Chap 12: Services and Nonprofit Organization Marketing

Marketing Mix:

Product: Coca Cola is the number one brand in sparkling beverages, juice, and retail packaged water in the year 2010. The company has a product mix of 3,500 products, divided into diet category, fruit drinks, water, energy drinks, tea, and coffee.

Place: The company has its market presence in 200 countries around the world. The company distribution system follows the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) distribution pattern.

Promotion: The company spends lots of money to advertise their products such as on TV, audio and outdoors. Coca Cola also uses the internet to advertise their products and they also have their own website. The company uses social media to connect with the consumers such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.

Price: Since Coca Cola is in lots of places in the world, the pricing of the products is done according to the market and geographic segment. The company’s pricing strategy is based on the competitors pricing, such as Pepsi, Coca Cola’s direct competitor.

Chap 18: Social Media and Marketing

Coca Cola on Social Media

Coca Cola is one of the most recognized brands in the world who runs campaigns such as "share a coke" and current one "Taste the Feeling" to engage its audience and generate content that they can share, which is crowdsourcing. Coca Cola uses social media like Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Instagram having millions of followers. The company advertises their products on social media and also their own website which the company spends lots of money doing so.  Coca Cola has 3.2 million followers on twitter and uses this social media for direct engagement responding to feedback, complaints, and compliments. The biggest fan base for Coca Cola is on Facebook, having 82 million fans which the company promotes campaigns and brand initiatives like they do on Instagram. According to the Coca Cola website, the company has commitments concerning how they react with the public and also each other. Those commitments are being transparent in every social media engagement. The company wants to protect consumers privacy such as IT security policies, rules and regulations. Coca Cola also wants to respect copyrights, trademarks, and other third party rights. The company wants to be responsible in their use of technology and also monitor there behavior in social media space
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Chap 11: Developing and Managing Products

The Product Life Style For Coca-Cola

Introductory Stage: Coca Cola was created by Dr. John S Pemberton in 1886 and was first introduced as a soda fountain drink. The product at the time was sold for 5 cents a glass. Frank M. Robinson, which is Pemberton's partner and bookkeeper, suggested a name with c's which then led to "Coca-Cola."

Growth Stage: in 1888, Pemberton sold Coca-Cola to Asa Chandler. Chandler then formed the Coca-Cola Company in 1892 and then by 1895 the soft drink was made available to every state across america. As demand grew for coca cola, the production increased and then coca cola was made available in bottles rather than through soda fountains.


Maturity Stage: Coca-Cola is currently in this stage. Coca-Cola has developed new market strategies product improvement. Also the company entered new market segments and enlarged its distribution channels.

Chap 8: Segmenting and Targeting Markets

Coca Cola does not target a specific segment but the company adapts its marketing strategy by making new products. Segmentation helps the company define the appropriate products for specific customer groups. Coca-Cola develops a marketing mix for each of the segments. Now, Coca-Cola has a total of 3,500 products, providing drinks for many different target markets.
The Geographic Segmentation: is that Coca-Cola is the most popular non alcoholic beverage that is being sold all around the world. People are going for a healthier lifestyle which influenced Coca Cola to make healthier products such as diet coke and coke zero.
The Demographic Segmentation: Coca-Cola targets both genders and as for the age segmentation, that depends on the product. For Coke Zero, they target young adults between the ages of 18-29 years old who don't want the calories but want the same great taste. As for Diet Coke, they target adults ages 30-50 who are health conscious but still love the taste of coke.
The Psychographic Segmentation: Coca-Cola's one brand strategy (which is Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Coke Life) is an example of the lifestyle segmentation, again for people who are health conscious and want no calorie or sugar free drinks.

Chap 15: Marketing Communications

Competitive Advantage

Coca Cola has developed a strong brand name that is recognized by 90% of the global population. Coca Cola always concentrates on the customers and focuses on all the age groups of people and comes up with a market strategy that influences all the targeted consumers. Today people are becoming more health conscious, coca cola comes with new product innovation that attracts customers who maybe want drinks with low sugar/calorie or maybe want juice drinks. Coca Cola bottling system is the best competitive advantage that the company enjoys. Coca Cola has given rights to the bottlers company around the globe to make and sell the company's products.



Promotional Mix

Advertising: Coca Cola uses advertisement to introduce different themes and concepts to sell their products. The company spends lots of money for advertisements to promote products used. Coca Cola mainly advertises on social media such as YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook also outdoor advertisements. The Coca Cola Company's Advertisements build brand image and have created memorable slogans throughout the years.

Public Relations: Coca Cola has a section on their website where consumers can view press releases, and company articles, also investors can access financial statements made by the company regarding current information. Coca Cola can address stories, new products, and activities.

Sales Promotion: Coca Cola does sales promotion in two ways to increase sales rapidly which are Consumer and Trade Sales Promotion. The consumer sales promotion is getting the eye catching position and for trade sales promotion, its the discounts to retailers and stores and also return back allowances.

Personal Selling: The Coca Cola Company has many salespeople who represents the company to sell, service, and build a relationships with the customers. The Salesperson promotes their products and sells them and also service them many times per week.

Chap 10: Product Concepts

The Coca Cola Company is the world's largest beverage company that has the most valuable and recognizable brands. Coca Cola is the number one provider of sparkling water, ready-to-drink coffees and juices with consumers in more than 200 countries enjoying it and a  product mix of over 3,500 products. Coca Cola is a consumer product because as it says in their mission statement, the company wants "to refresh the world in mind, body, and spirit." Coca Cola can be easily found everywhere. In a gas station, newsstands, vending machines, supermarkets, restaurants, bars/clubs, and more places around the world. This makes Coca Cola a convenience product because it is so easy to find a Coca Cola drink with little shopping effort. As for the benefits of branding, Coca Cola products are recognized around the globe so that gives the company an excellent product identification. Coca Cola's brand equity in 2014 was estimated at $81.6 billion, which makes the company valuable. These benefits is what led Coca Cola to have brand loyalty. The company has a loyalty program in which members can earn rewards by participating in mycokerewards.com.

Chap 17: Personal Selling and Sales Management

Coca-Cola steps in The Selling Process:

Step 1: Generating Leads 
The Coca-Cola Company brand is a trademark worldwide, the company generates its leads through advertising and social media, developing new slogans and new advertisements.
Step 2: Qualifying Leads 
The recognition of the need of the Coca-Cola Company is the need of a beverage (in reality a want). The company recognizes its needs by the use of their website and social media.
Step 3: Approaching the Customer and Probing Needs
The Coca-Cola website informs customers about the products and events. Coca-Cola also uses social media such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter to inform customers of the company's product and events.
Step 4: Developing and Proposing Solutions
The Coca-Cola Company's salesperson is the one who develops a solution in which the product or service solves and satisfies a particular need.
Step 5: Handling Objections
The customer has other options instead of purchasing Coca-Cola, such as Pepsi-Cola. The Coca-Cola loyalty brand are more open to purchasing Coca-Cola beverages.
Step 6: Closing the Sale 
When the objectives of buying Coca-Cola are met. Salesperson negotiates so there can be a sales agreement
Step 7: Following Up
The Coca-Cola main company's website has information and also a feedback site to follow up on their selling process.

Chap 16: Advertising, Public Relations, and Sales Promotion

Advertising:
Coca Cola advertises not only their products but also the company's image which is institutional advertising. Coca Cola uses many types of advertising which are television, magazines, outdoor, and the internet. Coca Cola uses television commercials to gain good marketing coverage by appealing to consumer's senses. Coke uses the internet to promote their products, using social media and their own website. Coca Cola outdoor media includes their billboards, sports arenas, and more. Coke uses mediums and has spent lots of money for their advertisements.
Public Relations:
In the Coca Cola website, the company handles public relations which they include a press center, which allows consumers to view press releases, company articles, and company statements made by the company regarding current information. This press center can be found in this link: http://www.coca-colacompany.com/press-center/image-library/
Sales Promotion:
Sales Promotion consists of marketing communication activities other than advertising, public selling and, public relations, to boost the sales of a product or service temporarily. Coca Cola gives its products to retails for a lower price and the retailers sells the product on sale. In order for the retailer to do this, it runs an ad in their store to attract consumers.

Chap 14: Market Channels and Retailing

Marketing Channel for Coca-Cola:

Coca-Cola uses two major channel distribution strategies. Which are direct selling and indirect selling. According to the Coca-Cola website, it states "Our principal channels are small retailers, on premise consumption, such as restaurants and bars, supermarkets and third party distributors." Coca-Cola distribution channel is direct and indirect. Indirect channel because the company uses intermediates. Coca-Cola engages various distributor agencies through partnership. The company delivers the products to distributors who then supply the products to direct retailers. Coca-Cola is also a Direct channel because the company uses Coke vending machines in certain locations such as gas stations and schools. The retail store i chose to go to is the Wal-Mart in my neighborhood in Brooklyn on Lorimer st. Wal-Mart is a large retailer who gets their supplies from Coca-Cola directly.

Chap 6: Consumer Decision Making

The Consumer Decision Making Process:

This is a process in which the consumer identify their needs, consumers collect information, than they evaluate alternatives, make the purchase decision, and than their post purchase behavior (satisfied or dissatisfied). Coca-Cola's Needs Recognition is more of a want for Coca-Cola beverages because people see the logo of the bottle and get thirsty so its their consumption of wanting to drink the beverage. For Information Search Coca-Cola is both marketing controlled information source and non-marketing controlled information source. Coca Cola has mass media advertising (television, internet, magazines) and also personal sources of family, friends, and coworkers who recommend it. Evaluate Alternatives and Purchase, Consumers have other options for beverages other than Coca-Cola such as Pepsi, there top competition. This goes back to needs recognition because its what the consumer want. As for Post Purchase Behavior, Coca-Cola wants to maximize customer satisfaction and retention.

Chap 5: Developing a Global Vision

Coca-Cola announced a global marketing strategy that for the first time, all the coke trademarks will be united in one global creative campaign: "Taste the Feeling". This global marketing campaign offers consumers whichever Coca-Cola suits their taste, lifestyle, and diet. It can be with or without calories, or with or without caffeine (Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Coke Life). Chief Marketing Officer Marcos de Quinto is who unveiled the "one brand" strategy in a media event in Paris and says "Coca Cola is one brand with different variants, all of which share the same values and visual iconography. People want their Coca-Cola in different ways, but whichever one they want, they want a Coca-Cola with great taste and refreshment." Quinto's vision for this global creative campaign is bringing to life the idea that drinking any Coca-Cola is a simple pleasure that makes everyday moments more special.

(Link for Taste the Feeling Anthem)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AmKP9VE2Ms

Chap4: The Marketing Environment

External Environment Factors:

Social Factors: More people are practicing healthier lifestyle which is the most important social factor that influenced Coca Cola.  The trademark "Live Positively" by coca cola is a commitment to create a positive difference in the world for a better lifestyle. Coca cola uses social media such as Facebook to maintain the brand image, and Twitter to respond to mentions such as, complaints, compliments, and follow requests.

Demographic Factors: Diet coke is very popular for diabetic people. People from the age of 37-55 are very concerned with nutrition. The major emphasis of coca cola is to be a "cool" drink to attract teenagers and for adults a drink they been having since they were younger. The large portion of consumers are baby boomers. Many customers switched to bottled water, diet coke and coke zero.

Economic Factors: Economic recession is one of the most important factors that influnced Coca Cola. Consumers have less money to spend, but Coca Cola is a worldwide brand with a lot of brand awareness so sales is still growing.

Technological Factors: The new technology advances like television and internet uses special effects for advertising through social media, also the new technology made it possible for coca cola to use recycle materials to make cans and plastic bottles for it can be better for the environment.

Political and Legal Factors: Coca Cola was granted a trademark for name "coke" in the year 1945. The food and drug administration (FDA) is a powerful agency that regards non-alcoholic drinks such as coca cola, because of this the government and health authorities are constantly monitoring what Coca Cola puts in their drinks. Coca Cola are monitored by over 200 governments and health authorities including Muslim countries.