Introduction

The Coca-Cola Company, American corporation founded in 1892 and today engaged
primarily in the manufacture and sale of syrup and concentrate for Coca-Cola, a sweetened
carbonated beverage that is a cultural institution in the United States and a global symbol of
American tastes. The company also produces and sells other soft drinks and citrus beverages.
With more than 2,800 products available in more than 200 countries, Coca-Cola is the largest
beverage manufacturer and distributor in the world and one of the largest corporations in the
United States. Headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia.

The drink Coca-Cola was originated in 1886 by an Atlanta pharmacist, John S. Pemberton
(1831–88), at his Pemberton Chemical Company. His bookkeeper, Frank Robinson, chose the
name for the drink and penned it in the flowing script that became the Coca-Cola trademark.
Pemberton originally touted his drink as a tonic for most common ailments, basing it
on cocaine from the coca leaf and caffeine-rich extracts of the kola nut; the cocaine was
removed from Coca-Cola’s formula in about 1903. Pemberton sold his syrup to local soda
fountains, and, with advertising, the drink became phenomenally successful. By 1891 another
Atlanta pharmacist, Asa Griggs Candler (1851–1929), had secured complete ownership of the
business (for a total cash outlay of $2,300 and the exchange of some proprietary rights), and
he incorporated the Coca-Cola Company the following year. The trademark “Coca-Cola” was
registered in the U.S. Patent Office in 1893.
Under Candler’s leadership, sales rose from about 9,000 gallons of syrup in 1890 to 370,877
gallons in 1900. Also during that decade, syrup-making plants were established in Dallas, Los
Angeles, and Philadelphia, and the product came to be sold in every U.S. state and territory as
well as in Canada. In 1899 the Coca-Cola Company signed its first agreement with an
independent bottling company, which was allowed to buy the syrup and produce, bottle, and
distribute the Coca-Cola drink. Such licensing agreements formed the basis of a unique
distribution system that now characterizes most of the American soft-drink industry.
Capitalized at $100,000 in 1892 upon incorporation, the Coca-Cola Company was sold in 1919
for $25 million to a group of investors led by Atlanta businessman Ernest Woodruff. His
son, Robert Winship Woodruff, guided the company as president and chairman for more than
three decades (1923–55).

Coca-Cola in India

Coca-Cola was present in India till the late 1970s when a Government Order forced it to leave
the Indian market. However, after economic liberalization in the early 1990s, it re-entered the
Indian market in 1993. The entry into India was made more emphatic when Coca-Cola acquired
the leading Indian soft drink brands – Thums Up, Limca, Gold Spot, etc. Also, by buying out
the bottlers, Coca-Cola ensured that they exercised total control over the Indian soft drink
market

Coca-Cola India invested over $1 bn in building new production facilities, waste water
treatment plants, developing marketing and distribution systems, etc. The company directly
employed over 6,000 people while its operations created indirect employment for more than
1,25,000 people. To ensure enough production and ready availability of its products, Coca-
Cola had 25 wholly owned bottling operations in addition to 24 franchisee owned bottling
operations. To supplement their efforts, a number of contract packers were used. For effective
distribution, apart from the 10-tonne trucks, open-bay three wheelers were used which could
easily navigate the narrow lanes that are a part of India’s cities and small towns. Using these
strategies,

Coca-Cola ensured high penetration of its products—even in the rural areas. Coca-Cola India
has used very modern plants for its operations. Its bottling plant at Kaladera (in Rajasthan) was
awarded the Golden Peacock Environment Management Award in 2005 for its world-class
environment practices. Previously, its other bottling plants at Baddi (in Himachal Pradesh),
Ameenpur (in Andhra Pradesh) and Dasna (in Uttar Pradesh) had been bestowed with the
award. To ensure good corporate governance, Coca-Cola India set up the Indian Advisory
Board comprising eminent personalities. The board is chaired by Naresh Chandra, the former
Indian ambassador to the US. Personalities such as Deepak Parekh, S M Datta, Sunil Munjal,
Amjad Ali Khan are presently members of the board.

Brand Positioning Strategies of Coca-Cola in India

When Coca-Cola was re-launched in India, it promoted the brand using advertisements that used
communication approaches more suitable for western markets. However, the brand quickly adapted its
communication to ensure proper appeal to Indian customers. In the late 1990s Coca-Cola began using
Indianized themes to appeal to the Indian customers. It realized that its communication needed to appeal
to the youth. Also, Coca-Cola was aware that the Indian youth respected traditional Indian values even
if they wore western clothes and listened to western pop music. Taking these aspects into consideration,
it created an advertisement showing an Indian college-goer coming home for the Diwali holidays. The
young man was clad in trendy clothes (blue jeans and T-shirt) and even sported an ear-stud to signify
his contemporary style. He was shown touching the feet of his grandparents while the Diwali fireworks
lit up in the background.

This brand communication helped in creating a personality of Coca-Cola that the Indian youth could
relate with and it resulted in a suitable positioning for the brand. Coca-Cola also realized that the Indian
youth were obsessed with Hindi movie stars and cricketers. Therefore, if these stars could be roped in
for the advertisements the connection of the target segment with the brand could be enhanced.
Coca Cola introduced five strategic actions to achieve its goals which are as
follows:

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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. Marketing Strategy Of Coca Cola ADMIFMS
International Management Research Conference 2018 79 |Page Also, savings mere made by choosing
to advertise carefully and cut down expenses in non-media marketing like in-store promotion. Overall
$600 million were realised by productivity improvement in 2015 which were further used in brand
making, business improvement and providing decent dividends to shareowners. The organisation plans
to use the same process to further increase the productivity and make continuous savings, and treat it
as a day-by-day process of becoming leaner and better.

4. Increasing process efficiency

An organisation can be termed to be fully efficient when its process time is minimised without
affecting the quality. Process time plays an important role when the demand is suddenly increased.
Inefficient pre-planning and process planning will lead to disruption in supply of high demands. In a
continuous evolving market with highly volatile consumer demands both in quantity and preferences,
innovative supply chain markets, speed, precision and empowered employees decide the winner. Coca
Cola took steps to reshape their business processes and searched for redundant areas. It removed a layer
of functional management and connected our regional business units directly to headquarters. Further
investigation led to removal of process roadblocks and barriers which finally made it faster, smarter
and more efficient. Focus was also made to interact more with employees to make work a fun-filled,
exciting and career fulfilling environment. Employees were motivated to nourish curiosity, learning,
innovation and growth.

5. Focusing core competencies and business models

Coca Cola has developed a business model with portfolio including more than 500 brands ranging
from sparkling beverages to value-added dairy and many more. Over a billion dollars annually are
generated together by few of these in retail sales. It has managed to gather a variety of consumers
thereby generating profits from all segments irrespective of market conditions. Its primary core
competency has been the ability to manage a huge system of independent bottling partners and also
acquiring a number of bottlers under its own. The primary aim has been to improve performance
of bottling partners by increasing productivity, performance, optimizing manufacturing and
distribution systems and finally refranchising the independence of bottling territories. All this effort
finally creates value for retail and restaurant customers. In 2015, the organisation took major steps
in North America to make company-owned bottling territories independent. The plan was to
refranchise the North America bottling system by end of 2017. A new unified bottling partner was
planned to set up in Western Europe and accordingly, a transaction was announced. Further,
improvement and refranchising has been planned for bottling system in Southern Africa, East
Africa, Indonesia and China. Coca Cola plans to reduce company-owned bottlers to 3 percent from
18 percent of the global volume.
https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-strategy-of-coca-cola/

https://freebcomnotes.blogspot.com/2017/02/coca-colas-branding-strategies-in-india.html

http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jbm/papers/Conf.ADMIFMS1808-2018/Volume-1/12.%2077-85.pdf

https://www.coca-colacompany.com/news/history-of-coca-cola-advertising-slogans

Reference

https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Coca-Cola-Company