Marketing Strategy of Coca-Cola in the

post-Covid scenario

Course: Marketing Planning

Term: 1

MDI Gurgaon

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Kanwal Kapil Section B, Group 1

21P061 - Abhinav Goyal

21P062 - Abhishek Paitya

21P081 - Gurrehmat Singh Oberoi

21P082 - Indrasom Sinha

21P101 - Rashi Kabra

21P102 - Ravaloori Swechha

Executive Summary

The beverage industry has a history of more than 100 years. It has two major

components – non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages. While the beverage industry as

a whole is comprised of many firms, products and packaging methods and production

processes, the carbonated soft drink (CSD) industry around the world is dominated by

two major firms. Global sales of CSD are projected to reach $605 billion by 2025. The

Indian beverage industry generates $6.5 billion every year.

The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) is one of the leading beverage manufacturers

across the world with a product mix of more than 200 products ranging across

carbonated soft drinks, juices, tea, coffee, energy drinks and water. Coca-Cola is the

primary product of TCCC which originated in late 1800s and have dominated the

markets ever since.

As a product, Coca-Cola’s strengths include a huge market share of around 60%

across the world in CSD segment. It is sold in more than 200 countries with 1.7 billion

servings consumed every day. However, raising health concerns of consumers and

large usage of plastic bottles form the primary weaknesses. Opportunities lie in the

form of expansion to developing nations while availability of multiple substitutes form

the primary threat to the product.

In terms of market forces, there are relatively high barriers to entry into the market

since bottling and distribution requires a lot of upfront capex. Suppliers have

reasonable negotiation power over the firms while the buyers want the best offerings

at a minimum possible price. Lots of substitutes exist in the market with consumers

slowly shifting to alternate healthier forms of drinks. PepsiCo is the primary competitor

globally with local players gaining a good market share at a regional level.

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Primary and secondary research was performed to understand the consumer

purchase decisions and to analyse consumer behaviour. The historical

advertisements and campaigns were analysed to understand the positioning of the

brand over the years. Out of all the survey respondents who completed the survey,

32% identified themselves as Coca-Cola loyalists. They preferred Coca-Cola primarily

because they liked its taste and its brand image. However, health concerns since the

pandemic have motivated consumers to shift to alternate healthier forms of beverages.

42% respondents had stopped or reduced consumption of CSD and 40% said thar the

switched to alternatives. Calories and artificial sweeteners were seen as the primary

reason for the harmful effects of CSD beverages.

In terms of its positioning, the company has always focused on consumer centricity.

The campaigns appealed to the senses and emotions of the consumer, filling the gaps

and moving beyond the traditional geographical boundaries and stereotypical

constraints. Some of the most successful campaigns in India includes “Share a Coke”,

which was targeted towards the youth and promoted through the Indian Premier

League, and “khud ko jagaa, ek thandaa lagaa” – positioning the product as a drink to

rejuvenate oneself. Over the years, the core theme of Coca-Cola’s campaigns have

revolved around sharing happiness with friends and family.

In light of the pandemic, the company needs to rethink its positioning while targeting

its low-calorie versions to the more health-conscious consumers. Touchless delivery

channels form another important aspect that the company needs to solve to meet the

consumer demands. Coca-Cola has received flak around the world for being one of

the leas environment friendly companies owing to the huge amount of plastic bottles

in which the beverage is distributed. Sustainable packaging alternatives remain a

challenge that needs to be solved without taking a hit on its profitability.

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 Executive Summary

1 Introduction 5

1.1 Coca Cola Company 6

1.2 Coca Cola Product 6

1.3 Purpose & Objective of the Project 7

1.3 SWOT Analysis 7

1.3 PEST Analysis 9

2 Methodology and Approach 11

2.1 Porter’s Five Forces Analysis 11

2.2 Methodology Adopted 14

2.3 Data Collection: Questionnaire 14

2.4 Overview of Data Collected 14

2.5 Consumer Behavior Analysis 15

2.6 Literature Review 18

3 Findings and Future Research 19

3.1 Positioning Strategy 19

3.2 Recommendations 24

3.3 Future Research 26

3.3 Conclusion 27

References 28

Appendix 29

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1. Introduction

The beverage industry has had a very interesting journey not only because of reason
that drinks have been an essential part of our everyday life since the inception of
human civilization. Although the story of the industry started much later, even centuries
later.

With such a huge background it’s not very surprising that the industry has seen so
many ups and downs in the past few decades. Whether we talk about the production
of drinks, packaging of drinks, marketing of drinks, or even consumption of drinks, the
industry has seen continuous improvement throughout the journey leading to the major
commercial success which it is today.

The beverage industry has two major components the non-alcoholic beverage industry
and the alcoholic beverage industry, the non-alcoholic beverage industry is further
divided into small fragments. When we observe the beverage industry as a whole then
the fragmentation becomes clearly visible. There are many manufacturers, all with
different production processes, packaging methods, and products. The one exception
to this overall fragmentation is the soft drinks industry, and it is the first that began to
transform from regional and local firms to global corporate giants. This process started
in the early 1900s and is still going on today. Global sales of just one part of the
beverage industry, carbonated soft drinks, are projected to reach $605 billion by 2025,
according to Grand View Research reports.

The beverage industry of India is a great contributor to the economy, generating USD
6.5 billion per year. Coffee and tea hold the topmost position in terms of the growth of
the industry, yet cold drink companies like Coca-Cola, Nestle still dominate the market.
The products making a huge impact in industrial growth include milk-related products,
fruit juices, and healthy beverages.

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1.1 Coca Cola Company

The Coca Cola Company, an American company founded in 1892 and now primarily
engaged in the manufacture and sale of syrup and concentrate for Coca Cola, a
sweetened carbonated beverage that is a cultural institution in the United States and
a global symbol of American taste. The company also produces and sells other soft
drinks and citrus drinks. With more than 2,800 products available in more than 200
countries, Coca-Cola is the world's largest beverage manufacturer and distributor and
one of the largest corporations in the United States. The headquarters are located in
Atlanta, Georgia.

Coca-Cola India is one of the leading beverage companies in the country, offering
consumers a variety of healthy, safe, high-quality, and refreshing beverage options.
Since rejoining in 1993, the company has built an unrivaled beverage portfolio that
refreshes consumers with its leading beverage brands such as Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola
Zero, Diet Coke, Thums Up, Fanta, Fanta Green Mango, Limca, Sprite, Sprite, which
refreshes consumers. Zero, VIO Flavored Milk, Maaza, Minute Maid Juices, Georgia
and Georgia Gold assortment of hot and cold tea and coffee options, Kinley and
Bonaqua packaged drinking water, Kinley Club soda, and BURN energy drink.

The company, along with its bottling partners, touches the lives of millions of
consumers through a robust network of more than 2.6 million retail stores. Its brands
are among the most popular and sold beverages in the country.

1.2 Product - Coca Cola

Coca-Cola or Coke is a carbonated soft drink made by The Coca-Cola Company.

Originally marketed as a temperance drink and regarded as a proprietary medicine, it
became popular in the late 1800s. The name of the drink refers to two of its original
ingredients: coca leaves and cola nuts (a source of caffeine). Coca-Cola's current

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formula remains a trade secret; however, various recipes and experimental replicas
have been published. The drink has inspired imitators and created a whole class of
soft drinks: colas.

1.3 Purpose & Objective of the Project

Coca-Cola having been a household name for a good part of a century offers a unique
opportunity to understand house a brand can maintain a strong market presence for
such a long time. We would first analyse the company’s rich history of marketing and
product innovation. Find answers to how the competition landscape changed overtime
and how Coca-Cola dealt with these and various other external factors.

Moving beyond the history and structure of the company, the present and the future
look equally eventful for the company with Covid presenting another unique challenge
to the behemoth. Deconstructing the covid strategy of the company would shed some
light on how strong companies deal with systemic changes in the market and
consumer behaviour.

Finally, the project would end with recommendations from the team on how the Coca-
Cola Company can further tackle the recent health concerns, rising competition from
healthy beverages and ultimately the new push for sustainability in operations for the
better of the society and the environment.

1.4 SWOT Matrix – Coca Cola

Strengths

• Enjoys a huge market share (around 60% in CSD)

• Vast Global Presence: Sold in more than 200 countries with 1.7 Bn serves a
day

• Brand Association and Customer Loyalty: Coke has huge fan following and
people associate coke with happiness.

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 • Strongest Distribution Systems: Company has most efficient distribution
system with large number of bottling partners globally.

Weakness

• Raising health Concerns of customers: CSDs have huge contents of sugar and
the sugar intake is a major cause for diabetes and obesity, which are major
health issues bothering many.

• Low Product Diversification: Unlike its competitor Coca Cola has not launched
products other than beverages. This gives an added advantage for Pepsi to
increase its brand recognition.

Opportunities

• To Expand to developing Nations: Developing countries are still being

introduced to CSDs. Company could extensively market in countries with
extreme summers to increase the consumption.

• Diversification: The company has remained a total beverage company for

centuries. It can expand its product portfolio to healthier food business to
improve their offerings.

Threats

• Lots of available substitutes in the market: Coke has a huge number of both
direct and indirect competitors like coffee, tea, water, fruit juices (tropicana,
paper boat etc.) which might steal the market share.

• Company not being environment friendly has caused a few threats. Coca
Cola’s usage of single-use plastic bottles and usage of vast amount of water
in water scarce regions has been criticized by many. The company also
needs to reduce the number of water and air pollutants it releases while
manufacturing.

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1.5 PEST Analysis

Political Factors:

• Government Policies: With health conditions of people deteriorating,

governments are more concerned about the sugar and caffeine consumptions
forcing the company to change its formula.

• Trade Relations: If the trade relations of the country and US are strained then
company faces a threat of being banned from such countries. For example,
for 60 years, Coca Cola was not allowed to enter the market of Burma
because of its trade relations with US.

• Tax regulations in countries: The cost of production varies depending on the

taxes imposed across the countries for the raw materials used by the company.

Economic Factors:

• Economy of Countries: For the company most of the revenue comes from
outside of US. With the pandemic the economic conditions of almost all the
countries have been affected in turn affecting the revenues of the company

• Water Scarcity: The consumption of water in inevitable for the production and
water scarcity in many parts of the world directly affects the production and
forces the company to spend on resolving the water crisis.

• Falling Income Levels: During the pandemic, the income levels of people fell
drastically and many were unemployed. With Coke being a luxury good
pandemic and falling income levels hit companies revenues.

Social Factors:

• Favoring Healthier Choices: With people favoring healthier choices, the

company is bound to innovate and come up with healthier alternatives to stay
relevant and keep its market share intact.

• Newer taste: younger generations always seek for newer tastes and newer
products. Coke being the same over the centuries, might face a threat if it is
unable to capture the younger generations.

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 • Climate Change and Ecofriendly Products: With Coke using huge amounts of
water resources and using single use plastic, puts the company in bad light.
With people becoming more concerned with environments requires the
companies to find more sustainable solutions.

Technological Factors:

• Social Media Advertising: With new social media advertising becoming more
and more popular, coca cola has launched campaigns to engage with the
users. Such as “Share a Coke” was a huge hit on social media.

• Company has also invested into Big Data and Artificial intelligence recently to
analyze and predict the market trends and also to optimize its global supply
chain.

• Digitization: By digitization the companies can always attract more people and
improve their experience. And Coca Cola is trying to do the same. For example,
the company is to come up with next gen Bluetooth enabled freestyle fountain
dispensers which will let users to queue up their favorite custom mixes, check the
nutritional info on the apps.

1.6 Outline and Flow of the Report

The report will analyze the following –

● Factors that shape the position and market competitiveness of Coca Cola using
Porter’s Five Forces Model, which includes Threat of New Entrants, Threat of
Substitutes, Existing Market Rivalry, Power of Suppliers, and Power of Buyers

● Behavior of consumers towards fairness creams/beauty products and the

impact of advertising campaigns on the purchase decisions made by
consumers

The above steps would be assisted by primary and secondary research. It would also
include a detailed mention of the methodology adopted, data collected, analysis

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approach followed, and related literature review. Based on the study till the
aforementioned point, we will identify the positioning strategy being followed by the
brand. Further, we would conclude the project with foresight regarding the future of
the brand and the implications and limitations of our study.

2 Methodology
2.1 Porter’s Five Forces Model

Threat of New Entrants:

New competitors in the beverage and soft drink industries bring innovation and new
ways of doing things, putting pressure on The Coca-Cola Company to lower prices,
cut expenses, and provide new value propositions to customers. To maintain its
competitive advantage, the Coca-Cola Company must handle all of these issues and
build effective barriers to safeguard its competitive edge.

How can they tackle this?

• Through the development of new products and services. New goods not only
bring in new customers, but they also provide existing customers an incentive
to buy Coca-Cola products.
• By achieving economies of scale, the fixed cost per unit can be reduced.
• Investing in research and development and building capacities. Newcomers
are less likely to enter a dynamic business where established companies like
The Coca-Cola Company set the standards on a regular basis. It drastically
decreases the window of opportunity for new businesses to make spectacular
profits, discouraging new entrants into the field.

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Bargaining Power of Suppliers:

Almost every company in the Beverages - Soft Drinks business obtains its raw
materials from a variety of sources. Suppliers with a strong position in the market
can reduce the margins that The Coca-Cola Company can make. Powerful suppliers
in the Consumer Goods industry utilise their negotiation clout to get higher rates from
companies in the Beverages - Soft Drinks sector. Higher supplier negotiating power
has the overall effect of lowering the profitability of Beverages - Soft Drinks.

How can they tackle this?

• By putting together an efficient supply chain with a variety of vendors.

• By experimenting with product designs using many materials, the company
can transition to a different raw material if the price of one rises.
• Creating devoted suppliers who rely on the company for their livelihood. One
thing The Coca-Cola Company may learn from WalMart and Nike is how they
built third-party manufacturers whose business is totally dependent on them,
resulting in a situation where these third-party manufacturers have
substantially less bargaining leverage than WalMart and Nike.

Bargaining Power of Buyers

Buyers can be a demanding bunch. They aim to get the greatest deal possible by
paying the least amount of money feasible. In the long run, this put a strain on The
Coca-Cola Company's profitability. Customers' bargaining power and capacity to
demand rising discounts and offers increases as The Coca-Cola Company's
customer base becomes smaller and more powerful.

How can they tackle this?

• By establishing a broad consumer base. This is beneficial in two ways. It will

lower buyers' bargaining power and provide the company the opportunity to
streamline its sales and production processes.
• By developing new items at a rapid pace. Customers frequently seek
discounts and offers on well-known brands, so if The Coca-Cola Company
continues to introduce new products, it will reduce purchasers' negotiating
power.
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 • Existing Coca-Cola Company customers will be less likely to defect to
competitors as a result of new products.

Threats of Substitute Products or Services

Industry profitability decreases when a new product or service meets comparable

client wants in different ways. Services like Dropbox and Google Drive, for example,
can be used to replace storage hardware drives. If a substitute product or service
offers a value proposition that is significantly different from the industry's current
offerings, it poses a significant threat.

How can they tackle this?

• By focusing on service rather than just selling products.

• By focusing on the customer's basic need rather than the product they are
purchasing.
• By increasing the cost of switching for customers.

Rivalry among the Existing Competitors

If there is fierce competition among current participants in a sector, prices will fall
and the industry's overall profitability will suffer. The Coca-Cola Company competes
in the Beverages - Soft Drinks industry, which is highly competitive. This competition
has a negative impact on the organization's overall long-term profitability.

How can they tackle this?

• By establishing a long-term differentiating strategy

• By increasing its scale, it will be able to compete more effectively.
• Rather than fighting for a tiny market, collaborate with competitors to expand
the market.

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2.2 Methodology Adopted

Descriptive research design is used in this study. Descriptive Research refers to the
methods that describe the characteristics of the variables under study. It attempts to
collect information and statistically analyse it. This methodology focuses on answering
questions relating to “what” than the “why” of the research subject [1]. Primary data has
been collected for this study to understand soft drink consumption patterns, brand
purchase decisions and health concerns around consumption of soft drinks. Further,
secondary research has been done through various sources on the internet, research
papers and concepts discussed in the Marketing Planning course. The brand’s historic
ad campaigns were analysed to understand how the brand’s positioning has changed
over time.

2.3 Data Collection: Questionnaire

We used a questionnaire to perform primary research. This questionnaire was

prepared using Google Forms and it could be filled online. It contained questions
aimed at understanding the consumption trends, purchase decision making and health
concerns of soft drink consumers. The responses obtained were analysed to
understand consumer behaviour and perception towards the brand.

2.4 Overview of Data Collected

Following are the demographic features of the respondents. We tried to collect a

representative sample as much as possible within the scope of the study.

• The survey gained 151 responses. Out of them, 128 were CSD consumers and
they completed the survey. Remaining responses were filtered out before
further analysis.
• The respondents comprised of 63% males (95) and 37% females (53)
• 56% (84) of the respondents were from Tier 1/ Metro cities. The rest were from
Tier 2/3 or sub urban areas.
• 40% (60) respondents were of the age group 15-24. 42%(63) respondents were
between 25-34 year old and 16% were 45+

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2.5 Consumer Behaviour Analysis

CSD consumption pattern among respondents –

Chart 1 – CSD consumption pattern among survey respondents

40% (59) of the respondents consumed at least one soft drink every month, while
24% (36) respondents consumed one or two servings every 6 months. 12% (18)
said that they consumed between 1-2 servings every week.

Consumption is mostly associated with House Parties (60.2%) and OOH

(movie/restaurant) (57%). Formal family gatherings (40%) and Travel drink (38%)
were the other top occasions for consumption

Brand Loyalty and Brand Purchase Decisions

• 50% respondents identified themselves as a brand loyalist while 32%

identified as Coca Cola loyalists
• Taste was selected as the Top most reason by 53% respondents followed
by Easy Availability (38%) as to why people prefer Coca Cola over other
brands
• On a 5-point scale, Taste received an average rating of 3.5 (highest)
whereas Energy/Caffeine Kick received an average rating of 2.4 (lowest)

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Chart 2 – Topmost Reasons why people prefer Coca-Cola over other brands

Health Concerns surrounding soft drink consumption

• 40% respondents said they are most concerned about the health impacts of
CSD and 87% respondents showed a concern >= 3 (on a 5-point scale)
• Calories was an aspect of concern for 70% people while use of artificial
sweeteners was a point of concern for 60%
• 42% respondents stated that they stopped or reduced CSD consumption
since the pandemic; while 44% said there was no change
• 13% increased consumption because they had more opportunities or a
changed lifestyle that allowed them to consume CSD
• 40% said that they switched to other alternatives like Tea/Coffee, Fresh fruit
juice, Bottled fruit juice, Energy drink
• Less calories and harmful substances were identified as the primary reason
for switch

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Chart 3 – Level of concern about health Chart 4 – Primary aspects of concern
impact of CSD on a 5-point scale around CSD

From the survey results, following insights were derived –

• Only 10% (6) of the female respondents consumed more than one serving of
CSD every month, while 30% (27) of male respondents consumed more than
one serving of CSD every month. This shows that women are more
perceptive towards the harmful effects of CSD consumption and consume
much less as compared to men.
• Although Coca Cola’s recent campaigns position itself as a drink to rejuvenate
oneself with energy (“khud ko jagaa, ek thanda lagaa”), Energy/Caffeine Kick
was selected as the least important reason by 54% (69) respondents as to
why they consume Coca Cola. Energy Kick also received the lowest average
rating of 2.5 (out of 5) among all the reasons as to why people prefer Coca
Cola over other drinks.
• Consumers who had high drinking frequency (more than one serving every
week) increased their consumption of CSD during the pandemic and still
prefer CSD over other alternatives. While low frequency consumers further
decreased their consumption during the pandemic. This shows that
consumption frequency can be a major basis for segmenting consumers and
positioning the product uniquely for them.
• 17% of brand loyalist increased consumption during the pandemic while only
half as much people (8.6%) of non-loyalists increased CSD consumption

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2.6 Literature Review

Before diving deep into understanding and analysing the history of a behemoth of a
company that is Coca Cola, we scrounged through years of research papers published
by both sponsored and independent parties to understand the existing analyses done
and what dimensions were worth and exciting enough to explored under the context
of the project.

The variety of existing literature explored and lessons learned have been summarised
below:

• Cola Wars – Coca Cola and PepsiCo have monopolised the global publics taste
buds for fizzy drinks with their unique core products but between both of them
they have butted heads strongly for more piece of the pie. Across numerous
acquisitions, supply chain and product innovations and most importantly brand
campaigns, researchers and analysts have gorged on the rich availability of
data and consumer surveys to understand efficacy of branding, logo,
symbolism, consumer behaviour to name a few
• PR Battles & Brand Crisis Management – With a rich history of achievements
comes a pandora box of problems for the century old brand. From health related
concerns, consumer complaints, botched batches, misleading advertisements,
branding gone wrong etc. Coca cola’s troubles have been well documented and
analysed to understand PR Crisis management for future brand managers
• Biological and Chemical properties of Coke – The elusive formula for the black
colour and taste of their core Coke product has captured imagination of people
for over a century and as its consumption multiplied over the years, scientists
have left no stone unturned to understand its impact on human bodies,
digestion, cognitive abilities, mixtures with other edible products to identify
potential health concerns that might come with increased consumption
• Environment Sustainability – Finally, Coca Cola’s red branded PET bottles have
unenviously become the symbol of human induced pollution of oceans and land
due to increased consumerism and capitalist drive for profits. Researchers have
recently tried to understand how FMCG companies can instead be the
flagbearers of sustainable practices and pave the way for other industries too.

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3 Findings and Future Research
3.1 Positioning Strategy

Advertisement Analysis

Coca-Cola India, as a company has always focused on consumer centricity and has
always been wholly committed to the preferences of the consumer. Most of its
campaigns spearheaded a major success for the brand. The simple reason for this is
that it appealed to the senses and emotions of the consumer, filling the gaps and
moving beyond the traditional geographical boundaries and stereotypical constraints.
We took a look at some of the more recognizable ads of Coca Cola, of the past years
and analysed the evolution of the core message of the brand along with their target
segment for each advertisement.

• Tentative Year: 1970s

Campaign Lead: No Name
Target Audience: Youth
Core Message: For the initial years, Coca Cola’s advertising somewhere failed
to resonate with the Indian masses as it
carried more of Western influence. After
studying the desi culture, Coke started
targeting youth through print advertising
and positioned itself as a fun drink. It
started off with ‘It’s the Real Thing’ to
‘Har Mauke Pe Rang, Coca Cola Ke
Sang’, the Hindi lingo in print best suited
the masses in those times.

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• Tentative Year: 1998-99
Campaign Lead: Sponsorship with the Sharjah Tri-Nation Cricket Cup
Target Audience: Youth
Core Message: Coca Cola exited the
Indian market in 1977 due to the then
Foreign Exchange Act. It re-entered
India again in 1999. Coca Cola did a
strategic sponsorship 1998 with the
Sharjah Tri-Nation Cricket Cup, just
before it entered the Indian
market. It came to be known as the
Coca Cola 1998 Cup.
This was the first cricket tournament in Sharjah to be sponsored by Coca Cola,
played by India, Australia, New Zealand. India won the tournament in a reversal of
what happened in the Pepsi Cup , which was just played before the Coca Cola
cup. India winning the Coca Cola cup at a time when Coke is planning its re-entry
into the Indian market, is a great masterstroke.

• Tentative Year: 2002-2003

Campaign Lead: Aamir Khan
Target Audience: Youth to Masses
Core Message: In 2002 Coca Cola
launched one of the most successful
campaigns till date, “Thanda Matlab
Coca Cola.” The ad campaign is a
brainchild of one of the most revered
advertisers in India Prasoon Joshi. The series was enacted by Aamir Khan. It was
a brilliant way to position Coca Cola again as a cool, refreshing drink for the youth
and everyone. This campaign expanded the Coke TG from the initial youth to the
masses. This was a first attempt in dissolving boundaries and representing Coke
as The Cool Drink for everyone.

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• Tentative Year: 2005
Campaign Lead: Aamir Khan
Target Audience: Youth to Masses
Core Message: In 2005, it was time for the brand
to revive its communication of ‘Thanda Matlab
Coca Cola’ which continued for 5 years and wasn’t
generating brand affinity further. The company
retained Aamir Khan to recreate the magic on
screen with a new tagline ‘Piyo Sar Utha Ke’. The
new positioning was also in line with our observation that Coke is consumed all
through the year and not just a particular season.

At this stage, apart from advertising on television and in the print media, the
company also undertook a host of marketing initiatives including BTL activities,
consumer promotions, Internet marketing, the point of purchase material, and more.

• Tentative Year: 2009

Campaign Lead: Gautam Gambhir
Target Audience: Youth to Masses
Core Message: Coca Cola it took upon itself to spread
happiness and bring the world closer. It
distributed bottles and cans of Coke, some goodies to
students in a cafeteria, shopping malls in India and
Pakistan, or laborers in different parts of the globe.
As a part of the global Coke Side of Life campaign, the
Open Happiness integrated marketing campaign was
rolled out in India in 2009, right after its successful roll
out in the US in late January 2009. The first Open
Happiness ad film is called ‘Dost’ features Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir.
This ad film is one of the brilliant approaches by Coke to associate itself with
the game of cricket. Cricket as we know is a religion for people in India.
Indians across states, ages, castes, communities and all other boundaries
come together to watch and celebrate the spirit of the sport.

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• Tentative Year: 2013
Campaign Lead: Imran Khan, Kalki Koechlin and General Public
Target Audience: Youth to Masses
Core Message: Apart from its Open Happiness
series, ‘Shadow’ saw the brand collaborating
with Imran Khan. The campaign was also the
first in the history of Coca-Cola India, which was
first released on mobile phones and online
media and later on TV. For Shadow, the ad film
used elements of shadow puppetry. In the later
communication, Kalki Koechlin too joined the
bandwagon with ‘Invisible Bottle’
In March 2013, Coca-Cola joined hands with Leo
Burnett Chicago & Sydney set out to break down
barriers and create a simple moment of connection between two nations —
India and Pakistan. The initiative “Small World Machines” provided a live
communications portal between people in India and Pakistan.
Globally too, Coca Cola is known for its vending machine activations, many of
which have super-cool innovations.

• Tentative Year: 2017

Campaign Lead: Deepika Padukone, Diljit Dosanjh.
Target Audience: Younger Generation
Core Message: It captures the story of
togetherness between two complete
strangers (here a celebrity and a fan) over a
bottle of Coca-Cola. This ad was a part of
‘Taste the Feeling’ Campaign and was
localized for people in Punjab featuring Diljit
Dosanjh and Yashaswini Dayama with the similar kind of story line. This
campaign also opened up multiple contests and activities where the public got
a chance to meet their favourite celebrities.

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• Tentative Year: 2019
Campaign Lead: Ranbir Kapoor
Target Audience: Younger Generation
Core Message: Following the paths of
Share a Coke Campaign, the company has
extended it to have personalised messages
on the bottle but this time with popular
regional songs on them. This campaign
promotes to share a coke with someone while expressing their heartfelt
emotions. The company conducted a survey to find out most popular songs in
different states.

• Tentative Year: 2021

Campaign Lead: Not Known
Target Audience: Younger Generation
Core Message: With Durgo Pujo around the
corner, Coca Cola launched an ad celebrating
the Bengali Culture featuring their traditional
hooting (ulu ulu). The campaign was
successful to dive into the traditions of Bengalis and depict it well. The ad
shows a small girl trying to master the hooting finally aces it when she takes a
sip of Coca Cola. This ad is sure a heart warmer.

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3.2 Recommendations

Coca-Cola Zero Campaign

The Coca-Cola brand and carbonated sugar drinks have been on the wrong end of
bad press lately, with major celebrity athletes like Cristiano Ronaldo and Virat Kohli
distancing themselves from these brands very publicly. This has led to renewed
discussions on the health effects of CSDs and coupled with the extended covid
lockdown means that the consumers are more aware and conscious about their
intakes than ever before.

This might be the opportune moment to launch an extensive campaign to promote the
Coke Zero brand in India. There needs to be a campaign around the same taste-zero
sugar idea to make the product a part of health discussions and a healthy lifestyle.
Innovative advertising like interactive displays and billboards could be tried to build
popularity for the campaign something that is not common in India.

Coke Zero in larger SKUs

Coca Cola CEO James Quincey said that Coke Zero will be the biggest driver of the
company in the future. A future that looks to be here already as Coke Zero is the only
product that showed growth for the company during the pandemic.

Coke Zero has been the most popular healthy CSD option in our consumer survey,
while the 500ml and 1.25L units the most popular SKUs. Currently the availability of
Coke Zero is concentrated in 500ml bottles. We recommend increasing the availability
of Coke Zero in these SKUs to meet the demand of health-conscious consumers.

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Gradually reduce availability of Diet Coke in Indian Markets

Coke Zero has been the primary growth driver of the brand and has been the only
product to grow through the pandemic. Concerns about health and artificial
sweeteners has reduced the demand for Diet Coke consistently, as globally people
have turned to Coke Zero for a healthier choice under the classic Coca-Cola taste.

A brand that has never found much success in India with the different taste to the
classic Coca-Cola not popular with Indian consumers. We recommend the company
focus its health branding around Coke Zero and look to explore into fruit drink options
to expand its product line.

Developing ‘touchless’ channels

The pandemic has transformed methods of purchase and delivery while also
accelerating the development of hyperlocal delivery chains. We recommend building
partnerships with Dunzo, Swiggy, and other hyperlocal delivery systems to position
Coca Cola as the preferred CSD brand in hyperlocal delivery systems.

We also recommend trying out vending machines in the Indian market as touchless
purchases gather demand and this method of consumer delivery has seen limited
exposure in markets like India.

Online delivery pairings with alcohol

Coca Cola’s has partnerships with various fast-food chains as food pairings, which
allows consumers to enjoy the convenience of ordering Coca-Cola with their preferred
online food purchases.

Alcohol home delivery has rapidly picked up as a result of the pandemic and is a
market with tremendous growth potential. Coca Cola should provide the option to

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consumers to order along with their alcohol orders being a crucial component of
several alcoholic drinks opening up a major selling option.

3.3 Future Research

Potential of launching Coca-Cola Energy in India

While energy/caffeine was one of the lowest reasons for consumption in our survey,
energy drinks was a high potential switch for consumers moving away from
carbonated sugar drinks. Coca-Cola Energy is a brand which has zero sugar and a
high vitamin and caffeine composition which could be positioned as an energy drink.

The potential of this combination of loyalty to the Coca-Cola brand and an energy drink
option I is worth looking into.

Feasibility of having different price points for the classic Coca-Cola (lower) and
Coke Zero (higher)

A rapid growth in health consciousness has meant Coke Zero is the brand seeing
extraordinary growth. People looking for carbonated sugar drinks has been looking
towards and healthier option more and more. This could give the company and
opportunity to position the health brand as a premium option. Lowering the price point
for the sugarier drink and keeping the healthier drink which is seeing growing sales at
the higher price.

There is potential for future research on the feasibility of a different pricing structure
and position healthier alternatives as the premium product.

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Sustainability in the Coca-Cola supply chain

Sustainability in supply chains is an increasing concern and research into alternatives

to the immense use of plastic bottles should be a priority. Coca Cola is one of the
largest contributors to plastic waste and prioritizing recyclable material should be a
major concern for the companies.

3.4 Conclusion

After analyzing the World and Indian scenario of brands owned by Coca Cola
Company our study focuses on the Coca Cola brands namely Coca Cola, Diet Coke,
and Coke Zero. We gain consumer insights on these brands and the changing
perception on them post the Covid-19 pandemic.

Having done the SWOT analysis and PEST analysis, we conclude that the brand has
a strong brand value, and has successfully maintained market domination and
customer loyalty. There has been renewed concerns around health and pollution
which has created a need for new strategies on these fronts for the company.

In order to better understand the market dominance, consumer behaviour, and

positioning of the brand, we have conducted primary research through Google forms
and have undertaken secondary research with the help of various pre-existing blogs,
articles and research papers available on the web.

Following our research, we provide recommendations and scope for future research.
Our recommendations are based on our understanding of the Indian market and
adapting to demand trends post pandemic. We recommend on developing new online
delivery channels and focus on Coke Zero growth.
With future scope we include ideas that require to be looked into and could potentially
prove to be winning strategies.

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3.5 References

• Super brands case studies: Coca-Cola (campaignlive.co.uk)

• 12. 77-85.pdf (iosrjournals.org)
• Collecting the Real Thing: a Case Study Exploration of Brand Loyalty
Enhancement Among Coca-Cola Brand Collectors | ACR (acrwebsite.org)
• Cultural variance as a challenge to global public relations: A case study of the
Coca-Cola scare in Europe - ScienceDirect
• Crisis management in Belgium: the case of Coca‐Cola | Emerald Insight
• Cola Wars (psu.edu)
• Coca-Cola – a model of transparency in research partnerships? A network
analysis of Coca-Cola’s research funding (2008–2016) | Public Health Nutrition |
Cambridge Core
• Influence of an acidic beverage (Coca-Cola) on the absorption of itraconazole |
SpringerLink
• Systematic review: Coca‐Cola can effectively dissolve gastric phytobezoars as a
first‐line treatment - Ladas - 2013 - Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics
- Wiley Online Library
• Making China safe for Coke: how Coca-Cola shaped obesity science and policy in
China | The BMJ
• An Econometric Analysis of Brand‐Level Strategic Pricing Between Coca‐Cola
Company and PepsiCo. - Dhar - 2005 - Journal of Economics &
Management Strategy - Wiley Online Library
• Collecting Brand Loyalty: a Comparative Analysis of How Coca-Cola and Hallmark
Use Collecting Behavior to Enhance Brand Loyalty | ACR (acrwebsite.org)

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Appendix - 1

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