Question

Create a marketing plan for Coca-Cola entering the liquor industry, making pre-made alcoholic beverages.

This strategy should include 4 sections:

1. A market penetration strategy.

2. A growth strategy. This strategy for building your business might include: an internal strategy such as how to increase your human resources, an acquisition strategy such as buying another business, a franchise strategy for branching out, a horizontal strategy where you would provide the same type of products to different users, or a vertical strategy where you would continue providing the same products but would offer them at different levels of the distribution chain.

3. Channels of distribution strategy. Choices for distribution channels could include original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), an internal sales force, distributors, or retailers.

4. Communication strategy. How are you going to reach your customers? Usually a combination of the following tactics works the best: promotions, advertising, public relations, personal selling, and printed materials such as brochures, catalogs, flyers, etc.

Answer 1

Marketing strategy is a long-term, forward-looking approach to planning with the fundamental goal of achieving a sustainable competitive advantage.Every business irrespective of its size needs to have definite goals in order to expand the business. These planned out goals will help the business sustain itself in the evergrowing competitive market and also to increase its sales. Marketing strategy is nothing but the pavement to define your goals so that you can direct your efforts in the right direction. A well-defined strategy should not only help you to achieve your goals but also, help you to reach the customer‟s goals and expectations from you.

A marketing strategy usually consists of some default points for its establishment. The most important of those being the organisational short-term and long-term goals. This is followed by analysis of the market the organisation plans to establish its business into. For a service-based industry, targeting the relevant customers and expanding the client domain is of utmost importance. Also, making a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis of provided services or sold products will help the organisation to analyse itself.A successful marketing strategy will create a win-win situation for both, customer and the organisation. Needless to say, customer satisfaction will in turn increase the organisation‟s brand value and create an edge over the competitor. It helps in creating a realistic plan of approach which states the methods to achieve the stated goals. Once the strategy and plans are ready, the company can search for ways to implement the plans making the process highly efficient.

On a wider scale, Coca Cola introduced five strategic actions to achieve its goals which are as follows:

Market segmentation Market segmentation is a strategic method to divide the market based on volume and capacity of buyers and using appropriate methods to maximise sales and thereby, earning profits from each segment. Coca Cola used this technique to segment the market according to emerging markets, developing markets and developed markets since every country in the 200 plus countries play a crucial rolein the growth. In emerging markets, the primary focus was on increasing the sales volume rather than profits so that it increased its customer domains and make a strong foundation for future business. This was made possible by selling beverages at economical rates so that higher no. of masses can enjoy it. In developing markets, a balance was made between volume sold and pricing, whereas, in developed countries the focus was more on profit making by offering more small packages and premium packages like glass and aluminium bottles. In 2015, globally, price/mix rose 2 percent as did volume, helping increase organic revenue 4 percent. Coca Cola also gained worldwide value share in their industry.

Brand establishment and Customer relationship Brand establishment becomes vital while expanding an organisation‟s portfolio. Consumers tend to trust a branded product and often spend an extra penny upon it rather than choosing an unheard product. Brand name is also viewed as a status quo in developed markets. Coca Cola made a right decision to invest in developing the brand value by improving and modernising the advertisements by investing over $250 million. These ads focused on creating an impact upon people and changed the perspective of Coca Cola from an occasional drink to an integral part of people‟s life. At the same time, investment was made to improve the position in energy drink category, juices and also healthy drinks by making strategic partnerships with Monster Beverage Corporation, Suja (a line of premium organic juices), Fairlife ultra filtered milk etc. A major breakthrough took place in 2015 when Coca Cola developed its first global marketing campaign. The primary objective was to establish the „one-brand‟ strategy to bring all its sub products under one brand name „Coca-Cola‟. The slogan „Taste the Feeling‟ launched in early 2016 emphasizes the refreshment, taste, uplift and personal connections that are all part of enjoying an ice-cold Coca-Cola. For the fitness-oriented consumers, it sent a broader message that they can enjoy Coca Cola by choosing an appropriate variety of drink with varying number of calories in caffeine.

Increasing financial efficiency For any business, the ultimate goal is to have maximum returns for the investments with maximum productivity. In order to achieve this, financial efficiency plays an important role. Coca Cola made efforts to achieve financial flexibility by implementing a solution known as „zero-based work‟- wherein annual budget is revised from zero and must be justified annually at the end rather than simply carrying over at levels established in the previous years.