About the Coca Cola Company

With the purpose to refresh the world and make a difference, the product that has given the world
its best-known taste was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 8, 1886. Dr. John Stith Pemberton, a
local pharmacist, produced the syrup for Coca-Cola, and carried a jug of the new product down
the street to Jacobs' Pharmacy, where it was sampled, pronounced "excellent" and placed on sale
for five cents a glass as a soda fountain drink. Carbonated water was teamed with the new syrup
to produce a drink that was at once "Delicious and Refreshing," a theme that continues to echo
today wherever Coca-Cola is enjoyed.
Thinking that "the two Cs would look well in advertising," Dr. Pemberton's partner and
bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson, suggested the name and penned the now famous trademark
"Coca-Cola" in his unique script. The first newspaper ad for Coca-Cola soon appeared in The
Atlanta Journal, inviting thirsty citizens to try "the new and popular soda fountain drink." Hand-
painted oilcloth signs reading "Coca-Cola" appeared on store awnings, with the suggestion
"Drink" added to inform passersby that the new beverage was for soda fountain refreshment.
During the first year, sales averaged a modest nine drinks per day.
Dr. Pemberton never realized the potential of the beverage he created. He gradually sold portions
of his business to various partners and, just prior to his death in 1888, sold his remaining interest
in Coca-Cola to Asa G. Candler. An Atlantan with great business acumen, Mr. Candler
proceeded to buy additional rights and acquire complete control. And obviously as we all say,
“and the rest is history.” Coca Cola has truly revolutionized the soda market, it brought in a wave
which hit every market, every country and every age group. I am pretty sure it must have hit you
too, yes you, the professor who is currently reading my project.

Amongst everything Here’s the million-dollar question though, “How does Coca Cola achieve
this in spite of it being over 125 years old?”

The answer to that is surprisingly simple. Marketing and Branding...

Before we get into how Coca Cola has achieved this incredible feat let us look at how Coca Cola
has struck a chord with environmentalists through its SUSTAINABILTY HISTORY.
Sustainability History

Sustainability is not something new at The Coca-Cola Company. The Company’s

sustainability efforts cover a wide range of topics including the following: water, women,
community well-being, sustainable packaging, climate protection, human and workplace
rights, and sustainable agriculture.

Such efforts began over 100 years ago and have since become an integral part of the Company.
While there are countless sustainability projects and initiatives started by the Company, there are
some monumental moments that have helped shape the company’s efforts. These efforts are
highlighted in this timeline of events.
1917
The Coca-Cola Company began its partnership with The Red Cross. During World War I, the
Coca-Cola system ran annual Red Cross drive campaigns which continued for over a decade.
This partnership remains strong today and has been essential to the company’s involvement in
disaster relief throughout the years.
1935

Lettie Pate Evans joined the Board of Directors as the 1st woman to serve on the board of a
major company.
1963
The Coca-Cola Company produced its first diet drink, Tab. Tab was introduced before the early
growth of the low-calorie soft drink segment, and the beverage was developed for consumers
who wished “to keep tab on their calories.” Several women chemists played a critical role in the
development of Tab.
1966
The Coca-Cola Company launched “The Nutrition Project”, assigning an international team of
scientists and food technologists the task of finding a solution to the “protein gap” facing the
impoverished nations of the world and provide more light, protein-rich beverages to consumers.
This project led to the introduction of the brands Saci, Sanson and Taí, three protein-rich energy
beverages developed in Latin America, utilizing the local ingredients such as soybeans and whey
as protein source ingredients for the beverages.
1984
The Coca-Cola Foundation was founded. The Coca-Cola Company is committed to giving back
1 percent of its prior year’s operating income annually through the foundation. The foundation
serves three priority areas: women, water and well-being.

2001
The Coca-Cola Company established the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation, which has worked to
prevent and treat HIV/AIDS in Africa. Since it was established, the Coca-Cola Africa
Foundation has launched numerous projects and initiatives throughout Africa.
2007
The Coca-Cola Company announced a transformational partnership with the World Wide Fund
for Nature (WWF) to address challenges related to freshwater conservation. This partnership
focused on five core areas including the following: conserve seven of the world’s most important
freshwater basins, improve water efficiency within the company’s operations, reduce the
company’s carbon emissions, promote sustainable agriculture and inspire a global movement to
conserve water.
2009
The Coca-Cola Company introduces PlantBottle Packaging - the first ever recyclable PET plastic
beverage bottle made 30 percent from plants. The Coca-Cola Company has continued to develop
sustainable packaging, including the creation of the world’s first prototype PET bottle made
entirely from plant materials in 2015.
2010
The Coca-Cola Company launched the 5by20 Initiative. The goal of this initiative is to enable
the economic empowerment of 5 million women entrepreneurs across the globe by 2020.
Through the initiative, women are offered access to business skills training courses, financial
services and connections with peers or mentors.
2013
The first EKOCENTER is established. EKOCENTER is a modular community market that is run
by local woman entrepreneurs and provides safe drinking water, wireless communication,
electricity and other functionality to jump-start entrepreneurship opportunities and community
development. The 100th EKOCENTER was opened in 2016 and the project continues to grow
around the globe. This project also complements the 5by20 initiative that was launched in 2010.
The Coca-Cola Company’s sustainability efforts and goals continue to develop as the years go on
and their impact can be found across the globe. Within the last 5 years, the Coca-Cola Company
has launched new initiatives and achieved many goals, such as accomplishing its 100 percent
water replenishment goal five years ahead of schedule.
Back to the question we were at, let us find out How coke achieves it.

Powerade.

Dasani.

Aha.

Sprite.

Smartwater.

Innocent.

Coke.

These are a tiny sampling of the name-brand products owned by The Coca-Cola Company.

33 billion dollars.

That’s the annual revenue of the Coca-Cola Company from 2020.

If you could measure Coca-Cola's brand presence on an imaginary brand-awareness scale, the
dial might read “omnipresent.” It was the first soda to be consumed in space, and most recently,
the first soda sugar-shamed? on the world stage by well-known footballer Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Coca-Cola Company is one of, if not the world’s most successful FMCG (fast-moving
consumer goods) brands. But it’s much more than just Coke.

The beverage behemoth offers 200 brands in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide
(They recently slimmed down their portfolio of brands.).

The Coca-Cola brand is not just prolific; it’s highly lucrative, too. Twenty brands in the Coca-
Cola umbrella are worth over a billion dollars, and more than 1.9bn servings of Coca-Cola
products get poured every day.

Even if the only thing you drink is water, they’ve got a product for you like Aha Sparkling Water
or Smartwater.
That’s part of their multi-brand portfolio strategy, and each brand itself seems to come with its
own unique brand presence and vibe.

But the Coca-Cola brand isn’t only successful because of its products.

You don’t get to enjoy over a century of fame and success on liquid refreshments alone.

Coca-Cola’s global marketing department has serious game (and yes—serious budget.)

The brand’s advertising campaigns are consistently creative—and sometimes controversial—and

their brand identity instantly evokes happiness and celebration.

Taking this thought further let us now see the various Marketing and Branding strategies of Coca
Cola.
Marketing and Branding Strategies applied by Coca Cola

Coca Cola generates 60% of its revenue and about 80% of its operation profits from outside
America, which goes to show that Coca-Cola has a strong brand recognition across the globe.

Coca-Cola targets every customer in the market, but its main focus is age, family size, income.
The perfect segmentation is the reason behind the success of Coca-Cola.

 Age
One of the most important factors that Coca-Cola targets is age, which is divided into two
segments.
First, they target young people who are in the age bracket between10-35. That's why it mostly
uses pop stars in their advertisements such as Selena Gomez, Pete Davidson, Ranbir Kapoor,
Alia Bhatt. Coca Cola arranges various campaigns (which will be discussed in the later sections)
in universities, colleges, schools, etc. in acquiring contracts.
They also target people who fit in the age bracket above 40 who are more health conscious and
pay more attention to their calorie intake as compared to the younger generation, by introducing
diet coke and coke zero.

 Income and family size

Income is another factor that is segmented, and it is related to family size too. Coca-Cola
introduced different packaging and sizes at different price levels so that everyone can easily
afford it. They made sure that Coke can be enjoyed by everyone across various income levels
and family sizes.

 Geographical segmentation
As we know, the Coca-Cola Company sells its products globally and in more than 200 countries.
They apply marketing strategies according to income, culture, customs, and climate.
For example, in America, the product demand reached a high level, and it is liked by aged people
too, and in China, the potential of growth is high, but it differs from habitat and needs.
In Asian regions, people mostly prefer tea instead of beverages. There is a variation in marketing
strategies, advertisement campaigns, drink look and taste, because of people's diverse taste.
Taste varies according to the region like Asian people like sweeter taste than other countries, but
the essential ingredients and process are the same worldwide.
  Gender segmentation
Coca- Cola also targets according to gender. However, there is a difference in taste and
preference.
For example, Coca-Cola light is popular among females, especially among younger women,
coke zero are popular among males due to its strong taste.
They use different targeting strategies like in designing the coke zero packaging. They use red
and black colors, which gives a more masculine looks as compared to coke light. And there is
also a difference in commercials and advertising campaigns. These marketing strategies are
applied the attract people and increase the sales of the product, which provides with high profit
to the company
PEST-Analysis of the Coca-Cola Company

PEST analysis is abbreviated as political, economic, social, and technology; it analyzes the
environment in which the company operates its system.

 Political Factor
The governments across the world have a proper control and check on the procedures and
process of non-alcoholic beverages. The changes in the law have a strong influence as it may
cause-effect on tax.
In recent years there is a lot of changes in the law to maintain quality and healthy consumption of
food. Moreover, in many universities and schools, carbonated drinks are banned.
The production of Coca-Cola is influenced by many government systems.
Many big companies like Coca-Cola practice lobbing. In Europe, a new system in which traffic
lights were introduced in which healthy foods are indicated by a green light and the non-healthy
by a red light. Coca-Cola wanted to advertise this project and started lobbing successfully.
In every country, political stability plays a significant role in investment in the country.
According to every state, the company has to look at the employer law of the nation because they
have a vast number of employers in different countries.

 Economic factors
Economic factors play a significant role, such as the country's economic growth, what Interest
rates they offer, what Exchange rates are going, and the Inflation rate matters a lot.
Manufacturer companies, just like Coca-Cola are attracted towards low exchange rates and low-
interest rates. The company borrows money and invests it. If there are high inflation rates, it
affects the company, especially their research on new products or technology because it affects
the cost-effectiveness.
Another strategy that Coca-Cola follows is that they invest in developing countries where labor
is cheap. For example, in the UK they have to pay more salaries compared to Asian countries.

 Societal factors
Social factors play a significant role in marketing. The health-conscious people are a constraint
for the various marketing strategies applied by Coca-Cola. They prefer diet coke over regular
Coca-Cola, and many people switch from alcoholic beverages to non- alcoholic because it is not
suitable for their health. Coca-Cola adapts its marketing strategies accordingly and creates
various products which target the healthier crowd.
Population growth rate varies from country to country; it also affects the product marketing and
consumption. The company has to adapt its production and distribution strategy according to it.
Age is one of the critical factors, and Coca-Cola takes advantage of it. It mostly targets the
younger generation, and the country with more younger generations provides a considerable
profit to it compared to the elderly population.
Income distribution and career aptitudes also play an essential role decision-making process.
Coca-Cola is an American product, and its sales also depend on how people open towards
America and American products.

 Technology
With the advancement in technology and its utilization the sales of Coca-Cola have
increased tremendously. For example, the company uses plastic bottles and cans as
compared to glass bottles like it used to in the past. It became convenient for people to
dispose them easily.
With the advancement of communication channels, television, and the internet it
significantly influenced the communication technologies and marketing strategies of
Coca Cola.
However, with the advancement in technology, we have to be aware of and also analyze
how to improve new strategies may be those strategies that we follow are wrong and we
have to improve our policy and Coca-Cola honestly believe on this principle. They
develop their marketing strategy with time.
With the improvement in machinery, it increases the sale and production of Coca-Cola
company products.
CCE (Coca-Cola enterprise) has six modern factories and utilizes modern technology to
ensure the best better quality and quick delivery. High-tech machinery is installed in
Wakefield. It produces can with such a high speed than the eye can see. It has the fastest
21 bottle line production in the world.

Marketing Strategies of Coca Cola

  Product strategy
Coca-cola has a wide range of products, and are offered globally, and its product strategy
can be studied by marketing mix. The following are the various products Coca Cola
produces; Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Light, Minute Maid, Coca-Cola Life, PowerAde Zero,
Coca-Cola Zero, and Sprite Fanta, etc. These products are sold in various packing and
sizes. They have a significant share in the market and generate enormous profits for the
company.
 Pricing strategy
Coca-Cola's price remained fixed for about 73 years. Its cost only increased five cents
over time. Competition increased in the market with competitors like Pepsi being its
biggest competitor. Because of this, the company has to make its pricing strategy flexible
and dynamic
 Place strategy
Coca-cola caters to a global industry, and they have a vast network of distribution, their
products are sold in more than two-hundred countries. They have six operating regions:
Latin America, Africa, Europe, Pacific, Eurasia & North America. The company depends
on its bottling partners for packing and distribution. The bottling partners are responsible
for manufacture, packaging, and shipping to the agents then transported by road to
stockiest then to distributors to retailers and then to the final customer. This is the channel
through which it is distributed daily. The Coca-Cola products are available in almost all
retail outlets, supermarkets, grocery stores, etc. Its products are also distributed in
different restaurants and hotels globally. Coca-Cola has an extensive network of a reverse
supply chain that collect the leftover glass bottle and reuse it, thus saving the cost and
resources.
 Promotion strategy
Due to intense competition in the market, Coca-Cola focuses on different promotional
and marketing strategies. They mostly focus on aggressive marketing. According to
statistics, Coca-Cola spent 4$ million in 2016, and in 2018 it spends 4.1$ million in
promotion of its brand. It utilizes both traditional and international mediums for the
advertising of its brand.
 Classic bottle
When the company was losing market in 1913, it arranged a global contest for designing
the bottle. The company's primary purpose is to indicate to its customers that Coca-Cola
is the most exceptional product and was not to be confused with any other brown
beverage. The winner of the contest used the cocoa pod's design in such a beautiful way
that the company started promoting the shape and logo in all of its advertisements in the
simplest way.
  Company font and logo design
The company decided to write the logo in the Spenserian script to differentiate
themselves from its competitors. The recipe and logo remain the same, but packaging
modified with time. The way the company uses its logo in marketing strategy remains
imprinted on consumers' minds for over a hundred years.
 Simplicity
Coca-Cola never deviates from its track even though it became a massive industry.
Across many decades the marketing strategy communicates the same strong message of
happiness, enjoyment, and pleasure. Never go out of its style and is easily translated
worldwide.
 Localized positioning
In 2018 the company launched its campaign “Share a Coke” in almost fifty countries,
and this campaign went very successful. They print messages, names of various peoples,
images of celebrities of the region, and messages according to the local culture of the
area, and in the language of that particular region. In this way, they target the local
market. This is an excellent example of how localized positioning is applied to the global
market.
 Sponsorships
Coca-Cola is a well-recognized brand for its sponsorships. Its long sponsorship history
includes American idol, the Olympic Games, NASCAR, FIFA and many more.
 Socialization
With the advancement in technology, online communication channels become the most
significant source of marketing. And Coca-Cola takes advantage of all social media
platforms and creates its own vibe on them. It creates various online advertisement
through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat. They are available on all social media
platforms. Their marketing strategy is so unique, especially considering how unique the
brand is and attracts dozens of people. The primary purpose of Coca-Cola is brand
recognition along with awareness about the brand.

 Global outreach
Coca- Cola Company is globally known for being the largest soda industry, with its
operations in more than 200 countries. Whenever any major tragedy happens in any
region, Coca-Cola quickly sends support to the people in whatever possible way. These
initiatives go unnoticed by media but noticed by people on the ground who are directly
affiliated.
SWOT analysis of Coca Cola

SWOT analysis is the company's framework, and it is the abbreviation of strength,

weakness, threats, and opportunities. The internal factors' strength and weaknesses, and
the external ones are threads and opportunities.
Strengths of Coca Cola
One of the main strengths of Coca-Cola is its brand name. The company has existed for
so long, and it is continuously improving its relationship with its customers and become
one of the best-known brands globally.
Coca-cola's amazing marketing strategies brought the company to success by using pop
singers and actors to attract people using different slogans. These songs among very
popular among the population. Every year Coca-Cola influenced the modern image of
Santa clause in Christmas commercials and created a strong bonding among customers.
Coca-Cola also makes a contract with big restaurant chains to increase their product
market.
 Brand equity
Coca-Cola is present by the award of the highest brand equity in 2011. With its unique
identity among all brands, Coca-Cola has the most top brand equity with the vast global
reorganization.
 Company value
Coca-Cola is a well-renowned industry worldwide, and it is considered one of the most
valuable companies across the world. 79.2 billion dollars, the company's value includes
numerous operations, assets, profit cost of Coca-Cola, and its brand name.
 Global network
As you know, the Coca-Cola company has an extensive network, and it is present in 200
countries you can go anywhere around the globe you will find Coca-Cola. This
contributes to the massive recognition of the trademark.
 Huge market share
Their biggest competitor of Coca-Cola is Pepsi, and the most apparent winner among two
is Coca-Cola and has a significant market share. All other soft drinks such as sprite, diet
coke, and coke thumbs up are all the coca-cola growth drivers.
 Good marketing strategies
Coca-Cola knows how to win the hearts of people to apply different strategies. Its
competitor's target is continuously changing, Pepsi mostly targets youngsters, and Coca-
Cola is not restricted, and it targets people of all ages. They also target people by using
celebrities in their commercials and advertisement campaign.
 Customer Loyalty
Coca-Cola has a lot of customers' loyalty because of their reliable products. Coca-Cola
and Fanta have massive fan following because of its taste, and people prefer them over
others.
  Distribution network
Coca-Cola has an extensive network of distribution because of its demand for the product
and fulfils people's needs. In this way, they command over such a big market.

Weaknesses of Coca Cola

Coca-Cola products aren't healthy, and most of its products are banned in the campuses
due to these people avoid buying for their kids. People prefer healthy food, so coca-cola
has to develop new products faster.
Due to America's image in the world, many people refuse to buy its products.
 Competition with Pepsi
Pepsi gives fierce competition to the coca-cola, although it is clear that the winner is
Coca-Cola. The competition among these two brands is so intense, and Pepsi does not
give up easily.
 Low Product Diversification
Pepsi makes a smart move and diversified its business into a new segment: snacks they
introduced lays and kurkure. But Coca-Cola is still in the beverages business. This new
segment is a great driver of revenue for the company.
 Not good for health
As the trend is changing and people are more conscious about health. These carbonated
drinks cause obesity, and it is a significant problem nowadays, and Coca-Cola is one of
the largest companies of carbonated beverages. In developed countries may be the market
share of the company decline because people prefer healthy drinks over carbonated
drinks.

Opportunities of Coca cola

 Diversification
The Coca-Cola company has to diversify its business in health and food and improve its
products according to its demand. In this way, the company will get more profit from
their loyal customers by selling its products. They also diversify its business in the snack
segment, the supply chain which distributes beverages will distribute snacks by sharing
the supply chain cost.
  Developing nations
Although the trend is changing in developing countries and shifting towards healthy
drinks, in developing countries, carbonated beverages are introduced as a source of joy.
During hot summers in developing countries, demand increases, which generates high
revenue for the company.
 Packaged drinking water
As trend changing and people are becoming more hygiene conscious, Coca-cola
introduced packaged water, Kinley. Kinley expansion is slow, but definitely, it has the
potential to expand. So the company should focus on the Kinley expansion and gain
people's interest and take Nestle's level.
 Improvement in supply chain
The supply chain causes high costs for the company, and the whole business of Coca-
Cola is based on transportation and distribution. The company should develop strategies
to break down the cost of the supply chain.
 Market the lesser selling product
There are many products under the Coca-Cola so the company should Market the
products that are not selling. However, the company spends a lot on launching these
products so the company should spend on the advertisement for these products. This will
increase the sale of the product, and it raises the revenue of the business.

Threats for Coca – Cola

 Basic ingredient sourcing

The biggest threat to the Coca-Cola industry is water. As you know water storage
problem is increasing day by day, this is because the climate is changing, later or sooner
people will raise a finger on the beverage industry. If water is limited, then it will cause a
considerable loss to the company
 Indirect competitors
Various international coffee chains such as Costa Coffee, Starbucks, Café coffee day are
gaining popularity, and these chains cause good completion in the market. They are not a
significant threat to Coca-Cola. The same case is with healthy drinks which is stealing the
share of the company.