Strengths In The SWOT Of Coca Cola

The Coca-Cola Company is the largest manufacturer and marketer of nonalcoholic beverage in the world. The company produces finished product in cans and bottles. The bottlers then sell, distribute and merchandise the resulting Coca-Cola product to retail stores, vending machines, restaurants and food service distributors. Coca-Cola is the most popular and biggest-selling soft drink in history as well as the best-known product in the world. The Coca-Cola Company offers nearly 400 brands in over 200 countries. Throughout this

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.

Coca Cola is an international organization which is operating in more than 400 countries. It deals in the beverage industry and is leading the industry for years. Coca Cola is a competing brand, which has made its place in the market competing against several brands. Coca Cola is considered as the leading brand and is ranked as number 1 international brand, according to the ranking of 2011. Coca Cola deal in the beverage industry and provides people with several products. It is a well-known name and people all around the world knows about it. Headquarters of Coca Cola is in Atlanta, and the company has been operating for more than 126 years (Wise and Baumgartner, 1999). In 1886, the company was formed and since then it has been serving millions of people around the globe. Coca Cola is the lead brand of Coca Cola Company, which is the greatest reason of its recognition. Despite many competitors like Pepsi Co, the company has been able to maintain its position in the

Without executing properly on brand awareness a consumer will not be able to differentiate between its’ competitors. There are hundreds of different types of beverages to choose from and even sodas for that matter. In order to stay market leaders, Coke and Pepsi most continue to innovate and adapt to new competitors, not only on a domestic scale, but on a global scale. They must also continue to acquire brands that pose a threat. Below is a chart of the top, nonalcoholic beverage brands that control the marketplace.

Each one of the four driving forces in the cola industry is currently pushing the industry in a new direction of product line expansion (Exhibit 3). While international expansion is key for the industry due to the driving force of increasing globalization, cola products are not always the most sought after beverages internationally. Consumers’ tastes differ throughout the world, and new product development is essential to target those differing tastes. Even increased expansion outside of the beverage industry entirely would prove helpful to at least diversify risk away from the cola sector.

“Coca-Cola brands are available to consumers throughout the world. Today they account for 1.7 billion servings of all beverages consumed worldwide daily. Coca-Cola has the edge in the market and because they are first to capitalize on new consumer trends. They continue to focus on continuous operating improvements, and they are ever changing to meet market demands. Pepsi Co satisfies the needs of its customers with the wide variety of products offered. They also have the different type of beverage or snack and its brands can substitute for each other. Coco-Cola and Pepsi Co is known as the top 100 most valuable brands in the world.

Brand Equity – Coca cola with its vast global presence and its unique brand identity is definitely one of the costliest brands with the highest brand equity as suggest by interbrand which awarded coca cola the highest brand equity in 2011.

Coca-Cola’s strengths are excellent brand recognition, diverse product line, strong supply chain network, largest beverage distribution system, competitive marketing strategy, sustainable services to customers. Its weaknesses are perceived negative safety and quality consequences of certain ingredients, health and nutrition issues, high dependence on bottling partners, water availability and sustainability, potential shortages and higher prices of raw materials, etc,.

Try saying Coca-Cola in any part of the world and you will most probably be able to communicate and be understood. What Coca-Cola have managed through the years, is to be known and recognized in any and every place around the world and you will not be able to enjoy one, at least officially, only if you find yourself in South Korea and Cuba, something that is even changing soon about Cuba (BBC, 2012). But is not just about brand. Coca-Cola Company, which was founded in 1892, comes in at a $193B market cap, with revenues of $43,5B, based on the work of almost 123.000 employees (Forbes, 2016). Therefore, it comes as no surprise that Coca-Cola is the 4th most

(Essentials, 193)  Coca-Cola needs to look at their role in addressing global challenges, in this case the purification and replenishment of the ground water in India.  The Coca-Cola Company can use their influence to play a part in solving their issues and rebuild their relationship with the people of India.

The customers, although are well aware of the side effects and health effects which the product, Coca Cola, has on the human bodies, but still people continue to drink such a harmful soft drink (Hunt, et al., 2006, p. 5). Apart from this, the company has retained its position in the market with the developments or innovations of the various soft drinks such as sprite, fanta, or even minute maid which has gained much popularity in a smaller period of time since its innovation (Statham, 2014). Along with this, there is another major problem for the company and that is the competitive brands in the market.

Coca-Cola products are available via the world’s largest distribution network. The company capitalizes on a global network of owned or controlled distributors, independent bottlers, wholesalers, and retailers. This enables Coca-Cola to closely manage costs and rapidly introduce new items into the marketplace. These activities have facilitated market presence, high volume deliveries, and product saturation during in recent years.

Fantastic marketing strategies – Coca-Cola unlike other beverages companies tries to win people’s heart instead of attacking the competitors. Coca cola targets people of all ages with their unique marketing skills and taglines.

According to PepsiCo SWOT, “it is better equipped to satisfy the needs of customers with a wide variety of successful products” (2008). PepsiCo managed to present almost every type of drink and food brands. The merchandise that is earned is the majority of their revenue. This makes them extremely at risk to change any of their marketing products. However

Relied upon its sales and distribution channels, Coca-Cola has undoubtedly established a mature marketing network. But what can’t be ignored is the threats posed by companies out of carbonated beverage, they all spare no effort to gain market share in the relevant industry.