Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink internationally sold by Coca-Cola Company in restaurants, stores, and vending machines. Incorporated in 1892, Coca-Cola Company is an American Multinational company known for manufacturing and distributing non-alcoholic drinks in more than 200 countries worldwide. The soft drink company is known for its brand “coke," the company has remained competitive since its inception. The most popular of these is Diet Coke, with others including Diet Coke Caffeine-Free, Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero Coca-Cola Cherry, Coca-Cola Vanilla, and special editions with lime, lemon or caffeine (Zubair et al., 2013). The company enjoys trade secrets as its formula for coke that has been kept a secret to date Coca-Cola Company employs some strategies in its operations. One of the distinctive approaches the Company employs to remain competitive, is its product design and promotion strategy (Cortes, 2013). This paper gives an analysis of product strategies for Coca-Cola Company
Target Market
Unlike most companies who target a specific customer, Coca-Cola Company doesn't have a defined customer rather it adapts to various customer needs by developing new products. Coke is produced for people of all ages, but its main consumers are of age 12-30 years old. Though there is no enticing communication person below 12 years and those above thirty years to drink coke, the brand manages to reach them through partnerships with fast foods, restaurants and McDonald’s (Cortes, 2013).
The target customers of Coke are Youth of both genders and based on past research both genders consume the product in almost 50/50 percent. Additionally, Coca-Cola targets no lifestyle. However, mobile generation and busy lifestyle are considered to be the most significant part of Coke's consumers. Likewise Coke targets no occupation but most of its consumers are family oriented and students. The promotion of Coke is centered in joy, fun and entertainment loving thus makes it outstanding compared to its competitors such as Pepsi, Nescafe, and Lipton. For example they have recently introduced coke Zero cans targeting the youths of had age between 18-22 years this product is associated with masculine individual (Sarich, Zaman, " Misra, 2016).
Coke Positioning
Sticking to its principle “think global, act local” it is evident that Coke has been strategically positioned within the soft drink market. It has managed to keep the same product coke, but it adapts the offer to local needs. For instance, due to the rising need for low-calorie soft drinks, Coca-Cola came up with a brand widely known as Coca-Cola zero. This adds to the product positioning dimension comprising of experience, emotion, and quality. The product image of coke is portrayed everywhere in the world as the source of happiness and success leading to high degree of loyalty among its consumers which makes purchasing decisions automatic (Zubair et al., 2013)
Besides its sensitization on fun and entertainment the labeling and packaging of coke are unique. Coke labels its product with nutrition content information and its compliance with the international regulation. It is also committed to keeping abreast with environmental regulations by using environmentally friendly packaging bottles. Similarly, the business operates a lot of educational programs to its clients. Furthermore, the company pricing strategy is favorable to consumers of all status thus making it more affordable as compared to its rival products. In a bid to create product awareness in every household the company has taken a step to run promotions, For instance, it is the sponsor of most sports such as soccer, rugby, and basketball (Cortes, 2013).
Conclusion
Winning and retaining a customer is the heart of any business and as we have seen Coca-Cola Company has mastered the art. The company has succeeded to boost its sales revenue using experience, emotions, and quality as its pillars of promotion. Having to position itself to a wider customer base the company manages to keep its good image by promoting international sports events and adhering to environmental regulations. Nonetheless, the company keeps on evolving its products based on consumer's health needs.
Reference
Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola. Spruce Books, 2013.
Cortés, Ricardo. A Secret History of Coffee, Coca " Cola. Akashic Books, 2013.
Zubair, Nandana, and Zainab Wadood. Dimensions of Brand Equity (a Comparative Study of Coke and Pepsi). LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, 2013.
Sarich, R., Zaman, R., " Misra, C. (2016). Discussion and analysis of the marketing strategy of Coke Zero in the US market. Merici - Ursula Hall Academic Journal, 1. doi:10.22459/m.01.2015.05
