Coca-Cola Marketing Mix

Coca-Cola Marketing Mix

Marketing 421

November 20, 2012

Coca-Cola Marketing Mix

In 1886 the Coca-Cola drink was created by John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist, that by curiosity he mixed carbonated water with a fragrant caramel-colored liquid, he took the drink to his pharmacy and had it sampled by his customers who all agreed that this new drink was something special, which he sold it for five cents a glass. Pemberton's book keeper, Frank Robinson named the drink Coca-Cola, to this day it is written the same way. Over the course of three years, Atlanta businessman Asa Griggs Candler locked the rights to the business for a total of $2,300 dollars, which probably equates to $230 billion in today's market. The Coca-Cola Bottling Company is considered to be the number one beverage company in the world operating in over 2,900 countries. The manufacturing of this beverage includes over 3,300 assorted items. Coca-Cola's main requirement is the production of this famous concentrates, and syrup, which are sold to the majority of non-alcoholic beverage companies that involve the world's largest beverage distribution system. In addition to the product development, Coca-Cola is responsible for the marketing of its own product. Their mission statement is to refresh the world, inspire moments of optimism, to create value, and make a difference in the world (Marketing91, 2012).

The Coca-Cola marketing mix is considered to use the product, price, place, and people, and the branding positioning. Since its creation by John Pemberton and business man Mr. Asa Griggs, Coca-Cola has positioned itself as the premium and preferred mass market beverage in the world. The Coca-Cola Company has one of the best and very effective and extensive supply system in the world. There is a wide variety of brands that Coca-Cola offers throughout the world, drinks like diet coke, Coca-Cola Classic, Sprite, Fanta, Minute Mate, RC-Cola and many more, one can find this product anywhere in the country and the world. The Coca-Cola brand has adopted the strategy of global marketing because they are considering the whole world as a single market place, and uniform marketing strategy has been used by Coca-Cola for many years. Coca-Cola is a product that can be consumed by everyone regardless of age and gender all over the world (Marketingmixx, 2011). The product mix for Coca-Cola has two basic classifications, depending on the stage of the manufacturing and selling process. When a coke product is sold to consumers, it is considered to be a consumer good; but the materials that the manufacturers use to produce the final product are known as industrial goods.

The pricing mix of Coca-Cola varies because of the size and the product. Mostly all the population readily accepts the price offered by the company, and it is due because of the increase the rate in demand for the beverages. The Coca-Cola Company's products are sold in retail stores, convenient stores, gas station, and builder's stores such as Home Depot. However, retail stores uses pricing methods and pricing strategies when selling Coca-Cola products, which are set around the same level as its main competitor-Pepsi-Cola.

The promotion mix of the product is another important issue involved with the marketing mix. The product promoted since the beginning in an effective manner to ensure costumers remained enticed to the product. Coca-Cola uses the media, internet, billboards and brochures as advertising. Even though Coca-Cola has undertaken some changes, like in the 1980's, Coca-Cola created a new formula for the new coke product, which the consumer did not appreciate it nor care for it. The company quickly reversed the decision, and went back the original "Coke Classic" (Marketing91, 2012). If Coca-Cola intends to improve market share for both its core brands and new product brands during the next decade, it will have to design a more effective promotional campaigns that will elicit the desired response from consumers.

The place mix of Coca-Cola is the leading brand that is easy available anywhere in the world. Anybody can find this product in just about any store due to the big success in demand for the soft drink. The distribution of Coca-Cola follows the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) distribution pattern. Because Coca-Cola has become