Mecca Cola: Building a Protest Brand in an Increasingly Anti-American Environment - Case Study Example

Management Number Introduction As a cola-flavored carbonated beverage, Mecca-Cola is sold as alternative brand to American brands such as Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola. The main intention behind the creation of Mecca-Cola is the penetration of Muslim market. By considering the developments around Mecca-Cola, a critical student or analyst will get insight on how to build a protest brand in an increasingly anti-American environment. This is because Mecca-Cola was introduced in 2002, in France by Tawfiq Mathlouthi, with the chief intention of penetrating an increasingly anti-US environment- the Muslim and Arab world.

Question 1 From a personal standpoint, it will be fitting to buy Mecca-Cola drinks because of Mecca-Cola’s commitment to corporate social responsibility. Mecca-Cola donates 10% of its annual profits to charities to countries wherein the drink is sold, a la Muslim and Arab countries. CSR is a testament to the fact that an organization is not merely in a market to accrue profit, but to sustain a symbiotic relationship between itself and the market, by developing the market and its environs, socio-economically (Cruz and Justo, 2008).

Again, Mecca-Cola has consistently remained sensitive to the prevailing socio-cultural conscience in the market. Although this strategy helps cushion an organization from harsh socio-cultural and political backlash, yet its use by Mecca-Cola has convinced me that the organization respects my cultural and religious values. Conversely, Mecca-Cola has identified itself with Arab and Muslim interests, for which it has adopted a corporate philosophy of supporting Muslim charities and interests of the Palestinian people, according to Jacques (2003) and Ram (2007).

Again, being human, I would buy Mecca-Cola beverages because the company has an array of fruit-flavoured drinks. This aspect of product diversification will easily accommodate my taste and preferences as an individual. What the Response Coca-Cola Should Give the Mecca Brand Just as Ram (2007) recommends, seeing that Mecca-Cola is a product of Coca-Cola, it is expedient that Coca-Cola does not treat Mecca-Cola as a competitor. In this light, Coca-Cola should seek to promote Mecca-Cola and use it as proxy to penetrate anti-American regions such as the Arab and Muslim world.

In line with this, Coca-Cola should strengthen its hold on Mecca-Cola’s ownership, so that Mecca-Cola does not fall into the hands of a competitor. Coca-Cola should also study Mecca-Cola’s business strategy, in the event that it is interested in penetrating the anti-American world. Whether Mecca Cola and the Other Protest Products Will Do Long-Term Harm to American Brands or Not It is very unlikely that protest products such as Mecca-Cola will face out American brands such as Coca-Cola. This is because, Coca-Cola has: a market with tentacles stretching throughout the entire globe; a far much stronger brand name; a stronger repository of financial and organisational asset; and a much more effective marketing policy.

Moreover, Coca-Cola uses Mecca-Cola’s marketing strategies [such as corporate social responsibility] to a greater and more efficient extent (Rarick, Falk and Feldman, 2012). Conclusion In regard to the foregoing, one clearly sees thriving in an unfriendly market is tenable and that success in the same requires a multipronged execution of strategy which must touch on CSR, capturing the market’s collective cultural conscience and ensuring diversification. ReferencesCruz, C. & Justo, R. (2008).

Mecca-Cola: Message in a Bottle. Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, 10 (1), 40 – 56. Jacques, R. (2003). How One European community embraces A Growing Muslim Community. Foresight, 5 (4), 5 – 7. Ram, U. (2007). Liquid Identities: Mecca-Cola vs. Coca-Cola. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 10 (4), 465 – 484. Rarick, C., Falk, G. & Feldman, L. (2012). Marketing to Muslims: The Growing Importance of Halal Products. Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies, 18 (1), 81.