marketing plan
Instructions
The Product Marketing Plan allows you to select a single product and make an adapted version of that product or create your own product and write a plan explaining how you will market it.
Your plan will include the following sections (draft):
- Executive Summary
- Situation Analysis
- SWOT/TOWS
- Marketing Strategy
- Marketing Promotion/Tactics
- Financials
- Controls
- Implementation
- Resources
Your paper will be 7-8 pages (or it could be longer) and explain your product and the other 4 P’s: promotion, place and price. You will receive feedback from the Week 3 draft in order to complete in Week 4. Original work is expected. Grammar and spelling will be graded also. If you would like to work on a product/service from your current employment that is ok. If you can\’t decide what to write on, you can also select a Cause and create a fund raising event for your Product. Ask your faculty for help if you are still trying to decide on a topic.
Please provide a draft and final paper on separate documents. With the Final marketing plan covering these sections
Your plan will include the following sections (Final)
• Executive Summary
• Market Situation/Objectives
• Market Trends/Strategy
• Value Proposition
• Buying Processes
• Key Message
• Needed Promotional Tools
• Financials
• Implementation
• Control
• Resources/References
SAMPLE STUDENT ANSWER
Coca-Cola Marketing Plan
Executive Summary
Having a long-term forward-looking approach is an essential ingredient in giving an organization a competitive advantage. Expansion and retention of the market share arise out of well-defined goals that ride on the marketing strategies. The Coca-Cola Company has executed one of the most effective marketing campaigns that reach its customers in the over 200 countries that the company operates in. In a highly competitive industry like the soft drinks one with strong rivals like PepsiCo, the Coca-Cola Company has succeeded in sustaining customers’ satisfaction through having a strong brand presence all over the world. For the company to remain profitable, management has to have and implement both short-term and long-term marketing strategies that will keep it ahead of its rivals.
The Coca-Cola company started in Atlanta in 1886 by Dr. John Pemberton as a medical drink and was bought by Asa Chandler in 1888 who grew the Coca-Cola company as we know it today (Willoughby, 2017). The company has made itself into a global force selling its drink that is consumed in households, office spaces, and shops. They have a brand that is easily known and sold along with other soft drinks and snacks offering a large variety of products to the customers (Luo, 2019).
It provides over 1.9 billion servings per day in over two hundred countries making it the biggest carbonated drinks company in the world (Luo, 2019). This paper does a market analysis that encompasses the current trends, the value proposition, the buying process,
Coca-Cola Marketing Plan
The Coca-Cola marketing strategy is uniquely designed to give it a global reach and recognition. Like many of its peers, it uses the 4Ps strategy of product, promotion, price, and place to achieve the ideal marketing mix (Arab, 2018). The 4Ps are linked with the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis to give a clear picture and direction to the marketing strategy.
Under the product strategy, the objective is to avail a variety of products to meet the needs of all the clients which is a strength (Sharmila, 2018, Abbasia, 2017). The products are also packaged in the most convenient packages from the smallest to the largest to meet the needs of each client. The weaknesses are a lack of product variety as compared to PepsiCo while a threat is customer concerns on obesity that has caused a drop in the market of carbonated drinks (Abbasia, 2017). The opportunity under products is in the bottled water segment and the introduction of healthier options for customers (Abbasia, 2017).
The pricing strategy of the company utilizes second-degree price discrimination (Sharmila, 2018). Different prices are set for products in the various segments with an eye on how its major competitor like Pepsi prices its products in the same segment. The strength of the Coca-Cola Company is its strong brand that has retained its clients and careful pricing strategies that make it affordable. A threat is a competition from rivals like PepsiCo and others players while a key strength is the availability of different packaging sizes that ensures different customers can afford what they prefer.
The place and distribution strategy revolves around the company’s extensive distribution network in over the 200 countries it operates in (Sharmila, 2018). This is one of the key strengths of the Coca-Cola Company. The various bottling entities located all over the world are supplied with the secret formula from the head office. The finished products are then supplied to the stockists and distributors who supply retailers who supply the final consumers (Sharmila, 2018).
A weakness is that coordinating all the bottling and distribution partners globally are subject to factors outside the scope of the company like civil strife in some regions. An opportunity in the distribution is that various markets like in Africa and the Middle East have not yet been extensively exploited. In addition, innovative new products will keep the demand for the products high. The biggest threat to the Coca-Cola distribution network is the fierce competition from PepsiCo and other players
Finally, the promotion strategy, the Coca-Cola Company has a massive marketing budget of over $ 4 billion per year while its biggest competitor PepsiCo spends around $ 2.8 billion (Luo, 2019). This financial capability gives the company a big competitive edge with promotions. A major drawback is that the company operates in many regions with different cultures and languages and hence needs to tailor-make promotions respectively and a host of internal strategic factors.
An opportunity lies in new forms of media like the use of social media, platforms, and continued sponsorships all over the world. The weakness is that competitors like PepsiCo, Redbull, Keurig Dr Pepper, Soyleny, and smaller localized player are increasingly employing equally effective and aggressive promotional campaigns.
Market Trends
Carbonated beverages (CBs) make up the bulk of the soft drinks industry globally and their market is on an upward trajectory (Abu-Reidah, 2020). Estimates show that CBs will record an annual growth rate of 2.8% to hit US $ 410 billion by 2023 (Abu-Reidah, 2020). These include soft drinks, energy drinks, and a variety of juices. Increasing concerns on health issues surrounding obesity have forced soft drink companies to come with innovative and healthy options like water, diet sodas, sugar-free drinks, caffeine-free drinks, and low-calorie drinks (Abu-Reidah, 2020).
Bottled water, ready-to-drink tea, and coffee show the greatest growth potential compensating for a drop in carbonated drinks. Companies like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are increasingly diversifying their product portfolios to include snacks, coffee, and other non-soda lines of business. For example, Coca-Cola bought Costa Coffee in 2019 to increase its product portfolio (Maamoun, 2020).
The traditional media of television, radio, print media and the use of posters have formed the core of advertising and communication. However, the emergence of social media platforms has introduced a new dynamic and opportunity for advertising and reaching customers (Almutairi, 2016). With channels like Facebook and Twitter, companies can reach and interact with customers globally quite very fast efficiently.
Value Preposition
The Coca-Cola value preposition forms part of the marketing strategy by and focused on the value that the customers derive every time they purchase its products. It is a statement that the company uses to summarize what it stands for its customers. The Coca-Cola Company has a unique secret formula that no competitor has been able to imitate ensuring that it’s over 500 products remain uniquely special (Briggs & Janakiraman, 2017).
“The Coke Side of Life” is the current value proposition o the Coca-Cola Company (Briggs & Janakiraman, 2017). It is tied to its vision of developing drinks that customers love for the refreshment of both mind and spirit. It is a commitment wrapped in an appealing statement. The value proposition should make the company meet the expectations of the customers’ needs through an emotional appeal (Abhay & Tabeck, 2021). The right value proposition makes customers to always choose the products of the Coca-Cola Company over its competitors.
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Buying Processes
The buying process of Coca-Cola products includes the following steps, recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, and purchase (Ammari & Jaziri, 2016). Coca-Cola products are not basic human needs but rather want that people can live without. The aim of the marketing team is to converts these want to be some form of need that they cannot live without. They create a culture around it through intensive advertisement and branding giving the products a very powerful brand image in the eyes of the consumers.
Consumers at some point feel a very strong desire to take the products that are as strong as a need rather than a want. The client will recognize that there is the company and its products through adverts and branding followed by searching for informants through the internet or from retailers. The next step after getting the information is evaluating alternatives from the same or different companies and finally purchasing.
Key Message
The vision of the Coca-Cola Company also acts as its key message and commitment to its customers. Its vision and mission are to “craft the brands and choice of drinks that people love, to refresh them in body & spirit and done in ways that create a more sustainable business and better-shared future that makes a difference in people’s lives, communities, and our planet.” (Panigrahi, 2020). The company aims to make very refreshing drinks the excite the bodies and spirits of its customers.
The company has used the “Share a Coke” advertisement campaign as a persuasive strategy that is tied to its message (Vincent & Kolade, 2019 )In many communities of the word sharing is equated to caring. Statistics show that “Share a Coke” is the best advertising campaign in the history of The Coca-Cola Company (Vincent & Kolade, 2019).
Needed Promotion Tools
There are many tactics that the Coca-Cola Company has used over the years with varying degrees of success. The company has always tried effectively to be different from its competitors by pioneering the contoured bottle in 1916, the six-pack in 1923, and the diet coke in 1982 (Chu, 2020). This has made its products to be appealing to most clients who like currently the millennial who love the Pop culture that is closely associated with Coca-Cola.
The company learned and embraced the power of Social Corporate Responsibility as a marketing tool (Melton et al., 2017). Clients know well versed with information on the actions of companies and will be attracted to those that implement sustainable activities. The Coca-Cola Company has promoted sports, culture, education, environmental protection, and care all over the globe.
The company has been a quick learner adapting to changing needs and trends of the customers (Rey-López & Gonzalez, 2019). For example, with the packaging, it has introduced small packages that allow financially challenged communities and persons to still afford and enjoy a coke while reducing the sugar intake. It has worked with organizations dealing with health issues like obesity in Countries like Spain just to be one step ahead on the needs of the customers (Rey-López & Gonzalez, 2019).
The Coca-Cola Company has used the positioning strategy to place itself at the apex of the soft drink industry (Abbasia, 2017). With sales spanning over 200 countries, the rallying call of the company has been “Think Global, act locally”. This means that the coke being taken in Atlanta, is the same sweets taste being taken in Africa, China, or Russia (Abbasia, 2017).
The company has a unique targeting strategy achieved through the availing of different products to the customers (Abbasia, 2017). This is aimed at winning over the hearts of different customers in the world. Partnerships with sports, music, and celebrities have allowed the company to appeal to customers across different age groups and cultural diversities.
Strategic advertisement has enabled the company to attract many customers including kids all over the world (Riegel & Pellerano, 2020). Various sales promotions and intensive advertisements like during Christmas, Easter, Independence Day, summer seasons, parties, and merrymaking have made the demand for coke soar continually. In some cultures like in Africa and Sri Lanka, Coke is even part of cultural events like dowry payments (Balasubramanian & Ayyanar, 2020). An example of a successful advertisement involves the “Share a Coke” campaign that is on record as being the most effective campaign in the history of The Coca-Cola Company (Vincent Kolade, 2019).
Financials
Marketing is not cheap and Coca-Cola currently spends over 6 billion American dollars on marketing and advertisement which is more that than the GDP of some nations (Chu, 2020). In 2017 for instance, the company spends 4.2 million dollars while PepsiCo spends 2.6 billion dollars and Nestle used 2.13 billion dollars (Luo, 2019). The company plows back through advertising and marketing around 17.5% of its annual revenue which is a significant amount (Luo, 2019).
In 2017, the company had an operating profit margin of 26.169% from revenues of 35.017 billion dollars which is 9.1634 billion dollars (Li, 2019). The net profit margin for the same period was 3.36% on revenue of 35.016 billion dollars that come to a net profit figure of 1.1794 billion dollars (Li, 2019). The return on assets was 10.425% from an asset figure of 87.896 billion dollars accounting for an operating net profit of 9.1634 billion dollars (Li, 2019).
The company has a market capitalization of 102 billion US dollars with the industry mean standing at 75 billion US dollars (The Coca-Cola Company, 2020 as cited by Panigrahi, 2020). While a current ratio of 1 is considered good for s company, Coca-Cola had 1.28 in 2016, 1.34 in 2017, 1.05 in 2018, and 0.76 in 2019 the drop is attributed to a decrease in current assets which is a pointer to liquidity issues.
Controls
Transnational companies like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Bayer, and Toyota have complex operations and needs in the various regions and countries they operate in (Dimitrescu et al., 2018). The marketing efficiency in every country needs to be analyzed to conform to both the internal and external potentials of the company (Dimitrescu et al., 2018). Coca-Cola has got formidable competitors like PepsiCo globally and other national and small players like fresh juice makers and as such it must always be a step ahead in marketing to maintain its dominant position.
The head office in Atlanta coordinates the marketing activities with the regional teams in 111 office locations spread over 49 countries (Chu, 2020). The advertising is done through social media, sales promotions, direct marketing, and mobile marketing (Pendergrast & Crawford 2020). Country managers develop national plans which then are approved by the regional heads (Pendergrast & Crawford, 2020). The benchmarks for advertising and branding are implemented through the regional and national offices (Pendergrast & Crawford, 2020)
The company used the quality control system as a performance management tool to ensure the marketing plans fit its strategic goals (Brondoni, 2019). It has installed strict ethical principles to guide the operations and conduct of employees and managers alike which is supported by a very supportive organizational structure that enhances collaboration and supervision.
Implementation
From selling 9 serving daily 135 years ago to 1.9 servings today is a phenomenal growth rate achieved through the implementation of an effective marketing strategy (Luo, 2019). The company operates in over 200 countries with over 80% of revenues coming from outside the United States of America (Luo, 2019). The marketing strategy is uniquely designed to give the company global brand recognition by utilizing the 4Ps: product, promotion, and price and place strategy (Chu, 2020) As a global company operating in different countries research and customer feedback is key in the understanding of the different conditions and hence knowing the respective strategies to employ.
Age is an important factor in marketing with the needs of the younger people aged 10-35 years different from those above 35 years old. For the younger people, the use of sports, pop stars and celebrities, and social media are key in reaching them (Chu, 2020). They are fun-loving and eager to “share a coke”. For the older generation, health factors come into play and a majority control the amount of soda they take including the preference for water and sugar-free options (Chu, 2020).
Market segmentation has enabled the company to meet clients with similar needs and preferences (Chu, 2020). This partly explains why not all the products of the Coca-Cola Company are available in all the markets. Different brands and packaging types are preferred by different consumers. In the developing world, for instance, the company has introduced smaller bottles which makes them affordable to the consumers (Chu, 2020).
Aggressive advertisement and sponsorships have sustained the global appeal of the Coca-Cola Company (Chu, 2020). Daily adverts on television radio and social media plus sponsorships of the various football leagues, the world cup, the Olympics NASCAR, and the American Idol plays a key role in the implementation of the marketing strategy (Chu, 2020).
References
Abbasia, H. (2017). Marketing Strategies of Coke: An Overview. Kaav International Journal of Economics, Commerce & Business Management, 4, 194-199.
Abhay, A., & Tabeck, P. S. (2021). Redesigning of value proposition with changing ecosystem. Journal of Management Research and Analysis, 4(4), 167-171.
Abu-Reidah, I. M. (2020). Carbonated beverages. Trends in non-alcoholic beverages, 1-36.
Almutairi, N. (2016). A Review of Social Media Marketing: Examples of Food and Drink Product.
Arab, N. (2018). Relationship between dimensions of Brand Equity and 4Ps of Marketing Mix-Place, Product, Promotion, & Price: Coca Cola-Consumer Based Qualitative Survey.
Balasubramanian, T., & Ayyanar, K. (2020). Socio-Economic Trends in Tamil Nadu after Independence. Aegaeum Journal Issn, (0776-3808), 8.
Bandy, L. K., Scarborough, P., Harrington, R. A., Rayner, M., & Jebb, S. A. (2020). Reductions in sugar sales from soft drinks in the UK from 2015 to 2018. BMC medicine, 18(1), 1-10.
Briggs, E., & Janakiraman, N. (2017). Slogan recall effects on marketplace behaviors: The roles of external search and brand assessment. Journal of Business Research, 80, 98-105.
Brondoni, S. M. (2019). Shareowners, Stakeholders & the Global Oversize Economy. The Coca-Cola Company Case. Symphony. Emerging Issues in Management, (1), 16-27.
Chu, B. (2020, November). Analysis on the Success of Coca-Cola Marketing Strategy. In 2020 2nd International Conference on Economic Management and Cultural Industry (ICEMCI2020) (pp. 96-100). Atlantis Press.
Dimitrescu, A., Babis, C., Alecusan, A. M., Chivu, O., & Faier, A. M. (2018). Management of a marketing plan. Fiability & Durability, 1, 279-285.
Dumitrescu, F. M. (2016). The Dimension Of The Socio-Cultural Brand Of Coca-Cola. Social Sciences and Education Research Review, 3(2), 48-54.
Li, X. (2019). Financial Analysis of Coca-Cola Company.
Luo, Y. (2019). Partnering with Chinese firms: Lessons for international managers. Routledge.
Maamoun, A. (2020). Coca-Cola Brews a Hot Acquisition: Costa Coffee. SAGE Publications: SAGE Business Cases Originals.
Melton, A., Damron, T., & Vernon, J. (2017). A Marketing Strategy from Corporate Social Responsibility: Lessons from Unilever and Coca-Cola Enterprises.
Panigrahi, V. (2020). An Organisation Study On The Coca-cola Company (Doctoral dissertation, CMR Institute of Technology. Bangalore).
Pendergrast, M., & Crawford, R. (2020). Coke and The Coca-Cola Company. In Decoding Coca-Cola (pp. 11-32). Routledge.
Riegel, V., & Pellerano, J. (2020). Coke and the kids. In Decoding Coca-Cola (pp. 198-206). Routledge.
Sharmila, T. (2018). The Role of Innovation for a Successful Marketing. International Journal of Science, Engineering and Management, 3(4), 681-83.
Vincent, E., & Kolade, A. (2019). Persuasive Communication: Semiotic Analysis of “Share-a-coke” Advertising Campaign. World Journal of Innovative Research (WJIR) ISSN, 2454-8236.
Jermaine Byrant
Nicole Johnson
OVER
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