How important is promotion in Coca Cola's marketing mix?
How important is promotion in Coca Cola's marketing mix?
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| Fig.1, The Coca Cola Company, Here we see the distribution of Coca Cola products. The red Coca Cola truck supports Coca Colas strong and recognised branding that is distributed across the world. |
Coca Cola’s promotion plays an important role in its marketing mix. The company uses ATL, BTL and Digital Channels for creating awareness and promoting their products (Heart of Codes, 2018). Over recent years, competition has grown more intense between the soda brands and has led to greater spends on marketing to drive higher sales and revenue. In 2018, the marketing expenditure grew 100 million to $4.1 billion. It utilizes both traditional and modern channels to promote its brand and products (Pratap, 2017).
Coca cola follows an aggressive marketing strategy through multiple channels such as TV, radio, print and sponsorship. This targets a mass audience which increases brand awareness, visibility and customer loyalty (Heart of Codes, 2018). Coca Colas internet and television campaigns evoke and inspire human emotion and connection (Keller, n.b). This personal connection helps effectively brand Coca cola as more of an icon instead of simply a product.
In addition to the mass advertising, Coca Cola have built an effective inbound marketing campaign which increases digital traffic and revenue. One of the strategies Coca Cola has mastered is to have recognised branding which is both simplistic and eye-catching (Keller, n.b). According to Keller, simplistic product packaging is more appealing, so are more likely to purchase the items.
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| Fig.2, Recipe Creative, n.d, Here we see how Coca Cola targets audiences in mass, using a more traditional method of marketing. |
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| Fig.3, Coca Cola Great Britain, n.b, Here shows the strong brand Coca Cola has established, creating a highly recognisable brand. |
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| Fig.4, Laura Alemany, 2019, Pepsi is Coca Cola's rival. If Coca Cola can market themselves in a way that they are more visible than Pepsi, they have more chance in increasing their sales and gain greater customer loyalty. |
As technology has developed over the recent years, Coca Cola has developed their advertising with it, now more than ever advertising on social media channels and on the internet. Coca Cola has always been known for its ‘fantastic, colourful, wholesome and memory provoking’ advertising (Beautiful Life Magazine, 2020). In 1892, when Asa Candler bought Coca Cola, he had an advertising budget of $11,000. He used items such as calendars, soda fountain urns, painted wall signs, napkins, pencils and clocks to advertise Coca-Cola (Moran, 2012). Today, Coca Cola uses billboards, TV, digital and many more to advertise to attract the attention of as many people as possible.
In addition to Coca Cola changing the way it advertises due to technology, in 2016 they launched the ‘Taste The Feeling’ Campaign which united all of its brands. The one brand approach taken by Coca Cola marks a significant shift from its previous marketing strategy (Pratap, 2017). The image of Coca Cola being suited for each person’s needs makes the brand more competitive within the soda market. Coca Cola is also investing a lot in; CSR, sustainability, developing a sustainable supply chain and manufacturing network. Investing in socially beneficial projects has proved advantageous for the company and has strengthened its image in the market (Pratap, 2020).
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| Fig.5, Bluemartin, 2014, A variety of Coke has been developed over the recent years to accommodated the changing demands of their customers, improving their attractiveness within their audience. |
In 2006, Coca Cola joined YouTube as its first interaction with social media. As social media has developed, Coca Cola has adopted successful platforms on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook as well, with a following of over 2 million on each platform. This means they can reach a high volume of potential customers within seconds and can adapt easily to changes in the market. Using these social media platforms, Coca Cola has run multiple campaigns across the world, examples include, Taste the Feeling, #thatsgold and Share A Coke. Share A Coke is one of Coca Cola’s most noteworthy digital campaigns. The campaign gives people the chance to order personalised Coke bottles through a Facebook app, while in some countries the labelling has been changed altogether so all Coke products have different names on them (Econsultancy, 2018). This campaign in itself increased sales by 7%, earned a total of 8 million media impressions and the traffic on the Coke Facebook Site grew by 870%. This campaign was a great success for Coca Cola, multiple people sharing images of the Coca cola with their name on it and increasing the visibility of the brand.
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| Fig.6, UGC University, 2017, Image is from the Share A Coke Campaign, which created a 7% increase in sales. |
To conclude, Coca Cola has a clear and aggressive marketing strategy, that aims to reach out to masses instead of a targeted audience. Their high marketing budget is spread across traditional and modern strategies, ensuring they are a globally recognised brand.
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| Fig,7, The Coca Cola Company, North Korea is the last country where Coca Cola is not sold. This shows the sheer extent to the Coca Cola distribution system. |
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