W2 Assignment OMM615

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OMM615

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Marketing

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Feb 20, 2024

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IMC Tactics IMC Tactics Analysis Daniel Lempa The University of Arizona Global Campus OMM615: Strategies: Marketing/Advertising/Public Relations Dr. Darlene Pomponio October 23, 2023 1

IMC Tactics Introduction Imagine planning a cross country road trip with the family and using road maps to plot your course and daily activities. Now consider the confusion and frustration you would have if those maps did not line up with each other and your route had to change just because of the territory you were in or the brand of map you were using. Considering the time and money large corporations invest in their marketing, brand equity and advertising, it is crucial to deliver a consistent message across all marketing lines (Ogden & Ogden, 2014). Imagine a world-wide brand like Coca-Cola known for its red packing, unique bottle design and familiar logos placing the marketing and advertising in the hands of each local market. The potential for variations could be significant without a IMC and unified marketing strategy. The impact could result in brand confusion and have a negative impact on brand identity and equity. The goal of this paper is to analyze Coca-Cola’s marketing and advertising strategies across several lines to identify strengths and weaknesses within their model while suggesting opportunities for improvement. IMC Tactics Integrated marketing tactics (IMC) are comprised of several key components including marketing, sales, and public relations designed to align with the strategic goals of the organization. IMCs are effective and crucial to larger organizations as they help ensure that marketing and advertising communications and plans are executed consistently across all markets. Consistency in messaging helps to provide protection of the brands integrity and equity. Utilizing a comprehensive IMC ensures that marketing and communications are consistent in design and delivery while meeting organizational standards (Ogden & Ogden, 2014). 2

IMC Tactics Coca-Cola’s IMC & Marketing Strategy When Coca-Cola marketing executives work with organizational leaders, the focus starts with strategy. Over the years, this strategy has had to expand into other markets, and include the brands outside of the core Coca-Cola Brand. A primary focus has been to understand consumer needs, identify problems that need to be solved and measure those against expected outcomes. One of the biggest challenges has been the balance between consumer, retailer and bottler as Coca-Cola has slowly outgrown its core Coca-Cola brand (Talbot, 2019). When we look back on May 8, 1886, the birthday of the first Coca-Cola when an average of 9 drinks were poured daily, no one could have imagined that we would see sales in 2023 exceeding 100 billion bottles sold annually. This is a staggering 200,000 bottles each minute and places Coca-Cola as the world’s largest non-alcoholic beverage company in the world with 500 brands found in over 200 countries (Market.U.S., n.d). Coca-Cola’s presence in the market, is a testament to their resilience over the last 5 years which showed stability and growth during the pandemic keeping their promises to investors and stakeholders. Coca-Cola attributes their success to a well-established network of marketing and product development teams deeply rooted in organizational goal and objectives. Marketing maintains a focus on delivering products that the consumer wants while creating marketing campaigns that relate to and identify with consumers in a variety of markets (Coca-Cola Investor Relations, 2023). 3

IMC Tactics Marketing Venues Responsible Marketing Beginning 2022, Coca-Cola made a commitment to responsible marketing which outlined its goals within its IMC to promote practices of sustainability, business goals and values, and a marketing strategy that respects the roles of parents and guardians while creating a practice to not create any marketing geared toward children under the age of 13 (Coca-Cola Marketing, 2022). In part of their move to responsible marketing, Coca-Cola announced a shift away from traditional media outlets which will allow them to transform marketing into more of a consumer experience with a focus on gaming, social media, and interactive tools. Marketing will move away from operating in various silos into on experienced driven by data and analytics. To accomplish this, Coca-Cola marketing is moving to one IMC platform with a global marketing team that will partner with a single external partner for collaboration and external perspective (Pham, 2021). Television Ironically, as I sit and write the paper with the Texas Longhorns vs. Houston game playing in the background, a Coca-Cola commercial streams across my television. Their advertisement captures the famous Coca-Cola Red and their primary product, but this ad takes a twist and focuses heavily on the logistics team that is responsible for the delivery of the products. This advertisement reflected corporate pride, teamwork, and growth by acting as a career page for the organization. As the advertisement ended with the familiar Coca-Cola Red backdrop and white lettering, the tag line “OpportuityFizzes.com” (FoxSports.TV). 4

IMC Tactics FoxSports TV Coca-Cola’s 2023 marketing initiatives are taking a shift away from standard broadcast media, limiting their typical television and media-based marketing to allow greater focus on consumer experiences that engage new consumers on a personal level. The focus is using analytics to evaluate how to communicate with Gen Z in platforms they relate with including, gaming, mobile apps, increased social media presence and sponsored events. Image 1-1 represents tactics used to connect with consumers in this demographic. Along with the focus of Gen Z as their primary market, the Coca-Cola IMC has set design limitations for all marketing communications and advertising to ensure that the any celebrity or social media influencer used in their campaigns does not appeal or intended to be used to draw in children under the age of 13. This move specifically noted the use or reference to use of their products in movies, games, and videos (Coca-Cola Marketing, 2022). 5

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