happy birthday coca-cola!!!!

Happy birthday to coca-cola!!!!!!!

This week the company celebrated 125 years!!!    I wish them another 125 years of sharing happiness and refreshing people all around the globe and who knows maybe even beyond!    Cheers!  

Last post !!!!

Chapter 7- Business marketing

When trying to understand business marketing it is important to understand that businesses profit greatly when they achieve a situation in which they do not need to deal directly with each and every customer from each and every household in each and every country they market in. for a large company it can be much easier to market and supply to large firms and companies which either employ or entertain many people who are customers of the other business and do their business directly with the third party.  Coca-cola for example markets to restaurants, bars, theaters, large offices, supermarkets, delis, airline companies, and many more. To coca-cola marketing to one of those businesses means they can indirectly reach the customer and in this way make new and keep existing customers without having to directly market and supply to them.  Coca-cola is a big and known company and even though they market efficiently and excessively too many firms, they have the privilege of many businesses wanting to contact them instinctively.   An example where individuals encounter coca-cola products is at the movie theaters, if we think about it, every theater we go to and purchase a soda and popcorn, we will get the soft drink served to us in a coca-cola cup regardless of which soda we choose to buy. In this way coca-cola is part of the movie experience for individuals without dealing directly with the consumer.  Coca-cola also sells its products out of the country to individuals who make the products in their own factories, in this way coca-cola is everywhere without directly being responsible for being in the supermarkets and delis because the companies whom work with them take care of those things.

chapter 8- segmenting and targeting markets

When a company has few products the ability to satisfy a diverse and wide range of clientele is limited. The coca-cola company has increased the quantity of products they offer throughout the years and are constantly searching for new opportunities. Each product the company offers attracts a market segment, which means they appeal to a certain kind of people; some of the products are directed to very specific market segments such as diet cola, which is directed for consumption by women, and cola-zero which targets the market segment of males belonging to generation y. other products appeal to a less specific market segment such as the classic coca-cola which is loved by a wide range of very diverse consumers. In the world of business companies often try to expand by offering their products to a new segment of customers and in that way they have the benefit of not having to rely on a narrow range of customers.

Coca-cola segments their products succefully because they appeal to identifiable large segments and because of the company’s name and history it is easy for them to access the members of the segments they are trying to sell to. Coca cola also succefully uses benefit segmentation, cola-zero for example appeals to the consumer’s desire also because of the known benefits of the product to the consumer.  

coca-cola in costa rica!!

During spring break my boyfriend and i decided to escape the unstable New-York weather to the sunny beaches of Costa-rica. During our vacation i was surprised to see that coca-cola was EVERYWHERE! and my boyfriend was surprised that i couldnt escape my marketing class tasks. They even have 1 liter glass bottles! here are some pics !  

Chapter 11- developing and managing products

Developing a new product is a team effort that goes through many stages of development until the product is finalized and ready to be distributed to the potential consumers.

It is a long and hard process but the history and statistics do show that it is highly profitable as long as you do it on a well constructed way:

 One of the recent new products introduced by coca-cola is cola zero, the first stage for introducing a new product is called new product strategy, in this stage the new product strategy was  a dual objective of reaching a different target market and creating  a healthier product  that will serve the companies approach of social responsibility.

In the next step of the process- the idea generations

Coca cola concluded many different ideas the one that pass the screening was the coca cola zero

The new product targets young males (ages 25-35) and has an amazing sugar and caffeine values of zero!! (Hence the name) 

Business analysis – is another stage of screening through determining the profitability after cost. Coca-cola does thorough research of the market, competition and the projected revenue before putting a new product on the market, the company does not publicly display this research but it is understood that by holding many surveys it becomes easy to project the demand for the product.

Development- coca-colas main interest when developing a prototype is the taste of their product without losing its texture and color, and also that the product will relate to the company and still maintain a certain uniqueness, when coca-cola develop a prototype they supply samples to their projected target market in order to understand what to change and improve in the product this is known as the test marketing stage.

Commercialization- after passing all the stages it is then decided to start the production, build inventories and building the infrastructure of sales and distribution. When making a new product coca-cola has it relatively easier in these aspects because the company already has most of the infrastructure, space and ability to produce in any quantity demanded by the market. Coca-cola has an experienced team that trains new employees and inject belief and commitment to their sales teams.

    

  

Chapter 16- Integrating market cummunications

 Coca-cola has become what it is today because the company puts an emphasis on its promotional strategy. As any individual knows, having a great product or number of products is many times not enough for a company to expand make profit or even to survive.

When discussing a company’s promotional strategy the elements included are the elements that communicate the company with its targeted market. Advertising, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion make up a company’s promotional strategy. Coca cola spends a lot of time money and human resources in order to stay superior to the competition in the field of promotional strategy, thanks to the understanding of the importance of this communication to its target market coca-cola has always been very innovative with its use of advertising and through public relations have connected with their consumers and have created a feeling of togetherness.

Advertising-

Coca-cola spends millions of dollars a year on advertising, the company has its name and logo on many billboards around the world in the most prime locations, an example of this type of advertising can be found in the famous Picadili square in London, coca-cola have been on a billboard in Picadili since 1955 and it is seen by the many tourists and local which flock Picadili all year round. Coca-cola also has very unique commercials on television and has always connected to their consumers through strong story telling.

Public relations-

coca-cola project an iconic image, the company makes commitments to make a positive difference in the world, the social responsibility of coca-cola is shown by their pursue to provide clean drinking water to communities in Africa, coca-cola also have evolved their commitment to recycle and have transformed all their factories to be able to recycle all of their waste water and return it to the environment in order to support aquatic life. Coca-cola also encourage exercise and calorie burn in western societies through school programs, because of this commitment 25% of coca-cola products are low calorie and the content is increasing. Because of its controversial health benefits coca-cola have also committed not to advertise to children.

Sales promotion-

Through involvement in many events in which coca-cola provides samples and prizes of their product coca-cola may increase the immediate demand in their products, an example of a sales promotion that occurred recently is when coca cola teamed up with the rock band Maroon 5 in a 24 hour live session in order to create a song for the band, in this event coca-cola advertised provided funding and also its products, another sales promotion occurred when coca-cola zero partnered with the film Avatar in order to promote the brand and also the film, this partnership led to events special merchandise and very innovative ads.

Personal selling-

Through its advertising and public relations coke has formed a personal connection with its consumers, consumers whom recognize coca-cola commitment to society for example may feel they should buy the company’s products and help the society because if they provide coca-cola with their business others will benefit because coca-cola will continue contributing to others.   

Chapter 10 - Product concept

The coca cola brand is recognizable by its name and its logo all around the globe. Coca cola is a global brand: 37% of the company’s earnings are from Brazil, Mexico, India, Japan and china, another 20% of the revenue is also global and its spread through the other countries coca-cola is marketed and only 43% of its income is in the U.S.A.

Coca-colas brand equity is valuable, coca cola earned the benefits of it brand throughout the years, these benefits lead to advantages such as brand loyalty when consumers prefer  coca-colas products over a different less known brand because they may trust coca-cola and believe the product sold is better than a similar product offered by different brands. The brand loyalty eventually led to consumers returning and continuing to patronize the brand and gain a huge advantage over competitors.

All of coca-colas products are consumer’s products, as coca-cola declares in their mission statement they are meant to “refresh the body mind and soul” of their consumers.

Coca-cola is a convenience product, their most profitable product line are carbonated soft drinks and they are available to almost everyone almost everywhere, from gas stations to restaurants delis and convenience stores, you have to put literally close to zero shopping effort in order to purchase a coca-cola beverage.  

Coca-colas product line has a depth to it, this is another advantage coca-cola has because a consumer has a variety of beverages to choose from, so even if individuals want to change their beverage they can still purchase one from the coca-cola company. As well as a variety of beverages to choose from the company provides the same beverage in different packages, individuals can choose between fountains, cans and different sizes of glass and plastic bottles depending on their needs, the bottles still have the shape uniqueness that has made coca cola bottles known by every eye.

Coca-cola does research and stays in touch with what consumers want, with this research the product line extensions of coca-cola grows globally and suits itself to customer needs and technological  development and still stays loyal to their original products that have brought the brand to where it is today.

Chapter 18- Sales promotion and personal selling

Coca cola spends a lot of money advertising and even though the brand name is very popular Coca cola still uses consumer sales promotion in order to attract new customers and also to provide their existing customers with an incentive to purchase more of their product. Coca cola sponsors many events and uses those stages to promote sales, when coca cola sponsors a sporting event for example, it usually raffles tickets in some of their bottles and cans, this is great promotion because it applies to many different social classes, from less fortunate people whom may not be able to afford tickets to events and buy coke in order to try and win, these raffles are fun and provide friendly competition amongst peers. I remember when I was younger, growing up in Israel, coke promoted itself by giving discount prices to a specific water park to whomever arrives with a certain amount of caps, and we would all buy coke instead of anything else available because we all wanted what the premium offered us. In the present coke provides a similar promotion to six flags amusement parks during the summer in the United States.

Chapter 17- Advertising and public relations

Coca cola use many methods of advertisement and the company spends a significant amount of money in order to be seen on billboards, magazines, television and  on the internet. Coca-cola sponsors many events around the world; events that are sponsored by coca-cola include many social and cultural backgrounds, through sponsoring large events coca-cola not only advertises its product but their name to, this is called institutional advertising.  Through their commercials on the television and other sources of media coca-cola focuses on product advertising, the company targets a wide range of market, coca-cola advertises all around the world, in different countries the advertisements will be in the languages spoken in those countries and that is one way of enhancing the targeted market.

Coca cola is known for their innovative and creative commercials, most events on prime time will have coca-cola commercials in the intermissions, the Super Bowl which is one of the events with the highest rating in the United States and has the highest cost for a commercial spot (ranging at around 3 million dollars for 30 seconds) often has coca-cola commercials, when people watching the super bowl see Coca-Cola's creative commercials they remember how appealing coca-colas products are.

Coca-Cola uses the mediums through which they advertise in a clever way because through their advertising they find a way to be appealing to a large range of generations, coca-cola has an image which it tries to highlight in most of their commercials, that image is the image of a close friend or relative who is there on the holidays, during the holiday season coca-cola always wishes holiday greetings on their commercials to everyone, images of Santa-Claus drinking coke are also an image booster for Coca-Cola, the brilliant advertising methods of coca-cola is a big part of the company’s global success, when a new coca-cola commercial is aired, rumors travel and soon enough they become a “must see”.

2011 Disaster in Japan

A great tragedy occurd in Japan last week. The world is praying for the Japanese people and wishing for their safety and a fast recovery.

Coca Cola has pledged 600m Yens in cash and product donations to the relief effort in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami.

Chapter 15- Retailing- A visit at the Apple store

Retailing is the final stop of a product before it reaches the consumer, retailing has a large influence of the economy in the U.S, to put it in proportion- when the latest economic crisis hit the country many of the top economists agreed that in order to revive the economy  consumers must spend more money in the retail stores.

The company I am blogging about (coca-cola) is not a retailer because coke sells to destination stores which market their products.

My boyfriend and I are both students, and we decided it was time for us to purchase another computer, so the natural first step for us was to go to the Apple store and get an idea about what the company has to offer. We went to the apple store on 5th ave and central park south, this store is located at one of the crossroads of the world , the first thing that shocked us was the incredibly large amount of people outside of the store, and also noticed many of them were tourists taking photos of one another with the apple logo. The exterior design was clear glass and it seemed very simple but very futuristic. When we went into the store the atmosphere was greatly influenced by the design that the store was all about new technology. The employees were very friendly and a tentative, once we were spotted we were approached by a young male who seemed very friendly and more important he understood what he was selling, I have been at many other stores in my life, and especially in New-York, salespeople in most stores usually have a specific target market and do not approach everyone that comes into their store because they don’t want to “waste their time” in apple though, the employees seemed to pay attention to everyone and treat them as potential customers, when he started explaining about the MacBook Pro we were looking at we were amazed, the gentleman had an answer for every question we had which was refreshing, in my opinion this is how employees at specialty stores should be trained in terms of knowledge about the products they are selling. After receiving the information we desired about the MacBook pro we decided to check out the I-pod section for two reasons: the first was that we are planning a vacation soon and my “brilliant” boyfriend left our I-pod in his pants during laundry day, and the second was to see if we had been fortunate to experience a single great employee in the laptop section. The answer was clearly NO, the other employees were equally great in their knowledge about the products and also in the quality of their service and attention they provided.

The prices at apple are intact with the quality of the products, not everyone can afford this luxury, however apple and their employees explain to the consumers why they need an apple. The design and organization of the store along with the professionalism of the employees make you feel as if it is your loss if you left the store without making a purchase. We will definitely be back when we get our next salary!