CASE STUDY :

The following Case study refers to the collaboration of Coca Cola and the App Anni
developed by Coca Cola, the famous and much-loved beverage brand that enjoys global fame
and success due to their excellent marketing branding strategies and unique taste. The
success of this company is phenomenal comprising of several other subsidiary trade bands
bearing its name. Their diversification over the years into technology was also remarkable as
they developed into a tech-savvy modern company largely due to their innovative marketing
strategies and market analysis. Provide an analysis on the latest apps namely; the Coca-Cola
Freestyle app for customers and the Coke Notify App for retailers to indicate the challenges
faced with developing these and how they overcame the challenges to achieve remarkable
success.

1. Analyse the background of the company and the challenges they face in a changing and
challenging business world; and also, within the company, in order to break through
the barriers to maintain their success by addressing innovate change.
2. Provide insight into the marketing plan adopted by the company to ensure their success
with emphasis on the tools, strategies and plans used to penetrate the markets and
ensure profitability.
3. Analyse the current issues/concepts that are relevant to and potentially impact the
international marketing environment. Explain the innovative strategies and tools
adopted as well as its impact on the company in relation to branding.
4. Demonstrate a critical understanding of one of the marketing models used in order to
evaluate the benefits of that model for the company; and, evaluate the influence of the
changing business environment on the marketing priorities and marketing
management functions of the organisation that influence consumer behaviour
contributes to its success.
5. Discuss how a SWOT ANALYSIS and PESTLE contributed to the growing success of the
brand towards influencing customer behaviour and optimising their product sales and
excellent service delivery.
6. Explain how the diversification into collaboration and development of App Anni caused
the company to maintain their success in the face of adversity and challenges especially
since technology is advancing rapidly.

Answer

1. Background of Coca Cola

Coca Cola is a world-famous beverage brand. The company started when Coca Cola syrup
was produced by Dr. John Pemberton. Initially, the syrup was produced and sold as a
fountain drink. However, the bottling started from the year 1899 (Serôdio, McKee and
Stuckler, 2018). The rights for bottling and selling Coca Cola in the United States were
secured by Joseph B. Whitehead and Benjamin F. Thomas. Since, its beginning Coca Cola as
a brand has been growing constantly, adapting to the changes in the internal as well as
external environment. They have optimised their resource allocation and increased their
revenues. Their primary product was carbonated soft drinks. However, with changing times
they have diversified into a vast range of beverages.

The company was formally introduced in the year 1916. From the same year, its iconic bottle
started being bottled, which is used even today. In 1928, Robert Woodruff expanded the
business of Coca Cola to overseas locations. In the same year, Coca Cola was introduced at
the Olympic Games. In the 1980s, the attitude of people towards unhealthy drinks started
changing. Thus, diet coke was introduced by the company to meet the needs of the
customers (Tran, 2021). Since 1980s, Coca Cola has been expanding rapidly. During those
days, every year the company expanded and entered a new country. At present, 94 percent
of the global population recognises Coca Cola as a brand.

Challenges faced by Coca Cola

As a company, Coca Cola is facing several challenges due to the changes taking place in the
global business environment. To maintain the success, the company is trying to break
through the barriers and constantly encouraging innovation. They are also facing some
internal drawbacks within the company.

Internal Challenges External Challenges

· The company offers a limited range of
· The company is facing constant and
beverages.
neck-to-neck competition from its closest
rival, Pepsi.
· The innovation of healthier beverages
is lacking.
· The tastes and preferences of people
are changing. They prefer healthier
· The primary ingredient for the
beverages over carbonated soft drinks.
beverages of Coca Cola is water (Chua et al,
2020). However, due to an ineffective water
· The healthier or coffee-based
management process followed by the
beverages brands are also giving a tough
company, they have faced criticisms and
competition to Coca Cola.
loss of revenue.
With the changing times, the café culture
has replaced Coca Cola with other
· The scarcity of sufficient water could
beverages available at such cafes (Bridgens
also hinder the production of beverages by
et al, 2018).
the company.
2. Marketing Plan
The marketing plan of Coca Cola can be illustrated using the marketing mix. An effective
marketing plan incorporates the marketing tactics and use of strategic tools. The four most
essential aspects of the marketing mix are product, price, place and promotion (Pomering,
2017). The marketing plan of Coca Cola has been designed to satisfy the needs of the target
consumers and to realise the marketing goals. To remain relevant and to sustain in an ever-
changing competitive market, Coca Cola had to monitor and amend its marketing plan over
the years. The marketing plan of Coca Cola keeps the internal as well as external factors in
mind to maximise the returns from the business.
Product: To get an added edge over its competitors, Coca Cola is trying to diversify and
expand its range of products. The product mix of Coca Cola includes soft drinks, i.e., their
primary carbonated drinks, juices, energy drinks, sports drinks, water, etc. The company
realised that through product diversification, they can have a competitive advantage as well
as increase their revenue streams (ABBASI, 2017). Through constant innovation, the
company is trying to enhance the taste and quality of its products. They are open to
customer feedbacks based on which they try to improve. This has facilitated consistent
growth of the brand over the years.

Price: Coca Cola has adopted an aggressive pricing policy which has helped it to sustain in
the market. They have priced their products in such a way that they can sustain even while
facing intense competition from its close rival, Pepsi and other local brands. They have kept
economy packs for various products, which are lowly priced and attracts cost conscious
consumers. The company has been following competition-based pricing strategy so that the
consumers buy their products instead of their substitutes from the rivals.

Place: Place is a very crucial aspect of the marketing plan. It is the location from where the
customers can get the product. Basically, the place here is the distribution channel through
which the products of Coca Cola will reach the market. Coca Cola products are mainly
available in retail stores, supermarkets as well as online stores. The place utility becomes a
deciding factor for the consumers to purchase a product among multiple options.

Promotion: Coca Cola has used various channels for advertising and promoting their
brand. They have advertised their products through T.V, social media and print media
(Moravcikova and Kliestikova, 2017). They have also used direct marketing and interactive
marketing. The other modes of promotion include public relations, publicity and personal
selling. This has facilitated branding. The company has concentrated on positioning of their
brand. They tried to create a clear image in the mind of their target customers. This has
helped Coca Cola to emerge as the strongest beverage brand in the global market.

3. Factors affecting International Marketing Environment

To sustain in the global market, the companies need to take into consideration several
factors which specifically impact the international marketing environment.

As stated by Kim, Moon and Iacobucci (2019), Coca Cola being a global brand is impacted
by factors like culture of a country where it intends to sell its products. Not all countries
were equally accepting towards a carbonated soft drink. For example, the rural areas of
India and Pakistan for long and to some extent even today prefers local drinks like Chhas
and Lassi over soft drinks. The people of China and Japan are quite health conscious and
not very much interested in carbonated drinks.

The socio-economic structure of the country where the products are being introduced
affects the business of Coca Cola. The economic condition of the developing nations is much
lower than that of the U.S, where the drink was initially introduced (Gbadamosi, 2019).
Thus, it took time for developing nations to accept and adapt to such beverages. Even if the
people wanted to consume such beverages like Coke, their pockets pinched them and
prevented them from purchasing such drinks.
The political, legal and competitive structure of the country also affects the business.
Technology is another very important factor that impacts the international business. It is
very important for the technology of the country to support the business processes, like
distribution, manufacturing, promotions, etc.

Coca Cola needs to consider each of these international factors before making any business
decisions.

Innovation and Branding

Innovation is a very important aspect of branding.

 As per Poticha and Duncan (2019), the company believes that innovation should be
beyond extensions of flavours.
 The innovation could be related to diversifying and developing new product range. It
could also be tech-driven innovation. The company has been trying to analyse the
data derived from the market and developing their business according to the market
requirements. The innovations of Coca Cola are mostly customer-centric.
 The company has been innovating to enhance their formulas. They have also tried to
improve their packaging.
 The company has been trying to conver its strategies towards developing the global
marketing strategy of One Brand. They have united all its products including Diet
Coca Cola, Coca Cola Zero, Coca Cola and Coca Cola Life under the banner of One
Brand.
 They have also developed an innovative campaign titled ‘Taste the Feeling’ (de
Medeiros and de Almeida Souza, 2018). These are all part of innovation of Coca Cola.
 Coca Cola has also been innovative in its digital marketing. The brand has used the
digital technology for creating new experiences for the consumers. Their innovative
digital marketing plans include the programs like sip and scan. This program allows
the consumers to unlock prizes and experiences. They can avail the prizes by
scanning the icons on the packages of Coke with the help of their mobile phones.
 The Coca Cola Freestyle mobile app is an innovation by the company for enhancing
the branding. This app helps the operators to provide better beverage experience.
This can be done without the involvement of the crew members. Through this app,
The Coca Cola Freestyle locations are distinguished from the other locations that
have no dispenser with such attributes like location finder.
 The other app which is an innovation of Coca Cola is the Coke Notify app for
retailers. Through this app, the bottler associates of Coca Cola can submit their
requests for equipment service (Schneider, Hilger-Kolb and Mata, 2020). However,
only the authorised retailers have access to the Coke Notify app. The app is used by
the employees of the Coca Cola Company and the ones who have been given the
express permission by the company.

Innovations foster better branding of a company. Through innovation, strategic planning

and effective marketing tools, Coca Cola has made its place in the international market. For
an international brand like Coca Cola, innovation is needed for maintaining their brand
position and giving a tough competition to their rivals. Coca Cola, over the years has faced
and overcome several challenges and crisis. However, through new ideas, concepts and
innovative moves, the company has ensured success for itself in the global market.
4. Business Model
According to Kayabaº, Boyraz and Derdiyok (2017), among the most valuable brands of the
world, Coca Cola holds the third position. The company is one of the most successful global
brands. The products of Coca Cola are offered in every country for sale. In fact, they
managed to enter Cuba and North Korea. The company has followed a marketing model
that has been designed uniquely to boost the international recognition of the brand. The
marketing strategies of Coca Cola are based on its marketing mix. The 4P’s are very
important for Coca Cola to plan its business. Product, Place, Price and Promotion has been
the deciding factors of Coca Cola’s success in business. Besides, the marketing model of
Coca Cola has also included some other significant factors. The business canvas model of
Coca Cola gives an insight into its process which helps it to sustain in the changing global
business environment and address the changing consumer preferences.

Value Customer
Propositions Relations
Key Activities
Customer
Ø Get sugar Ø Customers Segments
Ø sharing their
Manufacturing Ø Familiar taste Coca Cola
Ø Teens
Key Partners the syrup moments with
Ø Quenching the the company
Ø Mass market
Ø Ad agencies Ø Supplying it thirst
in market Ø Ads
Ø Children
Ø Bottlers Ø Feel cool as a
(ABBASI, 2017) Ø Bottling person Ø Storytelling
Ø Young adults
Ø Customer Ø Distribution Ø Beating the Ø Close
distributors/ through Ø Distributors
heat during hot association with
retailers franchises and some big (retailers,
summer days
secondary restaurants,
distributors
outlets vending machine,
Ø For
big distributor
distributors, the Ø Sales
chains)
Ø Marketing popularity of the representatives
brand assures for all
guaranteed sale distributors
Key Resources
Channels
Ø Bottling factory
Ø Vending machines
Ø Marketing
Ø Restaurants
Ø Staff
Ø Supermarkets
Ø Sales
Ø Stores
Ø Formula for Coca Cola (Chua et
Ø Social media
al, 2020)
Ø Distribution deals Ø TV ads

Ø Packaging innovation Ø Newsletter

Ø Franchise contract Ø Website

Cost Structure

Ø Advertising

Ø Marketing Revenue Stream

Ø Employees Ø Fixed price for each product

Ø Taxes

Ø Franchises
Product: Coca Cola has realised that to succeed and sustain in the market it needs to
diversify and have a huge range of products. The following products are manufactured and
sold by Coca Cola: Coca Cola, Diet Coke, Coca Cola Life, Coca Cola Zero, Coca Cola Light,
Sprite, Minute Maid, Fanta, Ciel, Dasani, Fresco, Simply Orange, Fuze Tea, Powerade Zero,
Honest Tea, etc (Lacy-Nichols, Scrinis and Carey, 2018).

Classic Bottle: In 1915, Coca Cola introduced a competition for new bottle designing. This
was a marketing strategy for defence (Miller, 2021). The company wanted to prove that they
are a premium brand and way above the local cola producing companies. The outcome of
the bottle contest was an appealing and strange shaped bottle. The bottle of Coke eventually
became an icon.

Logo: The logo of Coca Cola was decided to be written in Spencerian script during 1923
(Pendergrast and Crawford, 2020). This was mainly to make the brand different from the
competitors. The packaging has changed and adapted with the changing times. However,
the logo and font along with the recipe remains unchanged for Coca Cola. The logo and font
of Coca Cola is imprinted in the memory of the global customers as it has remained the
same for more than 100 years now.

Pricing: Coca Cola had a fixed price and did not want to change it until it faced tough
competition from its close rival, Pepsi. As Pepsi increased its prices, Coca Cola had to
increase its price. They feared that people would consider their quality to be inferior and
hence lowly priced. To maintain the quality price relationship as perceived by consumers,
Coca Cola had to increase its prices.

Consistent: After so many years, even after gaining huge success in their business at the
global platform, Coca Cola has remained consistent in its marketing strategy and brand
message. They want to communicate their brand objective to offering pleasure to their
customers. They have simple slogans like ‘enjoy’, ‘happiness’, ‘you can’t beat the feeling’, etc.
which have enabled the global customers to associate with the brand (UNCU and ÇALI?IR,
2019).
Besides, the company has concentrated on personalisation, smart use of social media for
promotions, maintaining global outreach etc. Their main aim is to create a better experience
for their customers.

5. SWOT

Strengths
Weaknesses
Ø Coca Cola has the highest brand equity,
maximum global presence, and widespread Ø The intense competition from Pepsi is a
brand identity. weakness for the company. They must
constantly plan their actions keeping their
Ø The company has huge company rivals move in mind.
valuation. The brand value and assets are
huge which yield higher revenue for Coca Ø The product diversification of Coca Cola
Cola. is low. This restricts their market share.

Ø The customer loyalty is a huge asset for Ø The company has not innovated and
Coca Cola. introduced much healthy beverages. The
health conscious customers therefore, feel
Ø The company has a very strong reluctant to purchase unhealthy drinks
distribution channel which makes its global (Prasertsakul and Worawitphinyo, 2020).
presence stronger.
Opportunities

Ø Coca Cola can diversify and add more

products to their product line. This
expansion in product range will get them Threats
more customers (Lacy-Nichols, Scrinis and
Carey, 2020). Ø Water is the main ingredient in the
products of Coca Cola. Therefore, the
Ø The market of the developing nations limited supply of water is a production
still remains quite unexplored. Coca Cola constraint.
can reach out to the customers of these
markets to enhance their presence and Ø The coffee chains are giving tough
revenue. competition to Coca Cola and its beverages.

Ø Packaged drinking water is an area which

is new and could be utilised for creating a
high return generating revenue stream.

PESTEL
Political factors: As per Kalashnikov and Lutsenko (2020), the changes in the nations’
laws and regulations, changes in the terms of business for non-alcoholic beverages, political
condition of the country where it is operating and the regulations of Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) are some of the political factors that impact the business of Coca
Cola.
Economic factors: The employment rate of a country where it has its business, the
economic growth of nation, monetary policies, consumer confidence, inflation rate and
fluctuations in different currencies are some of the economic factors that affects the global
business of Coca Cola (Zhavoronkova, Miziuk and Zhavoronkov, 2020).

Social factors: As Coca Cola produces drinks for pleasure of the customers, the lifestyle
factors, demographic influence and income distribution affects its business.

Technological factors: The changes in technology across the world, the innovation of
new techniques and machinery and influence of international know-hows are some of the
technological factors influencing the business of Coca Cola.

Environmental factors: The attitude of customers towards carbonated or unhealthy

beverages, the concern for environment and water wastage, the environmental regulations,
etc. affect the business of Coca Cola (Bista, 2019).

Legal factors: Among the legal factors, the taxation policies, the food and beverage
industry regulations, health and safety regulations, impact the business of Coca Cola.

6. Coca Cola and App Annie

The global customers consume the products of Coca Cola around 1.7 billion times per day,
accounting for 19,400 drinks per second (Kumar and Mittal, 2020). Most of the consumers
of this multifaceted brand associate with it at secondary outlets like stadiums or grocery
stores. Thus, proper data on consumers or marketing opportunities and challenges is
required by the brand. Coca Cola is partnering with different retailers and optimizing their
own app as well. Coca Cola depends on App Annie for its intelligence and dataset. The data
from App Annie helps the company to gain actionable data which gives a clearer picture of
the digital landscape.

Coca Cola uses this data from App Annie to understand the optimisation of keywords,
colour schemes, etc. that is seen in the media buys’ screenshots. The science is added to the
marketing strategies of Coca Cola through the dataset of App Annie. Coca Cola uses the data
from App Annie for varied purposes. The data from App Annie is vital for learning and
development of Coca Cola. It drives the company and its customers forward (GaYÁ, 2017).
The app enhances the experience of mobile ordering for food services, engages the
customers in user base and new features, etc. App Annie’s data brings about bottom-line
growth in Coca Cola Company, while enhancing consumer experience and strengthening the
distribution network. Therefore, it can be said that Coca Cola is dependent on App Annie for
delighting and amazing its customers and maintaining best standards of mark