Executive summary

Akij Food and Beverage Limited (AFBL) is the sister concern of Akij Group, one of the prominent and leading business houses in Bangladesh. The official inauguration of that concern started in the beginning of 2007. From the beginning AFBL launched two new carbonated soft drinks clemon and farm fresh UHT pure milk products in the market. AFBL has successfully come up with a variety of its products like carbonated soft drinks mojo, lemu speed energy drink, cheeky monkey snakes and spa drinking water. The main marketing policy of the company is they use to undertake huge advertisement and promotional activities to create brand awareness and product positioning among the mindset of the target customers. Not only that AFBL started to change the concept of advertisement of soft drinks too by using new creative and concepts. And they were successful in terms of market share and positioning in the competitive soft drinks market of Bangladesh. By using the reputation and market demand, Akij Food and Beverage Limited lunched a new category of soft drinks that is natural pure fruit juice under the Brand name of Frutika in August 2008. They targeted the holy month of Ramadan to launch the new product into the market. In that time they also undertake a huge advertisement and promotional campaign following their previous concept Mojo and Lemo. The used different Medias to draw the attention of the consumers like: Press Advertisement (News paper & Magazines). Television Commercial (National & Cable TVs). Radio Advertisement (BD Radio & Private radio stations). Outdoor Advertisement (Billboards, Pestering, Neon sign etc). Mobile Campaign (Road shows). Moving Advertisements (Advertisements on vehicles).a Public Relations (7ponsoring & arranging 7pot game shows)

situation Analysis Market Analysis: The market analysis investigates both the internal and external businessenvironment. It is vital that Akij Beverage Limited carefully monitor both the internal and external aspects regarding its business as both the internal and external environment and their respective influences will be decisive traits in relation to Cokes success and survival in the soft drink industry. Internal Business Environment The internal business environment and its influence is that which is to some extent within the businesss control. The main attributes in the internal environment include efficiency in the production process, through management skills and effective communication channels. To effectively control and monitor the internal business environment, Akij Beverage Limited must conduct continual appraisals of the businesss operations and readily act upon any factors, which cause inefficiencies in any phase of the production and consumer process. External Business Environment The External business environment and its influences are usually powerful forces that can affect a whole industry and, in fact, a whole economy. Changes in the external environment will create opportunities or threats in the market place Akij Beverage Limited must be aware off. Fluctuations in the economy, changing customer attitudes and values, and demographic patterns heavily influence the success of Akij Beverage Limited products on the market and the reception they receive from the consumers

SWOT Analysis:
SWOT stands for Strengths Weakness Opportunities Threats. SWOTanalysis is a technique much used in much general management as well as marketing scenarios. SWOT consists of examining the current activities of theorganization- its Strengths and Weaknessand then using this and externalresearch data to set out the Opportunities and Threats that exist. Strengths: Akij Beverage Limited has been a complex part of world culture for a very longtime. The product's image is loaded with over-romanticizing, and this is an image many people have taken deeply to heart. The Akij Beverage Limited image isdisplayed on Tshirts, hats, and collectible memorabilia. This extremelyrecognizable branding is one of Akij Bev erage Limited greatest strengths."Enjoyed more than 685 thousand times a day around Bangladesh Akij Beverage Limited stands as a simple, yet powerful symbol of quality and enjoyment".Additionally, Akij Beverage Limited bottling system is one of their greateststrengths. It allows them to conduct business on a global scale while at the sometime maintain a local approach. The bottling companies are locally owned and operated by independent business people who are authorized to sell products of the Akij Beverage Limited Company. Because Coke does not have outrightownership of its bottling network, its main source of revenue is the sale of concentrate to its bottlers. Weaknesses: Weaknesses for any business need to be both minimized and monitored in order to effectively achieve productivity and efficiency in their businesss activities, Akij Beverage Limited is no exception. Although domestic business as well as many international markets are thriving, Akij Beverage Limited has recently reported some "declines in unit case volumes in Indonesia and Thailand due to reduced consumer purchasing power." According to an article in Fortune magazine, "In Japan, unit case sales fell 3% in the second quarter [of 2010]...scary because while Japan generates around 5% of worldwide volume, it contributes three times as much to profits. Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Japan account for about35% of Coke's volume and none of these markets are performing to expectation. Coca-Cola on the other side has effects on the teeth which is an issue for healthcare. It also has got sugar by which continuous drinking of Coca-Cola may cause health problems. Being addicted to Coca-Cola also is a health problem, because drinking of Coca-Cola daily has an effect on your body after few years. Opportunities: Brand recognition is the significant factor affecting Coke's competitive position. Coca-Cola's brand name is known well throughout 94% of the world today. The primary concern over the past few years has been to get this name brand to be even better known. Packaging changes have also affected sales and industry positioning, but in general, the public has tended not to be affected by new products. Coca-Cola's bottling s world. This strategy gives Coke the opportunity to service a large geographic, diverse area.

Threats: Currently, the threat of new viable competitors in the carbonated soft drink industry is not very substantial. The threat of substitutes, however, is a very real threat. The soft drink industry is very strong, but consumers are not necessarily married to it. Possible substitutes that continuously put pressure on both Pepsi and Coke include tea, coffee, juices, milk, and hot chocolate. Even though Coca-Cola and Pepsi control nearly 40% of the entire beverage market, the changing health-consciousness of the market could have a serious affect. Of course, both Coke and Pepsi have already diversified into these markets, allowing them to have further significant market shares and offset any losses incurred due to fluctuations in the market. Consumer buying power also represents a key threat in the industry.

Marketing Objectives
The objective is the starting point of the marketing plan. Objectives should seekto answer the question 'where do we want to go. The purposes of objectives include: To enable a company to control its marketing plan. To help to motivate individuals and teams to reach a common goal. To provide an agreed, consistent focus for all functions of an organization. All objectives should be SMART. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timed. Specific: Be precise about what you are going to achieve Measurable: Quantify you objectives Achievable: Are you attempting too much? Realistic: Do you have the resource to make the objective happen (men,money, machines, materials, and minutes). Timed: State when you will achieve the objective (within a month? By February2012)

1. Market Share Objectives: To gain 60% of the market for soft drinks industry by September 2012. Profitability Objectives: To achieve a 20% return on capital employed by August 2012 3. Promotional Objectives To increase awareness of the product on the market. 4. Objectives for Survival: To survive the current market war between competitors.

Selecting Target Market Once the situation analysis is complete, and the marketing objectivesdetermined, attention turns to the target market. The soft drink market is very large, and the business cannot be all things to all people, so it must choose which market segments have the greatest potential. The target market is the group of customers on whom the business focuses attention. The target market is where Coca Cola focuses its marketing efforts as it feels this is where it will be most productive and successful. The target market for Coca cola is very wide as it satisfies the needs for many different consumers, ranging from the healthy diet consciousness through Diet Coke to the average human through its best selling drink regular Coke. Most Coke products satisfy all age groups as it is proven that most people of different age groups consume the Coca Cola product. This market is relatively large and is open to both genders, thereby allowing greater product diversification. There are four broad ways which Coca Cola can segment its market: Mass marketing Concentrated marketing Differentiated marketing Niche marketing The most apparent method used by Coca Cola is with no doubt the differentiated marketing method as Coke satisfiers a range of different markets. Diet cokesatisfys the weight consciousness, regular coke, sprite, fanta the averagehuman, coffee, iced tea etc. Each group of beverages satisfies a particular group of people but majority the average human.

Developing the Marketing Mix

The marketing mix is probably the most crucial stage of the marketing planning process. This is where the marketing tactics for each product are determined. The marketing mix refers to the combination of the four factors (price, promotion, product, and place) that make up the core of a businesss marketing strategy. In this step of the marketing planning process, marketing mix must be designed to satisfy the wants of target markets and achieve the marketing objectives. Themost successful businesses have continually monitored and changed their marketing mix due to respective internal and external factors and have monitoredthe external business environment in order to maximize their marketing mixcomponent s.

Product:
Many Products are physical objects that you can own and take home. But the word product means much more than just physical goods. In marketing, product also refers to services, such as holidays or a movie, where you enjoy the benefits without owning the result of the service. Businesses must think about products on three different levels, which arethe core product, the actual product and the augmented product. The coreproduct is what the consumer is actually buying and the benefits it gives. Coca-Cola customers are buying a wide range of soft drinks. The actual product is the parts and features, which deliver the core product. Consumers will buy the cokeproduct because of the high standards and high quality of the Coca Colaproducts. The augmented product is the extra consumer benefits and services provided to customers. Since soft drinks are a consumable good, the augmented level is very limited. But Coca Cola do offer a help line and complaint phone service for customers who are not satisfied with the product or wish to give feedback on the products.

Positioning
Once a business has decided which segments of the market it willcompete in, developed a clear picture of its target market and defined its product, the positioning strategy can be developed. Positioning is the process of creating, the image the product holds in the mind of consumers, relative to competing products. Coca Cola and Franklins both make soft drinks, although Franklins may try to compete they will still be seen as down market from Coca Cola. Positioning helps customers understand what is unique about the products when compared with the competition. Coca Cola plan to further create positions that will give their products the greatest advantage in their target markets. Coca Cola has been positioned based on the process of positioning by direct comparison and have positioned their products to benefit their target market. Most people create an image of a product by comparing it to another product, thus evident through the famous battles between Coca-Cola and Pepsi products.

Branding
It is often hard to say exactly why we buy one companys product over another. Companies such as Nike and Adidas spend large amounts of money trying to win consumers away from their competitors who make products that are very similar. The popularity of the brand is often the deciding factor. Over the time Coca Cola has spent millions of dollars developing and promoting their brand name, resulting in worldwide recognition. 'Coca-Cola' is the most recognized trademark, recognized by 94% of the world's population and is the most widely recognized word after "OK". Coca Colas red and white colors and special writing are all examples of world-wide trademarks.There are a number of branding strategies: Generic brand strategy, Individual brand strategy, Family brand strategy, Manufacturers brand strategy, Private brand strategy and Hybrid brand strategy. Coca Cola utilizes theIndividual brand strategy as Coca Colas major products are given their own brand names e.g Fanta, Sprite, Coca Cola etc although they may be presented as different lines they operate under the name of Coca Cola.

Packaging
Packaging, which is not as highly perceived by businesses, is still an important factor to examine in the marketing mix. Packaging protects the product during transportation, while it sits in the shelf and during use by consumers; it promotes the product and distinguishes it from the competition. Packaging can allow the business to design promotional schemes, which can generateextrarevenue advertisements. CocaCola has benefited from packaging theproduct with incentives and endorsements on the labeling as a promotionalstrategy to increase its volume of sales and revenue.

Price:
Price is a very important part of the marketing mix as it can effect both the supply and demand for Coca Cola. The price of Coca Colas products is one of the most important factors in a customers decision to buy. Price will often be the difference that will push a customer to buy our product over another, as long as most things are fairly similar. For this reason pricing policies need to be designed with consumers and external influences in mind, in order to effectively achieve as table balance between sales and covering the production costs. Price strategies are important to Coca Cola because the price determines the amount of sales and profit per unit sold. Businesses have to set a price that is attractive to their customers and provides the business with a good level of profit. Long before a sale was ever made Coca Cola had developed a forecast of consumer demand at different prices which inevitably determined whether or not the product came on the market, as well as the allocation of adequate money and resources to produce promote and distribute the product.

Pricing Strategies and Tactics

The pricing Strategy a business will use will have to focus on achieving the marketing plans objectives and support the positioning of the product, and take external factors such as economic conditions and competitors in to account.There are 5 strategies available to business: Market skimming pricing,Penetration pricing, Loss leaders, Price Points and Discounts. Over the years Coca Cola has used Penetration Pricing as a way of grabbing a foothold in the market and won a market share. Its product penetrated the marketplace. Once customer loyalty is established as seen with Coca Cola it is then able to slowly raise the price of its product. There has been a fierce pricing rivalry betweenCoca Cola and Pepsi products as each company competes for customer recognition and satisfaction. Till now it appears as if Coke has come up on top, although in order to gain long term profits Coke had to sacrifice short term profits where in some cases it either went under of just broke even, but as seen it has-been all for the best.

Pricing Methods
Good pricing decisions are based on an analysis of what target customers expect to pay, and what they perceive as good quality. If the price is too high, consumers will spend their money on other goods and services. If the price is too low, the firm can lose money and go out of business. Pricing methods include: Cost based Pricing, Market based pricing and Competition based Pricing. Over the years Coca has lost ground here in itspricing but has regained its strength as it employed the Competition-basedpricing method which allowed it to compete more effectively in the soft drink market. Leader follower pricing occurs when there is one quite powerful business in the market which is thought to be the market leader. The business will tend to have a larger market share, loyal customers and some technological edge, thusthe case currently with Coke; it was first the follower but through effective management has
now become the leader of the market and is working towards achieving the marketing objectives of the Coca Cola. Survival in the marketplace, own 60 % of market share by 2012, increase further awareness of product and a return on 20% on capital employed for August 2012.

Promotion:
In todays competitive environment, having the right product at the right place in the right place at the right time may still not be enough to be successful. Effective communication with the target market is essential for the success of the product and business. Promotion is the p of the marketing mix designed to inform the marketplace about who you are, how good your product is and where they can buy it. Promotion is also used to persuade the customers to try a new product, or buy more of an old product. The promotional mix is the combination of personal selling, advertising, sales promotion and public relations that it uses in its marketing plan. Above the line promotions refers to mainstream media: Advertising through common mediasuch as television, radio, transport, and billboards and in newspapers andmagazines. Because most of the target is most likely to be exposed to media such as television, radio and magazines, Coca Cola has

used this as the main form of promotion for extensive range of products. Although advertising is usually very expensive, it is the most effective way of reminding and exposing potentialcustomers to Coca Cola Products. Coca Cola also utilizes below the linepromotions such as contests, coupons, and free samples. These activities are an effective way of getting people to give your product a go.

Place and Distribution:

The place P of the marketing mix refers to distribution of the product- the ways of getting the product to the market. The distribution of products starts with the producer and ends with the consumer. One key element of the Place/Distribution aspect is the respective distribution channels that Coca Cola has elected to transport and sells its product. Selecting the most appropriate distribution channel is important, as the choice will determine sales levels and costs. The choice for a distribution channel for any business depends on numerous factors, these include: How far away the customers are The type of product being transported The lead times required and The costs associated with transport.

Implementing, Monitoring and Controlling Financial Forecasts

Financial forecasts are predictions of future events relating strictly to expectedcosts and revenue costs for future years. There are five major marketingexpenditures, which include research costs, product development costs, product costs, promotion costs and distribution costs. Sales force composite is the most logical method in forecasting revenue. This involves estimates from individual salespeople to sell to work out a total for the whole business. Once these costs and revenues are forecasted, management can then decide which combination of marketing mix strategies will deliver the most sales revenue at the lowest cost.

Implementing
Implementation is the process of turning plans into actions, and involves all the activities that put the marketing plan to work. Successful implementation dependson how well the business blends its people, organizational structure andcompany culture into a cohesive program that supports the marketing plan. For its further success, Coca Cola must impose several key changes. Production needs to be on time and meet the quota demanded from wholesalers. It must also be efficient so as not to build inventory stocks and inventory prices. The marketing needs to be motivated and knowledgeable about the product. The forms of promotion such as advertising must be attracting and enticing to the target market to get the greatest amount of exposure possible for the product. This will ensure the success of the product in the stores. Distribution of the product must be efficient. This problem has already been taken care of with convenient transport routes to commercial areas and transport already being arranged.

Monitoring and Controlling

Monitoring and controlling allows the business to check for variance in the budgetand actual. This is important because it allows Coca Cola to take the necessaryactions to meet the marketing objectives. There are three tools Coca Cola shoulduse to monitor the marketing plan. They are the following:

i. Sales Analysis
The sales analysis breaks down total business sales by market segments to identify strengths and weaknesses in the different areas of sales. Sellers of Coca Cola products vary from major retail supermarkets to small corner stores. This gives the products maximum exposure to customers at their convenience.

ii. Market Share Analysis

Market share analysis compares Coca Colas business sales performance with that of its competitors. Coca Cola looks to increase its market share by over 60%. With the changes Coca Cola is currently undergoing, they aim to regain an iron fist control of the market. Target market various age groups and lifestyles from high school students too universities, and male or female.

iii. Marketing Profitability Analysis

This analysis looks at the cost side of marketing and the profitability of products, sales territories, market segments and sales people. There are threeratios to monitor marketing profitability; they are market research to sales, advertising to sales and sales representatives to sales. The results of these three tools can help Coca Cola determine any emerging trends, such as the need for different product. Comparing these results with actual results gives the businessman idea on when to change.

iv. Market Research

When attempting to implement a new Marketing plan a business mustaddress its target market and conduct the relevant information to insure the new marketing plan both differs from the old and is better for the business. When conducting market research a business must first define the problem and then gather the appropriate information to solve the problem. There are 3 types of information a business can gather to solve its problems Exploratory Research which clarifies the problem and searches for ways to address it. Descriptive Research is used to measure and describe things like the market potential for a product and characteristics of the target market. Casual Research is used to test a hypothesis about a cause and effectrelationship.Coca Cola through its market research has addressed all three types of research to define the problem raised by shareholders and gathered information to serve their needs.

Conclusion
Akij Group is one of the fastest business conglomerates in Bangladesh. AkijGroup growth is day by day increase and it Coverage: Around 90% of Bangladesh based on the Annual Report-2008.The company of Akij Food and Beverage has a product line of almost all the types of drink and snacks. We made an inquiry regarding customers find solution for meeting the need of lemon flavored clear carbonated beverage within Clemsons target range the percentages very good. It has not been long since Akij group brought out Mojo and Lemu.They have already gained huge popularity. The recent success of Akij group is Frutika, which delivers the promise of no preservatives. The Group has plans for setting up more projects. The projects are already in pipeline. Foreign investors have shown keen interest in joining with us for joint ventures. The matter is under our active consideration and will hopefully soon mature. This will also help thenation's economy growth and will create job opportunities to variousprofessionals.Akij Group is also involved in socio-cultural activities. The Group has beenoperating a sizeable orphanage free of charge in district town. The Group has also acquired a modern mother & children hospital previously owned by Save the Children (UK). The hospital is being operated as a non-profitable concern. Butthe Company needs to be more concerned about society and environment.Because Industries are most responsible for pollution that could occur harm for environment. And AFBL also need to be involved with more social event.Because have the resources necessary to solve the social problems as many business organizations often have surplus revenues.