Case Study: Coca Cola and Nike.

We consume a lot of products in our daily life without realizing who actually owns
them. Today we are highlighting the two major consumer industries –Sports
Equipment and Beverages. The following essay describes two case studies regarding
two of the most successful companies in their respective industries. We talk about
Coca Cola and Nike.

COCA COLA
The Coca Cola Company is an American corporation founded in 1892, today engaged
in the manufacturing of the syrup and concentrate for Coca Cola, a sweetened
carbonated non-alcoholic beverage. It has become the world’s leading beverage firm
delivering the most innovative products using the following marketing strategies-

SUB BRANDING & ADVERTISING:

Did you know Coca Cola owned more than 3500 products and more than 500 brands
under their name? Firms often run brands and products they acquire under the same
name as to retain brand confidence and sales while generating the same profit for
themselves. Firms with sub branding benefit from access to a broader range of
potential customer base, new niches and shared assets. Under Coca Cola, we have
thumbs up, minute maid and coke itself is running under different names such as coke
zero, diet coke, etc, to satisfy varied customer demand under different segments.

INCREASE IN PROCESS EFFICIENCY:

Coca Cola took drastic measures to reshape their organization structure to eliminate
redundant areas. They removed an entire layer of functional management so that the
regional business units can report directly to the headquarters which helped curb the
process road blocks leading to a faster, smarter and more efficient. The firm focused
on increasing interaction with employees in order to make their job more fun-filled,
exciting and career fulfilling.

MARKET SEGMENTATION:
Market segmentation is the process of dividing the market based on the volume,
capacity of buyers and what their requirements are, to maximize sales and their
revenue, thereby increasing their profits.
In the underdeveloped markets, their priority was to increase their sales volume in
order to retain a strong customer base and they achieved this by selling their products
at an economic level keeping the future in mind.
On the other hand, in the developed countries, their priority was profit generation.
They introduced glass and aluminum packaging to make it more premium and sell the
product at a higher price to generate more profits.

DEVELOPING MARKETS:
Difficulties in India - Coca Cola was cornered as the market was dominated by
Thumbs up, maaza and other beverage firms.
Solution – Acquisition of companies to make use of global branding by combining
local and global brands. Diversification was another aspect where Coca Cola came out
on the top. They started a research on what customers demand and started producing
products that are similar to the customer desires such as lemonade, tea, and many
other geographically framed beverages.
Replacing alcoholic beverages with non-alcoholic ones to create the same relaxed and
the feeling of pleasure while consuming them. This helps in reduction of health based
epidemics and reduce their addiction towards these dangerous habits.

Conclusion

With the above strategies and a couple of more, Coca Cola has increased their sales
and volume by 2% and an increase in the organic growth by 4%. Coca Cola has
effectively gained a worldwide value share in their industry.

NIKE
Nike, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that is engaged in the design,
development, manufacturing and worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparel,
equipment, accessories, and services. Inspiring the world’s athletes, Nike delivers
innovative products, experiences and services using the following marketing
strategies-

ASSOCIATION BY CO-BRANDING WITH SPORTS & COMPANIES:

Co-branding, sometimes called cross-platform marketing, is increasingly popular as
firms look for new approaches to reach their target audiences. The main reason for co-
branding is to reach more of the consumers you want that are currently customers of
someone else. Another reason is that it shares marketing costs, and this is very
important in major campaigns that can cost in excess of US$100 million. The most
evident major factor in considering co-branding is to give more benefits to your own
customer base, enhance brand loyalty, and widen your customer base. Nike is making
running shoes that will provide users with instant information on time, distance, speed
and calorific burn rates. To achieve this, Apple is providing a new wireless system
named Nike+ that gets data from a sensor in the insole of the shoes. Nike also
associated with world class athletes to develop their products under their name to
portray a picture of becoming them on using the same gear. Famous examples are
Nike’s LeBron, Air Jordans, Kanye West, Drake with Jordan and many more.

RELATIONSHIP BRANDING:
Nike has perfected the way what associates its customers with. They are selling more
than a product. They’re selling an Aspiration. Their trademark- “Just Do It”
encourages their customers to push themselves beyond their limit. They create a
carefully curated emotion of success by associating themselves with success.
ADAPTING TO QUANTUM CHANGE IN TECHNOLOGY:
Nike is on a spree of constant innovation. They are looking for new technologies to
develop products that their customers never thought of. Their idea of selling a product
is – Customers don’t know what they want until you point at what they want. Nike’s
latest Hyperadapt 1.0 is a self-lacing shoe whose sensors mould the shape of the foot
when one steps into it.

PSYCHOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION:
Nike uses psychographic segmentation to target customers based on their personality,
lifestyle, activities and interests. Nike associates individuals’ lifestyle with their
activities, interests and behaviour creating a unique “Feeling” and as a result they buy
similar products. Nike applies sports-centric strategy motivating, inspiring and
connecting emotionally all athletes with its products. For example – The company
follows the direction, if you have a great body, you are an athlete and if you are an
athlete, Nike’s products make you feel athletic.