Coca-Cola Structure and Operation - Case Study Example

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Coca-cola Company TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract…………………………………………………………………….2 Thesis statement and introduction………………………………………….3 Coca-Cola vision and strategy……………………………………………...5 Coca-Cola structure and operation…………………………………………6 Coca-Cola success story…………………………………………………….6 i) Coca-Cola brand personality……………………………………………...7 ii). Coca-Cola positioning…………………………………………………...7 iii). Coca-Cola product design………………………………………………8 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………...8 Abstract The main purpose of this paper is to look at the reasons behind the high competitive rating of Coca-Cola in the beverage industry. It will seek to show the strategic measures which the company has put in place to increase its customer appeal while at the same time realizing high profits in a very dynamic and highly competitive market. Thesis statement Coca-Cola Company has for many years acquired a significant market share in the beverage market. This has been achieved by making innovations in areas such as brand positioning, design and building brand personality. Introduction The coca-cola company is the world’s leading maker of soft drinks. The company on average, moves about 1.3 billion bottles of beverage, on daily basis. Over the years, Coca-cola has stuck into the red and white trademark which forms the brand symbol for the beverage company (Oliver 136).Oliver Headquartered in Atlanta, Coca-cola produces four of the top ten leading soft drinks in the world such as Coke, fanta, Diet coke and sprite. This clearly shows how popular coca-cola drinks are amongst consumers. In order to meet the increasing demand for the beverages, Coca-Cola has gone international with branches in almost every country across the globe. The company has therefore helped in creating employment opportunities to thousands and thousands of people who serve in the company at various capacities. Coca-Cola was invented by John Styth Pemberton in the year 1869 and since then the company has witnessed massive growth. However, the company did not witness instant success. For instance, during the first year of the existence of the beverage, John Pemberton and his partners spent around 74 dollars in carrying out advertisement only to receive sales worth 50 dollars. A combination of factors such as Pemberton’s ill health and poor business performance of the company forced him to sell two thirds of the business in year 1888 to a druggist by the name Asa G. Candler (Candler 420). Pemberton who died three years later could not visualize the enormous success that his inventions held to the proceeding century. The company witnessed rapid growth under Candler with the company taking the issue of advertisement very serious (Kahn 58). Through that, the company was able to win the loyalty o many consumers towards its brand. After Candler, came the Woodruff’s era. This era saw the financial stabilization of the company which later saw the company move to tap into the markets in other regions of the world. Since the formation o the Coca-Cola Company, massive changes have been instituted so as to make the company maintain its competitiveness. For instance, the company has been allocating a lot of recourses towards research and development to help in developing products perfectly meet the dynamic needs of customers (Echikson 86). For instance, the production of diet coke by the company took it many miles ahead of the competitors in the industry because it catered for the needs of people with various medical conditions and with certain drinking preferences. Some of the developments that the company takes pride in is the manner in which it values consumer marketing. This is very imperative in the sense that it enables the company to understand the needs of consumers while at the same time enhancing their level of awareness on the company’s products (Walter 129). Another area where the company has invested heavily is in product packaging. The company seems to understand the fact that the manner in which products are packed play a critical role in influencing the customers decision to purchase a product. Vision, Mission, and Strategy of Coca-cola The vision of Coca-Cola is to be an outstanding company with respect to quality, profitability and volume. On other to ensure that the company realizes its vision, it has embraced a team spirit where by respect, trust; social responsibility and openness are embraced to create organizational integrity (Kahn 53). On top of that, the company has a passion for excellence innovation, continuous improvement and quality The mission of the company include the following •  adding value to the stakeholders • being the first company to identify, create and capture profitable opportunities. • being the supplier of choice by exceeding customers’ expectation. • being able to develop, retain and attract people who are capable of performing well. The strategy of coca cola includes the following • enhancing the company’s competitive position through implementation of best practices • leveraging the company’s key capabilities in all operations (Watters 112). • driving the company to long term sustainable and profitable growth • expanding into new territories. Coca-Cola Structure and Operation The organizational structure of coca cola is centralized. This simply means that most of the decisions concerning the running of the company are issued from a centralized place. While this may have proven to have some advantages, it is quite evident that the centralized structure has made the process of decision making in the company to be very slow (Cowell 402). As for now, the company is deliberating on possibilities of decentralizing its structures in order to give all the outlets autonomy in decision making process. The manner in which the operations the company are effected are subject to the centralized organizational structure. Each person working for the coca -cola reports to the above authority in the hierarchy of the organizational structure. However, it is important to note tat the organizational structures allow for passing of information from the top bodies in the hierarchy to the worker and vice versa. This clearly shows how the company values the issue of communication within the organization (Oliver 152). Coca-Cola Success Story Each year the company moves more and more volumes of sales. In some areas, the company has enjoyed a monopoly after facing out many of the competitor companies in the industry (Watters 112). While this can be attributed to massive investment by the company on advertisements, it is quite evident that there is more to that which has seen the company stay competitive for such a long period of time. Therefore we will examine some of the factors which have enabled the company to become a brand of choice of many. Coca Cola Brand Personality Building brand personality has enabled consumers of Coca-Cola products identify with the brand easily. Just as it is the case of human being, brand personality speaks more on behalf of the brand and is likely to influence the decisions of the consumers (Kahn 47). Brand personality is what makes a certain product stick into the minds of the consumers and Coca-Cola does not seem to take chances when it comes to implementation of the issue. The brand names of various Coca- cola beverage coupled with the information on each of the brand helps in enhancing their brand personality. Brand personality plays a very critical role in positioning the products strategically. In other words, coca-coals’ brand personality reflects its brand positioning (Cowell 423). Brand Positioning Brand positioning is normally in the mind of the consumer and it depends on how he or she considers the products. Coca-Cola has worked very hard to see that the brand positioning among the customers is enhanced (Applegate 68).One of the ways through which the company goes about this is carrying out extensive research where by the customers asked how they would go about describing a certain product. Though that, coca cola has eventually managed to position itself as a part and parcel of the life of many people. This high level of affinity between the consumer and the brand has led to a very high degree of loyalty among customers and made their purchasing decisions easier. Other than that the market research, Coca -cola has managed to position itself strategically by the use of very unique selling prepositions such as “Live the coke side of life”. This slogan basically associates this brand with joy and emotions, something which can easily win the loyalty of consumers since it is desire of almost very one to live a happy life (Echikson 36). Therefore, when the name coke is mentioned, what comes in the mind of people is entertainment and fun basing this on the impression created by the marketing slogans. This is also seen to have played a key role in positioning the brand. Product Design The manners in which the products are designs play a crucial role in creating customer appeal. This also plays a role in enables the customers to easily identify the products and by so doing enhance their loyalty (Applegate 102). Coca-Cola has invested also in coming up with products designs which are very unique and appealing the same time. For instance, the shape of the bottles for the beverages is very unique not to mention the colors which form the company’s trademark. Through the use of various designs of products customers have been able to mark the differences in various products of Coca-Cola and by so doing make the right purchasing decisions Conclusion As it has been pointed out in the paper, Coca-Cola is one of the leading beverages companies which have been in existence from eighteenth century. The company has enjoyed a lot of success for the many years it has been in operation. This can be attributed to various approaches that the company uses to recruit and new customers and maintain the loyalty of the already existing customers. This has culminated in massive sales from the company which translate into big profit margins. Works Cited Applegate, Howard L., Coca-Cola: A History in Photographs, 1930 Through 1969, Osceola, Wis.: Iconografix, 1996, 126 p Candler, Charles Howard. Asa Griggs Candler, Atlanta: Emory University, 1950, 502 p. Cowell, Alan. "The Coke Stomach Ache Heard Round the World," New York Times, June 25, 1999, p. 487 Echikson, William. "Have a Coke and a Smile--Please," Business Week, August 30, 1999, p. 214A. "Coke's Big Marketing Blitz," Business Week, May 30, 1983, pp. 58 Kahn, Ely Jacques. The Big Drink: The Story of Coca-Cola, New York: Random House, 1960, 174 p. Oliver, Thomas. The Real Coke: The Real Story, New York: Viking Penguin, 1987, 195 p. Watters, Pat. Coca-Cola, New York: Doubleday, 1978, 288 p. Read More