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MKT501 Marketing Management Assignment No. 2 Solution Spring Semester June 2013


Understanding Marketing Management in 21st Century

Coca Cola is one of the most renowned brands in history. Each day people in more than 200 countries around the world consume more than 1.7 billion beverage servings. Marketing in 21st century requires maintaining the long time marketing principles while inventing new ways to keep up to date. Coca cola which started its operations in 1883 has successfully kept its brand up to date for over 100 years. The revenues for Coca Cola were 48.0 Billion USD for 2012. Coke’s first president employed many of the marketing principles that have now become well entrenched practices. To gain new customers, he printed coupons for offering free taste of Coca-Cola drink. To build brand recognition he distributed clocks, calendars and weighing scales with Coke’s logo to the distributors. He hired the company’s first Celebrity Hilda Clark in 1890. During Second World War army shipped cokes to soldiers in Europe and Asia under the image of All American beverage. However now Coke realized it needed a more local feel in each country. The red and white wave signature and lettering is the same worldwide but different ad agencies in different countries give the brand a local touch. It offers more than five hundred brands for countries across the globe.
Despite its magnificent status it needs to grapple with the difficulty of declining effectiveness of TV ads due to media fragmentation and with the use of TIVO device that help viewers zap commercials. Ads that reached 70% Americans in 1960’s only reached 15% in 2004. So Coke which has been investing money on TV commercials is now finding new options for stimulating its presence in the market. For example it has used the idea of Coke red lounge gathering areas for teens in malls. These lounges offer
exclusive music videos, video games and sell coke drinks from a see-through coke machine. For Britain Coke’s website mycokemusic.com web-site enable downloaders to download over 250,000 songs. In Pakistan Coke Studio enables viewers to enjoy songs sung by local singers.
Chris Lowe a, Coke marketing executive explained methodical steps for making a fresh Ad campaign. “There’s the communication strategy that you want to put across. You test it with consumers for validity and resonance. Then you take that core meaning and make it come alive with advertising. Then you take it back to consumers to test it again.”
In 2011 Coca Cola celebrates its 125th anniversary with innovative cultural events. Coca Cola fabricated Give It Back racks. They were made up of 100% recyclable material to be used in grocery stores. Coca Cola in collaboration with Heinz launched the concept of innovative plant bottle packaging. It is first ever Pet plastic bottle made partially from plant material. It is recyclable like all other plastic bottles except the difference that it has replaced a rare resource ingredient (Petroleum and other fossil fuels) with plant based material. Thus the use of virgin petroleum based material can be saved.
DISCUSSION QUESTION
1. What have been the key marketing decisions made by Coca Cola which brought its success. (20 Marks)
2. Point out an area where Coca Cola needs to improve and work upon. Which steps did it take to improve that area. ( 10 Marks)