Coke

SUBMITTED BY:

ANKITA KARKERA 31 TYBMSJOEL CALDEIRA 08 TYBMS

CONTENTS

A. COCA COLA – The Company…………………………………….. 3 Introduction & History

B. External Marketing Environment…………………………………. 5

C. Marketing Mix……………………………………………………… 8

Product………………………………………………………….. 8 Place…………………………………………………………….. 11 Price…………………………………………………………….. 12 Promotion………………………………………………………. 16

D. SWOT Analysis………………………………………………………… 20

E. Research Methodology Research design………………………………………………… 22 Sampling plan…………………………………………………... 22 Data Analysis…………………………………………………… 23 Conclusion……………………………………………………… 28

F. Annexure……………………………………………………………….. 29

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THE COCA-COLA COMPANY- INTRODUCTION & HISTORY

Refreshment is a language everyone understands, and no one speaks it better than Coca-Cola. Sometimes a soft drink is more than just a carbonated, sweetened beverage. Sometimes it represents an exciting lifestyle. Soft drink-giant Coca-Cola was one of the first on the bandwagon of promoting soft drinks as a way to excite your life. Starting as early as 1907, ads described the drink as "full of vim, vigor and go." John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist, invented the drink one day in 1886 while seeking a quick headache cure. He put it on sale for 5 cents a glass in his neighborhood pharmacy. Back then, the syrup was mixed and then added to a glass of seltzer water upon purchase.

Pemberton's bookkeeper, Frank Robinson, christened the drink "Coca-Cola" and wrote the name in the distinctive script that is still used today. The name comes from the extract of coca leaves and kola nuts contained in the syrup. Eventually in 1929, the cocaine was completely removed from the formula, leaving caffeine to provide the kick.

But Pemberton wasn't a businessman and didn't understand the drink's potential. Between 1888 and 1891 he sold the company in bits and pieces to local entrepreneur Asa Griggs Candler.

In 1891, Candler completed the purchase and became Coca-Cola's first president. He traveled the country introducing pharmacists to the drink, which they sold from their counters. Candler also gave the pharmacists plenty of clocks, scales, calendars and other items laden with the Coca-Cola logo as well as coupons for customers to redeem a free glass of the drink.

Even Candler didn't fully appreciate the brand's potential. In 1899, not realizing that customers might want to take their Coke with them, he sold the bottling rights to two Chattanooga, Tennessee lawyers for a dollar. They soon built a thriving bottling business, in turn selling the rights to other entrepreneurs around the country. In 1916, the Root Glass Company created the well-known curved bottle that immediately differentiated Coca-Cola from the many imitators that had sprung up, and Coca-Cola smartly obtained a patent for the design.

The bottling business grew, with 1,000 bottlers by 1920 as the brand expanded into Cuba, France, Puerto Rico and other territories. In 1918, Candler sold the company to Ernest Woodruff, whose son Robert became president in 1923. Robert Woodruff was the man responsible for the rapid expansion of the Coke brand throughout the world -- during World War II, he decreed "every man in uniform gets a bottle of Coca-Cola for 5 cents, wherever he is, and whatever it costs the company."

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The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest beverage company. They operate in more than 200 countries & markets more than 2800 beverage products. Headquartered at Atlanta, Georgia, they employ approximately 90500 employees all over the world. It is often referred to simply as Coke or (in European and American countries) as Cola or Pop.

First Commercial Advertisement in a Local newspaper of Atlanta

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EXTERNAL MARKETING ENVIRONMENT (PEST ANALYSIS)

Political Analysis for Coca-Cola

Non-alcoholic beverages fall within the food category under the FDA. The government plays a role within the operation of manufacturing these products in terms of regulations. There are potential fines set by the government on companies if they do not meet a standard of laws.

The following are some of the factors that could cause Coca-Cola company's actual results to differ materially from the expected results described in their underlying company's forward statement:-

Changes in laws and regulations, including changes in accounting standards, taxation requirements, (including tax rate changes, new tax laws and revised tax law interpretations) and environmental laws in domestic or foreign jurisdictions.

Changes in the non-alcoholic business environment. These include, without limitation, competitive product and pricing pressures and their ability to gain or maintain share of sales in the global market as a result of action by competitors.

Political conditions, especially in international markets, including civil unrest, government changes and restrictions on the ability to transfer capital across borders.

Political structure and legal considerations also have impinged on Coco-Cola Company’s strategies. Governments of some Arab nations boycotted Coca-Cola’s products due to a political dispute and discontented with the company for maintaining distributors in Israel.

Economical Analysis

Being flexible and willing to change to satisfy consumers’ needs, has enabled Coca-Cola to exploit the economies of scale that was gained by its global marketing and at the same time making its products appeal to local taste, which these have earned the company an enormous profits quarterly.

As Coca-Cola has expanded over the decades or even nearly a century, the company has benefited from the various cultural insights and perspectives of the societies in which business is done. No doubt of the remarkable experience it has, it is still very committed to local markets, to paying attention to what people from different cultures and backgrounds like to drink, and where and how they like to drink it, to remain competitive and to develop more new drinks to satisfy its markets.

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Now, the estimated brand equity of Coca-Cola is $84billion, market share of more than 50 percent in beverage industry globally and about 70 percent of its income comes from countries outside United States. Every 10 seconds, 126,000 people in the whole world, choose to reach out for one of The Coca-Cola Company brands, and it is the company’s mission to make that choice exciting and satisfying, every single time.

Previously the U.S. economy was strong and nearly every part of it was growing and doing well. However, things changed. Before the attacks on September 11, 2001, the United States was starting to see the economy recover slightly and it is only just recently that they achieved the economic levels. Consumers are now resuming their normal habits, going to the malls, car shopping, and eating out at restaurants. However, many are still handling their money cautiously. They believe that with lower inflation still to come, consumers will recover their confidence over the next year. As researching for new products would cost less the Coca-Cola Company will sell its products for less and the people will spend as they would get cheap products from Coca-cola.

Social Analysis for Coca-Cola

Foreign environment factors have influenced the Coca-Cola’s strategies in international marketing. Culture has a tremendous effect on people’s preferences and perception. Language is one of the aspects of culture that marketers must take care of, in term of translating product name, slogans and promotional messages so as not to convey the wrong meaning. Coca-Cola did not look much into this aspect when entering into the markets of countries like China and Taiwan as the literal translation of Coca-Cola in Chinese characters mean, “bite the wax tadpole”.

Changes are necessary in international marketing for consumer’s products, as it is important that the products suit one’s taste, preferences and fulfill one’s needs. Coca-Cola has continued changing, improving and developing new drinks to appeal to local tastes.

After discovering that Coke did not appeal as much to Japanese consumers, Coca-Cola developed over 30 new drinks for the Japanese market, which inclusive of Asian tea, English tea, coffee and fermented-milk drink.

In China, Coca-Cola has also begun the similar strategy of introducing beverages developed for the taste buds of local market. It launched a fruit juice drink called Tian Yu Di (Heaven and Earth) specifically for the Chinese market with planning of introducing the market with a Chinese iced tea and soy milk drink.

Many U.S. citizens are practicing healthier lifestyles. This has affected the non-alcoholic beverage industry in that many are switching to bottled water and diet colas instead of beer and other alcoholic beverages. Also, time management has increased and is at approximately 43% of all households. The need for bottled water and other more convenient and healthy products are in important in the average day-to-day life.

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Consumers from the ages of 37 to 55 are also increasingly concerned with nutrition. There is a large population of the age range known as the baby boomers. Since many are reaching an older age in life they are becoming more concerned with increasing their longevity. This will continue to affect the non-alcoholic beverage industry by increasing the demand overall and in the healthier beverages.

Technological Analysis for Coca-Cola

Some factors that cause company's actual results to differ materially from the expected results are as follows:

The effectiveness of company's advertising, marketing and promotional programs. The new technology of internet and television which use special effects for advertising through media. They make some products look attractive. This helps in selling of the products. This advertising makes the product attractive. This technology is being used in media to sell their products.

Introduction of cans and plastic bottles have increased sales for Coca-Cola as these are easier to carry and you can bin them once they are used.

As the technology is getting advanced there has been introduction of new machineries all the time. Due to introduction of this machineries the production of the Coca-Cola company has increased tremendously then it was few years ago

Coca-Cola has six factories in Britain which use the most state-of the-art drinks technology to ensure top product quality and speedy delivery. Europe's largest soft drinks factory was opened by CCE in Wakefield, Yorkshire in 1990. The Wakefield factory has the technology to produce cans of Coca-Cola faster than bullets from a machine gun

MARKETING MIX OF COCA-COLA

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Firstly, we will look at how Coca-Cola has used their marketing mix. The marketing mix is divided up into 4 parts; product, price, promotions and place.

1. Product:

The product (Coca-Cola soft drink) includes not just the liquid inside but also the packaging. On the product-service continuum we see that a soft drink provides little service, apart from the convenience. Soft drinks satisfy the need of thirst. However, people are always different, some want more and others want less. Therefore Coca-Cola has made allowances for that by providing many sizes. We also have particular tastes, and again they have provided several options. So, although thirst is what is needed to be satisfied and that is the core benefit, we are receiving other benefits in the taste and size. Coca-Cola has developed several different flavours and sizes as mentioned above, but also several brands such as Sprite, Lift, Fanta and Diet Coke which increase the product line length, thus making full use of the market to maximize sales. The product is convenient, that is - bought frequently, immediately, and with a minimum of comparison and buying effort.The appearance of the product is eye catching with the bright red colour. It has a uniquely designed bottle shape that fits in your hand better, and creates a nicer & more futuristic look.

The quality of the soft drink is needed to be regularly high. Sealed caps ensure that none of the "fizz" is lost. The bottles are light, with flexible packaging, so they won't crack or leak, and are not too heavy to casually walk around with. The cans are also light and safe.

The product range of Coca-Cola includes:

Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola classic, caffeine free Coca-Cola, diet Coke caffeine free diet Coke, diet Coke with lemon Vanilla Coke, diet Vanilla Coke, Cherry Coke, diet Cherry Coke, Fanta brand soft drinks, Sprite, diet Sprite Sprite Remix

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Product Lifecycle of Coke:

Product life cycle has four phases 1. Introduction 2. Growth 3. Maturity 4. Decline.

The markets where Coke is a dominant player are United States of America, Europe and Asia, Africa. There is a vast difference in terms of above given phases for example, in U.S.A & Europe it has reached maturity stage where it can’t expand its market more but if we consider Asia, it is still in the growth phase.

Coca-Cola is currently going through the maturity stage in Western countires. This maturity stage lasts longer than all other stages. Management has to pay special attention to products during this stage of the product life-cycle. During the maturity stage, products usually go through a slowdown in sales growth. According to Coca-Cola's 2001 annual report, sales have increased by 1.02% compared to last year. This percentage has no comparison to the high level of growth Coca-Cola enjoyed during its growth stage. To add a little variation Coca-Cola took the Coca-Cola Classic and added variations to it, including Cherry Coke, Vanilla Coke and Diet Coke. Also Coca-Cola went from 6-oz. glass bottles to 8-oz. cans to plastic liter bottles, all helping increase consumption.

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COCA-COLA

2. Price:

Like any company who has successfully endured a century of existence, Coca- Cola has had to remain tremendously fluent with their pricing strategy. They have had the privilege of a worthy competitor constantly driving them to be smarter, faster, and better. A quote from Pepsi Co's CEO "The more successful they are, the sharper we have to be. If the Coca-Cola Company didn't exist, we'd pray for someone to invent them." states it simply. The relationship between Coca-Cola & Pepsi is a healthy one that each corporation has learned to appreciate.

Throughout the years Coca-Cola has made many pricing decisions but one might say that their ultimate goal has always been to maximize shareholder value. As cola consumption has decreased in the US colas have come to realize the untapped international market. In 2003 both Coke and Pepsi had a solid presence in India and had each introduced a 300mL bottle. In order to grab market share Pepsi began to drop prices (even with summer approaching, which was contrary to policy in America). Shortly thereafter, Coca-Cola decided to drop their prices slightly, but focused on the reduced price point of their 200mL container. Coca- Cola planned to use the lower price point to penetrate new cities that were especially price sensitive. The carbonated soft drink market in India is nearly 37% of the total beverage market there.

This low price strategy was not unfamiliar to Coca-Cola. Both Coke & Pepsi utilized a low price strategy in the early 1990s. After annihilating the low price store brands, Coke chose to reposition itself as a "Premium" brand and then raise prices.

Coca-Cola products would appear, on the shelf, to have the most expensive range of soft drinks common to supermarkets, at almost double the cost of no name brands. This can be for several reasons apart from just to cover the extra costs of promotions, for which no name brands do without. It creates consumer perceptions and values. When people buy Coca-Cola they are not just buying the beverage but also the image that goes with it, therefore to have the price higher reiterates the fact that the product is of a better quality than the rest and that the consumer is not cheap. This is known as value-based pricing and is used by many other industries in attracting consumers.

In India, the average income of a rural worker is Rs.500 a month. Coca Cola launched a 200 ml bottle for just Rs.5, an affordable amount on the pockets of the rural audience.

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3. Place:

Coca-Cola entered foreign markets in various ways. The most common modes of entry are direct exporting, licensing and franchising.

Besides beverages and their special syrups, Coca-Cola also directly exports its merchandise to overseas distributors and companies. Other than exporting, the company markets internationally by licensing bottlers around the world and supplying them with the syrup needed to produce the product.

There are different types of franchising. The type that is used by Coca-Cola Company is manufacturer-sponsored wholesaler franchise system. It is very comparable to licensing but the only difference is that the finished products are sold to the retailers in local market.

Coca Cola has managed their company’s marketing and sales strategy within channels. Have you ever considered the significance of the Coke vending machine to the success and profitability of the Coca Cola company? This channel is direct to consumer and vending machines often have little to no competition and no trade or price promotions.

The Coke Company operates three primary delivery systems for its business channels:

Bulk delivery for the channels of large Supermarkets, Mass Merchandisers and Club stores;

For smaller channels Coke does advanced sale delivery for convenience stores, drug stores, small supermarkets and on-premise fountain accounts.

Full service delivery for its full service vending customers.

Key Channel Listing

Supermarkets Convenience Stores Fast Food Petroleum Retailers Chain Drug Stores Hotels/Motels/Resorts Mass Merchandisers U.S. DOD Military Resale retail commands: AAFES, NAVRESSO and

DECA Vending

In 2006, the Company began changing its delivery method for its route delivery system. Historically, the Company loaded its trucks at a warehouse with products

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the route delivery employee would deliver. The delivery employee was responsible for pulling the required products off a side load truck at each customer location to fill the customer's order. Coke began using a new CooLift® delivery system in 2006 in a portion of the Company's territory which involves pre-building orders in the warehouse on a small pallet the delivery employee can roll off a truck directly into the customer's location. The CooLift® delivery system involves the use of a rear loading truck rather than a conventional side loading truck. Coke will continue to rollout this program over the next several years since they expect such significant savings and more efficient deliverys. This is a huge investment for Coke.

The company works through independent bottlers of Coke. They work in coordination with the Coke company which produces the 'secret formula concentrate' and ships to the distributors and bottlers for final processing and packaging prior to shipment to the stores.

Coca-Cola floods all possible retailing stores in satisfying the third part, place. In supermarkets and convenient stores, Coca-Cola products are always easy to identify, and usually make up the greater proportion of options to buy. This increases their market exposure through effective use of the retailers. For a FMCG it is important that they can be found and purchased easily. With many automatic Can machines located in many sports stadiums and shopping malls, you don't even need to go to a store to buy a drink. This greatly enhances the speed of purchase.

The company produces concentrate, which is then sold to various licensed Coca-Cola bottlers throughout the world. The bottlers, who hold territorially exclusive contracts with the company, produce finished product in cans and bottles from the concentrate in combination with filtered water and sweeteners. The bottlers then sell, distribute and merchandise Coca-Cola in cans and bottles to retail stores and vending machines. Such bottlers include Coca-Cola Enterprises, which is the largest single Coca-Cola bottler in North America and Western Europe and food service distributors.

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The Coca-Cola Company only produces a syrup concentrate, which it sells to various bottlers throughout the world who hold Coca-Cola franchises for one or more geographical areas. The bottlers produce the final drink by mixing the syrup with filtered water and sugar (or artificial sweeteners) and then carbonate it before filling it into cans and bottles, which the bottlers then sell and distribute to retail stores, vending machines, restaurants and food service distributors.

The Coca-Cola Company owns minority shares in some of its largest franchises, like Coca-Cola Enterprises, Coca-Cola Amatil, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (CCHBC) and Coca-Cola FEMSA, but fully independent bottlers produce almost half of the volume sold in the world. Since independent bottlers add sugar and sweeteners, the sweetness of the drink differs in various parts of the world, to cater for local tastes.

COCA-COLA DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

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4. Promotion:

Coca-Cola aims to create attractiveness for the product. Some of their advertisements show beach scenes, which allow the viewer to relate Coca-Cola and fun together. They have immense advertisement schemes, always creating new ideas and flooding the TV with Coca-Cola, mostly enhancing their image of being socially accepted and fun.

Coca-Cola uses the "pull strategy" in their promotion. That is, they promote to the consumers to create the want for their product which in turn creates a demand on the retailers and then back to them. For example, in supermarkets and

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convenience stores Coca-Cola has their own fridge which contains only their products. There is little personal selling, but that is made up for in public relations and corporate image. Coca-Cola sponsors a lot of events including sports and recreational activities. All these are used to create awareness of the product. They also use competitions, such as check under the lid for an instant prize, to encourage consumers to buy their product over the competition's products. Coca-Cola promotions then create knowledge and liking about the product through campaigns that show that it has the best taste, is the most popular and is the one of the future, whilst appealing to a large range of audiences.

Coke had a 5¢ Coca-Cola ad in McPherson, Kansas on an old building that has survived many years. Originally, Coke sold them a huge amount of paint so that they would not have to buy any more touch-up paint for a very long time. Coke still has some paint stashed up because they want to be sure that that advertisement never completely wears away. An 1890s advertisement showing model Hilda Clark in formal 19th century attire. The ad is entitled Drink Coca-Cola 5¢.

Coca-Cola's advertising has had a significant impact on American culture, and is frequently credited with the "invention" of the modern image of Santa Claus as an old man in red-and-white garments; however, while the company did in fact start promoting this image in the 1930s in its winter advertising campaigns, it was already common before that. In fact, Coca-Cola was not even the first soft drink company to utilize the modern image Santa Claus in its advertising – White Rock Beverages used Santa in advertisements for its ginger ale in 1923 after first using him to sell mineral water in 1915.

Before Santa Claus, however, Coca-Cola relied on images of smartly-dressed young women to sell its beverages. Coca-Cola's first such advertisement appeared in 1895 and featured a young Bostonian actress named Hilda Clark as its spokesperson.

In the 1970s, a song from a Coca-Cola commercial called "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing", produced by Billy Davis, became a popular hit single.

Coke's advertising is rather pervasive, as one of Woodruff's stated goals was to ensure that everyone on Earth drank Coca-Cola as their preferred beverage. This is especially true in southern areas of the United States, such as Atlanta, where Coke was born.

During the 1980s, Pepsi-Cola ran a series of television advertisements showing people participating in taste tests essentially demonstrating that: "Fifty percent of the participants who said they preferred Coke actually chose the Pepsi". Statisticians were quick to point out the problematic nature of a 50/50 result; that

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most likely all this really showed was that in blind tests, most people simply cannot tell the difference between Pepsi and Coke. Coca-Cola ran ads to combat Pepsi's ads in an incident sometimes referred to as the cola wars; one of Coke's ads compared the so-called Pepsi challenge to two chimpanzees deciding which tennis ball was furrier. Thereafter, Coca-Cola regained its leadership in the market.

In an attempt to broaden its portfolio, The Coca-Cola Company purchased Columbia Pictures in 1982. Columbia provided subtle publicity through Coke product placements in many of its films while under Coke's ownership. However, after a few early successes during that time, Columbia began to under-perform, and the company sold the studio to Sony in 1989.

The advertisement with the tag line - 'Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola ' was targeted at rural and semi-urban consumers. The series of Aamir Khan Ads on hill station acting like a nepali and those in a Punjabi ‘Yaara da Tashan’ were a great success and an important aspect focusing on acceptability. Except TV ads, Coca-Cola India also concentrated on 47,000 hatts (weekly markets) and 25,000 melas (fairs) held annually in various parts of the country.

BRAND AWARENESS

Coca-Cola Company has been very successful in international marketing effort. Aggressive advertising, branding and market segmentation have played an important part in the success. It has portrayed itself as fun, playfulness, freedom, lifestyle and the international appeal of Coca-Cola was embodied by a 1971 commercial, where a group of young people from all over the world to a hilltop in Italy to sing “I’ll like to buy the world a Coke”.

The company has been sponsoring big events, like Olympics, Sea Games, FIFA Cup, International Film Festivals all over the world to create awareness, credibility and to brand itself as world-class company. It also makes big donations to organizations, charities and involvement in the communities. These activities have aided Coca-Cola in creating a positive image and consumers’ perception toward the company.

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Coca-Cola- the official sponsor of Olympics, Beijing 2008

Las Vegas Strip World museum in the year 2000.

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Coke’s Ad with Mc Donald’s

Coca-Cola Ad - The Navy Ney Awards for Food Excellence Service

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SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths:

Coca-Cola has been a complex part of American culture for over a century. The product's image is loaded with over-romanticizing, and this is an image many people have taken deeply to heart. The Coca-Cola image is displayed on T-shirts, hats, and collectible memorabilia. This extremely recognizable branding is one of Coca-Cola's greatest strengths.

Additionally, Coca-Cola's bottling system is one of their greatest strengths. It allows them to conduct business on a global scale while at the same time maintain a local approach. The bottling companies are locally owned and operated by independent business people who are authorized to sell products of the Coca-Cola Company. Because Coke does not have outright ownership of its bottling network, its main source of revenue is the sale of concentrate to its bottlers.

A company like Coca-Cola has much internal and external strength, but when launching a product of this sort, they begin to run into many internal and external weaknesses as well. As far as internal strengths go, Coca-Cola itself is a strong company to say the least. Not only are they a $23 billion company, but in 200 nations, Coke sells about 400 drink brands, including four of the top five sellers right now. They own 36% of the largest Coke bottler in the world, Coca-Cola Enterprises, which staffs facilities all over the world.

Although Coke has never produced an organic product, they do own Odwalla, which is a natural juice company. This product would not be marketed as an Odwalla brand, but Odwalla's knowledge of natural juice making will be a great strength for Coca-Cola.

Organic products are on the rise, with 70% of Americans having purchased something organic at least once. While organics are becoming more and more popular, there still are not many well-known organic companies; therefore, Coca-Cola will not have much competition.

Perhaps one of their biggest strengths is the brand loyalty their customers have. When this product is launched, avid Coke drinkers will choose this organic fruit juice or soda over any other competitor simply because it's a Coca-Cola product and they trust it.

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Weaknesses:

Although domestic businesses as well as many international markets are thriving, Coca-Cola has recently reported some "declines in unit case volumes in Indonesia and Thailand due to reduced consumer purchasing power." According to an article in Fortune magazine, "In Japan, unit case sales fell 3% in the second quarter because while Japan generates around 5% of worldwide volume, it contributes three times as much to profits. Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Japan account for about 35% of Coke's volume and none of these markets are performing to expectation.

Coca-Cola on the other side has effects on the teeth's which is an issue for health care. It also has got sugar by which continuous drinking of Coca-Cola may cause health problems. Being addicted to Coca-Cola also is a health problem, because drinking of Coca-Cola daily has an effect on your body after few years.

Opportunities:

Brand recognition is the significant factor affecting Coke's competitive position. Coca-Cola's brand name is known well throughout 94% of the world today. Packaging changes have also affected sales and industry positioning, but in general, the public has tended not to be affected by new products. Coca-Cola's bottling system also allows the company to take advantage of infinite growth opportunities around the world. This strategy gives Coke the opportunity to service a large geographic, diverse, area.

Threats:

Currently, the threat of new viable competitors in the carbonated soft drink industry is not very substantial. The threat of substitutes, however, is a very real threat. The soft drink industry is very strong, but consumers are not necessarily married to it. Possible substitutes that continuously put pressure on both Pepsi and Coke include tea, coffee, juices, milk, and hot chocolate.

Even though Coca-Cola and Pepsi control nearly 40% of the entire beverage market, the changing health-consciousness of the market could have a serious affect. Of course, both Coke and Pepsi have already diversified into these markets, allowing them to have further significant market shares and offset any losses incurred due to fluctuations in the market.

Consumer buying power also represents a key threat in the industry. The rivalry between Pepsi and Coke has produced a very slow moving industry in which management must continuously respond to the changing attitudes and demands of their consumers or face losing market share to the competition. Furthermore, consumers can easily switch to other beverages with little cost or consequence.

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METHODOLOGY

Research Design

Survey Research Method was used because the nature of the research was basically of

descriptive type and best suited the objective of the survey.

Instruments Used

In this case a Questionnaire was used as a research instrument to collect the Primary

Data. A questionnaire was preferred as it offers flexibility to the surveyor.

The Questionnaire had mostly Close ended questions.

SAMPLING PLAN

Sample Size

The sample size of the survey carried out was 30 people.

Tools and Techniques of Analysis

After completing the survey, each question was analyzed from the questionnaire & the

data was tabulated accordingly using Table Graphs.

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DATA ANALYSIS

1. Have you ever tried the product (Coca-Cola)?

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

yes no

Out of the 30 people we surveyed, all of them said they had tried Coca-Cola atleast once. This explains the brand awareness of Coca-Cola.

2. Gender

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

male female

Out of the 30 respondents, there were 18 men & 12 women.

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3. Age groups

0 5 10 15

no. of people

below 10 yrs

10-19 yrs

20-35 yrs

36-50 yrs

51 & above

Age Groups

As represented in the chart, majority of the respondents were in the age group of 20-35 years, the least of the lot being 2 kids who were also asked to participate in the survey.

4. Do you enjoy the product (Coca-Cola)?

yes77%

no23%

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From the analysis, it was found that majority of 77% (23 people) respondents said they enjoyed drinking Coca-Cola as against 23% (7 people) who said they preferred other drinks.5. What brand would you say is more popular among the public?

a) Coca-Colab) Pepsic) Other

Coca-Cola56%

Pepsi37%

Others7%

As seen in the chart, out of 30 people, 17 respondents said, in their opinion, Coca-Cola was more popular while 11 respondents said they preferred Pepsi as a popular brand.

6. Do you enjoy Coca-Cola’s advertisements on TV?

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

I really like them

they are good but nothing special

not bad

I don’t like them

25

The chart represents that a majority of people thought the Advertisements were good enough & they like what they see.

7. Do you think the price for a can of Coca Cola is cheap or expensive?

0 5 10 15 20 25

cheap

slightlyoverpriced

expensive

As seen in the above figure, a majority of 23 people out of the 30 respondents thought that the Coca-Cola Cans are slightly overpriced with a few people also rating it as expensive.

8. If you were to see the Coca-Cola logo somewhere would you recognize it?

yes100%

no0%0%0%

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It is understood from the fact that the Logo of the Company still has its image in the minds of the people with all the respondents saying they would recognize the “Coca-Cola” Logo.

9. How often do you buy the product?

0 5 10 15

never

once/few times in a year

few times in a month

few times in a week

everyday

As it can be seen in the figure, it was concluded that majority of the respondents bought the product quite frequently. This shows the brand loyalty of the customers towards Coca-Cola.

10. Where do you buy Coca-Cola products the most?

0 5 10 15 20

super markets

general stores

Restaurants

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As seen in the above chart, customers usually preferred to buy Coca-cola in restaurants like KFC, Mc Donalds, Sub-Way etc. The second largest option was General stores stocking Coca-Cola.

CONCLUSION

It was observed that Coca-Cola has been perceived quite positively as it has been projected. People are aware of the Brand & Awareness of Coca-Cola is quite high in the market. When a product is launched, avid Coke drinkers choose this soda over any other competitor simply because it's a Coca-Cola product and they trust it.

Although Coke has been into controversies, people still prefer to stay loyal to the Brand with Coca-Cola being termed as a more popular brand than Pepsi.

Coca-Cola products would appear, on the shelf, to have the most expensive range of soft drinks common to supermarkets, at almost double the cost of no name brands. This can be for several reasons apart from just to cover the extra costs of promotions, for which no name brands do without. When people buy Coca-Cola they are not just buying the beverage but also the image that goes with it, therefore to have the price higher reiterates the fact that the product is of a better quality than the rest and that the consumer is not cheap.

In supermarkets and convenience stores Coca-Cola has their own fridge which contains only their products. There is little personal selling, but that is made up for in public relations and corporate image. Coca-Cola sponsors a lot of events including sports and recreational activities.

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ANNEXURE

SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE

Name: __________________________

1. Have you ever tried the product (Coca-Cola)?

a) Yesb) No

2. Gender

a) Maleb) Female

3. How old are you?a) Below 10b) 10-19c) 20-35d) 36-50e) 51 & Above

4. Do you enjoy the product?

a) Yesb) Noc) It's not bad

5. What brand would you say is more popular among the public?

d) Coca-Cola

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e) Pepsif) Other

6. Do you enjoy Coca Colas advertisements on TV?

a) I really like themb) They good but nothing specialc) Not badd) I don't enjoy them

7. Do you think the price for a can of Coca Cola is cheap or expensive?

a) Cheapb) Slightly over pricedc) Expensive

8. If you were to see the Coca Cola logo somewhere would you recognize it?

a) Yesb) No

9. How often do you buy the product?

a) Neverb) Once/few times a yearc) Few times a monthd) Few times a weeke) Everyday

10. Where do you buy Coca-Cola products the most?

a) Super Marketsb) General storesc) Restaurants (McDonald's, Subway, KFC etc)

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