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Marketing Audit: The Coca-Cola Company

Johnson Nguyen, Lakhvir Sran, Jaskaran Singh

Section 2
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Contents

Introduction..........................................................................................................................3

Competition.........................................................................................................................3

SWOT Analysis...................................................................................................................3

Strengths..........................................................................................................................3

Weaknesses......................................................................................................................4

Opportunities...................................................................................................................4

Threats.............................................................................................................................5

Marketing Strategy..............................................................................................................6

Target Market...................................................................................................................6

Positioning.......................................................................................................................6

Marketing Mix.....................................................................................................................7

Product/Service................................................................................................................7

Price.................................................................................................................................7

Place.................................................................................................................................8

Promotion........................................................................................................................9

Digital Marketing & Social Media....................................................................................11

Conclusion.........................................................................................................................12

Recommendations..............................................................................................................12

References..........................................................................................................................13
MARKETING AUDIT 3

Introduction
Coca-Cola was introduced back in 1886 in Atlanta, which was invented by a pharmacist
named Dr. John S Pemberton which he sold in a local Atlanta pharmacy store[Chr]. As of today,
Coca-Cola Company is a well-recognized and established company for soft drinks with its
headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia[Chr]. In the history of the products, Coca Cola has created more
than 3,500 beverages and 500 brands, ranging from sport’s beverages, juice, water, examples of
known products today are Diet Coke, Powerade, Dasani, and Minute Maid[Kim]. Coca-Cola
employs over 6,200 Canadians along with 50 facilities across Canada along with 6
manufacturing plants to serve Canadians[Chr].

Competition
Coca-Cola is currently sitting in an oligopoly market structure,
where Coca-Cola and PepsiCo dominate in the soft drinks market. In a
direct competition setting, Coca-Cola’s Coke drink is well known along
with PepsiCo’s Pepsi drink. Pepsi provides similar cola-flavored soda as
Coke as they’re the usual go to sodas in the market. As Coca-Cola and
PepsiCo take over most of the market share, indirect competitors such as
Dr. Pepper, Mountain Dew, and other soft drinks can substitute Coke[Jam]. The market of
energy drinks, vitamin/sports drinks are very known products among consumers as they’re
popular due to caffeine and vitamins offered to those who need energy.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

One of the greatest strengths of Coca Cola is that the brand is known worldwide and
has sufficient amount of money to run the company. Coca Cola has a market capitalization of
$188 billion, and over $40 billion in sales with many of their soft drinks being billion-dollar
brands themselves such as Coke, Sprite, and Fanta (Forbes, 2018). Coca cola employees have
a high satisfaction rate in terms of their employees, employees enjoy working with their
management and other employees and are satisfied with the benefits provided from working
MARKETING AUDIT 4

at Coca Cola (Glassdoor, 2018). Coca Cola currently has over 100,000 employees and is
constantly growing as their brand is growing. (Coca Cola, 2018). Another strength of Coca
Cola is that they have a strong marketing strategy, they sponsor many different events such as
the Olympics, organizations such as the National Basketball Association (NBA) and National
College Athletic Association (NCAA). In 2016, Coca Cola spent more than $4 billion on
advertising alone, and it continues to grow (Statista, 2018).

Weaknesses

One internal weakness of Coca Cola is that they use a tremendous amount of water to
produce their product, especially in the manufacturing process. Coca cola currently uses
1.96L of water to produce 1L of product, and in 2016 resulted in using 303.6 billion litres of
water to produce their products for the year (Coca Cola, 2017). With water being a limited
source Coca Cola can find themselves eventually threatened of not having enough water for
their products. Currently Cape Town has run out of their natural source of water and since
Coca Cola is all over the world they will have to spend more money and reduce production
when the water supply does drop (National Geographic, 2018). If Coca Cola can use an equal
amount or less water for an amount of product they would be more sustainable in terms of
saving the Earths supply of water. To compare how much water Coca Cola uses, Canada has
used 3.2 billion liters of water in 2013 (Statistics Canada, 2017). Coca Cola almost uses more
water than Canadians consume or use and this has a great impact on the environment because
of pollution from manufacturing and reduction of our water sources.

Opportunities

Coca Cola has many opportunities for their soft drink products, they just revamped
their Coca Cola Zero product which is soda offered with no sugar (USA Today, 2018). As the
trend towards a healthier lifestyle is coming forward individuals are attracted to buy these
zero sugar products, and this is an opportunity for Coca Cola to take sell to this trending
market (Beverage Daily, 2017). This is a good opportunity for Coca Cola to be a aid in the
worldwide obesity epidemic as soft drink products are consumed all over the world and
contain a lot of sugar, each 500mL bottle of Coca Cola contains 55 grams of sugar which is
MARKETING AUDIT 5

213 calories of just sugar (Coca Cola, 2018). Another opportunity for Coca Cola is that they
are a worldwide product and this opens up a chance to expand to other less developed
countries for production to stimulate economic growth in those areas. Also, soda is a
common drink that’s consumed in all types of establishments such as restaurants, bars,
vending machines, stores etc. that businesses or even major events are opportunities to sell
their soft drink products and market their Coca Cola soft drinks.

Threats

A possible threat for Coca Cola is as stated before the world is developing a trend
towards a healthier lifestyle, especially to individuals who are at a health risk already.
Overconsumption of sugary drinks has negative effects on your body and especially for a
person who has diabetes (Boston Public Health Commission, 2018). Even though coca cola
has their zero-sugar product, their other products that high in sugar won’t be attractive to
these individuals and are open to competitors who offer healthier options. That leads to the
next threat which is competitors for example Coca Cola's major competitor Pepsi. Pepsi
offered a wide range of products as does Coca Cola, but they offer more variety of products
such as food items. Also, the popularity of both companies is tremendous as you see Pepsi
products along whenever there is Coca Cola products. Also, another threat for Coca Cola and
their soft drink products are the risk of running out of water. As stated before water is a
limited resource as could possibly in the future be limited in more and more areas. Coca
Cola's soft drink products are mostly made using water, more water is used than the actual
product made, and this is not sustainable when there are areas around the world already
running out of water.

Marketing Strategy
Target Market

The Coca Cola Company produces products that are aimed generally at a younger age
group, ages 15-30. But since Coca Cola has been a brand for over 125 years (Coca Cola, 2011),
it provides a nostalgic feel to the older generation 31 and up. The company wants to provide a
feeling of happiness to every one of their consumers. If the classic product does not match the
MARKETING AUDIT 6

needs and tastes of a specific region of the world, the company decides to create a new flavour to
satisfy those needs. An example of this type of product is Limca, which is a lemon lime drink
that is primarily sold in India. With the changing trend to healthier alternatives Coca Cola has
produced many sugar-free or natural sugar variants of their classic product. Coca Cola is very far
reaching through all the many partnerships with fast food chains, universities/colleges and
restaurants. All products sold by the company are gender neutral and do not aim to a specific
gender with any greater treatment. Coca Cola products are made very affordable so anyone of
any age group can be purchase it.

Positioning

The Coca Cola Company has produced a soft drink that is universally known and has
positioned itself as the number 1 most sold beverage in the world. (Said, 2013) Being universally
known it has to satisfy the different local needs in each of the 200 countries it is sold in. (H.
Bhasin, 2017) In order to fit the local flavours of all countries that Coca Cola sells in they
introduce different types of soft drinks. Although the Coca Cola Company introduces these new
drinks, their flagship Coca Cola Classic is still the number 1 most sold soft drink. (H. Bhasin,
2017) The Coca Cola company has personified Coca Cola Classic as the image of happiness.
They have produced a flavour that today is perceived by all who drink it to be the embodiment of
happiness. This perception of the flavour makes the drink continue to be relevant and be
consumed by consumers, leading to a higher level of loyalty and makes the purchasing decision
more automatic. The Coca Cola Company has been successful by marketing their products with
slogans like, “Life tastes good” (Wikipedia, 2018) related to joy and happiness. From the 1995
Coca Cola Classic slogan we can take it that the company knows that they are number 1 and will
always be number 1, “Always and Only Coca-Cola”. (Wikipedia, 2018)
Marketing Mix
Product/Service

The core product that The Coca Cola Company is trying to sell with their soft drinks is
the feeling of happiness that comes from drinking them. They tend to aim the product towards an
younger audience but tend to also hook older generations too due to the nostalgic flavour of this
drink from their childhood. The Coca Cola Company sells over 3500 different beverages
worldwide, around 500 of which are soft drinks, all aimed at bringing happiness to their
MARKETING AUDIT 7

consumers. (K. Bhasin, 2011) In this arsenal of 3500 drinks is their main product-line of Coca
Cola. The signature red and white of the Coca Cola brand logo is recognized by 94% (H. Bhasin,
2017) of the world’s population. They product is shipped in many different ways ranging from
aluminum cans, plastic bottles, glass bottles, and sometimes even
special edition forms. But one thing stays the same and that is the
vibrant red and white logo.
Price

One of the pricing concepts used by The Coca Cola

Company is Price Lining. All the products produced by the
company are sold in many different mediums and in many different
sizes. Coca Cola can be found in aluminum cans ranging from a
tiny snack sized can all the way up to king size cans, same with the
plastic bottles which range from 300mL to 2L; sometimes they are offered in their classic glass
bottle and limited-edition versions.
Another pricing method used buy Coca Cola is Loss Leader Pricing. Coca Cola is sold at
many retailers at different prices. If you go to a retailer like Superstore a 2-litre bottle of Coca
Cola may cost $0.99 – $1.99, but if you go to a convenience store like 7-11 that same bottle may
cost you up to $4.99. This is due to Superstore incentivizing customers to purchase that Coca
Cola bottle along with any of the other products that are sold at the retailer. Also, in the case of
Superstore, the larger Coca Cola bottles are sold at a lower
price/litre than the smaller bottles which generally sell more.
Smaller bottles are priced at $1.49/300mL bottle while a larger
bottle is sold at $0.97/2L bottle if bought in groups or $1.99
individually.
Place

As of today, Coca-Cola products can be found in

anywhere, such as the grocery store, retail stores, gas stations,
vending machines. Coca-Cola is distributed among 200 countries
across 5 regions [The]. Coca-Cola focuses on its bottling partners
who are the distributor for distribution and packaging of their product. Coca-Cola states “Our
MARKETING AUDIT 8

Company manufactures and sells concentrates, beverage bases and syrups to bottling operations,
owns the brands and is responsible for consumer brand marketing initiatives. Our bottling
partners manufacture, package, merchandise and distribute the final branded beverages to our
customers and vending partners, who then sell our products to consumers”[The1]. With bottling
partners around the world, it’s a straightforward process where the Coca Cola Company produces
the beverage with the ingredients and transport it to bottlers. This creates an efficient network
where bottlers can distribute to customers where then consumers can purchase Coca-Cola
beverages.
Promotion

In Coca-Colas annual report for shareholders, Coca-Cola states “Advertising costs

included in the line item selling, general and administrative expenses in our consolidated
statements of income were $4 billion in 2017, 2016 and 2015.” With this huge expense in
advertisements, Coca-Cola has used a lot of tools that they have used to communicate their
products to consumers. Coca-Cola is one of the most seen sponsors, as it has a long history with
FIFA, American Idol, Olympic Games, BET Network, NBA[Coc]. For advertisement Coca Cola
focuses on TV commercials or YouTube, Coca-Cola launched the “Taste the Feeling” campaign
that promotes and sends a message to consumers to view the product to bring joy and happiness
with Coca-Cola’s Coke. On an article of the launch of the campaign “Taste the Feeling” will
bring to life the idea that drinking a Coca-Cola – any Coca-Cola – is a simple pleasure that
makes everyday moments more special[Jay]. Coca-Cola social media accounts have a massive
follower base. With 107 and 3.1 million followers on Facebook and Twitter, sending the message
to consumers are effortless. With Spring Break around the corner for students, Coca-Cola posted
an advertisement on their Facebook page “When #SpringBreak is so close, you can taste it.
#CocaColaLife” which received 1.2M views. Coca-Cola also did a partnership regarding their
“Share a Coke and a Song” campaign where they featured Selena Gomez, where it featured
lyrics from her song “Me & the Rhythm” [Jay1]. Selena Gomez posted a video of her at the
Coca-Cola headquarters regarding seeing herself in an advertisement for Coca-Cola’s Coke, the
video was posted on June 8, 2016 which has received almost 14.5M views.Coca-Cola is a hybrid
of the push vs pull strategy. As one of the well-known soft drinks, pushing the product to
distributers and retailers. Businesses are able to contact Coca-Cola regarding of selling Coca-
Cola products as this is a form of direct response and personal selling. The pull strategy reflects
MARKETING AUDIT 9

off consumers and the media. As mentioned before with advertising, promotions, event
marketing, and sponsorships, along with partnerships, Coca-Cola can attract and interest
consumers of their products effortlessly through social media.

Digital Marketing & Social Media

When viewing Coca-Cola’s official website, they have
websites for 6 different regions across the globe. The

interesting thing
between each

website,
each region such
as Africa, Asia Pacific, Eurasia, Europe, North
America all have different content from one

another.
The use of
content

marketing in their websites

offer exclusive and unique
content for each
region allowing the
audience to be
informed and
engage with events, research, blogs, and infographics, and products. On Coca-Cola’s Facebook
MARKETING AUDIT 10

page instead of pushing a bunch of product advertisements, there’s more of news type of posts
relating to social responsibilities, sponsorships, and news. On Coca-Cola’s Twitter, it’s like their
Facebook posts but there are far more posts regarding news than their products. An example of
news is Coca-Cola’s social business called EKOCENTER. It’s a kiosk that is powered by solar
power that provides safe water and internet access
that is placed in communities that are not
economically developed. This kiosk is to give a
hand to these communities providing growth
opportunities for Coca-Cola and partners. In an
article regarding this innovation has been very
successful in Vietnam. In Ho Chi Minh City,
families are now able to access safe water and
allowed the community to strengthen. The owner,
Tham has received many benefits from the kiosk
“Not only has she learned business skills, but she’s
now become an entrepreneur and earns income to
help her family. Her income from
the EKOCENTER has provided
her family with more
stability”[Ash]. The goal of Coca-
Cola’s digital and social strategy
connects and reflects heavily on
their mission to refresh the world,
inspire moments of optimism and
happiness, and create value and
make a difference[Mis].

Conclusion

Coca Cola has been one of

the greatest companies with a very
MARKETING AUDIT 11

successful soft drink product line. Coca Cola classic has been the leading soft drink for their
company and still continues to be the leading selling product for Coca Cola. Their soft drinks
products are literally all over the world and is inexpensive that a large proportion of the world
has had a Coca Cola product some point in their time or have heard of Coca Cola. They spent a
large amount of money so that their product is known all over the world and continues to
advertise and sponsor many events so that their product stays very popular.
Recommendations

Coca Cola is one the most successful companies in the world, 5th most valuable company
around the world to be exact (Forbes, 2018). Coca Cola utilizes the four P’s of marketing mix
very well with their signature look of their Coca Cola soft drink products and inexpensive price.
As stated before Coca Coola utilizes advertising their products all over the world, there nearly
isn’t a country where you wouldn’t find Coca Cola soft drink products as its available in over
200 different countries (Coca Cola, 2018). Only future recommendations for Coca Cola and their
soft drinks products is develop a manufacturing process that is close to producing the same
amount of product as they are using water.

References

Bhasin, K. (2011, June 09). 15 Facts About Coca-Cola That Will Blow Your Mind. Retrieved
March 25, 2018, from http://www.businessinsider.com/facts-about-coca-cola-2011-6
Bhasin, H. (2017, December 15). Marketing strategy of Coca cola - Coca cola strategy. Retrieved
March 25, 2018, from https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-strategy-of-coca-cola/
Boston Public Health Commission. (n.d.). Health Effects of Sugary Drinks. Retrieved March 18,
2018, from http://www.bphc.org/whatwedo/healthy-eating-active-living/sugar-smarts/be-
sugar-smart/Pages/Health-Effects-of-Sugary-Drinks.aspx
Coca-Cola. 125 Years of Sharing Happiness. (2011). Retrieved March 25, 2018, from http://www.coca-
colacompany.com/content/dam/journey/us/en/private/fileassets/pdf/2011/05/Coca-
Cola_125_years_booklet.pdf
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Coca-Cola Sponsorships. (n.d.). Retrieved from Coca-Cola Company: http://www.coca-

colacompany.com/stories/coca-cola-sponsorships
Coca-Cola on the Forbes Canada's Best Employers List. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2018, from
https://www.forbes.com/companies/coca-cola/
Coca-Cola Company Reviews. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2018, from
https://www.glassdoor.ca/Reviews/Coca-Cola-Company-Reviews-E161.htm
Coca-Cola Company's advertising expense from 2014 to 2017. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2018,
from https://www.statista.com/statistics/286526/coca-cola-advertising-spending-
worldwide/
Coca-Cola earnings: Zero Sugar led to stronger 3Q earnings. (n.d.). Retrieved March 18, 2018,
from https://www.google.ca/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/797747001
Coca-Cola. (n.d.). Retrieved March 18, 2018, from https://www.coca-cola.ca/brands/coca-
cola/coca-cola
Company, T. C.-C. (n.d.). Who we are. Retrieved from Coca Cola Company: http://www.coca-
colacompany.com/careers/who-we-are-infographic
Health-conscious millennials turn to zero-calorie drinks. (2017, August 09). Retrieved March 18,
2018, from https://www.beveragedaily.com/Article/2017/08/10/Health-conscious-
millennials-turn-to-zero-calorie-drinks
Improving Our Water Efficiency. (2017, August 16). Retrieved March 16, 2018, from
http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/setting-a-new-goal-for-water-efficiency
Lovejoy, J. (n.d.). Analysis: The Coke vs Pepsi Social Presence Showdown. Retrieved from
Brandwatch: https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/the-coke-vs-pepsi-social-presence-
showdown/
Mission, Vision & Values. (n.d.). Retrieved from Coca-Cola Company: http://www.coca-
colacompany.com/our-company/mission-vision-values
Moye, J. (n.d.). ‘One Brand’ Strategy, New Global Campaign Unite Coca-Cola Trademark.
Retrieved from Coca-Cola Company: http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/taste-the-
feeling-launch
Moye, J. (n.d.). Selena Gomez ‘Share a Coke and a Song’ Photo is Instagram’s Most-Liked
Image Ever. Retrieved from Coca-Cola Company: http://www.coca-
MARKETING AUDIT 13

colacompany.com/stories/this-selena-gomez-share-a-coke-and-a-song-photo-is-instagrams-
mo
Said, S. (2013, May 29). The Top 10 Bestselling Soft Drinks. Retrieved March 25, 2018, from
https://www.therichest.com/rich-list/most-popular/the-top-10-bestselling-soft-drinks/
Statistics Canada. (2017, September 28). World Water Day... by the numbers. Retrieved March
16, 2018, from https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/dai/smr08/2017/smr08_215_2017
The Coca-Cola System. (n.d.). Retrieved from Coca-Cola Company: http://www.coca-
colacompany.com/our-company/the-coca-cola-system
Whitehead, C. (n.d.). Coca-Cola in Canada. Retrieved from Coca-Cola: https://www.coca-
cola.ca/our-company/coca-cola-in-canada
Who We Are. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2018, from http://www.coca-
colacompany.com/careers/who-we-are-infographic
Why Cape Town Is Running Out of Water, and Who's Next. (2018, March 05). Retrieved March
16, 2018, from https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/02/cape-town-running-out-of-
water-drought-taps-shutoff-other-cities/
Wikipedia. List of Coca-Cola slogans. (2018, March 15). Retrieved March 25, 2018, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Coca-Cola_slogans
Worley, A. (n.d.). COCA-COLA IN VIETNAM: EMPOWERED WOMEN, STRONGER
COMMUNITIES. Retrieved from Coca-Cola Company: http://www.coca-
colacompany.com/coca-cola-unbottled/coca-cola-in-vietnam--empowered-women--
stronger-communities