Strategic Marketing- Coca Cola Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Strategic Marketing- Coca Cola - Essay Example Coca-Cola is one of the leading food and beverage country with a geographical reach that extends to over 200 countries around the world. Coca-Cola manufactures, distributes and sells over 3,500 non-alcoholic beverages that range from drinking water to sports drinks. Coca-Cola is world-known for their soft drinks and most popularly its namesake Coca-Cola. The main product that Coca-Cola sells is its carbonated drinks such as Coca-Cola and its different variations that include Diet Coke, Coke with lime, Coca-Cola Blak and Coca-Cola Orange. The Coca-Cola Company began as J.S. Pemberton Medicine Company that sold medicinal products such as Cough syrup and hair dye. Later the co-founder of Coca Cola, Dr. John Pemberton, a pharmacist, discovered the formula for Coke, quite by accident. Soon J. S. Pemberton Medicine Company became Coca-Cola and began to operate as a beverage company. The revolutionary taste of Coke soon became a preferred taste for the consumers and Coke became a symbol of ‘Open Happiness’. The beverage industry is one the most growing industries as consumers’ preference has gradually shifted from drinking water to soft drinks and even to energy drinks. Thus Coca-Cola faces immense competition from other beverage industries, with the top competitors being Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc., Nestl and Pepsico, Inc. (Yahoo Finance, 2011). In this report, we will develop a marketing plan for 2011-2012 for Coca-cola to be presented to the board of directors at Coca-Cola. The marketing plan will discuss the current position of Coca-Cola in the market, using marketing audit that analysis both the micro and macro environment for the company. MARKETING AUDIT MACRO ENVIRONMENT- PESTLE ANALYSIS Political Factors With the growing consumer awareness towards the food and beverage industry, many have become concerned over the power and impact of junk food over the children and teenagers. Coke has been easily termed as junk food that contains empty calories which contribute toward s the number of obese in the world. With the consumer concern growing, governments may be forced to take action against Coke and other junk foods. Since Coke is an international brand, there is always concern over the growing instability in certain countries which has been on the rise in the last few years. Since Coke is originally an American brand, it is impacted by the growing Anti-American sentiment in the Gulf and certain Asian countries. However, with globalization on the increase, Coke can benefit from emerging and developing markets where demand for Coke will increase even higher. Economic Factors The unmarked recession that began after the US war against terrorism has not just impacted America but also the rest of the world. As the recession continues to take hold, the buyer power of the consumers is greatly reduced. Consumers are moving from luxury items to items of necessity and even at that, they are looking for discounts and bargains. The instability and period of near war that is prevalent in many countries including London, also impacting buyer power and preference of the consumer. Also with the escalating oil prices, production and transportation costs have gone up considerably higher which has resulted in increased prices of the product. The same product is now available at higher prices and at a time of recession. However, the advantage for Coca-Cola is that their manufacturing plant is located in every city where they market their product which considerably decreases transportation costs. Socio-Cultural Factors The recent focus on health and nutrition has led consumers to consider buying carbonated and other drinks that negatively impact their health. Thus there has been a decrease in the demand of traditional Coca Cola products, that are carbonated drink, among the consumers especially baby boomers.