The Coca Cola Company Market Audit.

Table of Contents.

Table of Contents
The Coca Cola Company Market Audit...............................................................1
Table of Contents............................................................................................... 1
Executive Summary........................................................................................... 3
Introduction....................................................................................................... 4
Organization Overview:..................................................................................... 4
Business Description:........................................................................................ 5
History of the company:.................................................................................6
1880s:......................................................................................................... 6
1890s:......................................................................................................... 6
1900s:......................................................................................................... 6
1910s:......................................................................................................... 7
1920s:......................................................................................................... 7
1930s:......................................................................................................... 8
1940s:......................................................................................................... 8
1950s:......................................................................................................... 8
1960s.......................................................................................................... 8
1970s:......................................................................................................... 8
1980s:......................................................................................................... 8
1990s:......................................................................................................... 8
2-SWOT analysis for coca cola:..........................................................................9
2-1 Strength:................................................................................................ 10
2-2 Weaknesses:.......................................................................................... 11
2-3 Opportunities:........................................................................................ 12
2-4Threats:................................................................................................... 12
3-Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR):.........................................................13
Economic analysis:....................................................................................... 16
Social analysis:............................................................................................. 17
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Environmental Analysis:............................................................................... 17
Legal Analysis:.............................................................................................. 18
Market Mix:...................................................................................................... 18
Product line and range:................................................................................18
Pricing:......................................................................................................... 19
Promotion:.................................................................................................... 19
Place:............................................................................................................ 20
Conclusion:...................................................................................................... 20
References:...................................................................................................... 21

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Executive Summary
Coca cola company market audit should be wider than the range of this
report. With a pioneer company holding the biggest market share in its
industry, there are lots of parameters to analyze and study to find out
the secrets and factors of this huge success.
A SWOT analysis was done, explaining strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats facing the company. And that is followed by a
SELPET Analysis explaining Social, Economical, Legal, Political,
Environmental and Technological factors.
In the sustainability report, the current CEO Muhtar Kent announced a
company expansion target of the double by 2020, and the ways to reach
their. He explained the main areas which the company has to focus on in
order to achieve this great goal.
The market mix of the company was explained. The Corporate Social
Responsibility of the company and its impact of cleaning the companys
image were discussed. The local bottling company Al Ahlia Gulf line
General Trading Company and the major MENA region acquisition of
Ranis producing company; Aujan group were briefly discussed.
The writers recommendations of diversifying the product and heavily
focusing on the healthy products are a must for the company in order to
survive in the market with the increasing health awareness around the
globe as well as the increasing negative publicity of the company.

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Introduction
Coca Cola Company is the world leader in carbonated soft drinks
production field. The company which has more than 125 years in
history; was available in the battle fields of war; and finally becoming a
symbol of a nation, country and way of life.
This has benefits and advantages in the same time, taking advantage
of the American power, control and spread relations across the world,
and facing the anger of the haters. When the American Embassies are
closed in any country, so will Coca Cola factory.
This special relationship between the company and country is not the
only unique thing about Coca Cola, the relationship with the bottlers
around the world, and giving them the responsibilities of producing,
mixing and distributing the product is very helpful and full of risk in the
same time. But that is what makes Coca cola the market leader.

Organization Overview:
The name is The Coca Cola Company. It produces beverages; mainly
carbonated soft drinks in more than two hundred countries worldwide.
The companys headquarter is located in Atlant, Gerogia, USA since its
establishment. The manpower of the company are estimated to b e
more than 130,000 employees around the world. The current CEO is Mr.
Muhtar Kent. The revenues and profits for the year 2013 respectively
are $46,854 billion and $8,584 billion.
The main competitors are Pepsi; Unilever group, Nestle group and other
beverage makers.The main geographical areas of production and
distribution are: North America, Latin America , Europe, Eurasia, Africa
and Asia Pasific.The vision of the company is To refresh the world...To
inspire moments of optimism and happiness...To create value and make
a difference.

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(The mission is: Our vision serves as the framework for our Roadmap
and guides every aspect of our business by describing what we need to
accomplish in order to continue achieving sustainable, quality growth.

People: Be a great place to work where people are inspired to be

the best they can be.

Portfolio: Bring to the world a portfolio of quality beverage brands

that anticipate and satisfy people's desires and needs.

Partners: Nurture a winning network of customers and suppliers,

together we create mutual, enduring value.

Planet: Be a responsible citizen that makes a difference by

helping build and support sustainable communities.

Profit: Maximize long-term return to shareowners while being

mindful of our overall responsibilities.

Productivity: Be a highly effective, lean and fast-moving

organization.) 3

Business Description:
This is The Coca Cola Company business description taken from the
companys financial report: The Coca Cola Company is the worlds
largest beverage company. We own or license and market more than
500 nonalcoholic beverage brands, primarily sparkling beverages but
also a variety of still beverages such as waters, enhanced waters, juices
and juice drinks, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, and energy and sport
drinks. We own and market four of the worlds top five nonalcoholic
sparkling beverage brads: Coca Cola, Diet Coke, Fanta and Sprite.
Finished beverage products bearing our trademarks, sold in the United
States since 1886, are now sold in more than 200 countries.
We make our branded beverage products available to consumers
throughout the world through our network of Compnay-owned or
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controlled bottling and distribution operations as well as independent

bottling partners, distributors, wholesalers and retailers- the worlds
largest beverage distribution system. Beverages bearing trademarks
owned by or licensed to us account for 1.9 billion of the approximately
57 billion beverage servings of all types consumed worldwide every
day.
We believe our success depends on our ability to connect with
consumers by providing them with a wide variety of choices to meet
their desires, needs and lifestyle choices. Our success further depends
on the ability of our people to execute effectively, everyday.
Our goal is to use our companys assets, our brands , financial
strengths, unrivaled distribution system, global reach, and the talent
and strong commitment of our management and associates to become
more competitive and to accelerate growth in a manner that creates
value for our shareowners) 3

History of the company:

In 1886, a pharmacist from Atlanta Georgia, called John Pemberton was
trying to find a cure to his headaches. He mixed caffeine, coca leaves
distillate and kola nuts. He called the mixture coca cola (after its
ingredients).
In 1886, dr. John Pemberton created a soft drink that can be sold at
soda fountains. The trade name and script of coca cola which is still
used today was designed by Mr.Pembertons partner and book-keeper
Mr. Frank Robinson. The first serving of coca cola was sold for 5 cents
per servings.
Asa Candler took over the business by buying most of the companys
shares. Ironically he was also suffering from headaches, so he tried
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Pembertons mixture for a cure. The effectiveness of the drug leads

Candler to start the Coca Cola Company.
He started a brand strategy by distributing clocks, urns and calendars
having the brand on them to pharmacies. Later people started to
recognize the brand. Sales increased and Candler was able to build
three syrup plants in Chicago, Dallas and Los angles. .) 3
1880s:

The appearance of the first newspaper advertisement.

Using coupons to sell the drink through soda fountains.
Asa Candler took control of the formula from its creator
Pemberton.

1890s:

Increasing the budget for advertisement to reach the budget of

$11,000 in 1892.
The drink is distributed everywhere inside the United States.
Contracting with a bottling company.

1900s:

Celebrities were used in the advertisements.

Increasing the advertisement budget to reach more than $

100,000.
In 1904, the drink sales reach a sale of 1 million gallon.
1906: the first time coca cola is bottled outside the Unites States.
The company expanded bottling in the neighboring countries:

Cuba, Canada and Panama.

Signing a 50-years contract with an advertisement company;

DArcy company.
Contracting with baseball players to appear in newspapers
advertisements.

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1910s:

Advertisements budget reached $ 1 million; including $ 259499

for painted wall signs. The company even used pencils and

napkins as advertisement material.

The company start bottle the drink in the Philippines and in Paris.
Expand the use of calendars in advertisements; this time the
company used female models in their calendars and named them.
Betty was the first calendar model for coca cola. She became an

icon for men and an idol for women.

The first CSR action was done in 1914, when Candler donated one
million dollars to Atlantas university. The company also helped

the Red Cross donating blood during World War I.

Candler leaves the company and becomes Atlantas mayor.
The company is sold by $25 million. The buyers are led by
Woodruff.

1920s:

Using the phrase Thirst knows no time, no seasons to market

the drink; transforming coca cola from being only a summer soft

drink to an all- seasons drink.

Using the six-bottled cartoon.
Keeping the secret formula in a trust box in a bank.
Establishing the Foreign Department of the company to maintain
the follow of the concentrate supply to the overseas. This
expansion was also seen in the bottling process which expanded
more in Europe (Italy, Germany, Belgium and Spain and other
countries like Mexico, Colombia and China).

1930s:

Establishing Coca Cola Export Corporation for marketing activities

outside US.
Using Santa Claus in the advertisements.
Starting radio programs and issuing a home entertainment guide
book.
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1940s:

Publishing a posters series supporting the US Army.

The US government sends the drink to its soldier during WWII.
In 1948 Coca Cola reaches Egypt.

1950s:

Coca Cola drink is on the Times magazines cover.

Sponsoring radio programs.
African American athletes are present in the

commercials.
Number of bottlers reaches 1700.

companys

1960s

12 oz cans are first produced.

In 1963 first diet coke production.
In 1966 Coca cola reaches Somali Republic.
In1968 the first production of Fresca sugar free drinks.

1970s:

Id like to buy the world a coke TV advertisement was

launched to make a huge success and to become a classic
commercial.

1980s:

In 1985: Coca Cola reaches Russia.

In 1986: the company celebrates its 100 anniversary.

1990s:

Coca Cola reaches Germany after the fall of Berlin Wall.

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2-SWOT analysis for coca cola:

Strengths
1. Prime

Weaknesses

leader

in

beverages

industry

worldwide.
2. Extensive and
Internal
factors

the 1. Insufficient

diversified

research

and

development activities.
2. High debt.
3. Relying mainly on sales

from inside the US.

range of products.
4. Concentrating heavily on
3. High brand value.
4. Brand acknowledgment and
carbonated soft drinks,
loyalty.
5. Close

mainly Coca Cola.

and 5. Bad reputation.

relations

association

with

bottling

partners.
6. Solid and beneficial alliance
External
factors

with McDonalds.
Opportunities
1. Increasing
natural

juices

water.
2. Spreading
ready

market

to

and

Threats
of

bottled

consumption
drink

the 1. Health

teas

of
and

coffees.
3. Expanding more in China and
India.

awareness

increases in the world.

2. Increasing exchange rate
of the American dollar.
3. Legal issues in some
countries due to failure in
applying their regulations.
4. Lack of water in the
communities where coca
cola

is

bottled

due

to

production high demand

and usage.
5. Competition

from

P a g e | 10

Pepsi

and other brands.

2-1 Strength:
1. Prime leader in the beverages industry worldwide: Coca
Cola brands are highly ranked among other beverages in the
industry. In 2014 Coca Cola was chosen the forth popular brands
in the world.(a). The global consumption of drinks is estimated to
be 50 billion times daily; of which Coca Cola consumption reached
1.3 billion times daily. This explains how the huge opportunities
the company has.(d)
2. Extensive and diversified range of products The Coca Cola
Company produces more than 500 brads of various drinks and
beverages, among which very popular and highly spread brands.
For example: Sprite, Fanta, Diet Coke, Coca Cola Zero and Dasani
water.(b). Customers will buy the companys products because of
its popularity. Usually people buy what is known and familiar to
them; so with a history of more than 125 years and its bottling
operations are spread around the world; made the brand very
popular and recognized worldwide.
3. High brand value: The brand value of Coca Cola is 56.1 billion
dollars. This huge and massive amount of fortune is another
strength factor for the company; which enables it to crash its
competitors or simply buys them. In this way the company
guarantees

to

denominate

the

market

and

keep

growing

sustainably.
4. Brand acknowledgment and loyalty: The Company has loyal
costumers due to the caffeine content in the drink and its
P a g e | 11

addictive effect. In this way the company managed to sell its

products in its early times during winter. Gamblers mixed the
drink with the Whiskey to stay awake and keep drinking and
gambling all night. American government provided Coca Cola in
Europe during World War II to keep the soldiers awake during
battles.
5. Close relations and association with bottling partners:
Coca Cola company is producing its products by sending syrups
and concentrates to its bottling companies. These companies are
partners of Coca Cola Company and the latter calls them bottlers.
The bottlers add water, sugar and Coe it. 2 to get the final products
and distribute and sell it. Normally, Coca Cola Company contract
one bottler in a country or a geographic region. This unique
distribution systems is found only in the Coca Cola Company and
its form a mutual beneficial contract. If a bottlers performance is
not sufficient, Coca Cola Company controls the bottler to rise its
performance level and then return it back to its owner.
6. Solid and beneficial alliance with McDonalds: in 1955, the
alliance between coca cola and McDonalds started. When Mr.Crok
(from McDonalds) and Mr. Woddy (Coca Cola representative)
agreed to work together. This agreement was helpful, the two
companies

facilities

each

other

expansion

and

success.

McDonalds is the only company that has a division inside Coca

Cola Company. If McDonalds wants to expand in a country, it will
use Coca Cola Companys premises as a headquarter until it gets
its own. The syrup of the coca cola drink is delivered to
McDonalds in stainless steel containers, not like the other
restaurants; which explain why coke in McDonalds tastes better.

P a g e | 12

2-2 Weaknesses:.
1. Insufficient research and development: the company is not
trying to innovate or bring any more new products than the soft
drinks.
2. High debt: that is due to the global decrease in the carbonated
soft drinks market. The increase in the health awareness globally
regarding the dangers of drinking carbonated soft drinks

in

general and the original coca cola in particular due to its high
sugar contents.
3. Relying mainly on sales outside the US. The US is a wide and
broad market which has lots of potential; the company should
focus more there.
4. Concentrating on carbonated soft drinks: Focusing mostly on
one brand; which is Coca Cola and mainly on the soda drinks. The
company should advertise more on other brands and diversify
their product, not to rely only on soda. The company should focus
more on the other brands like Fanta and Sprite.
5. Bad reputation: not following rules and regulations of some
countries, the water shortage in countries where Coca Cola is
bottled , the negative health issues and law cases filed against
the company; all these factors force consumers to switch to other
products and will threat the distribution of the product.

2-3 Opportunities:
1. Increasing market of the natural juices and bottled water:
Use the fact of the health awareness trend to focus on the
healthier brands of the company like juices and bottled water.
2. Spreading consumption of ready to drink teas and
coffees : the company should add more brands of Ready To Drink
teas and coffees; which has its huge market like Europe with its
cold climate.
3. Expanding more in China and India: the huge markets of
China and India should attempt the company to try to spread
P a g e | 13

more products in these countries with huge population. So the

company will expand more.(C)

2-4Threats:
4. Health awareness increases in the world: the change in
consumer preferences due to the increased healthy lifestyle is
great challenge that the company must face. Coca Cola should
focus more on its healthy brands like bottled water and juices.
5. Increasing exchange rate of the American dollar: the strong
dollar will affect the cost of the concentrates sent to the bottlers.
6. Legal issues in some countries due to failure in applying
their regulations: some countries requirements are to enclose
the ingredients on the can or bottle. These legal requirements
may be perceived negatively from the consumers and the
company will lose its costumer. It happened in UAE, the
government removed coca cola and Pepsi cans and bottles from
the stores because of the lack of information in the labels; some
of this required information was the price. Coca Cola lost the
Indian market in 1977 due to the same legal requirement. Coca
Cola went back to India in the nineties.
7. Lack of water in the communities where coca cola is
bottled: that is due to production high demand and usage.

10,12,22

3-Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR):

Carroll (1996) explained CSR through his famous CSR Pyramid. In
this

pyramid

CSR

was

divided

to

main

four

types

of

responsibilities; which are:

1. Economic Responsibility: is that the business should be financially
rewarding.
2. Legal Responsibility: is to follow the countries or societies rules
and regulations in performing the business.
P a g e | 14

3. Ethical Responsibility: is closely related to legal responsibility and

actually complement it. It simply means to do the right thing even
it was not forced by the law and follow ones conscience if the
businesses or managers have any.
4. Philanthropic Responsibility (Discretionary Responsibility): it is
located on the pyramids top. It is the money or donations of any
kind done by the company (or corporation.) towards the society
for any noble cause; health, education or fighting poverty.
In the sustainability report of Coca Cola Company in the years
2013/2014, the current companys CEO Mr.Muhtar Kent stated that the
company is interested in main three areas, the three Ws, which are
women, water and well being. These interests show the CSR side of
Coca Cola. The application of the CSR pyramid will show more of this
side as follows:

The economic responsibility: it is the base of the CSR pyramid. It

is well represented by Coca Cola Companys being the world
leader in the soft drinks industry. Having more than 2400 brands
of soft drinks sold worldwide and ranked several years among

Forbes most valued brands.

The legal responsibility: to obey the rules. It is mainly done by the
company. Coca Cola Company cannot perform that good if it is
not following the rules and regulations of the countries in which it
is being produced, bottled and distributed. But there are several
occasions that the company ignored some of these regulations. In
Feb, 2012, UAEs Ministry of Economy had collected Coca Cola
and Pepsi 300 ml cans from the shelves. Coca Cola Company had
decreased the can size from 355ml to 300ml but kept the same
price of Dhs 1.5. The two companies informed the Ministry about
the size reduction and promised to put price labels on the cans.
P a g e | 15

The latter part was not done. So it was a solid reason for the
Ministry to remove the product and charge Coca Cola and Pepsi
penalties. Considering this action as increasing the products
prices without informing the authorities and a violation of the
consumers

rights.(v)

another

example

is

in

1977,

Indian

governing party at that time, the Janata Party made new policies
which forced

Coca Cola Company to leave the country. Some

people explain that with the policy of increasing the Indian share
in the foreign companies to be 60%. And others claim that the
Indian government wanted to have the secret sacred formula of
Coca Cola. In the same year, India introduced a new soft drink

called double seven with a similar taste of that of Coca Cola.

The third level of the CSR pyramid is the Ethical Responsibility:
which is doing the right thing even if it was not regulated. The
health effects of the Coca Cola soft drinks are well known

worldwide nowadays with the increase of the health awareness.

1. Coca Cola and other carbonated soft drinks are known to cause
obesity and diabetes because of its high sugar level. The
phosphoric acid in the drink is negatively affecting teeth and
bones. Not to mention Coca Colas caffeine content this causes
addiction. But in the same time guarantees its customers loyalty.
The company has committed not to target children less than 12
years in its advertisements.
2. The increasing campaigns of sport activities is another trial from
the company to face this continuous accusations of the harmful
health effects of its products and a good defense mechanism in
the same time. Regardless of all these efforts, the ingredients of
the Coca Cola and other soft drinks should not be used in human
consumption.(s)
3. The UAE is the rest of the world is suffering from these soft drinks.
UAE is suffering from obesity and diabetes. It is the number 16
P a g e | 16

country suffering from diabetes worldwide, with 19% of its

population are diabetic. That is due to the unhealthy life style,
high

and

regular

junk

food

and

carbonated

soft

drinks

consumption.(t) because of these scary facts; UAE government

stopped the selling of supersized sodas in the country.(u)
4. Another issue is that water, the highly water production needs of
Coca Cola; caused lots of local Indian farmers to suffer from water
shortage in the expense of the company. This fact is the case
everywhere Coca Cola is produced not only in India; and it
explains why the water issue is very important as Muhtar Kent
mentioned.
5. The company tried to respond to the above mentioned issues and
i.

other issues by the following :

Claiming that the calories content has been reduced in the Coca

ii.

Cola cans.
Claiming that the use of the aspartame sweetener ( sugar

iii.
iv.

substitute used in the diet products) is safe.

Showing the ingredients on the labels.
Trying to reduce the causalities in the supply chain; by
maintaining safety .
Philanthropic Responsibility:
1. The Coca Cola Company established its own philanthropic
organization in 1984. In 2013 the Coca Cola foundation granted $
98 million to around 134 million people around the world. Coca
Cola Company is funding this foundation by donating 1% of its
previous year income. The foundations main areas of denotation
are: Arts, education, environment, health, activity living, water,
recycling, disasters relief and youth improvement.
2. Aside from the Coca Cola Foundation, Coca Cola Company has its
philanthropic part as well.
3. With the assistance of the American Development Bank, Bill and
Melinda Gates foundation and other entities; the company is
trying to reduce poverty worldwide by lots of donation. Helping
P a g e | 17

women who own small business to successes. And this is among

the three Ws goals of Mr. Kent.
4. Other donations are: donations to the old military veterans, kids ,
HIV patients and disasters victims.

Economic analysis:
Coca Cola has around 2400 brands sold worldwide, which enables it to
satisfy its consumers and gain economies of scale. The latter is reached
by the companys ability to reach most of the countries in the world and
penetrate; more than any other soft drink company can possibly do.
The greatness of Coca Cola Company is that it each international office
or branch is capable of adjusting its products to satisfy customer
preferences. It can buy its local competitors like in the case of Rani float
of Aujan Industries.
Rani float was first produced in Saudi Arabia thirty years ago. It had a
huge success among MENA region and Europe. It was available in 56
countries making sales profits more than $ 600 million.
The drink mainly consists of fruit juice and small fruit pieces in the
same can. (K).
Coca Cola Company bought half of Aujan Industries drinks products to
create The Aujan Coca Cola Beverage Co. which is now considered to be
one of the largest beverage companies in MENA region and one of the
best 100 companies in Saudi Arabia with profits of $ 850 million.(ccc .)

Social analysis:
One of the important facts affecting the customers attraction to drink
coca Cola is the negative health impacts of the soda drinks; which
includes the high calorie content, the carbon dioxide and other
chemicals included in the drink, and high acidity , caffeine contentetc.
P a g e | 18

The increasing of healthy life style will prevent Coca Cola from
expansion; at least on the long run.
The strong relations of the Coca Cola Company with the US, sometimes
badly affect the product. The boycotting of the Arab world and Muslim
world as well was due to the American symbolism of the company .
Some of Arabs claimed that if you read the mirror reflection of the name
Coca Cola it would literally means no Mohamed no Mecca. Although this
is not true, since the trade name was chosen and drawn in 1800s in the
Spencerian Script font; there was a time when Muslims stopped
drinking Coca Cola because of this accusation.

Environmental Analysis:
One of the main criticisms of Coca Cola Company or any other industrial
company is the bad impact on the environment. The Coca Cola
sustainability report (2013/2014) focused mainly on the continuous
effort to keep the environment safe.
Using plastic bottles produced partially from plants, reducing and
lowering the carbon dioxide emissions from the factories, producing
HFC-free coolers, 4% emission reduction from the companys fleet,
recycling the bottles and cans, trying to safe water by reducing the
productions needs of making carbonated soft drinks, trying to keep the
farmers rights in the producing countries and finally winning one of the
top 10 energy saving challenges

are all examples of the image

improving efforts of Coca Cola.

Legal Analysis:
As mentioned previously; some of the legal issues that faced the
company are not placing the price or some of the ingredients on the
can. Like what happened in UAE in 2012.

P a g e | 19

Or not approving the challenging regulations in the case of India and its
market requirements. Not to mention some lawsuits in the US regarding
health related matter.

Market Mix:
"The Marketing Mix is the set of tactical marketing tools - Product, Price, Promotion,
and Place - that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market."
(Kotler and Armstrong, 2012) 9

Product line and range:

in UAE these brands of Coca Cola company are available according to
the official companys website : Burn(energy drink), Arwa(bottled
water), Canda Dry(soda ), Coca Cola Light, Coca Cola Zero, Fanta,
Minute Maid ( both sodas) , Rani, Schweppes, Sprite, Sprite light, Thums
Up.
The Coca Cola drink is available in 250 ml can , 355 ml can, and 1.5
liter bottle which is the family package.
The shape of the Coca Cola bottle was specially invented to make the
bottle to be exceptional and to be recognized even in the dark or if it
was broken. After the great success Coca Cola had in the in 1900s, lots
of competitors entered the market with similar name to steal the
customers. The lawsuits which the company had filed against those
copiers helped building the patents law of the US. (b)
The colors, style and design of the cans and bottles of Coca Cola has
always been attracting the customers and identifying the unique
product.
The taste of the drink was once changed due to the failure in blind taste
test competition against Pepsi in the early 80s. The painful loss forced
P a g e | 20

the executives of the company to change its formula to be similar to the

taste of its prime competitor. But what the aggressive response from
the very loyal customers had forced the company to switch back to its
original taste; calling the old taste drinks Classic Coke. (b) The
executives of the Coca Cola Company did not realize the power of the
drink taste and its significance to the American people. They lost this
battle not only in the blind test but also when they changed the
formula. They should have conducted surveys asking customer about
their opinion. This strategic gap is no longer exists with the social media
expansion and the companys online staff who are ready around the
clock to answer peoples inquiries.

Pricing:
the price was 1 dirham for 355ml can, then it was increased to 1.5 -2
dirham due to increase of the prices in oil, gas and other raw materials.
The family size bottle is sold at the price of 5 dirham.

Promotion:
A familiar kind of promotion the product is free increase of the drink
with the same price, or to buy 5 bottles with the price of only four. The
simplicity of the product does not give a space for innovation, yet Coca
Cola Company managed to find exceptional ways in promoting its
products. For example: add your name to the can. The campaign of
share your coke with your mate had a huge success. Some people
bought the cans only because of the name added on it. And if the
customer did not find the desired name, he can simply request that
name to added using the companys website. To widen the range of
sales, the company added names like mom, dad and sister. In a few
weeks the campaign was spread into around 70 countries.

P a g e | 21

Open Happiness advertising campaign was also successful. It had

related the drink with joy, good time, activeness and enthusiasm. And it
was not less innovative that Share your coke campaign.
In Dubai the Company built a phone booth that works on bottles
coverings as feeding coins for labors to call home. The commercial is
describing the happiness of the poor workers when the call their
families in their home countries. But critics are wondering why not the
calls were for free?
A similar commercial was filmed in Manila in the Philippines where a
Coca Cola company truck drove around the city providing gifts to any
person approaches the truck and pushes a big button there.

Other

commercials were filmed in many countries including Egypt and

Lebanon.

Place:
The companys products are sold in the restaurants, cafeterias, hotels,
diners, work places, universities, high schools, in vending machines
almost everywhere even in the street except schools. Most of the UAE
schools are banning selling soft drinks to the students; due to its health
hazards.

Conclusion:
The Coca Cola Company should focus more on its other successful
brands. To continue be a market leader and to further expand to
achieve its expansion goal by 2020; it should follow the customer
changing preferences. As Pepsi the main competitor- does; Coca Cola
Company should depend more on the healthy food and snacks rather
than heavily depend on soda drinks. The ready to make teas and
coffees and the bottled water are other market segments with great
P a g e | 22

opportunities. Coca Cola Company should be ready for the worse; with
the declining usage of carbonated soft drinks worldwide; diversification
is the only solution.

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