Thesis on "Coca-Cola Company Is the World's Largest Manufacturer"

Thesis 5 pages (1678 words) Sources: 5 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest manufacturer, distributor, and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups in the world. They are the global leader in sparkling beverages, juices and juice drinks and ready-to-drink teas and coffees. The company serves consumers in more than 200 countries through the world's largest beverage distribution system. They offer more than 2,800 products that include diet and regular sodas, 100% juices, juice drinks, waters, sports and energy drinks, teas and coffees, and milk -- and soy-based beverages. These consumers enjoy Coca-Cola products at a rate of 1.5 billion servings a day (the Coca-Cola Company Fact Sheet, 2008).

One afternoon in 1866, John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist, stirred up a fragrant, caramel-colored liquid in a three legged kettle in his backyard. When it was done he took it down the street to Jacobs' Pharmacy where the mixture was combined with carbonated water and Coca-Cola was born. The drink was put on sale at the pharmacy for five cents a glass. In 1866 Pemberton sold just 9 glasses of Coca-Cola per day. It was Pemberton's bookkeeper that came up with the name of Coca-Cola. He wrote it out in his distinctive handwriting and it was so well liked that it is still written that way today (the Coca-Cola Heritage Timeline, 2008).

What started as caramel colored syrup in Pemberton's backyard back in 1866 has grown to over 400 brands today that are distributed in over 200 countries throughout the world.

Many of these products are geared towards the markets of people to which they are sold. The carbonated lines are geared toward quenching the thirst of the masses, while energy and sports drinks and water are targeted towards athletes. Besides these beverages, Coca-Cola also distributes and markets Minute Maid juice, Simply Orange juice, Odwalla nutritional juices, Five Alive refreshment beverages, Bacardi tropical fruit mixers and Hi-C ready-to-serve fruit drinks. They also have a license to manufacture and sell concentrates for Seagram's mixers in the United States and certain other countries. They also have a joint venture with Nestle, in which they own 50%, to market ready-to-drink teas and coffees in certain countries around the world (Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2005, 2006).

Muhtar Kent is president and chief executive officer of the Coca-Cola Company, and serves on the Company's Board of Directors. Mr. Kent joined the Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta in 1978 and has held a variety of marketing and operations roles throughout his career with the company. As president and chief executive officer he leads the company with a firm commitment to the values and spirit of the world's greatest brand. It is his vision for the company to become a sustainable and profitable company. He has developed a management strategy that focuses on the marketplace with greater speed, productivity and effectiveness. The company has made a commitment to its consumers and the communities in which it operates. It is their goal to uphold these things to the best of its ability (Operating Group Leadership, 2006). The mission of the Coca-Cola Company is three fold. They want to make sure that they carry out these things in everything that they do. They want to make sure that they:

refresh the world in body, mind and spirit inspire moments of optimism through their brands and actions create value and make a difference everywhere that they engage (the Coca-Cola Company Fact Sheet, 2008).

The company tries to carry out these goals of their mission by engaging in certain core competencies while doing business. The first of these competencies includes the use of a bottling distribution system. There are more than 300 bottling partners that make up this unique bottling system. Each bottling and distribution company is privately owned, however Coca-Cola owns 35% of Coca-cola Enterprises which is the number one coke bottler in the world. These bottling partners are responsible for producing, packaging, distributing, and merchandising the Coca-Cola products across the world (the Coca-Cola System, 2008).

A second core competency includes their use of marketing slogans. Over the years they have used many campaigns, two examples are the "share a coke and a smile" and "the real thing" campaigns. The purpose of these campaigns has been to connect with people by marketing to them. They feel that if they gear their marketing towards those that they want to buy the products then they will be more successful not only in their business, but also in giving the consumers the products that they want (the Coca-Cola System, 2008).

A third competency that they use would be that of the brand name. Although the name Coca-Cola is known throughout the world, the nick name of "Coke" makes it friendlier and thus more marketable to the general public. Again they are really trying to connect to those consumers in which they are trying to sell products to (the Chronicle of Coca-Cola, 2008).

The Coca-Cola Company's marketing strategies help the company to adapt to demographic shifts and changing values that happen frequently. They try to market to diverse societies in order to create sub-cultures in which they can flourish. They also spend a lot of time developing marketing campaigns that try to influence the consumer's decision making. This is how they continue to be successful in the ever changing international economic environments around the world. They feel that consumer demand determines what products the company should offer. And yet consumer demand can vary from one location to another and can change over time within a single place. By using their marketing and business strategies along with focusing on their core brands, the company seeks to build its existing brands while broadening its historical family of brands. They want to use their products and services in order to create and satisfy consumer demand in every location in which they do business (Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2005, 2006).

Depending on which product line you are talking about would determine what marketing strategy the company would chose to pursue. If you look at their energy and sports drinks along with their water product lines, those are marketed towards athletes. The older generation would be their focus for their Coke brand. And their diet drinks would be geared toward those people who are dieters. The key idea that Coca-Cola has to keep in mind when laying the foundation for their marketing strategies is that they are always need to be watching the ever changing markets, and be flexible enough to change with them when needed. They need to be prepared to changed their plans in mid stream if the change in the market so warrants it. They seem to very good at recognizing these changes and reacting as necessary in order to continue to be successful in what they do.

The Coca-Cola Company works very hard to identify and address any existing and emerging social and environmental issues that might exist where they do business. They also work to identify any potential solutions to these problems as well. Their goal is to as environmentally responsible as they can. They are successful at doing this because their products are made in the communities in which they are consumed. This gives them the best vantage point to make sure that they always know what is going on. Thus giving them the ability to recognize problems and tackle those head on (Coke Facts, 2008).

The Coca-Cola Company does a good job of incorporating the 4 P's of marketing (product, price, place and promotion) into their marketing mix. They attempt to keep these four things in mind as they develop their marketing strategies. They tend place their focus on beverage creation and marketing that helps them to understand and meet the diverse and ever changing needs of their consumers around the world. They… READ MORE

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