Coca Cola - Current Marketing Stratgies

Current Marketing Strategies

Product

Physical Description/Packaging:

Coca Cola Classic is a non-alcoholic, carbonated beverage consisting of the following ingredients: carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, phosphoric acid, and caffeine. The exact flavor formulations for Coca Cola are not listed as ingredients on the packaging, because this type of proprietary information is highly valuable and must be protected from competitors (cocacola.com). Coca Cola can be purchased in a variety of unit sizes (see Appendix XXX), but canned Coca Cola is the most widely distributed of the package mix. According to Reuters.com, the entire company’s package mix for 2004 was 62% cans, 14% 20-ounce, 12% two-liter, and 12% other formats.

Branding/Target Market:

Invented in 1886, Coca Cola has been a part of American culture for almost 120 years. It is the most popular and biggest selling soft drink in history, and its signature red and white logo is one of the most recognizable trademarks in the world (cocacola.com). The Coca Cola brand is such a global powerhouse that it is often identified with the United States as a whole, and for many people, it represents America and American Culture (wikepdia.com). According to the Coca Cola 2004 Annual Report, a focus on increasing immediate consumption is an important brand equity building tool and contributes greatly to overall profits.

Coca Cola currently markets their Classic brand to young, progressive individuals in their mid-teens to late twenty’s. Their current advertising has four college-age males as the main characters who are filming a documentary about teens and young adults who are being creative and innovative.

Product Positioning:

According to the Beanstalk Group, Coca Cola is currently positioning their product as a lifestyle drink that is exuberant, youthful and fun (beanstalk.com). Coke plan’s to get this image in the minds of consumers through their new “Make it Real” campaign, which evolved from their two-year-old “Real” campaign. Chuck Fruit, the architect of the new campaign, admits that Coke still has no core idea for the brand and that “Make it Real” may evolve if they get ideas from the consumer or have a better idea. He doubts that they will stray away from the current concept (brand week article). According to Mr. Fruit, the use of the word “real” represents authenticity, genuineness,