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Distinct Coke Marketing Plan
Distinct Coke Marketing Plan
INFLUENCER MARKETING
It contains a solid and complete set of marketing and advertising activities for the
particular brand.
Marketing plan designs to achieve marketing objectives, this leads toward business
objectives.
The marketing plan also covers the current position of the business, its target market
and a set of marketing tools or marketing mix that business will use to achieve
marketing objectives.
Article Information: This step-by-step guide covers all aspects of the marketing plan
with a Coca-Cola example.
Marketing students and teachers can use this guide for their projects and assignments.
The marketing plan has always designed to differentiate the business from competitors
so it also contains some market research data about the current business, market
situation, competitors’ information, and involves specific strategies and actions to 1
achieve specific objectives.
Marketing
(/) Plan Definition
Let me explain this deeply. Every business starts to cover a market gap which no one
else fulfills.
The gap is unfilled needs of a particular segment or not properly fulfilled needs.
By going through this definition marketing starts with market research and market
research is also the first step to start a business.
Now it is easy to understand that why a marketing plan is the base of any business and
every business depends on its marketing activities.
This process involves market analysis, competitor analysis, business and marketing
objectives, action plans, budgets, business forecasts and most importantly how to use
resources in best favor of business.
To make it easy for you, I’ve put an example of Coca-Cola that how the Coca-Cola
marketing plan can be made.
While making a marketing plan, there are some points must consider.
We can say these points are the pillars of the marketing plan:
Marketing Research
As I already explained, that research is the most important and basic element of any
business.
In order to make near to perfect marketing plan, one must need to do thorough
marketing research regarding:
Coca-Cola manufactures syrup concentrate and ship to the bottlers, franchises, where
they mix it with other ingredients.
Customers: Before starts of business, research must be done to the target market.
The more you know about your target market, more easily and efficiently to serve them.
Coca-Cola currently offers more than 500 brands in over 200 countries.
The target market of Coca-Cola is not limited to age, area or gender, it is a global brand
and is serving people at offices, homes, parties, restaurants, bars and every place where
one can be present.
It usually represents itself as a market for youngsters but products are also being
offered specifically for older people.
The more you know about competitors and external market factors, the more easily and
efficiently to serve target customers.
Other than Pepsi Cola, local brands, i.e. Gourmet Cola and Next Cola by Meezan Group.
Marketing Objectives
Once you have completed marketing research, you’ve almost started your business.
Now it’s time to achieve those goals. Draw business’s marketing objectives and align
them with business goals.
Marketing objectives must be most relevant to business goals and objective so that you
can achieve your targets fast and accurately.
Let me explain.
if your business objective is to earn 30% net profit this year, your marketing objective
should also be the same, to increase 30 % customer base.
You need to draw all possible marketing objectives to achieve every business goals.
The goals of the Coca-Cola Company are very straight and specific, which includes;
Marketing Strategies
Marketing research has been done, data has been processed and analyzed.
Marketing strategies are the process to achieve marketing objectives that involve set
tools, tactics, instruments, actions, and activities.
Tools like promotions, sales, advertisement instruments, and activities like personal
selling, customer service, advertisement.
Marketing strategies are always in written shape that describes how marketing
activities will be performed?
For example, if your marketing objective is to increase product knowledge, then your
marketing strategy will be different as compared to the second marketing objective,
which increases customer base.
For the first objective, you need to advertise more product related information and for
second objective you need to give promotions, discount and customer services.
The main strategy and slogan of the company are availability, affordability, and
acceptability of the brand throughout the entire world.
Sustainable growth of the company, keeping pace with the market to ensure its
future presence.
Periodic assessments of business plans, product response, and planning.
Training sessions of tools and planning to the associates, for the excellent and
active performances at the ground.
Keep the balance of relations regarding goodwill and strategies with anchor
bottlers and franchises to keep the process running.
Enhancements of necessary culture and capabilities.
Engaging other partners in development through a leadership team.
After completion of designing marketing objectives and strategies, you need a budget
to execute those strategies.
Marketing budget will be allocated according to the requirements of the marketing plan.
The
(/) Coca-Cola Company’s total marketing expenses reached US$6.8 billion or 15.4% of
total revenue in 2015.
Monitoring Process
Last important thing to consider is how to monitor all above discussed plans and
activities.
There should be a strong monitoring system with the intention of achieving best results.
With the help of monitoring system, it will be easy to know that either marketing
objectives are achieving or not?
The purpose of the marketing plan should be clear in management’s mind so that they
can work better and achieve more.
Very the first purpose of the marketing plan is to run and grow the business
profitably.
To achieve business objectives
To achieve sales objectives
To increase customer volume/base
To increase market share
To increase customer satisfaction/trust
To increase brand image
To increase customer awareness
These are common purposes of marketing objectives. Each business has its own
purpose.
A marketing plan is a formal document that describes all business and marketing
activities need to be done.
It should be detailed and comprehensive so that everyone can easily understand how
marketing activities will be performed and what is necessary tools need for execution?
Under-discussed points are the content of marketing plan, which is elaborated for better
understanding:
Executive
(/) Summary
This part of the document explains whole plan shortly and briefly.
It covers all necessary elements so one can easily understand after reading it.
Situation Analyses
This heading involves information regarding the situation in which business exist.
Coca-Cola is a global brand and every country’s economic condition, legal procedures
and law affect independently. In Pakistan, Coca-Cola faces local trade laws for
operating here.
For Coca-Cola, Market size is huge and its market share is 30% of total Pakistani
market.
What are common traits of consumers, needs and preferences of the target market, and
their buying behavior?
The target market of Coca-Cola is not limited to age, area or gender, it is a global brand
and is serving people at offices, homes, parties, restaurants, bars and every place where
one can be present.
Internal Analyses: complete internal analyses should also be included under this
heading, for example, Information about finance, and financials activities, a workforce
of business, skills and time required for a marketing plan.
Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors concerning business and opportunities
and threats are external factors concerning external market and the environment.
A SWOT analysis is a tool used to get knowledge about the business current situation
and external environment where the business operates.
Under
(/) this heading conclude business’s strengths and weaknesses fairly as it will give a
better look that where business is standing right know.
What are the competitive advantages of business to compete in the market i.e. high
marketing budget, large customer base, or strong brand image and what are the
weaknesses business should overcome to compete in the market i.e. new in the market,
or less information about competitors’ strategies?
Discuss also opportunities for the business i.e. favorable country economic condition,
favorable rules, and laws.
Discuss threats for business exists in the market i.e. low barriers of entrance into the
market, new unfavorable policies from governments.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Coca cola is implying all its research and development on beverage section
and is not putting efforts on snacks whereas its major competitor PepsiCo is
earning 42% from beverages and other snacks.
Political lobbying often imposes pressure on the manufacturing section so the
company should refrain itself from the political scenario.
Opportunities
Threats
Obesity concerns may reduce demand for some of the company’s products
The rising U.S. dollar exchange rate could negatively affect the company’s
revenue and profits
Water scarcity and its poor quality could negatively impact The Coca-Cola
Company’s production costs and capacity
Increased competition and their capabilities could hurt the company’s
business
Market Research
Include
(/) all information which you got from previous research about company’s current
situation, its competitors, and its customers.
Conclude all information and draw final results so that one can easily understand that
what should next to do and how to do?
Coca-Cola invested more than $50 Million on Research and Development and market
research in 2015.
Marketing Objectives
Write down all marketing objectives you design for your business.
Marketing Strategy
Marketing strategy is the way, path, and process to achieve marketing objectives.
Marketing strategy depends on some critical factors i.e. marketing objectives, target
customers, competitors, and nature of products.
4 P’s of marketing strategy; Product, Price, Place, and Promotion are discussed in this
heading.
The product is something that business offers to its customers at some price.
For example, Coca-Cola offers soft drinks for its customers. Coca-Cola soft drink bottle
is a tangible product.
Someone
(/) on his website offers online computer course, which is an intangible product.
If human efforts involve, then the product will be services i.e. a plumber goes home and
do some plumbing work, he is offering services.
While creating product strategy, there are some points need to consider:
Product Mix
While designing product strategy first thing to analyze target customers and then
design product.
After analyzing needs of the target market, you will know that what should be the
product mix?
The product mix is the blend of concepts about product i.e. width, length, depth, and
consistency.
A longer product line with similar products may cause competition within the product
line and eventually leads to decrease in revenue and a shorter product line may limit the
customers’ choice and ultimately leads customers to move to another company.
Width: Width refers to the numbers of products line a company sells to its customers. A
number of different product lines carry by the company.
Width in product Mix = (product Line 1 + product line 2 + product line 3 + ……)
In Coca-Cola, Beverages are divided into the different product line, i.e. 100% fruit juices,
fruit drinks, water, energy drinks, tea, and coffee etc.
Length: Length in product mix denotes to the total number of products sold by any
company in the particular product line. The company may have different product lines
and different products in each product line.
The company may have different product lines with same products.
For example a company product food items and stationary items under the same brand
name (/how-to-create-a-brand-name/) so the length of product mix will be food items +
stationary items.
Coca-Cola has different product lines i.e. soft drinks, mineral water, and juices.
In particular soft drink product line; products are Coke, Diet Coke, Fanta Orange, Fanta
Citrus, Sprite and Zero Sprite.
Depth:
(/) Depth in product mix refers to the variants of product within the same product
line.
The product is same ‘milk’ but packing size is different which depth in milk product line
of OPERS is.
Coke itself has different in terms of packaging: 250ml, 330ml regular bottle, 330 ml tin,
1000ml, and 1500ml.
Consistency: Products in the same product line may be closely associated with each
other.
This concept called Consistency of product mix. Consistency can be in term of use,
production or distribution.
Product mix can be consistent in one term i.e. distribution however exceedingly
different in another term i.e. use.
Although both product lines distribution style is same but the use of both product lines
is totally different.
All soft drinks, juices and mineral water distributed through same channels.
Both refer to the value or worth of any brand. What do its customers think about it?
Again back to market research, brand image will be correlated with what research has
been done.
What customer want and how they think about any brand.
Under product strategy, brand image/ brand name must be addressed as per business
objectives.
Once you have developed product strategy, it’s time to design pricing strategy.
Price is the monitory value of your product and services or the money and value you will
charge from your customers against your product or services.
Designing price strategy is very crucial because target market needs and market
competition must consider.
Price should be so competitive to competitors but at the same time very near to
customers’ expectations.
Pricing objectives
Before moving to any other step, pricing objectives must be designed so that everyone
knows that why pricing strategy is going to design, why not just set the price with the
own choice.
Pricing objectives will direct the whole strategic process to the right way.
Every business has its own scenario and its own objectives.
Pricing strategies
(/)
You have pricing objectives on your table, now it’s time to draw pricing strategies for
your business.
Here I am giving you a short view of types and methods of pricing strategies, which
eventually helps you designing your strategies.
Price Penetration
If a business initially sets a low price to achieve sales targets and increase market
share and then increase price parallel to its competitors, then it is following price
penetration.
For example, a frozen food company initially sets its one product price below 20% of its
competitors’ price just to get into the market and increase customer share.
Price Skimming
If organization launches a product with premium price and then lower down the price to
serve the wider market, it is following price skimming strategy.
For example, a games console company reduces its prices over the period of 5 years to
serve more customers.
Most companies set the high price at introduction stage and lower price at decline
stage.
Price Competition
As term describes itself, price competition is setting price against the competition.
There are three options available in this strategy, either set prices parallel to its
competitors, or lower than competitors or higher than competitors.
In common market, mostly competitive products have the same price range.
Under same product line, setting a different price point for different products is called
product line pricing strategy.
For example, a company offers one product with different features so it will set a
different price for both products.
When a company wants to make product exclusive, it sets the price at a high level than
competitors’ products.
For example, PORCHE has a high price as compared to other vehicles selling in the
same market.
Adopting this pricing strategy, the company plays with customer psychology.
This strategy works because customer thinks he is buying a product under Rs. 100,
even though it is same to Rs. 100.
When a company set a low price for its basic product and set substantial price for its
accessories.
This strategy has been seen in mobile and computer industry, where basic product price
is set at a low level but high-profit charge for its accessories.
Price sets for the product on basis of its cost and defined profit.
The company defines fixed amount as profit and add the cost of the product in it.
For example, a product may cost Rs. 500, and firm fixed profit 20% of the cost and
finalize product price Rs. 600. [500 + (500 * 20 / 100)].
Cost based pricing strategy is a useful tool in an industry where price fluctuates
regularly but always based on cost.
When a company sets the price based on the value provided to customers, this is called
value-based pricing.
Value
(/) is based on benefits, a product provides to its customers i.e. image, reputation,
satisfaction, luxury, or convenience.
Technology, medicine and beauty products related firm use this strategy.
Coca-Cola has a high market share, competitor pressure has forced customer
sensitivity to price to be fairly high, sales volume is, of course, high and the profit margin
is fairly low as the Coca-Cola products are fast moving consumer goods.
Penetration pricing means the setting of lower rather than high prices to achieve
potentially dominant market share.
While describing price in marketing strategy, these should also address discounts,
allowances, and returns.
Coca-Cola company offers different discounts to retailers and stockists to boost sales.
Break-even Analysis
The breakeven point is the point where total cost occurred and total revenue earned has
been equal.
A point where opportunity costs have been paid, all risks have been adjusted, and all
costs that need to be paid are paid but business is at the stage where no profit earned.
Total profit equal to 0.
While describing pricing objectives, it must address that when and how to achieve
Breakeven Point at various prices?
Marketing Strategy—Promotion
Before making actual strategy, you must draw promotional objectives in order to
achieve desired results.
Coca cola has one main promotional objective and that is awareness.
Promotional mix
Once you have drawn your promotional objectives, move to next step and design
promotional mix for your brand.
Different types of products have different tools for promotion and budget allocation is
also different.
How to find the best promotional mix is the great challenge for marketers.
There are so many promotional techniques available in the market, most of them are
discussed below:
Advertisement
The advertisement is the paid display of ideas, concepts or information on mass media.
Basic information about product, brand, services, company or idea is displayed in the
advertisement.
Print ads, radio, television, billboard, direct mail, brochures, and catalogs, signs, in-store
displays, posters, mobile apps, motion pictures, web pages, banner ads, emails are the
examples of advertisement channels.
Once
(/) you’ve decided the use of advertisement for your brand, you need to identify the
theme for your brand.
Consider five M’s for advertisement during ad making; Mission, Money, Message, Media
and Measurement.
Personal Selling
Personal selling or direct selling involves direct human efforts in the selling process.
Sales rep physically contact the prospect, give sales presentation/demo either through
face to face interaction or through telephone/email.
This is also a promotional activity because it involves the step of transferring product or
brand or service information to the customer.
The more sales rep provides accurate product information, the more chances to achieve
promotional objectives.
Your goal should be to make personal more effective and efficient so that you can
achieve moth objectives; sales objectives and promotional objectives.
RecommendedRead: Think Globally Act Locally: Coca-Cola Used the Chinese Language
Effectively
The sales force needs to communicate with current distribution channels for Coca-
Cola. Coca-Cola Enterprise currently distributes cooler fridges and vending units to
community centers, sports halls, and shops.
These would be replaced via a liquid dispensing vending unit which the distributor is
likely to take on board because of Coke’s market share.
But due to Coca-Cola’s recent failures with Coke Zero, they might need more incentives.
Sales Promotion
Sales
(/) promotion is the marketing tactic, used to increase customer awareness, product
demand, improve product availability.
Sometimes marketers join the core product to another product in order to enhance sale
for the business.
This effort helps them to flow more information regarding different products and create
awareness.
Coca-Cola Company is using loyalty reward programs, price deals, and coupon systems.
Public Relations/Publicity
Publicity is the marketing activity carried by the third party on behalf of business in
order to increase brand awareness (/brand-awareness-best-practices-from-
influencers/). This may be free or paid effort.
Publicity can be done through planting a news story indirectly in the media or
presenting press release by the business itself on corporate functions.
Direct Marketing
Coca-Cola Company uses email, social media networks to interact directly with its
consumers.
Sponsorship
Coca-Cola Company sponsors different events.
One biggest event in the music industry is “Coke Studio” which is solely sponsored by
Coca-Cola Company.
Corporate
(/) Image
The corporate image refers to the image or reputation of a business in the mind of
customers.
Companies take the image as a promotional tool to deliver information about quality or
price.
Viral Marketing
Viral marketing, viral advertising or buzz marketing refers to the marketing techniques
that use some social networking (/5-unconventional-ways-network-influencers/)
platforms to spread the information and create awareness.
Then due to its content, it goes viral and brings huge customer responses.
I will give you an example of Dubsmash videos. One person creates video and shares it
on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and other social networking websites.
Within no time, the video gets thousands of views. It’s all about content.
One customer experiences product, and share his experience (Satisfactory or Dis-
satisfactory) with his friends, colleagues, mates and even unknown person.
You don’t have to invest much in the media but you have to invest in content. Content
can be in the shape of the video ad, interactive flash games, e-books, software, images
or even text.
Companies associate some incentives along with a viral message to get more and
quick results.
For example, a pop-up message shows on a web page, containing information that
shares this message with 10 friends and gets 10 % discount.
A great example of viral marketing from Coca-Cola Company is “Zalma Coca-Cola Pela
De”, a song by coke studio.
Internet Marketing
I want to mention here internet marketing as a promotional tool because of its progress
and innovations.
This
(/) is the era of the internet. Everyone uses the internet for personally as well as for
business.
Use of internet for sake of promotion is very easy, effective and efficient.
With the help of Facebook like, you can share your product information with more than
million customers.
Google has 20,272,455 + my like on its FB page, which means if Google shares any
information on its FB page, more than 22 million will see this information.
There are so many other promotional tools on the internet for your business.
Marketing Strategy—Distribution
The product is made for its customers. How will customers get the products?
Distribution Objectives
The main objective of any distribution strategy for any business is to reach maximum
target customers.
Parallel to the main objective, a business can design other objectives need to achieve
through distribution strategy.
Objectives can be different as per nature of the business and its target market.
The main purpose is to deliver product to the customer where they want.
Because Coca-Cola products are FMCG so it has massive expansion in retailer network.
Almost every retailer, from large retail store to small corner shop has Coca-Cola
products.
Channels
Now it is to decide which channel will be used to deliver products in that area.
Either you will deliver products by yourself of your distributor will perform this service
for you?
All you need to explore the best method to reach to your customers.
Coca-Cola uses channel hierarchy with distributors, stockists, large retailers and small
retailers.
Logistics
Will you buy your own vehicles or hire services from Logistics Company?
You need to explore that which method in logistics is feasible and economical.
Coca-Cola has its own vehicles to distribute its products from the production plant to
distributors and retailers.
E-Distribution
Maybe your customers are happy to order online and want to deliver products in your
home.
You need to develop e-commerce website, where customers can order their favorite
products.
Then
(/) you need someone may be your own employee of the third party contractual
employee will deliver products in customer premises.
Coca-Cola Company has no E-distribution till yet by its own. Some online retail stores
are providing Coca-Cola products to consumers.
Strategic Implementation
Everything has been written on the papers. Documents have been completed.
You’ve put your extreme efforts to build strategy, same efforts require now.
Personal Requirements
Off course, every business needs a human resource to execute, yours too.
Which expertise will you require? Who will manage human resource?
All the question marks related to the human resource must address before
implementation.
Coca-Cola Company has a large pool of human resource for its operation from
production to distribution.
Assigning Responsibilities
Once human resource issue has been addressed, and employees hired, make sure that
everyone knows his responsibility.
The whole country is divided into different territories and every territory is managed by
territory manager.
Training
Set up training sessions for your employees. Set up training sessions as per employees’
requirements.
Give Incentives
It’s all about performance. Who perform well, get reward well.
Make sure you’ve attached handsome incentives with employees’ efforts to accelerate
overall performance.
Promote healthy competition within the organization and help employees to achieve
their targets.
Attaching incentives with employees’ efforts will boost overall performance, which
ultimately helps to achieve business goals.
Financial Requirements
You’ve to design your marketing plan but don’t have the finance to execute it, what
benefits can you get it from?
Nothing! Make sure you’ve arranged finance as per marketing plan budget.
Coca-Cola Company gives special focus to its marketing activities that are why their
marketing budget are too high against its competitors.
MIS Requirements
Technology is essential for your business, in fact, you’ve designed your marketing plan
with the help of technology.
Make sure you’ve considered all MIS requirements for your plan.
What are the soft touch points for your marketing plan?
Do not leave a single pin hole of MIS requirement just to save the budget.
The more you invest on MIS, the more you will get a reward.
Well, this is good effort to divide your targets into short-term targets, i.e. monthly
targets.
Before going into executing a marketing plan, set your monthly targets.
The monthly meeting is a healthy activity to set down and evaluate the past
performance and set new goals for next.
Implementing marketing plan and not measuring results is the world’s biggest blunder
in my point of view.
In fact, measuring is the most critical part of the whole marketing plan.
At the end of a first marketing plan, measure it critically to know that what you’ve
achieved and what’s next to achieve.
Sales Analysis
Marketing plans are made for increasing revenue, which comes from selling business’s
products and services.
A marketing plan is successful if you’ve achieved the target ‘increase sales by 50%’ or
increase sales by 200%’.
Analyze sales growth critically and also analyze that which marketing activity is
affecting sales more.
This evaluation will help you designing and modifying next marketing plan.
As sales targets distribute to territory sales managers so they are responsible to the
results.
They send back information to the country headquarter, where all information are
managed through computer software.
At the end of every month, a sales analysis has been done and evaluate the sales and
marketing activities.
Definitely, you’ve set the target that increases market share by nay number and
somehow you’ve achieved, more or less.
Coca-Cola also measures its market share analysis through open market research.
Expense Analysis
Measuring cost occurs by marketing plan will let you know that either this is going in
your favor or not.
You’ve fixed marketing budget of $1 Billion and at the end of the year, you came to know
that marketing budget increased by $1.5 Billion.
Make sure you’ve controlled the expenses and shrank them into your available limits.
Financial Analysis
There are numbers of separate performance figures and key ratios which need to be
tracked:
There can be substantial benefit in comparing these figures with those achieved by
other organizations (especially those in the same industry).
Conclusion
Marketing plan covers all necessary information including, business and market
research, analyzing target market, product development, price setting, promotional
efforts, and distribution matters.
Injecting efforts in developing a marketing plan will give you a fruitful reward at the end.
The more you insert efforts in the marketing plan, the more growth in business will be
achieved.
Tell us your thoughts about this marketing plan and how it can be more effective?
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