MGT330 Final Paper

In today's economy, corporations have to fight to stay at the top in their chosen market(s) to stay competitively viable and return a profit to the vested shareholders. The profits not only have to be able to pay dividends to the shareholders, but they have to be able to sustain corporate operational expenses as well. This is becoming increasingly more difficult for companies based in the United States when their competitors from other countries have huge advantages in the form of lower taxes, lower labor wages and less or no benefits at all just too mention a few of improprieties. By implementing control systems we can track and have an accurate standing of the

Meijer Superstore, Speedway, and Walgreens are the locations used at the center of research to compare and contrast several brands of single serving-size, refrigerated, water and tea. During this exploration, the marketing mix; product, price, placement, and promotion were observed among the several brands. Coca-Cola will benefit from the research where unique observations emerged. These observations include the placement of flavoring drops to add to water, the availability of Vitamin Water in both the water and sport drink sections, and the price and placement of PepsiCo products vs. Coca-Cola products, which included both water and tea, in the Meijer Superstore.

products to suit customer’s needs, Coca-Cola was able to make a positive step forward in their

The company known as Coca-Cola today was started in September of 1919, but the first Coke brand was served as early as 1886. Since that time it has grown to be one of the most globally recognized brand names with a stock value of $167 billion. Coke’s plan has always been developed with the future in mind. Right away the company realized that it was more profitable to manufacture the concentrate used to make carbonated drinks than to bottle it. From that point on they saw the entire world, not simply the originating country, as their desired market. It seems only practical that the company should pursue this agenda until conquered then focus the effort on expanding into different product lines. This logical

The Coca Cola company is perceived to be the most famous trademark on the globe, and it is equally so. The company claims more than 400 brands that appeal to a wide range of individuals throughout the world. They are in a position to fulfill needs of every one of their buyers making their experience with their beverages a better one. The entity’s drinks entice a lot of people across all races, age, and gender. Coca Cola is outstanding for its overall popularity as its items are sold in over four hundred countries in the world, while major contenders like Pepsi are just available in very few countries. Such a competitive advantage has placed

The Coca Cola Company is very cautious and responsive to change; they act with urgency and have the courage to discourse when needed to work more efficiently. Coke’s focus is to administer its system assets to build values and rewards for the people who take risks by finding better ways to solve problems. Coca Cola Company feels they are accountable for their actions and inactions and hence answerable to the people. They learn from their outcomes and understand what works or what doesn’t for them.

Another important weakness is that the company’s products are seen as a major cause of obesity. (Melser, 2013) The beverage sales are affected by various factors including change in trends and preferences. Recently, beverage sales have fallen because of people’s increased preference for the health drinks. Around the world, obesity is a major problem and the Coca Cola products are seen as a major cause of obesity. As people are getting health conscious they are moving towards low calorie healthy drinks. This affects coca cola’s profitability and popularity. However, the brand can overcome this situation by increasing the number of low calorie products in its brand portfolio. It will need to add more healthy choices for its customers in its product portfolio.

It has taken much more than simply the brand and product to grow Coca-Cola in the number one leader in the soft drink market. Over the past 100 plus years, Coca-Cola has built a huge network of distribution and manufacturing networks. These collaborations that are superior to all others and all types of relationships are a distinctive competency for Coca-Cola. The way that they organize and plan their contracts has proven to be extremely successful and continues to keep Coca-Cola at the top of the market. They have been able to build relationships with suppliers, buyers, bottlers, manufactures, retailers and consumers that are strengthened by the degree of loyalty from both sides of these relationships. They continue to manage their company

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.

Since 1980, the worldwide obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and type II diabetes figures have more than doubled, affecting the overall global health of the population. According to Egger et al., (2013) a critical factor in these increases is the high consumption of carbonated soft drinks and sugary fruit drinks. Sanjay et al., (2013, 2077) suggested the requirement for stronger preventive measures to rescue the health of the global population, surmising the need for greater education and transparent nature of the ingredients will aid influence behavioural changes.

Coca-Cola is the number one non-alcoholic beverage in the world and is also the golden standard in the beverage industry. Over the pass decade carbonated beverage sales has decrease which has lead Coca-Cola to seek for new opportunity and investor. Contribution of US soda sales in Coca-Cola’s revenue could decline to less than 15% by 2020. By the end of 2017 Coca-Cola is looking to refranchise two-thirds of its bottling territories in North America. The outcome of Coca-Cola refranchise two-third of its bottling territories will reduce the revenue to Coca-Cola sales of its products, however the operating margin will increase. Also, this could reduce the percentage contribution by the U.S to Coca-Cola overall revenue.

Innovation is much more than taking a current beverage and repackaging it with different flavors. It also means more than boosting Coca-Cola Classic sales (Cravens, 2009). “New formulations could potentially serve as the basis for future advertising efforts, while providing shelter from health critics and politicians who blame soda for the nation's obesity epidemic” (Schultz, 2013). New formulations and brand extensions will help consumers that are no longer purchasing the brand to try new flavors or brand products, have a positive experience, and then hopefully return to the purchasing of previous products also (Bloomberg Businessweek, 2005). The innovation strategy should strengthen the brand.

Last year, Coca-cola saw its sales decreased in the European market. In order to increase the sales, Coca-Cola needs to define a new strategic communications plan. As mentioned above the image of Coca-Cola has been damaged quite a lot for the past 2 years by different factors. A hard work needed to deal with consequences of this damage in the image of the company.

Coca-Cola spends huge amounts of fund on marketing every year to remain its competitiveness. However, recently, Coca-Cola had a weak global growth. The sales volume of soda is not so satisfactory. Coke is claimed to have too many calories and sugar, thus being bad to health, as a result of which, consumers turn their attention to other drinks (Kell n. pag.).

The global beverages industry is currently a low-growth market, with an expected compound annual growth rate of 5.7% between 2017 and 2025 (Grand View Research 2017). Additionally, the industry is quite saturated with firms that offer increasingly differentiated products. However, due to this low growth rate, companies have been engaging in price competition to gain competitive advantage and increase their market share. Nevertheless, Coca Cola is a dominant force in this market, controlling 40% of the industry, and is therefore at a low risk of losing its position.