Coca Cola Case Study Essay

Coca Cola is the most popular drink I have decided to change both the packaging of the drink and the flavouring. This will be quite a challenging task to do, as I will have to do a lot of research on the existing product first. Research work will involve for example looking in the Internet and e-mailing to existing companies for information packs etc. I will offer all the opportunity to customers (people) and listen to there comments on my design of product comparing it to the original product, of course this will be first done by questionnaires and surveys etc. so different peoples views will be analysed at the end and the results will show me if my product will be successful in the market. My objective is basically to research into the different kinds of flavours that I could use to make the product Coca Cola this will also mean asking customers if they would prefer the logo itself to be changed aswell as the packaging. I will only make this product if there is a need in the market as if there is no need in the market my product will not sell which will mean I will not be making a profit. I will also need to consider the following: Taste Flavour Amount of flavouring Wrapping Texture Other please specify Other than the above I will also need to find out exactly how well the drink is selling at present to see just what other changes may be needed. Marketing is concerned with identifying customer’s needs and satisfying those needs at a profit in such a way that the customers come back again and recommend the firm to their friends. Marketing involves everything that an organisation has to make happen if customers are to be satisfied with its products. This is the reason why I have chose to market a mobile phone to my customers as there is a wider market out there for this product. In order for organisations to satisfy customers effectively and successfully, they would need to assess customer needs. By marketing my product I have met consumer needs and this involves developing strategies, which are then translated into a series of marketing plans. Marketing is, therefore, a planned purpose, which by ensuring a business satisfies customers needs and meets its business objectives helps it to outperform its rivals which I think I would be successful in doing as there is the younger generation who are constantly purchasing mobile phones and there is a great market out there. I would need to think about my objectives and in order to do that I would need to research about my product, plan everything out, take steady and smooth actions and try to be in control so that my product sells and then I may be able to meet my objectives. In order to implement a marketing strategy this requires making many decisions: What is the market? Non-competitive market Competitive market Monopoly Oligopoly How do we segment the market? Working out all the possible markets for a good is called segmentation and each part of the market a segment. What are the wants & needs of each segment? Businesses produce goods and services to meet the wants and needs of consumers everybody has wants and needs. What is the best price? If the demand for a good or service starts to increase, prices will follow and suppliers will devote more resources to producing that good or service. Which promotional method should be used? An efficient network of communications is essential for successful promotional activity. The promotional mix comprises all the marketing and promotional objectives of the marketing mix. How should we distribute the product/service? And changing environments mean that marketers’ needs for information are never ending. Social & cultural environment Economic Environment Political & legal environment Technological environment (E1) Produce a marketing strategy for a product or service with a clear understanding of the principles of marketing The marketing principle Many organizations think of marketing as sales. Others think of it as advertising. Twenty years ago students learned the four â€Å"p’s† of marketing: product, place, price and promotion, and today it’s the four â€Å"c’s:† customer, competition, cost and communication. Basically the definition of the market place is continually changing. Because of the fact I will be carrying a similar task, which will involve me to change or make my own product I will have to consider the following: Satisfying – Every and each customer wants their necessities to be met. Matching customers’ needs and expectations demands detailed answers to questions. They want the right goods, at the right time, at the right price. Because my product will be based on a soft drink many consumers would want to try new drinks so I will have to set a reasonable price for it to be sold at to satisfy customers. For example the drink coca cola is aimed at every one and also is reasonably priced. Identify: I would need to consider answering questions like how I will have to keep in touch with customer’s thoughts and feelings and perception about my goods and service? This would also involve identifying what features customers would prefer to have in my good/service. Anticipating: This involves looking at the future aswell as the present. I would need to consider what the public would like to have today and tomorrow. Baring in mind that consumer requirements change all the time such as people become richer and they might buy expensive drinks and even alcohol because they have more money so they would spend on a expensive drink so they stand out from the crowd. Communicating effectively with customers to satisfy their expectations: In order for me to produce any promotional activity I will need to communicate with my customers this would help me to find out there expectations and build an image with the world at large. Images would help others to form a judgment about what the organization stands for, and will influence their dealings with it. The way we communicate our product or service is part of the persuasion process, which would persuade customers to buy the product at whatever price. The ways that customers are persuaded comes under the promotional mix. In order to achieve the promotional objectives the marketing and promotional communication methods are used which come under the promotional mix. These can be broken down into two areas: 1. Controllable and 2. Non-controllable. Non-controllable communication – This includes marketing messages such as a result of word of mouth, personal recommendation or what customers think of a product or service, depending on how long a family has been using the product/service. Designer labels and brands influence consumers spending power. Controllable communication – These include messages that are carefully directed to achieve an organization’s promotional objectives. Such as: Advertisements- messages sent to the media to inform or influence the people who receive them. Direct mail-personally addressed advertising sent through the post. Sales promotions-techniques designed to increase sales, such as money-off coupons, free samples and competitions. Coca Cola should therefore study the communication process carefully. It should have a clear idea of what the message is whom it is sent to and what the outcome of sending it is. They should communicate effectively to always persuade consumers to go out to buy it and also have new advertising to persuade them after a while. Profitability: Profit is the key for marketing. If I don’t make a profit there is no point of me trading I will not be able to satisfy customers requirements or identify there anticipation without the resources to put into out going marketing activities. I need to develop Coca cola in order to achieve profits, which is what my objective for the marketing strategy is. I will need to consider a low price and a quality design. I would be able to see if the demand for Coca Cola has Increased or decreased after developing the product. I could improve it by changing the packaging, adding a different taste or flavour, design, price. I will need to consider the results of my questionnaires, which will be obtained from my primary and secondary research before I start making any changes to my product, as consumers will be asked if they would buy my developed product. Understanding Customer Needs: In order for me to make my final product a success I will need to anticipate change. This includes the age structure of the population and consumers income. Market research is the antenna of an organisation from which you could obtain accurate results of what drinks consumers prefer or what they suggest they would like to have changing to the product. This is where marketing research starts. I would need to consider what consumers would like in order to satisfy customers needs and wants which will show if my product is going to become successful. Most marketing activities are therefore designed to meet the needs of groups of customers within a market. I would need to find a sample of my consumers in order to find out their wants and needs so that I could produce or develop a product that satisfies them. The product is the first element in the marketing mix and the rest of the elements would need to be considered later. These may include developing the pricing for the product or service provided, working out how to distribute (place) goods to the customers, as well as how to promote them. Coca cola would need to understand customer, needs to be able to sell their product. In order to produce a product that will make them profit at the end of the day and customer’s wants could be met according to their needs. (E2) Appropriately identify, collect and use primary and secondary data relevant to the marketing strategy If you were to survey 100 people asking them do they drink Coca Cola this would be a difficult question to answer as Coca Cola can be found in several different brands. Some would prefer to choose a Coca Cola – Diet or light or classic, with cherry or with lemon, or with or without caffeine. About five years ago this would be a question that would be feasible to answer, as then Coca Cola existed in it’s original form. A survey that I conducted shows that many people preferred the original Coca Cola. However the results reveal that majority of them (i.e. 17 out of 20) are not satisfied with the packaging of the drink and would like it to be more colorful aswell as in various designs rather than just in one ‘rather boring’ design which has the been the same for quite so many years now. Another feature that customers (from the 20 people I interviewed) would like to see changes and improvements to is the size of the product. Further questioning revealed that th e reason for improving the size i.e. up to 5 litres would be convenient when holding family parties. These findings were very useful to me as they made me realize what the publics demand is and what I need to do to make the product acceptable in the market, which in return would help me make a profit. The twenty people I asked replied on the basis of looking at media, which is one of the things that influences the market. They thought that advertising was a good way to promote Coca Cola, as it is very common and popular. The secondary data shows advertisements are sold in spots and the daytime spots cost less because there are little audiences. Many people watch television in the evening the most as they relax so most of the advertisements are on then, and also mainly in the mornings as a lot of people turn the television on in the mornings. Out door advertising- poster sites in Britain are mainly in big cities alongside main roads close top the cities. They includes the sides and backs of buses, banners and boards at football and other sports events, both the inside and outside of London and other city taxis, bus shelters, and boards at bus and railway stations. Advertising time on TV is sold in ‘spots’ ranging from one minute down to seven seconds. Daytime spots, when audiences are low cost less than those do in ‘Peak time’- the evening when millions of people may be watching Independent Television. Most evenings from 5.30 p.m. to about 10.30 p.m. is peak viewing time when TV audiences are largest. The ITV companies usually show the same programmes, though they may show different advertisements. In the UK, ITV (including GMTV), channel 4 and channel 5 (1997), show advertisements between programmes and in intervals within the programmes themselves. A half- minute spot in mid-evening on a weekday could cost à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1,250 on Grampian Television whereas a similar spot time cost on Carlton Television might be à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½23,000. One company, Grampian Television, serves only about 2,023,000 homes, but the London Region, whose programmes are provided by Charlton Television during the week and by London Weekend Televisions at weekends, has about 5,491,000 homes- 2 and a half times as many. TV advertising time in Britain is sold on the ‘spot’ system. A ‘spot’ can last for a few seconds as with many of the ‘still’ advertisements for local stops or for a minute or even occasionally more. ‘Spots’ are bunched into breaks which may contain just one advertisement, though this is rare, or several. Each of the programme companies charge different rates, or prices, for its spot time. It is not hard to see why. In 1998, à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½14,307 million was spent on advertising in Britain. Over 80 per cent of this was spent on display advertising of goods and services in the press, on television, radio, posters, direct mail and in the cinema. The remaining 20 per cent or so bought classified advertising (small ads), Financial and legal notices, company announcements, and recruitment advertising (job ads) and advertising in the business and professional press. Companies also spend substantial sums on other forms of communication but statistics are not always available. However, it is estimated that in 1995 à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½750 million was spent on exhibitions in Britain and substantial sums are also spent on sponsorship, sales promotion, mail order and other forms of activity.