Carlos Moreno

MAR – 441 – Written Assignment 1

Due by July 19, 2020

Introduction

My choice for this study is Coca-Cola, one of the top companies worldwide in the soft drink retailing business. Founded in 1886, the company has grown from its roots in the United States to have a global presence of over 200 nations worldwide (The Coca-Cola Company). Nonetheless, with such a global reach, then the company is bound to face some level of competition both from the native companies in those countries it has penetrated, but also from other global brands in the industry.

One global brand that has been a chief rival to the company is the Pepsi Company. The two brands go head to head most often than not, and thus the need for a vibrant marketing strategy to remain competitive. E-marketing opens a whole new dimension to the 21^st-century marketing approach, as in it, the messaging can be delivered to the client wherever they are via their mobile devices. Therefore, to satisfy the purpose of marketing of informing, persuading or reminding, there is a need to conduct a situational analysis of the company to evaluate its different operating environments, both internally and externally, through SWOT analysis. Only then can the company select a suitable target market and set goals for its marketing approach towards the market. Therefore, the SWOT analysis for Coca-Cola is as follows;

Strength: The brand has several strengths, such as they are well established in the global market. Secondly, Coca-Cola enjoys a vibrant distribution network, write to the point of Third-party distributors. Due to these vibrant distribution channels, the brand has an extensive global reach, which gives it an upper hand of having a worldwide presence. Finally, the years in the market, coupled with excellent workmanship has earned the brand customer loyalty.

Weakness: One of the two predominant factors in this section is health concerns. Presently, many people are more concerned about what they take in their bodies, and this might not settle well with Coca-Cola as their core brands are based on carbonated drinks. Secondly, as compared to its main rival, Pepsi, Coca-Cola has low product diversification.

Opportunity: Main areas on this part would include them diversifying to other products to increase their sales. In diversification, they can also think of incorporating healthy products to cater to changes in consumption trends.

Threats: The main factors to consider here would be the stiff competition that they face in the market from Pepsi, who have been their main competitor, and from new entries on the market. Secondly, because of their global presents, the company is subject to varying government regulations such as taxation, which affect its overall profitability margin.

With the SWOT analysis in mind, therefore, the next step is to determine what our target market is and how to classify it.

The Target Market and its Strategic segmentation

The target for E-marketing is the American Market, particularly the Northern American market. This market was chosen because, according to Forbes, Coca-Cola faces fierce competition from Pepsi at this market; and Pepsi is currently doing better in the region.

Segmentation

On market segments, the primary approaches will be demographic segmentation based on dimensions such as age, income, or gender; and the second will be based on the psychographic approach, which highlights factors such as the client’s perceptions, values, and beliefs.

Strategic Objectives and Goals of the E-Marketing Approach

The strategic objectives include;

1. To get a competitive edge over rival companies in the market.
2. To increase the market share of the company.
3. To increase the sales of the company in the region.

Work Cited

Forbes. How Important Is North America Beverages For PepsiCo’s Growth?. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2019/10/28/how-important-is-north-america-beverages-for-pepsicos-growth/#4ac9a84b4f60

The Coca-Cola Company. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.coca-colacompany.com/company

Pratap Abhijeet. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF COCA-COLA IN 2020. (2020). Retrieved https://notesmatic.com/2020/03/strengths-and-weaknesses-of-coca-cola-in-2020/

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                                                       E-marketing Strategic Plan

The E-marketing strategy will greatly rely on the marketing mix to be adopted by the Coca-Cola company. This concerns the products, place, price, promotion, and people involved in the marking strategy. These five elements of the marketing mix significantly contribute to brand positioning in the market (Cuellar and Gomez 5). In them, they hold the messaging that the company intends to relay to the market and the mode by which that is done. With brand positioning, a company can define itself and also appeal to a certain or specific market segment or more.

Product: Unlike brick and mortar shops, on the online platforms, hardly would a client ask about a product as they are not sure if they will get real-time feedback. Therefore, it would be good for Coca-Cola to describe the benefits one stands to gain and consider taking the product. For instance, one area of opportunity for Coca-Cola was in product diversification, particularly on healthy products. Here, they would do better particularly if the product is new, by creating appealing templet designs with descriptions of the health benefits.

Place/Distribution approach: This entails the distribution channels to be adopted by the company to get the products to the clients. The company might consider having an online shop on their main website as a point of sale to initiate direct marketing and eliminate multiple channels between them and their clientele. In this, they might gather firsthand customer feedback by having a comment section on the online shop, which as more or less like a suggestion box at a physical store. Other E-marketing distribution points would include partnerships with online agent businesses such as Amazon, as not only will they link the company to the clients, but they might offer 3^rd party carrier services for deliveries. E-marketing can also be used to help monitor stocks at stores on partner retailers, through systems such as Just In Time (JIT), to ensure at no time will customers lack the company’s products on the retailer’s shelves due to stock-outs.

Price: Apart from the affordable pricing offered by Coca-Cola, they are best known for discounting on their product’s prices through numerous pricing approaches. For instance, to promote the sales and the market share for the brand in Northern America, the can-do is a referral discounting system where every customer referral a client makes, they get a 30% discount on any Coca-Cola product they buy. This can be made possible by customers getting a referral code to be entered by their referees when they buy to indicate who referred them. This online approach promises revenue generation as the clients are turned to brand ambassadors.

Promotion/Messaging: Coca-Cola is known for its messaging, which always sees to champion cohesion in the society, through sharing. Interestingly, the company puts its product in the middle of such a powerful message, which makes it had to ignore. It is in this that I think their messaging will resonate with almost any market. However, given that this is to be done on online platforms, the messaging can be tailor-made to fit a specific client segment based on their browsing habits, which are picked up by website features such as cookies. In this, a more relevant message can be made that would best relate to the clients’ interests. The online channels at the company’s disposal include; direct messaging, the use of social media platforms, and even the company website.

Relationship management

There are two external publics that a business needs to foster good relationships with to remain competitive are; the customers and its partners. This is done through a customer relationship management system or partner relationship management.

1. Customer relationship management

In an E-marketing customer relationship management system, two elements are vital. One is the computerized systems, and secondly is the operator.

The System: A computer system should be adopted that not only facilitates correspondence with the customers but also, the system should be able to give analytical data on what are the most concerns raised by the clients over a certain period.  

People: The absents of direct contact in E-marketing might be a drawback for the strategy. Nonetheless, with well-established feedback mechanisms such as direct messaging or live chats, clients might ask questions and get feedback, just as they would at a physical store. This calls for highly trained personnel stationed at points such as the customer service desks to pick calls from new or aggrieved customers.

1. Partner relationship management

To execute the strategy effectively, the company might need good relations with other third-party service providers. Suppliers are a good example of third parties that need to be well taken care of. For instance, if the company is outsourcing the branding or messaging to a professional marketing firm, they need to share all relevant information and keep close relations during the development period to ensure that the messaging and design are as intended.

Work Cited.

Cuellar-Healey, Sandra, and M. Gomez. “Marketing modules series.” Cornell University, Ithaca NY (2013).pp.5 Retrieved from http://publications.dyson.cornell.edu/outreach/extensionpdf/2013/Cornell-Dyson-eb1309.pdf