Module 2 Assignment:

Marketing Strategy for Good

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Date

6060: Marketing for Competitiveness

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 Marketing Strategy for Good

A marketing strategy is a firms' game plan for reaching prospective consumers to convert

them to customers. Developing a market strategy is one of the most crucial elements of success

in any organization. A well-informed strategy aids a company come up with clear, realistic and

measurable marketing objectives. A marketing strategy is crucial since it affects how a business

is run. Therefore, a business marketing strategy should be planned and developed with the help

of an organization's team. A marketing strategy is crucial since; it describes the firm's products

and services, explains the position of goods in the market, profiles the customers and competition

and allows a person to use a marketing plan. A marketing strategy sets the overall goal for a

firm's marketing activities (Fifield, 2012).  While coming up with an effective marketing strategy

for good, one must consider that customers are the primary motivation.  

Stakeholders

External stakeholders are individuals outside a firm that don't work inside the firm but are

affected by the decisions made by the organization. When designing a marketing campaign, there

are several external stakeholders that Coca-Cola will have to consider. For instance;

 Bottling partners

 Customers

 Suppliers

 Industry partners

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 When designing a marketing campaign for the Coca Cola company, the needs of the

stakeholders need to be put into consideration. The most basic and essential of all company's

external stakeholders are the customers or the consumers. Without the consumers, Coca-Cola

would not be able to produce and sell. The consumers vary and range from individual shops or

even companies. It is, therefore, crucial to put consumers in mind while coming up with a

marketing campaign for Coca-cola. Suppliers also play an essential role in the Coca-cola

company as its external stakeholders. Suppliers are critical supply chain elements and act as a

mediator between Coca-cola and its customers. Collaboration is fostered by communicating

regularly with the supply chain and suppliers, and goals can be achieved. 

Coca-cola company has several industry partners that are core to its business. The

company works in conjunction with its partners to make sure that they impact the community

positively and its goals are achieved. Coca-cola must consider its partners before coming up with

a marketing campaign. Some of the company's partners include Coca Cola European Partners,

Coca Cola Refreshment Canada and Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (Foster, 2014).

Coca Cola Customer Base

One of the renowned companies with the best marketing campaigns is Coca Cola. The

company's marketing campaigns are unique and captivating. The marketing campaigns have a

target of gaining a new customer base. Coca-cola company has a broad customer base. Its

flagship market is North America. It reaches over 350 million customers of different ages,

religions, sex, and races, showing diversity. 

There are many potential customer bases for the Coca-cola company. One of the best

bases in Scotland. Scotland is the only country where Coca-cola hasn't gained the respect and

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attention it deserves for soft drinks (Cheptegei & Yabs, 2016). Scotland is well known for its

whiskies, a culture held from early as the 11th century. When coming up with a marketing

campaign, it would be empirical to consider this to attract viewers and potential customers.

Scotland as a customer base depicts excellent diversity. There is evident diversified culture, race,

and age given its broad customer base. The campaign will use a common language in Scotland,

including people of different races and ages, to show diversity and inclusion.

Consumer Needs

Every company has consumers who have specific needs from the firm. However, the

company must do all in its power to ensure that the needs of the consumers are adhered to.

Failure to handle such needs results in poor performances. Such needs are crucial to follow when

developing and implementing social media messaging for a Coca-cola campaign. 

There is a prioritized list of consumer wants for Coca-cola companies. While coming up

with a marketing campaign, the needs must be kept in mind. Adhering to the needs and

expectations of the customers gives Coca-cola a competitive edge against its soft drink rivals,

and a considerable part of its success is attributed to prioritizing customer needs (Habib &

Aslam, 2014). Below are some of the consumer needs in a prioritized order;

1. Innovating products with no or reduced sugar content- consumers nowadays go for

healthy products. More and more individuals cease using high sugar content products,

and so have Coca-cola consumers. Coca-cola, however, has adhered to such needs and

come up with zero sugar products.

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 2. Ensuring no compromise on the test experience- Coca-cola has a unique taste for its

products. This is why the company has been so dominant in the market. Consumers do

not want the test compromised, and Coca-cola has ensured to keep the unique experience

flowing.

3. Providing choices for the product packages- Coca-cola has different product sizes to cater

for customers of all classes and needs when size is considered. 

4. Increasing the number of products- Coca-cola has a variety of products it deals with

within the beverage industry, giving its consumers a chance to choose the ones that suit

them.

5. Promoting clear facts- consumers like clarity on products. While coming up with a

marketing campaign for Coca-cola, there should be clarity on products and prices.

Considerations for Influencing Customer Behaviour and Promoting Buy-in

Any company aims at influencing customer behaviour and maximizing its sales. It is,

however, crucial for firms to understand their clients' behaviour to influence and improve sales

effectiveness. According to Viksne et al. (2016), there are some influencers when it comes to

customer behaviour and buy-in;

 Psychological- include beliefs, attitudes and perception.

 Social- includes family and roles

 Cultural- includes what someone does

 Personal- include age, occupation and lifestyle

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  Economic-include ability of one to purchase the products

One of the best ways to influence consumer behaviour is through the established brand of

a company. Coca-cola company has one of the most established brands in the world. The brand

alone is good enough to change customer behaviour and influence the public. However, other

considerations may influence buy-in and consumer behaviour. 

Given that there is a considerable number of upcoming severe competition in the market,

Coca-cola should consider making robust advertisements and marketing campaigns all over the

globe to attract and retain customers. The company should also consider promotional activities

towards its consumers since promotions attract buyers. Through promotions, Coca-cola can gain

new customers and establish their brand further. Price wars are a strategy used by most

companies to gain an advantage over their rivals. Companies selling similar products tend to

influence customer behaviour and buy-in by engaging in price wars. The lowest prices tend to

attract more customers, but it is not guaranteed because low prices are associated with low-

quality products. To increase buy-in, the Coca-cola company should consider periodical price

variations where they reduce their prices to boost their product sales. Coca-cola should also

participate in corporate social responsibility on a more diverse scale and show the world that it

cares. Companies that participate in CSR tend to perform well since they are most liked,

appreciated and likely to get public attention (Ramya et al. 2016).  

Challenges encountered for gaining customers and sells

One may encounter a pool of challenges in gaining buy-in for their existing and potential

customer bases. Some of the challenges include;

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  Competition from other rival companies-there is a considerable number of competitors in

the beverage industry. The competitors struggle to obtain a market share and maintain it

at all costs. Competitors are one of the main challenges that Coca-cola faces to gain more

customers.

 Trade restrictions- every region has trade restrictions and limits. Coca-cola has to adhere

to such restrictions, which inhibit its trade.

 Product shortages- during festive seasons, there has been a shortage of Coca-cola

products, which diminishes the company's reliability and trust.

 Lack of technology and ineffective promotion channel- many individuals are not aware of

the Coca-cola campaigns and products because of either lack of technology or ineffective

promotional channel. This is primarily witnessed in underdeveloped countries. 

 Critique from individuals and competitors through social media.

Recommendations

The following are recommendations related to messaging content for overcoming challenges for

gaining customers and buy-in.

 Coca-cola company should stand up for itself through the proper channels. When

wrongfully criticized by individuals and other competitors, some competitors use this

strategy to diminish a company's worth. By clarifying such issues, the company will gain

its worth, and its sales are likely to improve. 

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 Coca-cola should consider using different channels to promote its products. For instance,

the company should include traditional advertising methods like magazines to reach a

broader customer base and realize more profit.

 Coca-cola should realize that competitors are here to stay and are serious about taking

over the industry. The company should make sure that it holds product campaigns and

promotes its brand in a more robust way to gain an advantage against the ever-rising

number of competitors in the industry. 

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 References

Cheptegei, D. K., & Yabs, J. (2016). Foreign market entry strategies used by multinational

corporations in Kenya: A case of Coca Cola Kenya Ltd. European Journal of Business

and Strategic Management, 1(2), 71-85.

https://www.iprjb.org/journals/index.php/EJBSM/article/view/123

Fifield, P. (2012). Marketing strategy. Routledge.

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780080511139/marketing-strategy-

paul-fifield

Foster, R. J. (2014). Corporations as partners:“Connected capitalism” and the Coca‐Cola

company. PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review, 37(2), 246-258.

https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/plar.12073

Habib, S., & Aslam, S. (2014). Influence of brand loyalty on consumer repurchase intentions of

Coca-Cola. European Journal of Business and Management, 6(14), 168-174.

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/234625527.pdf

Ramya, N. A. S. A. M., & Ali, S. M. (2016). Factors affecting consumer buying

behavior. International journal of applied research, 2(10), 76-80.

https://genderi.org/pars_docs/refs/83/82141/82141.pdf

Viksne, K., Salkovska, J., Gaitniece, E., & Puke, I. (2016). Comparative analysis of customer

behaviour models. In Proceedings of the 2016 International conference on Economic

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Science for Rural Development (pp. 231-231).

https://llufb.llu.lv/conference/economic_science_rural/2016/Latvia_ESRD_43_2016.pdf#

page=231

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