Coke Marketing Plan for Line Extension

Coke Bubbler: A Line Extension

Business Definition: The Coca-Cola Company “exists to benefit and refresh everyone it touches (The Coca-Cola Company 1, p. 1).” To achieve this goal, Coke continually brings to market new products that address consumer interests, emphasizing both quality of products and emerging nutritional and taste features. To that end, Coca-Cola will introduce Coke Bubbler, a flavored tea-based beverage containing small “bubbles” or spheres of tapioca- or gelatin-based semi-solid flavors that augment to base beverage, adding excitement and interest to the beverage.

Business Mission: Coca-Cola (2, 1) states that “The Coca-Cola Company exists to benefit and refresh everyone it touches,” providing “refreshment, value, joy and fun to our stakeholders, …(acting to) successfully nurture and protect our brands, particular Coca-Cola.” By adding a Coke Bubbler line extension, Coca-Cola will capitalize upon the Bubble Tea phenomenon that has swept the West in recent years (Preville, SP1), arriving from Asia in the early 2000s and initially available on in foodservice operations. By extending the basic Coca-Cola line of cola-based products to include bottled, flavored teas (some using fruit bases such as apricot, raspberry, and melon) containing “bubble,” Coca-Cola will gain the opportunity to reach a new emerging market segment not presently served by bottled beverage options.

Situation Analysis: With over 400 specific product lines and brand extensions, Coca-Cola Company is the largest and most well-known beverage producer, distributor and developer in the World (Coca-Cola Company 3, 1). Coca-Cola has moved into such diverse fields as teas, coffees, energy drinks, diet soda, mixers, and so on, gaining market share with each extension and meeting new and emerging consumer needs and interests in the process. The Company offers bottled beverages as well as fountain syrups for many of its products. It ha an international presence and there are few markets in which the firm lacks a presence, often through partnerships with bottlers and distributors.

However, as reported by Arndorfer and Macarthur (3) consumers now have so many