Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chandni Pie Coca-Cola Project
Chandni Pie Coca-Cola Project
TABLE OF CONTENT
ABSTRACT
CHAPTER-5 BIBILOGRAPHY 56
REFERANCE 57
ANNEXURE 58-61
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
CHAPTER -1
[ INTRODUCTION ]
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
INTRODUCTION
This project is focused on studying the various marketing strategies of Coca-Cola and the
scenario of Indian soft drink industry in the 1990’s.
Coca-Cola Co., the global soft drink industry leader controlled Indian soft drink industry till
1977. Then Janta Party beats the Congress Party and the Central Government was changed.
This change brought problems for Coca-Cola principle bottler, who was a big supporter of
Gandhi Family. Now Janta Party government demanded that Coca-Cola should transfer its
syrup formula to an India subsidiary (Chakravarty, 43). Because of this Coca-Cola backed
and withdrew from the country. In the mean time, India’s two target soft drink producers
have gotten rich. Who were controlling 80% of the Indian soft drink industry.
In 1993, the coco-Cola company came back to India. But the scenario of Indian soft drink
industry had been changed from 1977 to 1993. The competition in the soft drink industry had
become very tough. The major competitor at that time were Pepsi and Parle. Parle’s best
known brands includes ThumsUp, Limca, Citra and others were Gold Spot and Maaza. At
that time Parle had a market share of 53% and Pepsi had a market share of 20%.
Now Coca-Cola had to make some strategies to survive in this tough competition. For this
Coca-Cola decided to take over Parle, so that the company can take the advantage of Parle’s
network. This decision was proved very beneficial for Coke as it had ready access to over
2,00,000 retailer outlets and 60 bottlers of Parle’s network.
The marketing strategies which were made by Coca-Cola company to win the Cola war in
1990s had been very successful as Coca-Cola company had a total market share of 48.3% in
1998.
So, the Indian soft drink industry saw a dramatic change in the decade of 1990s. All the
companies were trying to win the battle by making good marketing strategies.
These days Coke and Pepsi are using the 4Ps of marketing mix (Price, Product, Place and
Promotion) in such a way so that a good quality can be provided to the consumers at a
reasonable price to attract the consumers towards their brands.
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
Both the companies know that there is so much potential in the Indian soft drink industry and
the can increase their sales by making good marketing strategies. So, they are spending a
huge amount of money on advertising and other sales promotional activities of their brands.
Equally oblivious to the historic value of his actions was Frank Ix. Robinson, his partner and
book keeper. Pemberton & Robinson laid the first foundation of this beverage when an
average nine drinks per day to begin with, upping volumes as sales grew.
In 1894, this beverage got into bottle, courtesy a candy merchant from Mississippi. By the
1950’s Colas were a daily consumption item, stored in house hold fridges. Soon were born
other non- Cola variants of this product like orange & Lemon.
Now, the soft drink industry has been dominated by three major player – (1) The New York
based Pepsi co. Inc.(2) The Atlanta based Coca Cola co. (3) The United Kingdom based
Cadbury Schweppes.
Throughout the globe these major players have been battling it. Out for a bigger chunk of the
ever-growing cold drink market. Now this battle has begun in India too. Inida is now the part
of cold drink war. Gone are days of Ramesh Chauhan, India’s one time Cola king and his
bouts of pistol shooting. Expect now to hear the boon of cannons when the Coca Cola &
Pepsi co. battle it out for, as the Jordon goes a bigger share of throat. By buying over local
competition, the two American Cola giants have cleared up the arena and are packing all their
power behind building the Indian franchisee of their globe girdling brands. The huge amount
invested in fracture has never been seen before. Both players seen an enormous potential in
his country where swigging a carbonated beverage is still considered a treat, virtually a
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
luxury. Consequently, by world standards India’s per capita consumption of cold drinks as
going by survey results is rock bottom, less than over Neighbors Pakistan & Bangladesh,
where it is four times as much.
Behind the hype, in an effort invisible to consumer Pepsi pumps in Rs 3000 crores (1994) to
add muscle to its infrastructure in bottling and distribution. This is apart from money that
company’s franchised bottles spend in upgrading their plants all this has contributed to
substantial gains in the market. In Colas, Pepsi is already market leader and in certain cities
like Banaras , Pepsi outlets are on one side & all the other Colas put together on the other.
While Coke executive scruff at Pepsi’s claims as well as targets, industry observers are of the
view that Pepsi has definitely stolen a lot from its competitor Coke.
Apart from numbers, Pepsi has made qualitative gains. The foremost is its image. This image
turnaround is no small achievements, considering that since it was established in 1989, taking
the hardship route prior to liberalization and weighed down by export commitments.
Now, at present as there are three major players Coke, Pepsi and Cadbury and there is stiff
competition between first two, both Pepsi and Coke have started, sponsoring local events and
staging frequent consumer promotion campaigns. As the mega event of this century has
started, and the marketers are using this event – world cup football, cricket events and many
more other events.
Like Pepsi, Coke is picking up equity in its bottles to guarantee their financial support; one
side Coke is trying to increase its popularity through.
Eat Food, enjoy Food. Drink only Coca Cola. Eat cricket, sleep cricket. Drink only Coca Cola.
Eat movies, sleep movies. Drink only Coca Cola.
But no doubt’ that UK based Cadbury is also ecognising its presence. So there is a real crush
in the soft drink market.with launch of the carbonated organize drink Crush, few year ago in
Banaras ., the first in a series of a launches , Cadbury Schweppes beverage India (CSBI) HAS
PLANNED:- The world third largest soft drink marketers all over the country.CSBI o wholly
owned subsidiary of the London based $ 6.52billion. Cadbury Schweppes is hoping that
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
crush is going well and well not suffer the same fate as the Rs. 175 crore Cadbury india’s
apple drink Apella. CSBI is now with orange (crush), and Schweppes soda in the market.
As orange drinks are the smallest of non-Cola categories that is Rs. 1100 crore market with
10% market share and Cola heaving 50% is followed by Lemon segment with 25%.
The success of soft drink industry depends upon 4 major factors viz.
Availability
Visibility
Cooling
Range
AVAILABILITY
Availability means the presence of a particular brand at any outlet. If a product is now
available at any outlet and the competitor brand is available, the consumer will go for the
outlet because generally the consumption of any soft drink is an impulse decision and not
predetermined one.
VISIBILITY
Visibility is the presence felt, if any outlet has a particular brand of soft drink say- Pepsi
Cola and this brand is not displayed in the outlet, then its availability is of no use. The soft
drink must be shown off properly and attractively so as to catch the attention of the
consumer immediately Pepsi achieves visibility by providing glow signboards, hoarding,
calendars etc. to the outlets. It also includes various stands to display Pepsi and other
flavours of the company.
COOLING
As the soft drinks are consumed chilled so cooling them plays a vital role in boosting up the
sales. The brand, which is available chilled, gets more sale than the one which is not, even
if it is more preferred one.
RANGE
This is the last but not the least factor, which affects the sale of the products of a particular
company.
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
COMPANY PROFILE
Coca-Cola Enterprises, established in 1886, is a young company by the standards of the
Coca-Cola system. Yet each of its franchises has a strong heritage in the traditions of Coca-
Cola that is the foundation for this Company.
The Coca-Cola Company traces it’s beginning to 1886, when an Atlanta pharmacist, Dr. John
Pemberton, began to produce Coca-Cola syrup for sale in fountain drinks. However the
bottling business began in 1899 when two Chattanooga businessmen, Benjamin F. Thomas
and Joseph B. Whitehead, secured the exclusive rights to bottle and sell Coca-Cola for most
of the United States from The Coca-Cola Company.
The Coca-Cola bottling system continued to operate as independent, local businesses until the
early 1980s when bottling franchises began to consolidate. In 1986, The Coca-Cola Company
merged some of its company-owned operations with two large ownership groups that were
for sale, the John T. Lupton franchises and BCI Holding Corporation's bottling holdings, to
form Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. The Company offered its stock to the public on November
21, 1986, at a split-adjusted price of $5.50 a share. On an annual basis, total unit case sales
were 880,000 in 1986.
In December 1991, a merger between Coca-Cola Enterprises and the Johnston Coca-Cola
Bottling Group, Inc. (Johnston) created a larger, stronger Company, again helping accelerate
bottler consolidation. As part of the merger, the senior management team of Johnston
assumed responsibility for managing the Company, and began a dramatic, successful
restructuring in 1992.Unit case sales had climbed to 1.4 billion, and total revenues were $5
billion
The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest beverage company. They operate in more
than 200 countries & markets more than 2800 beverage products. Headquartered at Atlanta,
Georgia, they employ approximately 90500 employees all over the world. It is often referred
to simply as Coke or (in European and American countries) as Cola or Pop.
The world is changing all around us. To continue to thrive as a business over the next ten
years and beyond, we must look ahead, understand the trends and forces that will shape our
business in the future and move swiftly to prepare for what's to come. We must get ready for
tomorrow today. That's what our 2020 Vision is all about. It creates a long-term destination
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
for our business and provides us with a "Road map" for winning together with our bottling
partners.
Our Mission
Our Road map starts with our mission, which is enduring. It declares our purpose as a
Company and serves as the standard against which we weigh our actions and decisions.
To refresh the world...
Our Vision
Our vision serves as the framework for our Road map and guides every aspect of our business
by describing what we need to accomplish in order to continue achieving sustainable, quality
growth.
People: Be a great place to work where people are inspired to be the best they can be
Portfolio: Bring to the world a portfolio of quality beverage brands that anticipate and
satisfy people’s desires and needs
Planet: Be a responsible citizen that makes a difference by helping build and support
sustainable communities
Profit: Maximize long-term return to share owners while being mindful of our overall
responsibilities
Our Winning Culture defines the attitudes and behaviors that will be required of us to make
our 2020 Vision a reality.
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Live Our Values
Our values serve as a compass for our actions and describe how we behave in the world.
Integrity: Be real
Get out into the market and listen, observe and learn
Be insatiably curious
Work Smart
Work efficiently
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Act Like Owners
Reward our people for taking risks and finding better ways to solve problems
Be the Brand
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COCA-COLA WORLDWIDE (BACKGROUND)
The Profile
The Coca-Cola Company is the global Soft drink industry leader, with world
headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. The company and its subsidiaries employ nearly 30,000
people around the world Syrups, concentrates and beverages bases for Coca-Cola, the
company’s flagship brand, & over 160 other Company Soft Drink brands are manufactured
and Sold by the Coca Cold Company and its Subsidiaries in nearly 200 countries around the
world. In fact approximately 70% of company volume and 80% of company profit come
from outside the United States.
By contract with the Coca-Cola Company on its local subsidiaries, local businesses
are authorized to bottle and sell company soft drinks within certain territorial boundaries and
under conditions that ensure the highest standards of quality and uniformity.
The Coca-Cola takes pride in being a worldwide business that is always local.
Bottling and distribution operations are, with some exception, locally owned and operated by
independent business people who are native to the nations in which they are located.
The Coca-Cola company stock, with ticker symbol KO2 is listed and traded in the
United States on the New York stock exchange, common stock also is traded on the on the
Boston, Chicago, Pacific an Philadelphia Exchanges Outside the United States, Company
common stock is listed and traded on common and swiss exchanges.
1. The North America Group Comprises the United States and Canada.
2. The Latin American group includes the Company’s operations across Central and South
American from Mexico to Argentina.
3. The Company’s most populated operating group, the Middle and far east group, ranges
from the Middle East to India, China, Japan and Australia.
4. The greater Europe group stretches from Greenland to Russia’s far last, including some of
the most established markets in Western Europe and the rapidly growing nations of
Eastern and Central Europe.
5. The Africa group includes the Company’s business in 50 countries in Sub Sahara Africa.
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The Coca-Cola Company continues to activate sponsorships throughout the world
including associations with World Cup Soccer. The National Football league. NASCAR, the
Tour de France, the Rugby World Cup, COPA America and numerous local sports teams.
The Coca-Cola Company has sponsored the Olympic games since 1928.
COKE IN INDIA
Coke gained an early advantage over Pepsi since it took over Parle in 1994. Thus it had
ready access to over 2,00,000 retailer outlets and 60 bottlers.
Thus Coke had greater than Pepsi because it had ready access to the Parle network. For
example in 1994 Pepsi had 20 bottlers to serve the entire country while Coke had Parle’s 60
bottlers. In an important market like Delhi Pepsi had just one bottler while Coke had four.
On the other hand Pepsi had taken over the Dukes Mangola of Mumbai.
In 1993, Pepsi Foods Ltd. had control over the Rs. 1,100 - Crore Indian Soft Drinks market.
At that time, the soft drinks trycoon Ramesh Chauhan, was heading the Parle group and at
that time was deciding to explore the possibility of selling his best rolling brands to Coke,
rather than to Pepsi. Pepsi had entered the market 3 years before Coke did. Before the Coke-
Parle tie-up in '93- Ramesh Chauhan had 2 options before him- (1) to stick around, fight it out
again and hopefully, continue with his number one position. (2) to sell out to Coca-Cola for a
good return. This risk of losing out to one of the multinationals, eventually, seemed to be
throwing up the second alternative. Ramesh Chauhan told business world (India's most
popular business magazine) that "it is better to seek a compromise than to fight a lone battle".
But he was wisely simultaneously taking steps to safeguard his market share. In a few
months, Parle's products will be launched in 250 ml instead the current 200 ml. The
indications are that the company will hold the price line. Incidentally, both Pepsi and Coke
(if it finally gets in) will cost more than local brands because of the 300% duly on the
imported ingredients. However, this scenario was taking place pre-liberalization period and
hence implied a very high duty on imported items.
Entry of Pepsi and Coke in India or their proposals were at that time being opposed because
of the impact of first - strike on the minds of consumers. If Coca-Cola is allowed an easy and
quick entry through a window established by the government, there can be no justification for
denying similar access to Pepsi Co.
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Basically what was wrong at that time with the Coke proposal was that while the Pepsi deal
could go through under the camouflage of horticultures and agriculture development as their
proposal stated, a pure soft drinks project was not so politically palatable (as it would greatly
hamper the indigenous industry).
Coke had plans, to invest $ 20 million in India and Pepsi was going to pump in Rs. 300 crore
more. Ramesh Chauhan greatest compulsion, to 90 in for the 2nd option was that many of
his biggest bottlers were preparing to desert him for Coke, .since the bottlers accounted for
nearly one-third of Parle's sales. Parle's biggest bottles in the Easter region,. Goenka,
accounted for 80% market share in Calcutta, felt that the future lay with Coca-Cola, no Indian
company had the financial muscle to take on Coke.
Also, there was the most convincing factor for the tie-up, that Parle's Position in the Indian
soft drinks market and Coca-Cola's marketing strengths and experience would make an
unbeatable combination. At that time according to the world’s most popular and well known
magazine, Fortune, had rated Coke as the world's best brand. Even Coke would greatly
benefit from the tie-up, as Coke with Parle’s wide spread bottling and distribution network,
which was spread over more than a thousand towns and cities and the gradual withdraw of
Parle brand would ensure Coke would be the king. Parle's best known brands include Thums
Up, Limca, Citra and others were GOLD SPOT and Maaza.
The biggest advantage to Parle from the tie-up would be an instant gain of $ 40 million,
which could be used profitably in other ventures.
According to a report the deal was that, Parle Exports had transferred the rights of all its
reputed soft drinks brands to Coca-Cola company, USA. In short, Coca-Cola Company
became the exclusive owner of Thums Up, Limca, Gold Spot, Citra and Maaza and could
therefore, withdraw them from the market whenever it would want to.
Under the agreement, the existing bottlers of Parle Exports would continue to produce Parle
brands under the licence from the Coca-Cola company. The U.S. Multinational proposed to
introduce its international brands -Coke, Fanta and Sprite at an appropriate time. The Parle
bottlers will be bottling these Coco - Cola brands also. The exact nature of Parle, Coca-Cola
tie-up is given below :
So, Ramesh Chauhan, sold his soft drink brands of the U.S. Multinatinal for ($ 40 million)
and is presently a major Coke bottler. Delhi - based Parle Chairman gave up his ownership of
his soft drinks brand (Thums Up, Limca, Citra and Gold Spot) and was awarded the bottling
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
franchisee for Delhi, Bombay, Surat and Ahmedabad. Coke depends on the 54 bottling plants
which it was inherited from the Parle by out.
So, logically all brands of Parle as well as Coca-Cola will be marketed together. The only
problem being that Parle bottlers would not be able to meet the peculiar quality requirements
of Coke.
Quality includes all non-price attributes that count in the purchase decision
Product
Customer service
Quality, price and value, are not absolute, but relative to competitors.
Quality Product
Value Customer Service
Price
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
ASSUMPTIONS
Improvements in perceived quality in turn lead to high market share and market leaders
spend to build their franchise.
Companies spend a larger share of their sales income on advertising and tend to be much
more profitable than companies that spend less.
Brands that spend a much larger than average share of their sales on advertising earn an
average return on investment of 32% while brands that advertise much less than their
competitors average only 17%.
Increases in advertising expenditure are closely correlated with gains in master share
(even after adjusting for the effects of other factors).
Sales promotions like price-off, etc. has no significant correlation with market share
changes(only its effect on consumer behaviour is observed).
To some extent companies with high, quality simply have more to say in their advertising,
so they are likely to spend more money saying it.
1. Most market leaders had to develop quality leadership to achieve their large share
position superior quality is the base upon which market leadership is usually built.
2. Generally according to data, business that begin with a large share of the market tend
to lose share. By contrast, those that begin with superior quality tend to hold or gain
share.
Pepsi is a perfect example, since it came to India in 1989 with a market share of 0% it now in
1998 enjoys a share of 45.2% in the market.
But in case of soft drink, the 2 Cola giants Pepsi and Coke cannot to a great extent
differentiate on their brands (but of course in terms of taste and fizz), a lot has to be spent on’
ads, packaging and promotion, i.e., making it more easily available.
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However, recently in the world's famous business magazine, fortune, Coca Cola was rated as
the world's number one brand.
It must be noted that the brand also has to work in different ways from market to market. A
constant check on, brand management techniques, on the promotion of the brand, in a
consistent and robust manner, is essential for the brands future. One point where Coke scores
over Pepsi has been in production and distribution system internationally and nationally
(because of access to Parle's distribution network) which ensures the product reaches the
consumers in perfect condition.
The advertising message that is conveyed to the people in the advertising slogan "Always the
real thing" (1993), is a credible statement about the brand's virtues. What reinforces this
conviction amongst, consumers, apart from the reassurance provided by the consistent quality
of the Coca Cola product, is that competitive brands all seek to emulate Coca Cola. There is
very little attempt on their part to create a distinctive positioning and personality for their
brands. A vast complex network of production, distribution and marketing has kept the brand
in front.
Coca Cola has entered new markets and also developing market economics (like India) with
much-needed jobs.
Coke attributes its success to bottlers, the Coca Cola system itself, i.e., its executive
committees, employees, BOD, company presidents but above all from the consumer.
Coke's red color catches attention easily and also the Diet Coke which it introduced was
taking the Cake, as Pepsi has not come out with this in India.
Ever since Coke's entry in India in 1993, Coke made a come back (after quitting in 1977), in
October 24 in Agra, the city was flooded by trucks, there wheelers, tricycle cards-all with
huge red Coke-emblazoned umbrellas. Retailers were displaying their Coke bottles in
distinctive racks, also with specially-designed iceboxes to keep Coke bottles cold. This was
one big jolt to Pepsi.
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MARKETING MIX
It is a set of controllable tactical marketing tools - product, price, place & promotion -
that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market.
PRODUCT
Product Variety PRICE
Quality List Price
Designs MRP
Features Discounts
Brand name TARGET Allowances
Packaging CUSTOMERS Pay Period
Sizes INTENDED CR Terms
Services POSITIONING
Warranties
Returns
PLACE
PROMOTION
Channels
Advertising
Coverage
Personal Selling
Assortments
Sales Promotion
Locations
Public Relation
Transportation
Logistics
Effective marketing would be blending the marketing mix elements into a coordinated
programme designed to achieve the company’s marketing objective by delivering value to
consumers.
Cola - Cola has always worked upon their marketing mix tools since its entry into
India and Coke’s objective has been to strengthen their brand in important segments of the
market and to gain a competitive edge over Pepsi brands.
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
MARKETING MIX OF COKE
a) PRODUCT
Coke was launched in India in Agra, October 24, in '93', soon after its traditional all
Indian launch of its Cola. at the sparking new bottling plants at Hathra, near Agra. Coke was
back with a bang after its exit in 1977.
Coke was planning to launch in next summer the orange drink, Fanta-with the clear
lemon drink, sprite, following later in the year.
Coke already owns more brands than it will over need, since it has bought out Ramesh
Chauhan. Coke just needs to juggle these brands around dextrously to meet its objectives, to
ensure that Pepsi does not gain market share in the process.
For if a vacuum develops, it is Pepsi which has the brand muscle and the distribution
network to grab customers today-not Coke. But Coke could not reduce its marketing support
for Thums Up until its own Cola would hit the four major metros (Delhi. Bombay, Calcutta
and Madras) Therefore, Coke had to give its existing levels of support for Parle's brands and
would push Thums Up and Limca. Coke has plans to' use quality and hygiene as USPs.
Their aim seems to be to expand market by market, Learning from their mistakes.
In, 1998 Coke's product line includes, Coca-Cola, Thums Up, Fanta, Gold Spot,
Maaza, Citra, Sprite, Bisleri Club Soda and Diet Coke.
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Overall 48.3%
Coca-Cola 10.8%
Thums up 16%
Fanta 5%
Limca 10%
Others 5%
PACKAGING
Coca-Cola India Limited (CCIL) has bottled its Cola drink in different sizes and
different packaging i.e., 200 ml bottle, 300 ml. Bottle, 330 ml. Cans, 500 ml. Bottle
fountain Pepsi, and bottles of 1 and 1.5 ltr
PRODUCT POSITIONING
One important thing must be noticed that Thums Up is a strong brand in western and
southernIndia, while Coca Cola is strong in Northern and Eastern India. With volumes of
Thums Up being low in the capital, there are likely chances of Coca Cola slashing the prices
of Thums Up to Rs. 5 and continue to sell Coca Cola at the same rate. Analysts feel that
this strategy may help Coke since it has 2 Cola brands in comparison to Pepsi which has just
one.
Thums Up accounts for 40% of Coca Cola company's turn over, followed by Coca Cola
which has a 23% share and Limca which accounts for 17% of the turn over of the company.
(Thums up being the local drink, its share in the market is intact, forcing the company to
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
service the brand, as it did last year Mr. Donald short CEO, Coca Cola India, said that, " we
will be absolutely comfortable if Thums Up is No. 1 brand for us in India in the year 2005.
We will sell whatever consumers wants us to". Coca Cola India has positioned Thums up as
a beverage associated with adventure because of its strong taste and also making it compete
with Pepsi as even Pepsi is associated with adventure, youth.
Most of the ingredients needed for beverages and snacks are basic commodities such as
potatoes, flavor, color, caffeine sugar, packaging etc. So the producers of these commodities
have no bargaining power over the pricing for this reason; the suppliers in this industry are
weak.
Buyers in this industry have the bargaining power, because main source of the revenue
and market share in beverage and food industry are fast food fountain, convenience stores
food stores vending etc. The profit margins in each of these segments noticeably demonstrate
the buyer power and how special buyers pay diverse prices based on their power to bargain.
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
Pepsi and Coke continuously focusing on increasing their biggest beverage and food products,
they has built some of the globe’s strongest brands that are loved by consumers throughout
the world. Innovative Marketing has leveraged their worldwide brand-building strength to
attach with consumers in significant ways and impel the growth globally. These all
campaign results in higher amount of loyal customer’s and strong brand equity throughout
the world. In 2011, Coca-Cola was declared the world’s most valuable brand according to
Interbrand’s best global brand. This makes it impossible for new entrance to enter the
beverage industry easily.
Advertising Spend
Cock and Pepsi has very effective advertising campaign, their advertising also represent the
cultures of different countries. They also sponsor different games and teams and also featured
in countlesstelevision programs and films. The marketing and advertising expense was
approximately $ 15 billion. This makes landscape very harder for new players to
succeed.
Bottling Network
Pepsi and Coca Cola have live and exclusive contracts with bottler’s that have privileges in
all over the world. These franchise agreements or contracts forbid bottler’s from keeping
competitor’s brands. Coke has the world's largest beverage distribution network; consuming
in more than 200 countries enjoys the Coke’s beverages at an average of nearly 1.6 billion
servings a day. Coca-Cola is sold in restaurants, vending machine and stores in more than
200 countries. PepsiCo has adopted the globe’s most powerful “go-to-market systems”,
serving more than 10 million outlets a week by operating greater than 100,000 different
routes, and producing more than $300 million in retail sales per day. They have also
purchased some of the bottlers, this makes difficult for new players to get bottler contracts or
to build their bottling plants.
Retail Distribution
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
Coke and Pepsi offers 16 to 21 percent margins to retailers for the space they present. These
margins are substantial for retailers and this makes it very hard for the new player to persuade
retailer’s to carry their products.
Fear of Retaliation
It is very difficult for new player to enter in this industry because; they will be highly
retaliating by local players in local markets and in global scenario they have to face the
duopoly of Coke and Pepsi. This ultimately could result in price war which affects the new
player.
Cock Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and nonprofit TechnoServe initiated a partnership to
facilitate more than 50,000 small fruit farmers in Kenya Uganda to increase their productivity
and double their incomes by 2014. Coke has significant opportunities within global supply
chain to encourage and develop more sustainable practices to benefit consumers, customers
and suppliers. While; it is still in the premature stages of exploring these opportunities and
dedicated to the economic vitality and health of the farming communities our supply chain
engages. Pepsi promotes and support sustainable agriculture not only because it makes good
business sense, it purchase million tons of potatoes and fruits.
Large numbers of substitutes are available in the market such as water, tea, juices coffee etc.
But firms counter them with innovative marketing and massive advertising which build
growth for their brands by highlighting their benefits. Players also differentiate themselves by
well-known global trade marks, brand equity and availability of the products which most of
the substitute products can not contest. To protect themselves from competition players in
soft drink industry offer Diversify products such as such as Pepsi offers soft drinks (Pepsi,
Slice, Mountain Dew), beverages (Tropicana Juices, Dole Juices, Lipton tea, Aquafina
bottled water, Sport drinks, Tropicana Juices), Snacks (Rold Gold pretzels and Frito-Lay).
Coke also offers most diversified range of products such as Cola-Cola Cherry, Coca-Cola
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
Vanilla, Diet Coke, Diet Coke Caffeine-Free, Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola and range of lime or
coffee and lemon.
Beverage industry competition can be classified as a Duopoly with Pepsi and Coca Cola.
Themarket share of other competitors is too low to encourage any price wars. Cola-Cola gets
competitive advantage through the well-known global trade marks by achieving the premium
prices. It means Cola-Cola have something that their competitors do not have. While Pepsi
has leveraged its worldwide brand-building strength to attach with consumers in significant
ways and impel the growth globally
As the leading beverages company in the world, Coca Cola almost monopolizes the entire
carbonated beverages segment. Beside it, Coca Cola also maintain their reputation as the
leading company in the world using PEST Analysis so that Coca Cola can examine the
macro-environment of Coca Cola’s operations.
Political
When Coca Cola had decided to enter a country to distribute the products, Coca Cola was
monitoring the policies and regulations of each country. For the example, when entering
Moslems country such as Indonesia or Malaysia, Coca Cola followed the regulation by
adding “Halal” stamp in each Coca Cola’s products. In this case, Coca Cola has no political
issues in this matter.
Economic
Coca Cola also has low growth in the market for carbonated beverages (North America). The
market growth was 1% in 2004. For stimulating the growth, Coca Cola had spent high budget
of advertisement to endorse the customers.
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
Social
Nowadays, customers tend to change their lifestyle. Customers more aware about health
consciousness by reducing in drinking carbonated beverages to prevent diabetes or other
diseases. As a result, Coca Cola’s demand for carbonated beverages has decreased and the
revenues also decreased. Thus, Coca Cola diversify the products by adding production lines
in tea (Nestea), juices (Minute Maid), mineral water (Dasani and Ades), and sport drinks
(Powerade), and others.
Technological
Because of the developing technology, Coca Cola has advanced technology in producing the
products. Then, Coca Cola made innovations by giving flavors to the Coke, such as Cherry
Coke, Diet Coke, Coca Cola Zero, Coke with Lime, and others. But, the customers still prefer
the original taste of traditional Coke; it can be seen by the high demands in traditional Coke.
pg. 23
Marketing strategy of coca cola
CHAPTER-2
[ LITERATURE REVIEW ]
pg. 24
Marketing strategy of coca cola
LITERATURE REVIEW
Firstly, we will look at how Coca-Cola has used their marketing mix. The marketing mix is
divided up into 4 parts; product, price, promotions and place.
1. Product:
The product (Coca-Cola soft drink) includes not just the liquid inside but also the packaging.
On the product-service continuum we see that a soft drink provides little service, apart from
the convenience. Soft drinks satisfy the need of thirst. However, people are always different,
some want more and others want less. Therefore Coca-Cola has made allowances for that by
providing many sizes. We also have particular tastes, and again they have provided several
options. So, although thirst is what is needed to be satisfied and that is the core benefit, we
are receiving other benefits in the taste and size. Coca-Cola has developed several different
flavours and sizes as mentioned above, but also several brands such as Sprite, Lift, Fanta and
Diet Coke which increase the product line length, thus making full use of the market to
maximize sales.
The product is convenient, that is - bought frequently, immediately, and with a minimum of
comparison and buying effort.The appearance of the product is eye catching with the bright
red colour. It has a uniquely designed bottle shape that fits in your hand better, and creates a
nicer & more futuristic look.
The quality of the soft drink is needed to be regularly high. Sealed caps ensure that none of
the "fizz" is lost. The bottles are light, with flexible packaging, so they won't crack or leak,
and are not too heavy to casually walk around with. The cans are also light and safe.
Coca-Cola,
Coca-Cola classic,
caffeine free Coca-Cola,
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
diet Coke
caffeine free diet Coke,
diet Coke with lemon
Vanilla Coke,
diet Vanilla Coke,
Cherry Coke,
diet Cherry Coke,
Fanta brand soft drinks,
Sprite,
diet Sprite
Sprite Remix
The markets where Coke is a dominant player are United States of America, Europe and Asia,
Africa. There is a vast difference in terms of above given phases for example, in U.S.A &
pg. 26
Marketing strategy of coca cola
Europe it has reached maturity stage where it can’t expand its market more but if we consider
Asia, it is still in the growth phase.
Coca-Cola is currently going through the maturity stage in Western countires. This maturity
stage lasts longer than all other stages. Management has to pay special attention to products
during this stage of the product life-cycle. During the maturity stage, products usually go
through a slowdown in sales growth. According to Coca-Cola's 2001 annual report, sales
have increased by 1.02% compared to last year. This percentage has no comparison to the
high level of growth Coca-Cola enjoyed during its growth stage. To add a little variation
Coca-Cola took the Coca-Cola Classic and added variations to it, including Cherry Coke,
Vanilla Coke and Diet Coke. Also Coca-Cola went from 6-oz. glass bottles to 8-oz. cans to
plastic liter bottles, all helping increase consumption.
COCA-COLA
2. Price:
Like any company who has successfully endured a century of existence, Coca- Cola has had
to remain tremendously fluent with their pricing strategy. They have had the privilege of a
worthy competitor constantly driving them to be smarter, faster, and better. A quote from
Pepsi Co's CEO "The more successful they are, the sharper we have to be. If the Coca-Cola
pg. 27
Marketing strategy of coca cola
Company didn't exist, we'd pray for someone to invent them." states it simply. The
relationship between Coca-Cola & Pepsi is a healthy one that each corporation has learned to
appreciate.
Throughout the years Coca-Cola has made many pricing decisions but one might say that
their ultimate goal has always been to maximize shareholder value. As Cola consumption has
decreased in the US Colas have come to realize the untapped international market. In 2003
both Coke and Pepsi had a solid presence in India and had each introduced a 300mL bottle. In
order to grab market share Pepsi began to drop prices (even with summer approaching, which
was contrary to policy in America). Shortly thereafter, Coca-Cola decided to drop their prices
slightly, but focused on the reduced price point of their 200mL container. Coca- Cola planned
to use the lower price point to penetrate new cities that were especially price sensitive. The
carbonated soft drink market in India is nearly 37% of the total beverage market there.
This low price strategy was not unfamiliar to Coca-Cola. Both Coke & Pepsi utilized a low
price strategy in the early 1990s. After annihilating the low price store brands, Coke chose to
reposition itself as a "Premium" brand and then raise prices.
Coca-Cola products would appear, on the shelf, to have the most expensive range of soft
drinks common to supermarkets, at almost double the cost of no name brands. This can be
for several reasons apart from just to cover the extra costs of promotions, for which no name
brands do without. It creates consumer perceptions and values. When people buy Coca-Cola
they are not just buying the beverage but also the image that goes with it, therefore to have
the price higher reiterates the fact that the product is of a better quality than the rest and that
the consumer is not cheap. This is known as value-based pricing and is used by many other
industries in attracting consumers.
In India, the average income of a rural worker is Rs.500 a month. Coca Cola launched a 200
ml bottle for just Rs.5, an affordable amount on the pockets of the rural audience.
3. Place:
Coca-Cola entered foreign markets in various ways. The most common modes of entry are
direct exporting, licensing and franchising.
Besides beverages and their special syrups, Coca-Cola also directly exports its merchandise
to overseas distributors and companies. Other than exporting, the company markets
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
internationally by licensing bottlers around the world and supplying them with the syrup
needed to produce the product.
There are different types of franchising. The type that is used by Coca-Cola Company is
manufacturer-sponsored wholesaler franchise system. It is very comparable to licensing but
the only difference is that the finished products are sold to the retailers in local market.
Coca Cola has managed their company’s marketing and sales strategy within channels. Have
you ever considered the significance of the Coke vending machine to the success and
profitability of the Coca Cola company? This channel is direct to consumer and vending
machines often have little to no competition and no trade or price promotions.
The Coke Company operates three primary delivery systems for its business channels:
Bulk delivery for the channels of large Supermarkets, Mass Merchandisers and Club
stores;
For smaller channels Coke does advanced sale delivery for convenience stores, drug
stores, small supermarkets and on-premise fountain accounts.
Convenience Stores
Fast Food
Petroleum Retailers
Hotels/Motels/Resorts
Mass Merchan-disers
U.S. DOD Military Resale retail commands: AAFES, NAVRESSO and DECA
Vending
pg. 29
Marketing strategy of coca cola
PROMOTION STRATEGIES
GETTING SHELVES
They get or purchase shelves in big departmental stores and display their products in that
shelves in that style which show their product more clear and more attractive for the
consumers.
Salesman of the Coca Cola company positions their freezers and their products in eye-
catching positions. Normally they keep their freezers near the entrance of the stores.
SALE PROMOTION
Company also do sponsorships with different college and school’s cafes and sponsors their
sports events and other extra curriculum activities for getting market share.
UTC SCHEME
UTC mean under the crown scheme, Coca Cola often do this type of scheme and they offer
very handy prizes in it. Like once they offer bicycles, caps, tv sets, cash prizes etc. This
scheme is very much popular among children.
DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS
1. Direct selling
2. Indirect selling
Direct Selling
In direct selling they supply their products in shops by using their own transports. They have
almost 450 vehicles to supply their bottles. In this type of selling company have more profit
margin.
Indirect Selling
They have their whole sellers and agencies to cover all area. Because it is very difficult for
them to cover all area of Pakistan by their own so they have so many whole sellers and
agencies to assure their customers for availability of Coca Cola products.
pg. 30
Marketing strategy of coca cola
FACILITATING THE PRODUCT BY INFRASTRUCTURE
For providing their product in good manner company has provided infrastructure these
includes:
Vizi cooler
Freezers
Display racks
Free empty bottles and shells for bottles
ADVERTISEMENT
Print media
Pos material
Tv commercial
Billboards and holdings
PRINT MEDIA
They often use print media for advertisement. They have a separate department for print
media.
POS Material
Pos material mean point of sale material this includes: posters and stickers display in the
stores and in different areas.
TV COMMERCIALS
Coca Cola is very much conscious about their billboards and holdings. They have so many
sites in different locations for their billboards.
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
COMPARING THE MARKETING STRATEGIES OF COKE WITH
PEPSI
Coca-Cola India and Pepsi India are locked in a bitter battle for market share. So far
Pepsi has won, outselling Coke 27.1% to 10.8% (All India Market Share) But Coke's new
strategy adopted in India which gives Thums Up the local brand it acquired in 1993-94 from
Parle exports - top marketing priority which would hurt Pepsi in the long run.
Four years after it entered the Rs. 1,800 crore Indian soft drinks market, Coca-Cola is
finally waking up to reality and duplicating the strategy of arch rival Pepsi. In these four
years the company has successfully managed to fritter away the 69 per cent market share of -
the five Parle brands -- Thums Up, Limca, Citra, Gold Spot and Maaza -- which it bought
from the Chauhan brothers. Wrong strategy : trying to push only its US brand, ignoring the
Indian-acquired brands and failing to strike a chord with Indian consumers by not using
localised advertising campaigns.
Donald Short, CEO of Coca Cola India. Mr. Short is trying to achieve what his
predecessors, Jaydev Raja and Richard P. Nicholas Ill, could not. His new mantra: do in
India as Pepsi does( as the famous saying at Coke Atlanta, do as the Atlantans do). Like
Pepsi, Coke has started sponsoring local events and staging frequent consumer promotion
campaigns. It has started picking up equity stakes in its bottlers to guarantee them financial
support though its bullying tactics on paying compensation have drawn sharp criticism. It
has finally started releasing locally-created ads, using Indian idiom to strike a chord with
consumers. And finally it has started pushing its strike a chord with consumers. And finally
it has started pushing its Indian brands -- led by Thums Up -instead of focusing on only its
flagship.
After years of eating, sleeping and drinking movies, cricket and Coke, Coca-Cola is
finally waking up to the strength of the local brands that it took over from Ramesh Chauhan
in 1994. When Coca-Cola came to, India it had hoped to continue its legendary rivalry with
Pepsi world-wide and it was expected that the India would fade out. So Coca-Cola pushed its
own brand. But somebody forgot to narrate the same script to Indian consumers who insisted
pg. 32
Marketing strategy of coca cola
that they wanted their thunder back. Coca-Cola has now reconciled to the fact that Thums
Up and Limca are the two most popular soft drink brands in India, especially in the western
and southern regions. Keeping this in mind the company has lined up an aggressive
marketing campaign to push the two brands in the domestic market.
Mr. Short's new strategy, Thums Up contributes 40 per cent of Coca-Cola India’s
turnover while Limca accounts for another 17 per cent. Coke itself accounts for 23 per cent.
The balance comes from Coke's other brands, including Fanta. Citra and Maaza. In terms of
all-India market share. Thums Up has 16 per cent whereas Coke has 10.8 per cent. As much
as 30 per cent to 35 per cent of Coca-Cola India’s expenditure in 1998 will be devoted to
promoting Thums Up. Limca will command 15 per cent to 18 per cent, marginally lower
than the 20 per cent to 25 per cent which will be spent on promoting Coke.
Despite being a global brand, Pepsi has built its success on meeting the Indian
consumer's needs, particularly in terms of making the brand synchronize with localized
events and traditions. By offering free Pepsi with idli it tried to beat Thums Up and Coke in
the south. In Calcutta, where Coke always has a large hold, Pepsi linked itself with
neighborhood cricket tournaments. In Delhi it associated itself with Holi and offered free
colour sachets with Pepsi bottles. Says Mr. Sinha, CEO of Pepsi : “We recruited local
salesmen to sell our products since to sell consumer products you need local experience.”
That is why Pepsi's events such as the Spot the Mirinda Man contest was such a huge success.
Coke's lack of freedom to take any decision independently of its Atlanta headquarters
was also one of the major reasons why it has not been as nimble-footed as Pepsi in evolving
marketing strategy in a rapidly changing industry. Flexibility is the weapon which Coca-Cola
has lacked since all controls are vested with Atlanta. Coke's trade promotions have followed
a predictable pattern, offering fat margins to retailers for a limited period of time -- without
pg. 33
Marketing strategy of coca cola
exploring alternatives that raise the level of involvement for the seller as well as the
consumer.
In sharp contrast, flexibility has always been one of the most important weapons in
the hands of Pepsi Company India. Every manager and salesperson has the authority to take
whatever steps he or she feels will make consumers aware of the brand and increase its
consumption.
Says Mr. Sinha : “AII we do is give people a budget in which they have to work.
How they go about is completely up to them. We are performance oriented and look at only
results, not at the methods adopted to get those results.”
The biggest thorn in Coke's strategy has been its long and bitter battle with its bottlers.
The conflicts have finally settled down to a pattern that reflect its global experience. Coca-
Cota India is floating two subsidiaries, Bharat Coca-Cola and Hindustan Coca-Cola which
will act as holding companies for most of its bottling operations. Thus giving the
transnational ownership and control over this crucial part of its operations. Earlier the
company had made the mistake of demanding huge investments from its bottlers without
worrying about the returns, assuming that they would be willing to sustain losses as long as
Coca-Cola did. In the process, it alienated the former Parle franchisees, the Chauhans.
According to Mr. Chauhan there is a big difference between the kind of investments
Coke has in mind and the kind of investments made by him. Coca-Cola is now in the process
of buying out bottling plants located in Patna and Kanpur, to of its important northern
markets. Mr. Sinha reveals his relations with the bottlers by saying that they are his partners
and the management listens to them, which Coke last year failed to do. Every member of
Pepsi's sales team is meticulously taught the merchandising and display skills that can
leverage the reach of the company's bottling network to achieve high visibility for the product.
Thus Pepsi Company India has used its eight years in India to develop a relationship with its
bottlers that enables it to work in tandem with them. If Mr. Short can now adopt Pepsi's
method of transferring the transnational's expertise to its bottlers, his brands will benefit.
Pricing is another factor in which Pepsi has always had the edge. Pepsi has
consistently used its pricing strategy as an invitation to sample, aiming to turn trial into
addiction. It launched the 1996, its 1.5 liter bottle followed Coke into the market share at Rs.
30 -- Rs. 5 less than Coke's. In both cases, Pepsi raised the price once consumption stabilized,
counting on habit to compensate for the price hike. Coke initially carbon-copied the strategy
pg. 34
Marketing strategy of coca cola
by introducing its 330ml. cans in January 1996 at an invitation price of Rs. 15 before raising
it to Rs. 18. Mr. Short is now using a lower-priced smaller-sized version the gain consumers.
The 200 ml. Coke launched (so far) in parts of eastern, western and northern India is priced
at Rs. 6, lowering entry-barriers.
According to officials, by launching Thums Up and Limca in a big way, Coke will
gain lost ground. The twin-brand strategy, will help Coke play the pricing game against its
competitors. In the west and east, where Thums Up has a dominant market share, the
multinational will slash the price of Coke which constitutes only a minor share in the overall
volume. A reverse strategy will be followed in the north and south where Coke sells more
then Thums Up.
(1998)
CADBURY SCHWEPPES
COCA - COLA PEPSI-COLA Overall 3.2%
Overall 48.3% Overall 45.2% All brands 3.2%
Thums ups 16% Pepsi 27.1% (Crush, Canada, Dry,
Coke 10.8% Mirinda 7.3% Campa-Cola, Campa
Fanta 5% Others 10.8% Orange, Campa Lemon)
Limca 10% (7 Up. Mangola, Slice,
Gold Spot 1.5% Duke’s Soda
Others 5% and Lemonade)
(Bisleri Club Soda,
Citra, Maaza)
pg. 35
Marketing strategy of coca cola
STRATEGIES FOR GAINING MARKET SHARE
C. Lower Prices
against specific
competitions who will
not or cannot rect
effectively.
pg. 36
Marketing strategy of coca cola
(b) expand the market need for the product is
for a class of product strongest and
by tapping previously competition most
unsatisfied demand. vulnerable, and
immediate large gains
in share can be
obtained.
C. Offer additional
services required in
general or at specific
customers-
information,
engineering advice,
etc.
D. Expand distribution
system by adding more
distribution points.
pg. 37
Marketing strategy of coca cola
marketin inadequate sales force above competitive representatives
g coverage (too few levels in target
Cost of training for
calls/month) or inferior territories or at target
retraining
quality or coverage accounts.
Cost of incentive
(poor salesmen or B. Sales training
program
insufficient programs to improve
information conveyed existing sales skills,
by salesmen) product knowledge,
and territorial and
customer management
abilities.
C. Sales incentive
program with rewards
based on share
increases at target
customers or in target
market of products.
pg. 38
Marketing strategy of coca cola
BRAND LOYALTY
Both cognitive and behavior approaches to studying brand loyalty have value. We
define brand loyalty as repeat purchase intentions and behaviors. While the major focus of
our discussion is on brand loyalty as a behavior, we want to emphasize that cognitive
processes strongly influence the development and maintenance of this behavior.
Brand loyalty may be the result of extensive cognitive activity and decision marking.
Brand-loyal behavior may occur without the consumer ever comparing alternative brands.
Decisions have to be made about where and when to purchase the product; some knowledge
of the product and its availability must be activated from memory; intentions to purchase ft
and satisfaction influence the purchase behaviors.
The market for a particular brand could be analyzed in terms of the number of
consumers in each category, and strategies could be developed to enhance ibe brand loyalty
of particular groups.
i) Undivided brand loyalty is, of course, an ideal. In some cases, consumers may
purchase only a single brand and forego purchase if it is not available.
ii) Brand loyalty with an occasional Swatch is likely to be more common, though.
Consumers may switch occasionally for a variety of reasons: their usual brand may be
out of stock, a new brand may come on the market and tried once, a competitive brand
is offered at a special low price, or a different brand is purchased for a special
occasion.
iv) Divided brand loyalty refers to consistent purchase of two or more brands.
pg. 39
Marketing strategy of coca cola
v) Brand indifference refers to purchases with no apparent repurchase pattern. This is
the opposite extreme from undivided brand loyalty. While we suspect total brand
indifference is not common, some consumers of some products may exhibit this
pattern.
Brand Loyalty
Brand
Indifference
The above figure shows that achieving brand-loyal consumers is most valuable when
the consumers are also heavy users. This figure could also be used as a strategic toot by
plotting consumers of both the firm's brands and competitive brands on the basis of brand
loyalty and usage rates. Depending on the location of consumers and whether they are loyal
to the firm's brand or a competitive one, several strategies might be useful;
1. If the only profitable segment is the brand-loyal heavy user, focus on switching
consumer loyalty to the firm's brands.
2. If there is a sufficient number of brand-loyal light users, focus on increasing their usage
of the firm's brand.
pg. 40
Marketing strategy of coca cola
3. If there is a sufficient number of brand-indifferent heavy users, attempt to make the
firm's brand name a salient attribute and/or develop a new relative advantage.
Coca-Cola controlled the Indian market until 1977, when the Janta Party beat the Congress
party of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. To punish Coca-Cola's Principal bottler, a
Congress party stalwart and long live Gandhi supporter, the Janata government demanded
that Coca-Cola transfer in syrup formuale to an Indian subsidiary (Chakravarty, 43). Coca-
Cola backed and withdrew from the country. India, now left without both Coca-Cola and
Pepsi, became a protected market. In the meantime, India's two target soft drink producers
have gotten rich and lazy while controlling 80% of the Indian market. These domestic
producers have little incentive to expand their plants or develop the country's potentially
pg. 41
Marketing strategy of coca cola
enormous market. Some analyst reason that the Indian market may be more lucrative that the
Chinese market, India has 850 million potential customers, 150 millions of whom comprise
the middle class, with disposable income to spend on Cars, VCRs and Computers. The
Indian middle class is growing at 10% per year, to obtain the license for India, Pepsi had to
export $5 of locally made products for every $1 of materials it imported, and it had to agree
to help the Indian government to initiate a second agricultural revolution. Pepsi has also had
to take an Indian partners. In the end, all Parties involved seem to come out ahead. Pepsi
gain access to potentially enormous market, Indian bottlers will get to serve a market that is
expanding rapidly because of competition from abroad and will pay lower prices. Even
before the first bottle of Pepsi hit the shelves, local soft drink manufacturer increased the size
of their bottles by 25% without raising costs.
The CEO's business card is printed in English in one side and in the national language, Hindi
on the other, he talks of two of India's established soft drink brands as "national treasurers".
He launches a brand of canned coffee for the Japanese market - not for sale is India - and call
it the "third national treasure", because the coffee beans are sourced from India and that it
would generate substantial foreign exchange for the country.
Blowing the pipe on this discovery of Indian treasures is President & Chief Executive officer,
Mr. Donald Wilson Short of Coca-Cola India (CCI), who is trying to project the new patriotic
face of the Coca Cola company in India. A query on how much of this sudden change of face
has to do with the attitude of the present Government towards MNCs is met with a diplomatic.
Mr. Short says I have always been proud of India and have been open about it to the media".
But the bottom line is that the company has little choice, to save the option of leaning on
`India treasures', Thumps up and Limca.
Mr. Short says that though in the first quarter of this year advertising rupee spent on
drink Thumps up. He claims that in second quarters, it will be reverse, as more money would
be spent on promotion of Thumps up. The latest white water rafting ad for Thumps up has
costed them three times more than the cost of the Coke ad".
The marketing boost for Thumps up has its basis in the fact that Thumps up accounts
for nearly 40 per cent of CCIs, soft drink sales while Coke accounts for 25 per cent and the
rest is accounted for by the other brands of Limca, Fanta, Citra and Maaza.
pg. 42
Marketing strategy of coca cola
Also forthcoming are a few details of the target consumers of the respective brands, Thumps
up is a male drink, Coke goes down equally with both genders, Limca act Citra are more for
women, Fanta is a youth drink and Maaza is for those who do not always go for the fizzy
carbonated drinks.
Also in line with competition soft drinks market dynamics are huge ad budgets, the difference
this time around would be that CCI is pumping money into all its brands, New advertising for
Citra is due while Maaza would be pushed aggressively too. Thumps up, Coke and Fanta are
already getting due attention, one could perhaps say that the real Cola war with focussed
marketing is in the making, not just between the Colas Coke and Pepsi, but between the other
brands of the two companies as well. Mirinda Vs Fanta, Limca Vs Team, Citra Vs 7up,
Slice vs Maaza.
Coca-Cola India is about to sign a deal with Prakash Chauhan : New Delhi, Nov 20th. Coca-
Cola India may sign a deal with Prakash Chauhan within next 2-3 weeks for acquiring his
two bottling units in Mumbai, of the units, Prakash Chauhan owns one jointly with his
brother, Ramesh, and the other he owns exclusively it is expected that Prakash will buy out
Ramesh Chauhan's stake in the jointly owned bottling unit before handing it over to the Cola
giant.
Prakash Chauhan confirmed that the deal with Coca-Cola India would be signed shortly.
"Earlier we were not part of the deal that was being negotiated between Ramesh Chauhan and
the Cola firm. We have now sorted out the outstanding issues, and the two Mumbai bottling
limits would be sold to Coca-Cola, said sources. They did not specify the price of the deal
between Prakash Chauhan and Coca-Cola India.
With the important Delhi and Mumbai bottling units. Owned by the Chauhans in its bag,
Coca-Cola India will find it easy to persuade the remaining bottlers to sell out to it. The Cola
firm has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ramesh Chauhan to acquire his Delhi
bottling units in September.
pg. 43
Marketing strategy of coca cola
In early '96', both Coca Cola India and Pepsi Foods India launched high decibel promotions
aimed at increasing the visibility of their respective brands. Coca Cola kicked off the current
round in December '95', after it pipped Pepsi to bag the status of official soft drink to the wills
World Cup by offering Rs. 13 crore. Coke's slogan then had been 'The official drink', Pepsi
then came out with their's - 'Nothing official about it'.
Coke had bought up Parle’s business, including the Thums Up. Gold Spot and Citra brands,
for $40 million - the company's overall marketshare has dropped from 60% to 56%. Coca
Coia's loss has proved to be Pepsi's gain, whose brands improved from 30% to 41% in the
same period (see table). Coca-Cola's problems don't end there. In the Cola segment - which
constitutes more than half the total soft drinks market - Pepsi has dislodged, Thums Up from
the top spot, and now has a 40% marketshare. The former Parle brand still retains 30%, but
flagship Coke comes in a poor third, with only a 20% marketshare.
Other former Parle brands have also taken a beating. Cloudy lime drink Limca, which
commanded a 20% share of the total soft drinks market in 1993. has seen its marketshare
drop to 16% today. And Gold Spot, though still the leader in the orange segment, has lost
most of iLs fizz, with a mere 4.5% share of the soft drinks market, compared to around 9% in
1993. Besides the promotions Coca Cola has finally planned to launch The Real Thing in
cans. Priced at Rs. 15, the 330ml. cans were slated to hit the market by mid '96. There rival
Pepsi had set aside nearly Rs. 8 crore for his advertising programme in the run-up to and
during the World Cup. While this being only a fraction of the Coca Cola budget.
Coca Cola had spent Rs. 26.99 crore on television sports in the first nine months of 1995.
Coca Cola has earmarked Rs. 40 crore to promote the brands in the run-up to World Cup.
Meanwhile Pepsi spent a piffling Rs. 6.98 crore on television ads during this period.
The apparent failure of marketing strategies of Coke was reflected in a survey conduct by
Marketing & Research Group in September 1995 for the Delhi based advertising and
marketing magazine, A & M on the country's best marketing companies. Pepsi ranked 7th.
while Coca Cola came in 13.
While both Coke and Pepsi slug it out for larger shares of the soft drinks market, apparently
the market itself is growing pretty steadily. Per capita annual consumption of soft drinks has
risen to 3.5 servings today, as against 3 servings in 1993 when Coke was relaunched.
A third competitor Cadbury Schweppes, its Orange drink, Crush was confined to Delhi and
Mumbai and now is planning to expand operations nationwide by the summer of 1996.
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
Coca Cola 60 65 56
Pepsi 30 33 41
Others 10 2 3
The table signifies the fact that Coke's market share has slipped down from 60% in '93' to
56% in '95', while Pepsi, owing to its aggressive marketing strategy and advertising
campaigns, has done well, as it has climbed up from 30% in '93' to 41 % in '95'.
The following diagram depicts the cold war between the 2 Cola giants and shows which one
out of the 3 (i.e., Coke, Pepsi and Thums Up) is the strongest brand and in which region.
The results have shown that Thums Up is preferred over Pepsi in major soft drinks markets
including Calcutta and in major cities of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
The brand tracking study covering Coke, Pepsi and Thums Up had taken into account a
combination of performance indicators, like advertising persuasiveness, brand preference and
purchase intent, apart from retail audits that are there to measure the case stock in retail
outlets.
While advertising persuasiveness measured the ability of the commercials to make the
consumers buy the brands at the next consumption brand preference indicated toe choice over
other existing brands. Purchase intent measured the likelihood of purchase of each brand at
the next consumption occasion.
A survey of a sample of 6000 consumers in 14 major Indian cities was conducted and the
results compiled in the middle of January.
While Delhi was a Pepsi stronghold, Calcutta was Thums Up's and Punjab, India’s largest
soft drink market, had Coke ruling the roost with a lead of 15 per cent.
With an investment of $740 million over the next 10 years in India, Coca Cola India is giving
a major thrust to the campaign for Thums Up with the new dynamic advertising showing
adventure sports like bungee-and heli-jumping.
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
Colas contribute to about 50 per cent of the Rs. 1,800 crore soft drink market. The popularity
of Thums Up is showing in its volume of sales and it has been proved that there is room for
more to feed the hungry soft drinks market.
The following is about the region-wise growth pattern of Pepsi and Coke in the year'98'.
Pepsi had out performed Atlanta-based soft drink major Coca Cola in the country by
emerging the leader in the first quarter growth sweepstakes. Pepsi had announced a growth
of over 27 per cent during the first quarter against 21 per cent posted by Coca Cola in the first
three months of the year. Pepsi grew by 18 per cent in the same period last year.
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths Weaknesses
Opportunities Threats
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
CHAPTER-3
[ REASEARCH METHODOLOGY
& DATA ANALYSIS ]
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY & DATA ANALYSIS
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
1. To study the marketing strategies adopted by Coca-Cola
2. To study the advertising effectiveness Coca-Cola on customer
3. To analyze the awareness of consumer regarding Coca Cola.
4. To help the company for further changes in the quality, pricing, and policies.
Research design
The Research available is descriptive so as to describe the complete qualities of juices
available in market.
Primary Source:
It is the source which collects the primary data through Questionnaire and record the raw data
for further analysis, Primary source is used by the face-to-face survey with the customers of
the company.
Secondary Source:
Secondary source is the internet, magazines, and old data files of the research.
Sampling Technique
The sampling technique which has been used in this research is simple Random sampling.
This has been used in order to simplify the process of sample collection and to use our own
wisdom and parameters in relation to selection of sample.
Sample size: 50
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
Have you ever tried the product (Coca-Cola)?
Out of the 30 people we surveyed, all of them said they had tried Coca-Cola atleast once.
This explains the brand awareness of Coca-Cola.
Gender
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
As represented in the chart, majority of the respondents were in the age group of 20-35 years,
the least of the lot being 2 kids who were also asked to participate in the survey.
From the analysis, it was found that majority of 77% (23 people) respondents said they
enjoyed drinking Coca-Cola as against 23% (7 people) who said they preferred other drinks.
What brand would you say is more popular among the public?
a) Coca-Cola
b) Pepsi
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
c) Other
As seen in the chart, out of 30 people, 17 respondents said, in their opinion, Coca-Cola was
more popular while 11 respondents said they preferred Pepsi as a popular brand.
The chart represents that a majority of people thought the Advertisements were good enough
& they like what they see.
Do you think the price for a can of Coca Cola is cheap or expensive?
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
As seen in the above figure, a majority of 23 people out of the 30 respondents thought that
the Coca-Cola Cans are slightly overpriced with a few people also rating it as expensive.
If you were to see the Coca-Cola logo somewhere would you recognize it?
It is understood from the fact that the Logo of the Company still has its image in the minds of
the people with all the respondents saying they would recognize the “Coca-Cola” Logo.
How often do you buy the product?
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
As it can be seen in the figure, it was concluded that majority of the respondents bought the
product quite frequently. This shows the brand loyalty of the customers towards Coca-Cola.
As seen in the above chart, customers usually preferred to buy Coca-Cola in restaurants like
KFC, Mc Donalds, Sub-Way etc. The second largest option was General stores stocking
Coca-Cola.
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
CHAPTER-4
[ CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS ]
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
CONCLUSION
It was observed that Coca-Cola has been perceived quite positively as it has been projected.
People are aware of the Brand & Awareness of Coca-Cola is quite high in the market. When
a product is launched, avid Coke drinkers choose this soda over any other competitor simply
because it's a Coca-Cola product and they trust it.
Although Coke has been into controversies, people still prefer to stay loyal to the Brand with
Coca-Cola being termed as a more popular brand than Pepsi.
Coca-Cola products would appear, on the shelf, to have the most expensive range of soft
drinks common to supermarkets, at almost double the cost of no name brands. This can be
for several reasons apart from just to cover the extra costs of promotions, for which no name
brands do without. When people buy Coca-Cola they are not just buying the beverage but
also the image that goes with it, therefore to have the price higher reiterates the fact that the
product is of a better quality than the rest and that the consumer is not cheap.
In supermarkets and convenience stores Coca-Cola has their own fridge which contains only
their products. There is little personal selling, but that is made up for in public relations and
corporate image. Coca-Cola sponsors a lot of events including sports and recreational
activities.
RECOMMENDATIONS
After completing our project I have concluded some recommendation for the Coca Cola
company, which are following.
Coca Cola Company should try to emphasis more on providing their infrastructure in
the market to facilitate their customers.
According to the survey, conducted by the international firm Pakistani people like
little bit sweeter Cola drink. So for this Coca Cola company should produce their
product according to the local demand.
Marketing team should try to increase the availability of Coke in rural areas.
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bibliography refers to the sources through which information has been retrieved in my
project development:
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
References:
www.google.com
www.coca-Colaindia.com
www.altavista.com
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
ANNEXURE
a) Yes
b) No
2. Gender
a) Male
b) Female
a) Yes
b) No
c) It's not bad
5. What brand would you say is more popular among the public?
d) Coca-Cola
e) Pepsi
f) Other
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Marketing strategy of coca cola
6. Do you enjoy Coca Colas advertisements on TV?
7. Do you think the price for a can of Coca Cola is cheap or expensive?
a) Cheap
b) Slightly over priced
c) Expensive
8. If you were to see the Coca Cola logo somewhere would you recognize it?
a) Yes
b) No
a) Never
b) Once/few times a year
c) Few times a month
d) Few times a week
e) Everyday
pg. 60