SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

Department of Management

Group Members
Arita Sarkar

PG/13/MBADS/2021/004

Krishnendu Mukherjee

PG/13/MBADS/2021/009

Pallab Bandopadhyay

PG/13/MBADS/2021/010

Sampurna Guha
 PG/13/MBADS/2021/014

Shamik Dutta

PG/13/MBADS/2021/016

Sankalita Sarkar

PG/13MBADS/2021/ 026

IMC

Effectiveness of

Introduction: Coca-Cola is one of the most well-known and adored brands in the world; the same
world that constantly complains about the negative effects of sugary soda on our increasingly obese
children and youth. The most well-known soft drink in the world has done an incredible job of
establishing and upholding its reputation as a source of joy and harmony. Their success has a lot to do
with word-of-mouth. After all, bringing people together is Coca-Cola's “thing.”
In order to thrive in today's fiercely competitive market, businesses must build a positive perception of
their brand. The integrated marketing communications strategy continues to be one of the most potent
strategies to build a favorable brand. The advancement of technology allowed for the use of the Internet
as an additional method for coordinating marketing initiatives. We will use the Coca-Cola Company as an
example of a company that used a variety of integrated marketing communication techniques to establish
and maintain a positive brand image. Peter, J.P. and Donnelly, J.H. (2004) give such definition to
integrated marketing communications, they state that “the goal of integrated marketing communications is
to develop marketing communications programs that coordinate and integrate all elements of promotion –
advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, and publicity – so that the organization presents a
consistent message”

About the Company: Coca-Cola was invented in 1886 by pharmacist John Styth Pemberton in
Atlanta, Georgia and the formula & brand was bought by Asa Griggs Candler in 1889. With operations in
more than 200 nations, the firm is the top beverage manufacturer in the world. Over 500 beverage brands
are produced by the firm, and every day, 1.06 billion beverages are consumed worldwide. Coca-Cola has
consistently worked to preserve a positive customer-company relationship. They use social media to
evoke emotions and feelings of loyalty in customers because they want their brand and products to
become a part of peoples' daily lives and to be somewhat of a ritual associated with unique or memorable
events. The business communicates with its target market and customers through integrated marketing
communications (IMC), in order to accomplish this. The way the market, society, potential, and product
positioning all evolve affects and adapts this plan.

Advertising, direct marketing, interactive/internet marketing, sales promotion, public relations, personal
selling, and sponsorship marketing are currently among the communications channels managed by the
company. Because of this company's enormously international customer base, advertising is crucial. The
business employs powerful advertising strategies in order to accomplish this successfully and bring in
new clients from outside. The catchy and relevant slogans employed in Coca-Cola advertisements leave a
lasting impression on the audience.

Promotion Mix/IMC Mix: A company's fundamental model, traditionally centered on product,

pricing, place, and promotion, is referred to as the "marketing mix." The marketing mix is defined as a
group of marketing strategies used by a business to meet its marketing goals in a target market. Thus, it
provides a comprehensive overview of the marketing and commercial plans that surround a company.

Coca cola uses IMC in order to communicate with its target. Its the pioneer company in 360 degree
communications as they rapidly understood they had to get in touch with consumers to create links & to
look for them wherever they are. The communication plan is adapted regarding the market, the society,
the potential, the product positioning etc. Coca cola is willing to be close to its consumers, to be part of
the daily life, to become a kind of rituals attached to specific moments; for that they use social marketing
to create emotions and affiliation with consumers, e.g. they raise funds for social causes like earthquake or
hurricane. Also it always focuses on fun & entertainment as it is
the main message they want to deliver. They adopt their message to
target market based on some values: sharing happiness, fun and
tradition of coke.

Coca Cola advertising has historically been among the

most prolific in marketing history. The various ad campaigns
throughout the company’s one hundred twenty nine year history
have often had a major impact on culture and society, including a
hit song which received airplay on popular radio stations in
1971. The logo and bottle designs are immediately recognizable
throughout the world, and are integral to the brand’s image and
recognition in the marketplace. In the southern U.S. the
beverage is so pervasive that all soft drinks, typically referred to variously as soda, pop, or soda pop, are
called Coke. Coca-Cola has repeatedly been ranked as the number one soft drink in the world as a direct
result of their aggressive advertising campaigns, and was
even the first soft drink consumed by astronauts in space.

1. Advertising: Advertising is defined as any paid

form of non personal communication about an
organisation, product, service or an idea by an
identified sponsor.
Coca cola uses the concept of aggressive
advertising to promote it's product, Thus
advertising is the most important marketing tool
for the company as it has to cater mass consumer
markets. Big names like - Selena Gomez,
Whitney Houston, Taylor Swift, Marlyn
Monroe, Shah Rukh Khan, Sachin Tendulkar and many more were the brand ambassador of
Coca-Cola.

i. The origins of the Coca-Cola empire were built on word-of-mouth:

Business tycoon Asa Candler seized control of Coca-Cola in 1888. At the time, it was a five-cent
soda fountain beverage that typically only sold nine cups a day. Consumers received vouchers from
Candler for free Coca-Cola. Then, he offered free barrels of Coca-Cola syrup to retailers that were
hesitant to carry this beverage. Store owners rapidly came back as paying customers as people with
coupons flocked to such stores. Thus, one of the most influential companies in the world started down the
road to success.

ii. Coca-Cola created a song the whole world sang : Without the classic "Hilltop"
advertisement, which was recently brought back to public attention after appearing in the
 Mad Men season finale on
AMC, this list would not be
complete. The entire world
was singing along to the
Coca-Cola commercial
"Hilltop." In fact, a tonne
of people were calling radio
stations to ask for the
commercial to be played
because the song was so
well-liked. On a hill, a
"Chorus of the World" made up of people from different ethnic backgrounds sang "I'd Like
To Buy The World A Coke." The advertisement was a celebration of acceptance and
harmony as well as the beginnings of the marketing ethos Coca-Cola would uphold for many
years.

iii. Coca-Cola's Polar Bears react with you to the Super-bowl: During the 2012 Superbowl,
Coca-Cola didn’t choose the traditional route of TV advertising. Estimating that 60% of users
would be using a second screen during the game, Coca-Cola had a family of their Polar Bear
mascots react to the game in real-time over rich digital media banners and a microsite. Digital
puppeteers controlled the mascots, making them laugh when a funny ad was screened or
covering the eyes of their cub when racy content appeared. The bears even whipped out their
phones when responding to audience tweets! After the game, fans could send videos of the
bears with a coupon for free coke to their friends. The message? Coca-Cola makes for a great
celebration… or consolation. The result was a resounding success. 9 million consumers spent
an average of 28 minutes engaged with the Polar Bears that night. Coca-Cola also saw its
Twitter followers grow by an incredible 38% over a 4 hour period.

iv. Coca-Cola brought the World to the World Cup : Coca-Cola was the biggest sponsor of
the 2014 World Cup. Of course, the company took the opportunity to tell the Coca-Cola
story. “Everyone’s Invited” centers around a 2-minute film titled “One World, One Game”,
which tells the stories of four football teams from Otsuchi, Japan; Eastern Europe, the
Amazon; and Ramallah, Palestine, areas recently stricken with disaster. The stories showed
how football could unite, bring joy and give strength to communities in the face of tragedy.
Coca-Cola then brought the stories to a crescendo, surprising the teams with invitations to the
2014 World Cup. Committed to taking the
heartwarming story further, Coca-Cola flew a
total of 1 million fans from over 90 countries
to be part of the 2014 Brazilian World Cup.

Slogans: Coca-Cola continues to use new

slogans in various countries which are very
cheerful and attractive. Some of those slogans
which were used from 1886 to 2021 are:

1886 - Drink Coca-Cola

1904 - Delicious and Refreshing

1922 - Thirst Knows No Season

1923 - Enjoy Thirst

1927 - Pure as Sunlight

1927 - Around the Corner from Everywhere

1929 - The Pause that Refreshes

1932 - Ice Cold Sunshine

1939 - Whoever You Are, Whatever You Do, Wherever You May Be, When You Think of
Refreshment Think of Ice Cold Coca-Cola

1942 - The Only Thing Like Coca-Cola is Coca-Cola Itself

1948 - Where There's Coke There's Hospitality

1956 - Coca-Cola... Makes Good Things Taste Better

1957 - Sign of Good Taste

1958 - The Cold, Crisp Taste of Coke

1959 - Be Really Refreshed

1963 - Things Go Better with Coke

1969 - It's the Real Thing

1971 - I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke (part of the "It's the Real Thing" campaign)

1975 - Look Up America

1982 - Coke Is It!

1985 - We've Got a Taste for You (for both Coca-Cola & Coca-Cola classic)

1985 - America's Real Choice (for both Coca-Cola & Coca-Cola classic)

1986 - Red, White & You (for Coca-Cola classic)

1989 - Official Soft Drink of Summer

1990 - You Can't Beat the Real Thing

1993 - Always Coca-Cola

2000 - Coca-Cola. Enjoy

2001 - Life Tastes Good

 2003 - Coca-Cola ... Real

2005 - Make It Real

2006 - The Coke Side of Life

2009 - Open Happiness

2016 - Taste the Feeling

2021 - Real Magic

Mediums of Advertising: The mediums of advertising used by Coca-Cola are:

● Print media:

They print media for advertisement. department for print media. Although very rare, they
have a separate department for Print Medium.

2. Point of Sale & Point of purchase (POS & POP) Materials: Point of sale material this
includes: Posters and Stickers display in the stores and in different areas. It also includes:

a) Visi cooler, b) Freezers, c) Display rack etc.

● TV Commercials:

As everybody know that TV is a most common entertaining medium so TV commercials is

one of the most attractive way of doing advertisement. So, Coca Cola Company does regular
TV commercials on different channels. It focuses on both the urban as well as the rural India
with its advertisements.

In the summer of 2011, Coca-Cola introduced the new BTTT!! Ad and featured Imran
Khan as the brand ambassador. Now, they have endorsed 'triplet' of movie 'Student of the
Year' for their new theme "Haan Mein Crazy Hoon.."

● Outdoor Advertising:

Coca cola is very much conscious about their billboards and hoardings. They have so many sites
in different locations for their billboards. Billboards are usually found at cross roads, buildings,
shops. Also in India the Coca-cola can be seen painted on walls, bus stands, dhabas etc. focusing
in rural areas of India. It is essential to take a note that Billboards & banners, cut-out, holdings
play an important role in promotion of coca cola. This is mostly because of its unique, eye-
catching red colored brand logo. You would never miss it.
 Here are beautiful billboards that are used by the company:

2. Personal Selling:
Coca-Cola has many salespeople, who are individuals representing the company to communicate,
sell, service, and build relationships with customers.
These salespeople promote their product to different customers within their regions, and
once they sustain a customer, they sell their products to them and service them many times per
week. These individuals form close relationships with the customers in order to continue business
with them.

3. Publicity/Public Relations:
Publicity refers to non personal communications regarding an organization, product, service or
idea not directly paid or run under identified sponsorship. Public relations is defined as "the
management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of
an individual and organization with public interest, and executes a program of action to earn
public understanding and acceptance".
 Coca-Cola can address law suits, rumors, stories, new products, and activities. There is
also a section of the website devoted to investors. Here, current, or future, investors can access
financial statements and up-to-the-minute stock information.
The Coca-Cola India is also undertaking some projects as a part of their social cause and
part of the corporate social responsibility. The "Support My School" campaign along with NDTV
has Sachin Tendulkar as the brand ambassador. The project Unnati focuses on more yield of
mangoes to farmers. Coca Cola also Sponsors
events in cricket and music.

4. Sales Promotion:

A sales promotion is an
activity that is implemented to boost
the sales of a product or service
temporarily. Coca-Cola does sales promotion in
two ways to quickly increase sales.

1. Consumer - Oriented sales promotion:

● Getting Shelves
● Eye Catching Position
● Under The Crown Scheme

2. Trade - Oriented sales promotion:

● Discounts to retailers and stores

● Return back allowances
 ● Merchandising assets
● Free goods or free tours

5. Direct Marketing:
Coca-Cola uses direct marketing in many ways. First, the
company forms partnership with various restaurants, movie
theaters, hotels etc. to carry its product. This way, when a
customer orders a drink, the only brand they are offered is
Coca-Cola, which forces them to buy a drink from that brand.
By doing this, Coke forces out other competition, and keeps
the restaurants, or other businesses, purchasing their product
over and over again. e.g. McDonalds.

Coca-Cola also sponsors various sporting events in India

and around the world in events like
Cricket, Football, and Motor Racing etc.

6. Interactive/Internet Marketing:
.
Coca-Cola uses the internet to promote its products. The company has its own website, which is
quite simple to navigate through. The website allows customers to become interactive through
various games, contests, shopping, and through a special section of the website that enables
consumers to find out how they can help their community. Also in the modern era of
communication and networking, the company uses various social networking sites like Facebook,
YouTube, Twitter to connect with the consumers. A dedicated section is created on YouTube to
see its videos.
The internet marketing thus helps to reach to those consumers who can't afford to spend
time on T.V and are always online.

COCA-COLA on Twitter
 The main Twitter feed has just over 700,000 followers and has tweeted more than 75,000 times.

On Twitter Coca-Cola has 2.4 million World wide. And they are paying close attention.
Over few months coca cola has tweeted 1994 times that's over 62 each a day which has generated
81925 engagement that created over 1 billion potential impression in few months. It also has
dedicated pages for various products and sub- brands, including Diet Coke, Coke Zero, its racing
teams, and the company's long-deceased founder Doc Pemberton

COCA COLA on TUMBLR

Coca-Cola is one the best story telling brand on TUMBLR. Tumblr is a blogging and
social media tool that allows users to publish a "tumblelog", or short blog posts. Tumblr's major
differentiator is the free-form nature of the site and the ability of users to heavily customize their
own pages. The beverage brand TUMBLR blog is tagline "Where happiness lives online" and it's
a hard one to ignore.

Coca-Cola on PINTEREST

Coca-Cola's Pinterest account is really quite interesting as there only one board that's relate to a specific
Coca-Cola ad campaign, while the other's focus on specific theme for example: Coca-Cola have boards
like, "be together", "be active", "be giving" and so on. Another board is "Olympic Games Moments",
which contains a lot of images of their sponsorship of that event.
 7. Inspiring Digital Marketing Campaigns From Coca-Cola:

Some of the famous Campaigns are listed below-

● Love story

● Taste the Feeling

● London 2012

● That's Gold

● Super Bowl 2012

● Share A Coke

● A sleepover in the Christmas truck We Do

● The Friendship Experiment

CONCLUSION

For many years, the structure of marketing in firms has not worked integrating different
communications tools. Even universities have trained students in different areas without any
consideration of integrated approaches. Parallel has developed a substantial change since the
late 80s to the present, where the strength of the Internet and new ways of communicating have
changed radically.

The dimensions of IMC single voice, the integration and coordination of marketing
communications proposed by Nowak and Phelps in 1994 have evolved towards a model in
Coca-Cola, whose marketing department is called Integrated Marketing Communications.
After an in-depth interview with the IMC of Coca-Cola Iberia, three parts coinciding with
the proposed IMC dimensions are analyzed: marketing structure, strategy and methodology,
and the media tools used to implement the marketing strategy. The integration of the company
reaches a model defined as Liquid and Linked, where all communication must be settled
reaching all and of course be fully connected internally and with their publics. the structure of
the department itself has gone from a hierarchical way to project management, where different
teams of people led by a strategist work on the content and digital areas.