. Competition from PepsiCo. PepsiCo is fiercely competing with Coca Cola over market share
in BRIC countries, especially India.
vii. Saturated carbonated drinks market. The business significantly relies on the carbonated
drinks sales, which is a threat for the Coca Cola as market of carbonated drinks is not growing or
even declining in the world.

Marketing Strategies of Coca-Cola

Product strategy 

Coca-Cola has a wide range of products, and they are soft drinks these products are offered globally,
and its product strategy can be studied by marketing mix. The following are products like Coca-Cola,
Diet Coke, Light, Minute Maid, Coca-Cola Life, PowerAde Zero, Coca-Cola Zero, and Sprite Fanta,
etc. These products are sold in various packing and sizes. They have a significant share in the market
and generate enormous profits for the company.

Pricing strategy

Coca-Cola's price remains fixed for about 73 years. It cost only five cents over time. Competition
increases in the market with competitors like Pepsi is the biggest competitor of Coca-Cola. Because of
this, the company has to make its pricing strategy flexible. If the company follows this strategy, then
consumers of their product start doubting its quality, so this significantly drops the price or its value if
the company increases its price unreasonably, and people switch to the alternative.  

Place strategy 

Coca-Cola is the global industry, and they have a vast network of distribution, their products are sold
in more than two-hundred countries. They have six operating regions: Latin America, Africa, Europe,
Pacific, Eurasia & North America. The company depends on its bottling partners and for packing and
distribution. The bottling partners are responsible for manufacture, packaging, and shipping to the
agents then transported by road to stockiest then to distributors to retailers and then to the final
customer. This is the channel through which it is distributed daily. The coca-cola products are
available in almost all retail outlets, supermarkets, grocery stores, etc. its products are also distributed
in different restaurants and hotels globally. Coca-Cola has an extensive network of a reverse supply
chain that collect the leftover glass bottle and reuse it, thus saving the cost and resources.

Promotion strategy  

Due to intense competition in the market, Coca-Cola focuses on different promotional and marketing
strategies. They mostly focus on aggressive marketing. According to statistics, Coca-Cola spent 4$
million in 2016, and in 2018 it spends 4.1$ million in promotion of its brand. It utilizes both
traditional and international mediums for the advertising of its brand.  

Classic bottle

When the company was losing market in 1913, it arranged a global contest for designing the bottle.
The company's primary purpose is to indicate to its customers that Coca-Cola is the most exceptional
product and to be confused by any other brown beverages. The winner of the contest uses the cocoa
pod's design in such a beautiful way that the company starts promoting shape and logo. Then plastic
replaces by the glass as strand means of drinking globally. 

Company font and logo design

The company decided to write the logo in the Spenserian script to differentiate from its competitors.
The recipe and logo remain the same, but packaging modified with time. The way the company uses
its logo in marketing strategy remains imprinted on consumers' minds for over a hundred years.

Simplicity

Coca-Cola never deviates from its track even though it becomes a massive industry. Across many
decades the marketing strategy communicates the same strong message of happiness, enjoyment, and
pleasure. Never go out of its style and easily translated worldwide. 

Localised positioning

In 2018 the company launched its campaign share a coke in almost fifty countries, and this campaign
went very successful. They print messages, images of celebrities of the region, and these messages are
according to the local culture of the area, and language. In this way, they target the local market. This
is an excellent example of how localised positioning applied to the global market.

Sponsorships 

Coca-Cola is a well-recognised brand for its sponsorships. Its long sponsorships history include
American idol, the Olympic Games, NASCAR, and many more. 

Socialisation

With the advancement in technology, online communication channels become the most significant
source of marketing. And Coca-Cola takes advantage of all social media platforms and create a profile
on it. It also takes part in an online advertisement. Like on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat.
They are available on all social media platforms. Their marketing strategy is so unique, especially
considering how unique the brand is and attracting dozens of people. The primary purpose of Coca-
Cola is brand recognition, awareness about the brand.    

Global outreach

Coca- Cola Company is globally known for its largest soda industry, and it is operating in more than
200 countries.  Whenever any major tragedy happens in any region, the Coca-Cola company is here
and support the people whatever possible to them they do to give relief to the people from the disaster
and make all the reasonable recovery efforts. These initiatives go unnoticed by media but noticed by
people on the ground who are directly affiliated.

Conclusion
The Coca Cola Company is currently one of the biggest and most recognized soft beverage brands in
the world. With over 3000 products in more than 200 countries, the Coca-Cola Company has surely
become part of people’s lives. The Coca-Cola Company owes its success to the people who do their best
to achieve the task at hand. Thus, the Cola-Cola Company takes cares of its employees in return by
creating a good working environment and working along with unions and government agencies to
make sure its employees are safe. The Coca-Cola Company understands that in today’s business world
technology is very essential to run such a big company like Coca-Cola. Therefore, the Coca-Cola
Company uses different types of technology such as creating databases and data warehouse about
their customers and suppliers, doing business with consumers and other businesses through the
internet. The Coca-Cola Company even offers merchandise over the internet through its very own
shopping website www.cocacolastore.com.The Coca-Cola Company also uses search engines such as
Google and yahoo to advertise its products and make sure its brand reaches more people every day.
Coca-Cola has spent over $2 million just on advertising and marketing. This makes Coca-Cola well
known in many countries In addition, keeping up with today's new trends, the Coca-Cola Company
also advertise its products on myspace, face book and twitter. The Coca-Cola Company knows that no
business can run without a plan. Because the Coca-Cola Company has been able to the set the entry
barrier in the beverage business very high, new companies are discourage to compete with Coca-Cola.
In addition, the Coca-Cola Company has agreements with many of its supplier (mostly bottling
company) to exclusively provide by their services to Coca-Cola. Thus, it is almost impossible for new
comers to keep up with Coca-Cola and similar competitors with recognized names in the business
such as Pepsi. The Coca-Cola success isn't something that has been achieved over night. Many years
has passed since John Pemberton created the secret formula for Coca-Cola in 1886. Who would have
thought that after over a hundred years, his creation would have this much impact in the world and
turn Coca-Cola into a worldwide recognized company.