Cola Biscuit in the Coca Cola Company - Case Study Example

RESEARCH PROPOSAL TOPIC: Introduction of the Cola Biscuit in the Coca Cola Company Table of Contents Executive summary 2 Abstract 4 Chapter 1: Introduction 4 Background of the Study 4 Statement of the problem 5 Research questions 5 Hypothesis 5 Significance of the study 5 Chapter 2: Literature Review 6 Chapter 3: Research Methodology 6 Research Design 6 Population 6 Sampling and sampling technique 6 Data collection 7 Data collection instruments 7 Data analysis 7 Chapter 4: Conclusions 7 References 8 Appendix 9 Executive summary This research project proposal suggests the introduction of a brand new product in the manufacturing industries of the Coca-Cola Company. It proposes the launch of Cola biscuits to supplement the beverages sold at Coca-Cola retail stores. It aims at attracting more customers, and enhancing customer satisfaction. The report further suggest the employment of an aggressive marketing strategy in order to achieve the objectives of this project Project Title Unveiling the Cola Biscuit: Incorporating the Biscuit Industry into the Coca-Cola Company Abstract This report proposes the introduction of Cola Biscuits, a brand new product, into the Coca-Cola chain of distribution. It has fully utilized primary sources like the questioners and personal interviews together with a variety of secondary sources in gauging the demand for the named product in the beverage industry. The analysis obtained positive results whereby most people who like soft drinks more often than not buy cakes or biscuits as they claimed that the combination of the two delivered much fulfilling refreshment. However, others were quite skeptical of the product and therefore much advertisement and sensitization is necessary in order to convince more people to like the product. The proposal also recommends that one method of popularizing the product, by distributing the Cola Biscuits together with other Coca-Cola products like Fanta, Coke, and Sprite. This way they will attract more attention and consequently generate more revenue through increased sales. Case studies have also shown that most Coca-Cola customers usually take the beverages with other snacks like cakes and biscuits. This presents a great opportunity for the Coca-Cola Company to expand more by diversifying its products to suit the customers’ needs. Finally, this proposal recognizes the heightened competition that the brand new product will face and recommends for an aggressive marketing strategy to counter similar products from other companies. Chapter 1: Introduction Since its inception, the Coca-Cola Company has been operating in the beverage industry with its main products being the soft drinks and mineral water. However, there are many supplementary products sold together with Fanta, Daso, Coke, and Sprite. Most people like taking Sodas with biscuits, cakes, or doughnuts but their main allure is the biscuits. In every Coca-Cola retail store, there are these products from other companies meaning that these go hand in hand with the products of the Coca-Cola Company. Therefore, there is need by the Coca-Cola Company to tap into these prospective customers to be able to sell only its products in the retail stores spread across the world and consequently generate more income through this amazing product called the Coca biscuits. Background of the Study The Coca-Cola Company is undoubtedly the largest multinational in the soft drinks industry with operations in more than two hundred countries. This has projected the company to greater heights of running up to 16 billion dollar brand stock. Despite all these success, one more product is missing and competitors are really taking advantage of this. These groups of snacks include mainly cakes and biscuits. These products sell faster than most Cola-Cola brands owing to the fact that they are complementary products taken together with the soft drinks from the Coca-Cola Company. The aim of this study is to introduce a new brand into the Coca-Cola Company to boost sales volume and fast track the profit margin. This will expand the already large company even further as it has already existing customers. The project mainly targets at people who like to eat biscuits in parties as they take soft drinks. As part of the expansion project, this research also intends to attract more customers by unleashing a new product that will give it a competitive advantage in the market place. The gap between the soft drinks industry and the biscuits industry has necessitated the unveiling of coca biscuits that apart from filling the competitive gap, will also act as convenient food to the customers. The study intends to evaluate and analyze various responses from consumers to know whether the product fits the bill (Coca-Cola Company, 2013). Statement of the problem The Coca-Cola Company is a multinational company that sells a wide variety of soft drinks, with manufacturing industries distributed throughout the world. Although this has seen the company make tremendous success since its inception, a number of issues of great concern arise. One of them is the extent to which the Coca-Cola customers consume commentary products when buying other Coca-Cola products like the soft drinks. It is apparent that these highly esteemed customers inevitably buy or bring with them products like biscuits and cakes as more often than not, their consumption normally combine most of the Coca-Cola products. One major concern is that these complementary products tend to reduce the overall profitability of the Coca-Cola Company as the customers spend an appreciable amount of money in buying these products. The manifestation of this is in the sales volume of the Coca-Cola products. When the Coca-Cola Company introduces a new product, the Coca Biscuit, into the market, it is highly likely that these same customers will shift and direct their precious money into the Company for all the products they need. This way, the Coca-Cola Company will increase its sales volume and customer base as the customers will be getting all that they need from one retail company, and to make the deal even sweeter, all under one roof. Research questions 1. Why do most Coca-Cola customers buy biscuits and cakes when taking soft drinks? 2. Is there a link between the degrees of satisfaction when enjoying the resources together with biscuits? 3. How does this obsession for biscuits affect the overall demand for the Coca-Cola Company products? 4. Is there something that can shift the demand for the biscuits in order to increase the sales volume without compromising on customer satisfaction? Hypothesis There is a relationship between the degree of customer satisfaction and the combination of both soft drinks and biscuits. The inclusion and the integration of the Cola Biscuits into the Coca-Cola Company will accentuate the level of doing business of the Coca-Cola Company and boost its corresponding customers’ confidence. Objectives I. The main objectives of this research proposal are to: II. Examine why Coca-Cola customers buy biscuits when taking soft drinks. III. Find out the impact of this obsession on the overall profitability of the Coca-Cola Company. IV. Introduce the Cola biscuits and establish mechanisms of ensuring that this project becomes a success story. Significance of the study The significance of the study of this proposal will be to: a) Introduce the Cola biscuit into the Coca-Cola company retail outlets. b) Increase the sales volumes subsequently revenue generated through product differentiation c) Provide the Coca-Cola customers with a wide variety of products, especially their desired product, that is, the Cola biscuit. d) Fulfill the academic requirements of this course. Chapter 2: Literature Review Widely recognized as the world’s largest multinational company in the soft drinks industry, the Coca-Cola Company boasts of more than 500 brands ranging from various brands of sodas to coffee. With a great customer base in over 200 countries, the Coca-Cola Company enjoys almost 2 billion sales volumes every day. Nevertheless, this does not come without challenges. The Coca-Cola Company faces stiff competition from other beverage companies like Pepsi. Regassa and Corradino (2011) analyzed the value of the Coca-Cola Company and concluded that it was a potential gold mine for any serious investor. With billions of Dollars in capital base, the Company has an infinite capacity to expand if the right ideas, resources, and projects are injected. The authors further suggested more to research in order to increase the profit margin for example investing in untapped resources in related industries. A research by McIntyre and Schwanke (2010) confirms that there exists an increasing demand for biscuits world over. They, however, state that most biscuit customers often prefer unique tastes and preferences of biscuits and this primarily depends on their attitudes and moods. The Cola biscuits that will possess all these unique qualities will enjoy wide acceptance by the biscuit fraternity. Chapter 3: Research Methodology The areas covered in the research methodology are discussed in this chapter and they include the main methods used to collect, analyze and present data. This will be of great significance especially when it comes to gauging the response of the consumers, and largely the Coca Cola consumers towards the new product, i.e. the Cola biscuit. Research Design This project proposal will encompass the evaluation of efficiency and effectiveness of the Cola biscuits concerning retaining and introducing the existing customer base to the brand new product. Subsequently, this project will aim to meet, and possibly surpass, the outlined objectives. Population The Coca-Cola Company draws its customers from people of diverse racial, geographic, ethnic, age, class, and social backgrounds. Although the Coca-Cola Company does not have specific customers for its wide range of products, the main target groups of the Cola biscuit will be: A) The outgoing folks, who find the product convenient especially when it comes to picnics, will be an interested group. B) The party addict that always makes sure to include biscuits in their menu. C) The public especially people with young children, who may need some accompaniment to their refreshing soft drinks, are also a target group. Sampling and sampling technique Since the entire population of the current or prospective Coca-Cola customers is too large for analysis, a stratified sampling technique will be appropriate to ensure fair representation of each target group. The total sample size will be 5000 where the outgoing folks will be 1500, the partying folks will be 2000, while the remaining 1500 will go to people with young kids. It is advisable that sampling takes place in more than 50% of the countries where the Coca-Cola Company operates. Data collection Because this project involves the evaluation of the views and attitudes of people, especially the coca cola customers towards the launch of the new product, the collection of data from primary sources will be very crucial at the time. However, in supplementing the primary data, some secondary data from yearly financial reports will be essential in reviewing how biscuits fair in the market relative to the soft drinks industry. In abiding by the company policies and regulations of the Coca-Cola Company, a visit to the company headquarters will be necessary to ask for permission before conducting the research. This will also aid organizing for the trip like preparing the questionnaires, and conducting a pre-feasibility study. Data collection instruments The researcher will make use of questionnaires as a data collection tool in seeking response to the four critical research questions mentioned earlier. Each research question will be divides into sections A, B, C, and D and each section will contain two specific fact-finding questions. Data analysis The answers given by the respondents undergo calculations into percentages and the percentages of each of the four sections of the four sections of the research questions analyzed separately using the Statistical Package for Social scientists. This kind of analysis is more accurate and therefore, it will provide a more credible and viable answer as to whether introduction of cola biscuits will fulfill the gap it is intended to (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2007).  Chapter 4: Conclusions This project proposal, besides academic purposes, will be of great help to the Coca-Cola Company as far as conducting further research on the proposed commodity is concerned. Since the objectives of this study are strong enough, it is highly likely that its implementation will be a true success to the company. References Coca-ColaCompany.com. (2013). Coca-Cola Journey. Retrieved from http://www.coca-colacompany.com McIntyre, C., & Schwanke, B. (2010). Biscuit (cookie) consumption. British Food Journal, 112(8), 853-870. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00070701011067460 Regassa, H., & Corradino, L. (2011). Determining the value of the coca cola company - a case analysis. (). Arden, United States, Arden: Jordan Whitney Enterprises, Inc. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/912511490?accountid=45049 Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2007). Research Methods for Business Students (4thed.) Harlow, England: FT Prentice Hall Appendix Sample fact-finding questions Section Research Question Investigative Question A Why do most Coca Cola customers buy biscuits and cakes when taking soft drinks? Are you aware that most Coca Cola customers like biscuits? If yes, why so? B Is there a link between the degrees of satisfaction when enjoying the resources together with biscuits? Do biscuits complement Coca cola soft drinks? How does this affect the enjoyment of soft drinks? C How does this obsession for biscuits affect the overall demand for the Coca Cola Company products? Does chewing biscuits enhance your demand for Coca Cola soft drinks? Do you spend more on biscuits or soft drinks? D Is there something that can shift the demand for the biscuits in order to increase the sales volume without compromising on customer satisfaction? Will the introduction of Cola biscuits quench your demand for other biscuit brands? Will you be happy to spend more on Cola biscuits? Coca-Cola products consumption per capita Source: CocaCola.com Read More