Coca Cola Current Strategy Of The World's Largest Beverage Company

The Coca-Cola Company is a beverage company, manufacturer, distributor, and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups. The company is best known for its flagship product Coca-Cola, invented by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in 1886. The Coca-Cola formula and brand was bought in 1889 by Asa Candler who incorporated The Coca-ColaCompany in 1892. Besides its namesake Coca-Cola beverage, Coca-Cola currently offers morethan 400 brands in over 200 countries or territories and serves 1.6 billion servings each day. Thecompany operates a franchised distribution system dating from 1889 where The Coca-ColaCompany only produces syrup concentrate which is then sold to various bottlers throughout theworld who hold an exclusive

Coca-Cola- In May 1886 John Pemberton invented a drink, Coca-Cola, by accidentally stumbling on the right combination of ingredients while trying to devise a cure for headaches. Pemberton was an experienced maker of patient medicines, which were hugely popular in America in the late nineteenth century. The name was coined by one of Pemberton’s business associates, Frank Robinson. He also contributed to the promotion of the drink by sending out tickets for free samples and putting up posters and banners that read “Drink Coca-Cola, 5c.” Robinson also developed the famous logo for Coca-Cola, which appeared in newspaper

1.The company I chose to research is the, Coca-Cola Company. Their company mission is to “refresh the world” and spread happiness, which can be seen in the media advertising. Although this company is sold in stores, there is the option for online buying as well. Its URL is, http://www.coca-colastore.com. While this URL, is the company’s actual website, http://www.coca-colacompany.com/our-company. This online website allows customers to buy Coca-Cola products “Share-a-Coke” and Coke brand merchandise (Moye, 2015).

Coca Cola and Pepsi are the brands with the highest brand equities. Both, Coca Cola and Pepsi have gone through the highs and lows of their business to reach that position. Coca Cola’s marketing has been changing over time with more and more products being added every day, while Pepsi has implemented several smart marketing strategies to improve its turnover and profits. So, let’s see what were the marketing strategies implemented by Coca Cola and Pepsi.

The multinational company that I have chosen is Coca Cola Company since it is a very popular brand and has been serving its customers for more then 10 decades and even after so many years its popularity seems to be increasing day by day which itself speaks about the company's remarkable performance. The Coca Cola Company is an American multinational corporation and manufacturer, retailer and marketer of the nonalcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups (Wright, 1999). It came into existence in 1886 and was invented in Columbus, Georgia by John Stith Pemberton. The current statistics of the company shows that it is currently operating in over 200 countries offering its customers over 500 brands with each day serving of more then 1.7 billion (Charles W. L. Hill, Essentials of Strategic Management, 2012). .Further more the Coca Cola Company is alone responsible for the 78% of the total gallon sales of all the beverages sold worldwide. The company is listed in New York Sock Exchange and is very popular in most of the countries especially United States of America, which alone consumes 47% of the total gallons, sold worldwide (Zurkuhlen & Meeker, 1987). The company headquarter is located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America and its current chief executive and chairman is Muhtar Kent (Charles W. L. Hill, Strategic Management Theory: An Integrated Approach, 2012).

Coca Cola is bestselling soft drink in the world. It has introduces various product like sports drink, water, juices, sparkling beverages and energy drinks. It has gone through several innovations from products to packaging. In May 1886 Coca Cola was invented by Dr. John Pemberton, a pharmacist from Atlanta, Georgia, registered trademark in US as Coke since 1944. Company sells its product at gas station, supermarket, vending machines and at most fast food restaurants like Mc Donald and Subway. Its widely availability has made its customer’s first choice leading to brand loyalty.

Coca Cola was invented by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in 1886. The formula and brand were bought in 1889 by Asa Candler. He later incorporated the Coca Cola Company in 1892. In 1916, the company began manufacturing its famous bottle, which remains the signature shape of Coca Cola today. In 1928, Robert Woodruff, the company 's president at that time, led the expansion of Coca Cola overseas when he introduced Coca Cola to the Olympic Games. Since then, Coca Cola has grown to be the world 's most recognized brand, with more than 1.4 billion servings sold each day. Coca Cola is currently ranked 63 on the Fortune 500 list for 2015.

Coca-Cola was invented by John Pemberton the Coca-Cola Company began in 1886. With more than 1.9 billion consumers a day, in more than 200 countries, Coca-Cola is dedicated to being the world’s largest beverage company by maintaining and gaining customers. Customer preference is a core value to coke. Coke has dedicated itself to meet the thirst needs of every customer. They engage with their customers at home, restaurants, sporting events. Almost everywhere customers go, they can find a coke product. They build their top line growth and capital efficiency through investment in FIFA World Cup, “Open Happiness” global campaign, and have many worldwide partners, increasing their business nearly 5% every year by creating a diverse customer base.

Coca-Cola Company has realized significant growth since its establishment to become a global leader in the marketing, manufacturing, and distribution of syrup and soft drinks. Out of the four generic strategies, the company has followed the differentiation strategy to make its products unique in the market. Its interest is to maximize the market share through the development of the most innovative products and the establishment of effective strategies to influence the customer’s decisions. In such a way, the company has integrated various strategies to ensure that desirable results are attained in the market. Its strategic choices align with the differentiation strategy in an attempt to make its products unique and meet diverse market requirements. To reduce its weaknesses, the company should consider exploiting key opportunities in the market including venturing in the packaging of water, promotion of new brands, and launching of healthy products. In particular, the vision and mission statement of Coca-Cola seems to have reconfirmed and changed in this process of company’s strategic analysis.

In today's ultra-competitive world, organizations strive to sustain long-term growth by having a distinctive competitive advantage. Coca-Cola believes its long-term success would only be sustained through a responsible business model with good corporate governance. Essentially, this has lead to the setting up of their "quadrant framework" to develop and communicate core values (in the community, market place, environment and workplace) and strategy to its bottlers.

Coca-Cola is the largest non-alcohol beverage manufacturer in the world, which holds approximate 43% market share. The firm is also ranked in top 20 in the Fortune 500 in terms of the largest capital with over 100 billion dollars in assets. John Stith Pemberton is the founder of the firm, which is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. During its 100 years of history, Coca-Cola has grown its businesses substantially in the globe. Currently, the firm presents over 160 countries, including China, India, Japan, and South East Asia countries. The main objectives of the firm that is it can serve its products to all consumers in the globe, and expands its businesses to the majority of strategic regions. In order to grow and expand its present to the other major markets, Coca-Cola executes its marketing strategies based on three different categories, including price, place, partnerships, and core products. These marketing methods have supported Coca-Cola to sustain, and grow in the soft drink industry.

In 1886 John Pemberton invented the popular beverage known as Coca-Cola and sold it to customers in a pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia. People loved the sweet carbonated drink, and sales skyrocketed. It was not until almost a century later in the summer of 1980 that Jack Carew was appointed to lead a project to introduce a diet version of Coca-Cola. Since, at the time consumers were moving to low or no calorie brands. And in 1982 at Radio City in New York Diet Coke made its debut in the United States. Today, Diet Coke is now a popular beverage consumed by about fifty-nine percent of Americans every day, according to a study conducted by the University of Texas at Austin. This drink, containing fewer calories and sugar than regular Coke would

Global companies require the alignment of their employees and partners not only on the strategy itself but also on the values needed to make that strategy successful. Values reflect and shape corporate culture. A shift in strategy often requires a shift in values. The Coca - Cola Company is no different. When the company had a shift in their strategy of “Open Happiness” to “Taste the Feeling” the company had to shift their values to fit it.

Coca- Cola was created in 1886 in Atlanta, Georgia, by Dr. John S. Pemberton, Coca cola was first offered as a fountain beverage at Jacobs Pharmacy by mixing Coca - Colasyrup with carbonated water. Coca- cola was patented in 1887, registered as a trademark in 1893 and by 1895 it was being sold in every state and territory in the United States.

The stiff competition that exists in the industries requires that different strategies are taken that are aimed at increasing the profitability of the business. Coca-Cola Company has been on the rise beating competition from most of its rivals. The company uses marketing strategies to be able to attract more customers and be able to overcome the stiff competition. With the right marketing strategies, a company can increase its profits and hence increase its growth especially for a multinational corporation such as Coca-Cola. Therefore, each time a particular strategy does not bring the best results, a strategic shift is always important to be able to ensure that the company performance is not affected.