Recruitment Case: Coca Cola

Oscar Garro Tapia

Summary: This brief aims to present Coca-Cola's net profit
and marketing expenses, during the period 2018-2021. In
addition to showing the different strategies and routes taken by
the company to shape its marketing route through various
media and its adaptation across the globe, societies, markets
and consumers.
Coca-Cola is the world's leading manufacturer, marketer and distributor of non-alcoholic
beverages. It focuses its business on concentrated beverages and syrups. Although its main
product is the homonymous beverage (Coca-Cola), it has diversified with more than 200
brands around the world, from sports drinks, juices and dairy products (Coca-Cola Company,
2023).
As a company with a global reach, it is necessary to divide operations into regional operating
regions: North America, Latin America, Africa, Europe, the Pacific and Eurasia.
Its local bottling system gives it great strength and control, giving it the opportunity to
manage the company with a global reach, while maintaining a local component, which is
necessary to enter the consumer markets in the different regions. Therefore, the bottling
companies are managed locally, with the participation of regional partners, while the head
office is in charge of the marketing campaigns for the sale of concentrates used by the
bottlers (Bettman, et. al., 1998)
Now the company has seen an increase in revenue from 2018 to 2021, where in 2018 it made
a net profit of $6.434 billion. This is a 5-fold increase over 2017 earnings (europa press,
2019). In 2019 it had an increase of 39% in its revenues which is equivalent to 8,920 million
dollars (eleconomista.es, 2019). In 2020 its revenues had a decrease of 11%, being this a
direct product of the pandemic and the global economic contraction, which translates to 7,747
million dollars (Financialfood.es,2021). Yet after the first year of the pandemic, the company
saw a 26% increase in sales or $9.771 billion in net profit.
Regarding advertising-related expenses, Coca-Cola has maintained a fairly uniform spending
during the period 2018-2021, with the exception of 2020, where a considerable reduction of
all these expenses was seen. Whereby in 2018 a total of 4.11 million USD was spent on
advertising, while in 2019 4.246 million USD. But in 2020 there was a drastic reduction as a
result of the global recession generated by COVID-19. This year USD 2,777 million was
spent, being a resolution of more than 25% compared to the previous year. While for 2021,
spending returned to a number more similar to that of previous years, with an expenditure of
USD 4,098 million. (Orus, 2023)

The marketing developed by the company has brought together a series of marketing
techniques. Given the company's reach, it must make use of various formulas within its
marketing strategy. The company has to have a strong recognition of the customers targeted
by the product, thus segmenting its advertising campaigns in age, income, geography and
gender (Arun, 2023).
Regarding age, it has targeted a population between 10 and 35 years, so the use of celebrities
in advertisements or campaigns in schools and universities help to attract this population
(Arun, 2023). In relation to middle-aged adults, aware of their diet and sugars, low-fat and
sugar-free products are offered.
Similarly, in order to broaden the range of consumption within the populations, a specialized
market has been developed according to the gender of the consumers. Thus, Diet Coke is
generally preferred by the female market and other presentations with stronger flavors, such
as Coca-Cola Zero, have been aimed mainly at the male market.(Arun, 2023)
In order to achieve a greater reach in different economic incomes, a great variety of sizes and
packaging with prices at various levels has been incorporated. This is to increase reach and
achieve greater outreach to middle and low income groups.(Arun, 2023)
Regarding the communication channels it uses to present its communication campaigns it has
focused on both traditional media, whether television, newspapers, radio, etc; or digital media
such as Facebook, Instagram, websites, among many others. This without leaving aside
brochures, billboards and posters. With which it can be affirmed that Coca-Cola presents a
strategy of great reach in multimedia.
Particularly with digital non-traditional media, such as social
networks and digital communication channels, the company has
actively used platforms such as Facebook , Twitter, Instagram,
YouTube, among any other popular platform of the moment. In 2018
it completely revamped its social media accounts, using the
#RefreshtheFeed,. This within the framework of the strategy based on
"encouragement, connection and kindness". This renewal took place
on World Kindness Day, celebrated annually on November 13, along
with the publication of original images, with the support of four
popular street artists, based on the new brand values.
Following the success of this new campaign, two new network strategies were devised, such
as the alliance with a new group of artists for a new image campaign and the use of "Share a
Coke" where the brand logo was replaced with popular names. The goal was for the
consumer to find or give away the bottle with a person's name. The campaign achieved
successful results with 330 million impressions on Twitter, with almost 170 000 tweets from
160 000 followers (Cole, 2019).
Another particular marketing strategy is sponsorship. It encompasses several world-class
sporting events such as the Olympic Games, the FIFA™ World Cup (among other soccer
events), NASCAR, among many others. This strategy has positioned it as a major sponsor of
athletes around the world.
Related to the latter, since the last Annual
Conference of the Parties on Climate Change
of the United Nations (COP27) Coca-Cola
has been a sponsor of this great event, all
hand in hand with its sustainability
campaign. It focuses on 4 main points:
reduce its carbon footprint, maximize water
conservation, focus on a world without
waste, Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Report (Coca-Cola Company,
2023). With this campaign, it seeks to incorporate and adapt to the environmental trends that
are established within the global society.
Referencias
Coca-Cola Company (2023).THE COCA-COLA SYSTEM. Retrieved from
https://www.coca-colacompany.com/company/coca-cola-system
Bettman, et. Al (1998). Constructive Consumer Choice Processes. Retrieved from
https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article/25/3/187/1795625
Eleconomista.es (2019). Coca-Cola ganó 8.920 millones de dólares en 2019, un 39% más.
Retrieved from
https://www.eleconomista.es/empresas-finanzas/noticias/10329368/01/20/CocaCola-ga
no-8920-millones-de-dolares-en-2019-un-39-mas.html
Financialfood.es(2021) Coca-Cola disminuyó sus ingresos un 11% en 2020 como
consecuencia del Covid-19. Retrieved from
https://financialfood.es/coca-cola-redujo-sus-ventas-un-11-en-2020-como-consecuencia
-del-covid-19/
Swissinfo.ch (10/2/2022) Coca-Cola ganó 9.771 millones de dólares en 2021, un 26 % más.
Retrieved from
https://www.swissinfo.ch/spa/coca-cola-resultados_coca-cola-gan%C3%B3-9.771-mill
ones-de-d%C3%B3lares-en-2021--un-26---m%C3%A1s/47337490
Cole. S (28/28/2019) Three keys to Coca-Cola’s success on social media. Retrieved from
https://econsultancy.com/coca-cola-social-media-success-case-study/
Orus. A (2023). Inversión publicitaria de Coca-Cola 2014-2022. Retrieved from
https://es.statista.com/estadisticas/1292278/coca-cola-co-inversion-publicitaria/
Arun. R (2023) Coca-Cola Marketing Strategy 2023: A Case Study. Retrieved from
https://www.simplilearn.com/tutorials/marketing-case-studies-tutorial/coca-cola-market
ing-strategy#geographical_segmentation