Coca-Cola (Research Paper Sample)

Coca-Cola
Name
Course
Tutor
Date
Executive Summary
This paper looks into Coca-Cola Company’s history, products, innovativeness, financial performance, opportunities, strengths, and threats. The paper looks at how the company has survived stiff competition in the beverage industry to the point of becoming one of the world’s leading brands. It shows how the company engages its customers in production of its products to ensure that all their needs and desires are met. The company as well has been designing aggressive marketing strategies that convince the target market to purchase the company’s products.
The paper as well conducts an analysis of the company’s strengths, opportunities, and threats. Among the company’s key strengths include its word’s leading brand, its customers’ loyalty, its extensive beverage distribution channel, and its aggressive marketing strategies among other strengths. Opportunities include the increasing demand for beverage drinks especially in emerging markets and a growing demand for bottled water. The company as well faces a couple of threats including stiff competition, as well as, dependence on independent bottling companies. Additionally, the paper looks at the company’s financial performance. In 2012, its profitability, revenue, and global volume grew past the target.
Table of Contents
 TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u  HYPERLINK \l "_Toc323822567"
History 4
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc323822570"
Innovation in advertisement 5
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc323822571"
Coca-Cola's Three-Pronged Approach……………………………………………………...........6
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc323822572"
Strengths 6
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc323822573"
Threats 7
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc323822574"
Opportunities 7
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc323822575"
Financial performance 8
References..........................................................................................................................10

History
Doctor John Pemberton, a pharmacist, founded the company in 1886. This was after he discovered the formula of making the company’s soft drinks. The founder’s bookkeeper, Mr Frank, suggested the name Coca-Cola, which is one of the global leading brands up to today. The public enjoyed the soft drink the same year it was invented. On average, the company sold nine serves each day. The company registered revenue of $50 during the first year of operation. However, the revenue was unable to cover the cost of over $70 over the same period.
Asa Candler, another pharmacist, purchased the soft drink’s formula, in 1887, for $2300. Asa designed and implemented an aggressive marketing strategy for the soft drink and by 1890s; the soft drink was one of the favorable fountain drinks in America. Since the formula was purchased, the company operates by the principle of selling the drink’s ingredients to independent bottling companies (Senker, 2012).
The company was selling its product as a soda fountain until 1960s, when it replaced it with bottled soft drink. Before the bottled soft drinks, people used to meet at soda fountains to enjoy carbonated beverages. However, as fast food restaurants, bottled soft drinks, as well as, ice creams became popular; the bottled soft drinks as well became popular (Senker, 2012).
Together with its subsidiaries, the company is involved in production, distribution, as well as, marketing of its drinks. It sells its products under a couple of globally recognized brand names including Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Light, Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero, Minute Maid Vitamin water , among other famous brands.
The company produces a couple of beverages including energy drinks, as well as, still beverages, for example, ready to drink coffee, juice, and bottled water. The company has entered into agreements relating to the cola beverage under, which the company produces, promotes, and distributes its products in different regions across the world. Its still beverages include its famous juice called Minute Maid, and as well manufactures and markets its Dasani water. The company sells its products through retail outlets, food market outlets, as well as, vending machines among other outlets. It uses its own bottling and distributor’s operators and others that are independent.
Innovation in advertisement
The company’s brand is more than 125 years old, and is still one of the world’s leading brands. Until 2007, Coca-Cola marketing strategy was over reliant on the Coke, which is its flagship drink. Before 2007, experts saw the company as a sluggish marketer. However, the company began using other aspects besides is flagship drink to market its products. The company’s marketing team has always learned from failures in its marketing strategies coming up with other stronger and effective strategies, which have contributed a lot in making the brand internationally recognizable. The company’s marketing team has a culture that makes it focus on making the brand famous without seeking for credit (Gogerly, 2012).
The company has been successful in creating a marketing model. In other world, its marketing model has been applied by many global organizations when designing marketing strategies for their products. The company has used it marketing model to market its new brands, which enjoy regional recognition within the shortest period possible. The company was recognized in 2011 as the marketer of the year. One of the key reasons for recognition is the fact that it has an average growth of 3 percent in terms of sales despite the fact that it is an old brand. Another key reason is the fact that the company was leading on the interactive brand charts.
The company values the importance of conducting market research before coming up with new products, as well as, before marketing its products. This helps in ensuring that its products satisfy the target market’s needs and desires. By understanding what its target market needs, the company is always able to design its advertisement messages that tells people how its products meet their needs and desires (Isdel, 2012).
Coca-Cola's Three-Pronged Approach
The company has three-pronged approach including product innovation, packaging innovation, as well as, consumer engagement. Product innovation helps in reinvention of the company’s products. In other words, the company’s products change with the market i.e. keeps pace with the changing tastes and preferences of its target market. The company as well recognizes the value of packaging innovation. It ensures that its packaging differentiates its products from the competing brands thus ensuring that it does not lose its market share to competitors. The company as well is environmental sensitive when it comes to packaging. In other words, the materials it uses in packaging are environmental friendly. Additionally, the company engages its target market when deciding what products to introduce into the market. This is to ensure that it has a good understanding of the target market’s needs and desires (Isdel, 2012).
Strengths
The company has a couple of strengths, which contributes significantly to its profitability. One of its key strengths includes the fact that it is the leading global brand worth over $77 billion. The company uses the brand to market its new products, which become recognizable very fast. Additionally, it is outsourced by other global companies, which need to market their goods and services. The company’s other key strength is the fact that it has the largest beverage market share in the world. Its huge market share contributes substantially to the increasing growth in revenue, as well as, profitability.
Their aggressive marketing strategy as well is another key strength associated with the company. This has enabled the company to attain the global recognition status. Through its aggressive marketing strategies, the company is able to ensure stability in revenue generation as well as profitability. The company’s extensive beverage distribution channel is as well its strength. Through the channel, the company is able to reach a wide coverage while serving its customers. It channel is efficient, which contributes to savings. Another Coca Cola’s strength is its customer loyalty. By engaging its customers in manufacturing of its products, the company has been successful in winning their loyalty. This as well helps in stabilizing the company’s revenue and profitability. Another key strength is its high bargaining power over its suppliers. Since the number of suppliers who supply the company with raw materials is large, the company has a high power over them, which helps in ensuring that it obtains raw materials at competitive prices. This helps in ensuring that the cost of production is low, thus charging competitive prices for...