Coca - Cola: Background, Management, Competitive Advantage (Essay Sample)

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Overview of the Company
The Coca-Cola Company is a leading Company in the World Manufacturing nonalcoholic beverages and has its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. It was found back in the year 1889 by John Stith Pemberton who was a prominent Pharmacist. John later sold the Company’s brand and formula to Asa Griggs Candler in the year 1889. Since then, the Company has remained under an active management which is admired by many. The active management is evident from the continuous growth of Coca-Cola whereby each year; the Company grows stronger and stronger acquiring some Companies such as Minute Maid, Odwalla, and ZICO. Coca-Cola manufactures a syrup concentrate which has quite a high demand across the world. There are quite some Companies across the World producing similar products, but the demand for their products cannot be in any way compared to that of the Coca-Cola; that of Coca-Cola is quite high. The company has dealers virtually in every Country across the world that receives their products and distribute to the large customer base. They use some exclusive vendor partnerships to ensure that they maintain the legal ownership of their brand. Due to a well-formed marketing and distribution strategies, the Company makes huge profits making it one of the leading Companies making very high profits in the World.
Management
The Company has an active management led by Muhter Kent who is the Chief Executive Officer. Kent is well known for his strong values and a firm commitment to maintaining the legacy of the Coca-Cola brand. Over the years, the management has evolved to ensure that the Company maintains a well-organized team which makes it possible for them to have a continuous growth and an increasing profit not forgetting to keep a high-quality service for the consumers. Today, the Company has five main groups with each cluster under its leader referred to as the President. The President has the overall role of overseeing smooth operations of his team. The President must be responsible, and he is under the control of the Chief executive officer of the Company. These groups include the Asia Pacific group which is led by John Murphy. The second group is the European, Middle East and African group which is led by Brian J Smith. Latin America is the third team which is led by Alfredo Rivera. The North America team is the fourth group being led by Alexander M. the last group is the bottling investment group which is led by Irial Finan. Each group has several managerial departments with each department having its leader who is answerable to the overall team leader. This structure is outstanding since it has seen Coca-Cola develop tremendously over the years.
Operating segments
The Company has six operating segments across the world. These sections incorporate the parts as mentioned above, under the management discussion, with one additional section of Eurasia and Africa. These components include all the consolidated and the Company-owned bottling operations. They exclude bottling operations by in the North America which is under the management of the Coca-Cola refreshment. The North America segment has a broad market segment thereby having the highest operating revenues. The Eurasia-Africa segment has the least operating earnings and something which can be related to its low operating income which is the second lowest. The segment with the lowest operating income is the bottling investments. Some of these segments have a different way of getting revenues when compared to the overall way through which the Company gets its revenue. For instance, the North American division gets most of its income from the sales of the already finished beverages while the Company’s overall operations generate revenue through the manufacture and selling of syrups and beverage concentrates. These are the processes which make quite a high service margins as compared to the bottling and the finished syrup operations. The Company mainly operates in segments so as to establish a separate internal organization for all consolidated and unconsolidated bottling investments.
Products and brands
The Company primarily deals with soft the selling of soft drinks. It’s the biggest and most popular Company selling soft drinks across the world. The first brand of the Company is a soft drink referred as the Coca-Cola. It is one of the Company’s brands which have a very broad customer base. Many people across the world prefer this brand over others. It was introduced at the beginning of the Company in the year 1886. In the year 1946, the Company launched another soft drink referred to as Fanta. Fanta is also a highly accepted brand with many people across the World taking a bottle of it quite often. Another renowned brand of Coca-Cola is Sprite. It’s a soft drink with a great lemon taste and is consumed by many people across the world. The Company has also highly distilled water which is distributed in many countries in the World. The Company’s packed water has a name Dasani, and it has a very fresh taste. Another product by Coca-Cola is a juice referred as to the Minute Maid. It is an acquired product from the Florida Foods Company back in the year 1960. It is the first product to be produced by Coca Cola outside their traditional production of soft drinks. Other products by the Coca-Cola Company include Powerade Zero, Powerade, Glaceau Vitamin water, Honest Tea, Del Vale, Glaceau Smart water, Mello Yello, Fuze, Fuze Tea, Odwalla, and Ciel. All this are high-quality products with a very fulfilling taste. Many people across the world prefer these products over those made by different products because of their great taste.
Target market
Coca-Cola has manufactured various products that target various groups of people regarding age, ethnicity, gender and even lifestyle. Each product of the Company targets a particular group of the people. To start with the Coca-Cola product- Odwalla- which is juice with fruits flavor targets middle-aged adults across the world aged between thirty and fifty years. The product is made up of milk that has a taste which many adults would prefer. The Minute Maid targets both adults and children. It’s a takeaway product which is very convenient for someone who is traveling. It mainly targets those consumers who prefer a beverage with a great taste and healthy too. The first product of the Company which is the Coca-Cola soft drink has been made with many different materials to make different brands but still maintaining the same basic taste. This is something which has greatly enlarged the target market. The Company also has those products which target specific countries. An example is the Real Gold which targets the people of Japan. It is an energy booster and mainly used by those who are at work. There are those products that target specific groups of individuals such as the Athletes. All the products of Coca-Cola are made carefully to ensure that many consumers are pleased and satisfied something which guarantees a continued demand for the Company’s products.
Distribution system
Being an international Company, Coca-cola has made significant efforts to ensure that their highly requested products reach to the consumers. The efforts are evident since the Company has localized most of its products something which only a few Companies across the world have managed to achieve. To achieve this, the Company has over two hundred and fifty distribution partners. The partnership is governed by strict legal departments across the world so as to protect the brand. Coca-Cola manufactures its products in Georgia, where it is located and distributes those products to various bottling operators across the globe. Only those partners who are strictly regulated have the sole right to manufacture and pack and distribute those packed products directly to the consumers and the vendors. The vendors are partners who purchase the products and sells directly to the customers at a profit. All the Coca cola’s bottling partners have the responsibility of working hand in hand with the supplier stores, shops, and restaurants so as to ensure that the distribution is fully localized. This strategy by Coca-cola is very efficient as it ensures that products don’t have to be transported for long distances. This makes the approach not only very convenient but also cheaper as compared to other distribution strategies.
Marketing strategy
Coca-Cola uses very brilliant ideas and strategies to...