Social Networking Plan in the Coca-Cola Marketing Strategy - Case Study Example

?SOCIAL MARKETING PLAN IN COCA-COLA ID details Module Module The Module Leader’s Word count: 2029 Introduction Over the last few years social media have turned out to be a decisive driving force in facilitating a productive marketing and communication strategy. Social media are, therefore, a vital marketing and public relations tool in global business practices (Thevenot, 2007, p.289). The commonly known social media sites in the world businesses include: Facebook, Twitter, Four Squares and various blog sites. On the other hand, Coca-Cola Company is the market leader in the production of carbonated beverages and using social media to advertise its brands. So it is fair to say that the success of the company is not only in the number of customers but also in the use of social media (Drell, 2011, p. 123). Through adequate study on the impact of social media in marketing strategy, the company has formed its own guideline for controlling the interaction between the company and its customers. The Coca-Cola Company presence in social media is, therefore, incredibly vital in engaging its customers in the company’s operations and in facilitating constructive conversation between the company’s management and other stakeholders in the market (Coca-Cola, 2012, p. 37). The essay below therefore seeks to expound on the advantages and disadvantages of using social networking plan in Coca-Cola Marketing strategy. Coca-Cola brand is a highly valued brand in beverage and food industry. The brand is commonly known for its community involvement as well as its high sales in global market. On the other hand, to continue its dominance in global market, Coca-Cola Company has in the last two years actively involved itself in various social media platform. The company’s engagement in social media platform has as a result formed the bases for the company’s social marketing plan. In 2010, the Coca-Cola Company launched two main social media campaigns, the 24-Hours Session with Maroon and Expedition 206. The Expedition 206 was an initiative in which Coca-Cola Company sent three bloggers in global market to interact with its customers (Bachfischer, 2011, p. 89). On the other hand, the 24-Hour Session with Maroon was a marketing strategy which required Coca-Cola fans to write song with the assistance of Maroon in 24 hours. In these two promotion strategies, the two teams were expected to use social media platforms such as YouTube Face-book and Twitter to identify what makes people happy in the world and to document the occurrences of the trip. Participants in the two activities used Face book and Twitter to express their experiences. The respondents’ comments were as posted in the Coca-Cola Face-book and Twitter pages Advantages To start with, the 2010 social marketing plans in Coca Cola Company proved to be very effective in the company’s internal and external operations. Internally, the use of social media tools triggered effective communication between the marketing team, communication department, and public relationship team (Katz, Blumler and Gurevitch, 2004, p. 509). Productive communication between the three teams led to the creation of an effective marketing strategy which has so far helped the Coca-Cola brand to be one of the most competitive products in global market. The company’s current marketing strategy has incorporated customers’ opinions and suggestions. The communication department has the mandate of updating the company’s social site and transferring the posted feedbacks to the department of public relation and marketing for action. Externally, the two promotion strategies were as well successful in linking the company to its customers. The two campaigns strategies helped the company contact more than 650 million customers in a span of 12 months. Most of the contacted customers created a very close link with the Coca-Cola brand thus advancing the brand reputation in global market. On the other hand, the two plans also demonstrated the involvement of more than one billion customers in both online and offline services. The contacted people were incredibly essential in offering concrete information that helped in the identification of the most effective means of improving the quality of the company’s brand. The Coca-Cola Company created more visibility for the Coca-Cola brand in key global markets such as China. In many parts of the country, the Coca-Cola campaigns were the first to holistically involve several social media channels. Compared to other traditional means of promotion, the use of social media proved to be cost effective. As observed by the Department of Finance in Coca-Cola Company, the plan saved the company over 50% of its traditional spending on promotion. Using social networking has the capability of reaching high number of people at relative low cost. According to statistics from the Department of Finance, the uses of social media have in the last two years helped the company to adversely increase its profits. Use of social media requires free opening of accounts that will be used by the company, the customers and the company’s employees. As opposed to other promotion media which require a lot of time and resources, social media requires one or two employees to actively update the accounts, make suggestions, and responds to clients’ comments. Thirdly, the use of social media has as well played an exceptionally essential role in developing the Coca-Cola brand reputation. Currently, Coca-Cola is rated as one of the commonly used non-alcoholic drink in the world. Coca-Cola brand is usually consumed by young intellectual people who have access to social media services. The social marketing strategy which was adopted by Coca-Cola to advertise its brand in over 100 countries in the world played a very essential role in advancing the image of the brand in global market. In most cases, the establishment of brand in social site is one of the most efficient and effective ways of enhancing the image of the brand in the internet (Kirkby and Marsden, 2006, p. 89). The Coca-Cola initiative of using social media to promote its brand was based on the understanding of the importance of using social media in enhancing the brand image in the internet. However, to effectively succeed in strengthening the brand image in social media, the involved company should facilitate an active presence in social media sites. As a result, for the Coca-Cola Company to realise the best outcome in its social marketing plan, the company should update its customers on the changes in the market as well as provide details of what the customers is interested in knowing. Intensive interaction between the Coca-Cola Company and its customers develop strong trusts between the company and its customers. By using Face Book and Twitter accounts, Coca-Cola Company was in a better position of creating productive connection between the potential customers and the company staffs. Social media created an avenue where Coca-Cola brand customers from different social background could interact and share their opinions on issues regarding the quality and nature of the brand. On the other hand, one-on-one interaction between customers and the company’s was as well very essential in building strong trust (Stafford and Gonier, 2004, p.107). Unlike in advert, reaching customers by using social media also proved to be very cheap and efficient. Interaction on one-on-one bases, immediate response to questions, and detailed discussion of different issues as well as creation of an opportunity to share opinions and ideas as well demonstrated to be exceptionally essential in improving the reputation of Coca-Cola brand in global market. Adequate knowledge on Coca-Cola brand among its users also advanced the customers royalty to the brand. Deep customer loyalty on Coca-Cola brands translated into increases in referred and direct sales. Disadvantages Despite its encouraging advantages, marketing of the Coca-Cola brand through social media has proved to be a time consuming process. Due to lack of adequate time, the company was unable to visit all the intended countries. According to the Department of Communication and the Department of Public Relationship, the use of traditional means in advertising requires designing a poster is less time consuming that the time required in social media. In its marketing strategy, the Coca-Cola Company devoted a lot of its time in interacting with their customers. For Coca-Cola Company to prosper in its plan of using social media, it has to dedicate most of their times in promotion exercise. Additionally, social media users requires organisations and other marketing institutions to give them a great deal of their times In its plan, the Coca-Cola Company failed to access most of its targeted audiences. In most cases, social media services are used by young and educated people in the society. As a result, in its marketing strategy, the company did not succeed in accessing old and uneducated customers. Moreover, not all young and educated people use social media due to others issues such as lack of access to internet and other basic requirements (Patton, 2009, p. 5). Additionally, for it to access a considerable number of its customers, the company was forced to run multiple accounts on different sites. The process of running many accounts in different sites also proved to be a very complicated and a time consuming exercise to the company. Finally, the company exposed its brands to the risk of viral damage. Social media is one of the fastest means of spreading incorrect information. By use of social media, Coca-Cola Company increased the risk of spreading the brand inadequacies and defects (Zmuda, 2009, p.23). It is sometimes very difficult and expensive to redeem the image of a tainted brand. To succeed in social media promotion, the company ought to be very cautious in its statements and comments. This is due to the fact that a small mistake or comment from the management or an employee can result to acute damage of the brand reputation. Analysis Engaging customers for a long time in Coca-Cola promotion was a remarkable achievement. Although the team did not travel to all 206 countries, the team was able to capture the required information. A part from the immediate success of the plan, the impression and conversations which took place in the campaigns is as well expected to have a long term impact on the brand reputation. The use of social media platforms also played a very decisive role in facilitating the involvement of large number of the targeted population in the company’s decision making process. The expedition 206 was not just the largest social media venture in the world but also the company’s most successful plan (Li & Bernoff, 2008, p. 89). The 24-Hours Session Maroon success was based on effective utilisation of Twitter and Face-Book. The company’s employees used Face-Book and Twitter accounts to promote the event. Moreover, in the two media marketing campaigns, the Coca Cola Company effectively implemented the main communication practices (Coca-Cola Corporate Report, 2011, p. 79). The company understood its main objective. Moreover, the employees took time to listen to its clients in order to respond adequately to the asked questions. The company also engaged itself into the promotion by understanding the client needs and in developing a user-centric experience. The two campaigns also took a one year’s period. The campaign details are as well accessible in internet and in social media sites. By placing the details of the two campaigns on Twitter, Face-Book and Blog Sites, the Coca Cola Company also placed a buzzing story in each campaign. The buzzing stories on the two campaigns therefore give customers and fan the need and desire to access to the company’s site. Conclusion The Coca-Cola Company’s use of social media in its promotion plans, as well as the engagement of its customers in decision making process, was a sign of prosperity of the company in the context of its short term and long term plans. The success of the two campaigns is as well a demonstration of the inescapable role of social media in modern marketing strategy. The current dominance of Coca-Cola brand in global market can, to a great extent, be associated with the role of social media in the two 2010 new marketing strategies. Based on Coca-Cola company case study, it becomes quite evident that it is imperative and essential for contemporary companies to adapt social media services in their advertisement strategy. References Bachfischer, N 2011, “Expedition 206: First Results of Coca Cola’s biggest Social MediaProject. Aquarius Digital Potential Blog”, Retrieved November 28th, 2012, fromhttp://www.aquarius.biz/en/2011/01/10/expedition-206-first-results-of-cocacola% E2%80%99s-biggest-social-media-project/ Coca-Cola, Corporate Report 2011, “One Band, 24 Hours. A Brand New Song Inspired By Fansacross The World”, London: The Coca-Cola Company. Drell, L 2011, “Digital Marketing Lessons from Top Social Brands”, London: Mashable. Kirkby, J and Marsden, P 2006, “Viral Marketing, Connected Marketing” Oxford: Elsevier. Katz, E., Blumler, J. G and Gurevitch, M 2004, “Uses and Gratifications Research”, Public Opinion Quarterly, 37(4), 509-524. Li, C and Bernoff, J 2008, “Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by SocialTechnologies,” London: Harvard Business School Review Press. Stafford, T. F and Gonier, D 2004, “What Americans like about being online”, Communications of the ACM, 47(11), 107–112. Zmuda, N., 2009, “Digital: Behind Coca-Cola’s Biggest Social-MediaPush Yet | Digital - Advertising Age. 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