Analyses of Coca Colas Branding Campaign - Essay Example

Analyses of Coca Cola’s Branding Campaign MKT5A1 Applied Buyer Behaviour in Global Context Mariia Nikitina S00704130 Background The advertising world has evolved from mere tag lines and simple product descriptions to evoking ideas and creating long lasting impactful messages. Firms are seen to utilize the platform of advertising to not only generate product awareness but also to propagate socially important messages. Such innovative and new marketing strategies have made the advertising segment hugely competitive. However, amidst such marketing strategies at times firms develop advertisements which viewers finds harmful as they tend to propagate the wrong ideas. Two of such scandalous advertisements of Coca-Cola have been analysed in the current paper. Focus has also been given upon how the company had dealt with different allegations arising out of its controversial advertisements and the messages which it was actually trying to put across. The paper analyses the advertisements from the perspective of who, when, where, what and why. Additionally some of the marketing characteristics associated with the advertisements have also been analysed vividly. Who Diet coke promoting cocaine or nothing like that? Diet cokes new ad campaign featuring the tag line “You are on Diet Coke” is seen to be drawing much criticism as many claim that the ad is seen to be promoting cocaine and is in reference to the drug (US magazine, 2014). However, the company officials dismiss the claim and states that The Coca-Cola Company in no way endorses any kind of drugs. Diet coke has been receiving a number of such viewer criticisms since its inception into the American market. Consumers feel that the manner in which Coca-Cola promotes Diet Coke is supportive of illegal drugs such as cocaine. The tag line “You are on Diet Coke” is depicted in a manner such that the word “Diet” is less visible. The line appears more like “You are on Coke”. Consumers claim that the advertisement refers more to cocaine rather than the drink itself. Many debates were aroused in respect of this advertising campaign. Critics claim that the company’s promotional tactics misdirected consumers (US magazine, 2014). Racism or patriotism? The Coca-Cola Company was also very recently caught up in a controversy relating to its recent Super Bowl advertisement. Viewers claim that the advertisement sends across a message which is racist in nature as it was broadcasted in multilingual versions. The advertisement’s tagline is “America is Beautiful”. The company responds to such controversies by stating that the motive of the advertisement was to send across the message that America is beautiful because of its rich diversity. The advertisement has also reported a number of complaints made by the Arab-American community. They have stated that the advertisement portrays the Arab community to be backward. The company has refused to accept such claims and stated that the advertisement was not directed to hurt any religion or community’s sentiments (Sacks, 2014). When The Diet Coke advertisement was first viewed on the billboards of San Francisco and New York (Poniewozik, 2014). The advertisement later appeared on television featuring the actor and singer, Taylor Swift. The advertisement also gives glimpses of important events in an individual’s life which despite being stressful requires them to deliver their best effort. The advertisement ends with Taylor Swift sitting in front of a mirror with the background message telling it’s time to perform. The Super Bowl advertisement was first telecasted during the Super Bowl held in the month of August 2013 (Sacks, 2014). The advertisement was later on broadcasted during the opening ceremony of the Olympics. The advertisement shows the different kinds of people who live in America and how they have become important part of the community. During the Super Bowl the advertisement was telecasted in seven different languages. When present in other languages, only the starting, a line in the middle and in the last part of the advertisement was spoken in English. Where The Diet Coke advertisement was first released through billboards and later on television and online videos were released. It currently appears in a number of hoardings and billboards across America as well as all famous television channels in the U.S (US magazine, 2014). The company expects to target youngsters through this advertising campaign. Youngsters are more commonly faced with challenging situations. The Diet Coke advertisement is directed towards motivating individuals when they are under immense stress during tough situations. Hence, formulating the advertisement in a manner such that it catches the attention of youngsters was essential for the company. The tag line “You are on Coke” was strategically structured to motivate individuals to face challenging situations with ease as Coke provided them with the necessary drive and zeal to perform better (US magazine, 2014). The Super Bowl advertisement sends out a completely different message than the “You are on Coke” advertisement. The advertisement is not specific to any age group or community. It depicts the diversity which exists in the American society and how it has emerged to be one of the strongest and successful nations of the world, despite its diversities. The advertisement is currently telecasted on television and through many online websites. What Until the year 1903, Coca-Cola was considered to be a drink which was hugely addictive and had negative impacts on health (US magazine, 2014). The drink was also considered to contain cocaine. The lack of knowledge regarding the drink and the conservative mindedness of people during those times had made the drink less acceptable in the society. The soft drink popularity was yet to develop. However, with the passage of time, as people began accepting and consuming soft drinks rapidly, Coca-Cola emerged as a highly popular drink. At present, the drink has almost become a part of the urban lifestyle. The Diet Coke advertisement in the recent times had again sprung up the age old controversy of Coca-Cola’s association with illicit drugs. The advertisement tag line of the drink which was “You are on Diet Coke” looks more like “You are on Coke” (US magazine, 2014). Diet Coke is essentially a drink meant to attract youngsters. However, critics claim that many youngsters are confused regarding what exactly is right or wrong (US magazine, 2014). They many at times cannot interpret the actual message of such advertisements and superficially assess it which may lead to wrong understanding. In Diet Coke advertisement analyses in the paper is seen to remain distorted in terms of the message it puts across to youngsters. Such advertisements do not help youngsters to assess and make the right decisions. Critics at large state that the advertisement is largely a persuasion rather than information (US magazine, 2014). Millions of people in the recent times have viewed the advertisement and have debated about it. Consumers mainly state that how the advertisement is interpreted depends upon the mentality of the viewer. Some may superficially condemn it and state to be associated with drug consumption while others would perceive it as a motivational strategy adopted by Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola administrators claim that, since the very beginning the company has remained committed towards developing the society and contributing towards its success, not only in America but on a global perspective. Company officials say that a firm with such an outlook would never consider sending out such harmful messages (US magazine, 2014). Coca-Cola claims that the advertisement essentially celebrates the spirit of youthfulness. The advertisement supports youngsters, from all walks of life and reminds them that Diet Coke is always there to support them, through difficult as well as their best times. Every day youngsters are seen to experience the “You are on” moments in some way or the other. The situation can be a job interview, a presentation, a date, an exam or a performance given in front of thousands of people. The Diet Coke logo is the centre piece of the advertisement. The brand explicitly states that it does not endorse the use of any illegal drugs. From the marketing point of view the advertisement may be considered to possess a distorted meaning. It is clearly understood from the advertisement that it is set differently from others and therefore gains extra attention from the clients. As a brand, with huge reputations, Coca-Cola would never purposely indulge in such advertising tactics which harms its goodwill. The attention that the advertisement is receiving is largely due to the debates going on and the manner in which viewers and critics are interpreting Coca-Cola executives state that through this advertisement campaign, the brand puts across the message to consumers that the drink provides mood uplift when they really need it. The theme of the advertisement is not associated with drugs at all (Poniewozik, 2014). The Super Bowl advertisement of Coca-Cola was also immensely criticized by many. Although a general viewer of the advertisement would not find any racist motives associated. Post viewing the advertisement, many consumers vowed not to consume Coca-Cola products. This grabbed the attention of many more who had not initially considered the advertisement to have an inclination towards racism. The company stated during its press conference that the advertisement campaign “America is Beautiful” is inspired by the American lifestyle. The advertisement presents the diversity in culture, religion and ethnicity existing in the American society. Individuals featured in the advertisement are American. The song, America is Beautiful” has been sung by young American women who speak different languages owing to their ethnicity (USA Today, 2014). The primary claim of the critics in respect of the advertisement is that the primary language of Americans is English and therefore the song should have been sung in one language in place of seven different languages. The advertisement had become an important matter of debate and triggered mass criticism on social media platforms as well. Company officials claim that Coca-Cola exists in almost 200 countries of the world. Promotion harmony amongst societies and uniting people irrespective of their ethnicity has been one of the primary aims of the company. Moreover, the U.S is one of the important areas of revenue for the brand. Hence, the company cannot even imagine launching an advertisement that would cause it to being called racist. Company officials have stated in the press that the manner in which the firm promotes its products are not directed towards raising any ethic discrimination. The brand was just trying to portray the diversity existing in the society and how Coca-Cola brings people together irrespective of their background (Superbowl commercials, 2014). Why Coca-Cola advertisements are seen to focus not only upon the beverage but a certain value or phenomenon existing in the society and channelize it towards the beverage. In the “you are on Coke” advertisement the brand tries to evoke motivation and the sense of up-liftment when individuals are faced with situations where they are expected to deliver the best (USA Today, 2014). The advertisement has received more complements and acceptance than criticism. Senior officials of the company state that it is not an easy task to remain one of the superior powers in the beverage industry. Competitors are always on the prowl for obtaining a chance to condemn the brand name. Coca-Cola has always made its opinions clear on such issues. In the Super Bowl advertisement the company had clarified that it was trying to promote the concept of unity in diversity. Marketing mix elements The product Diet Coke contains less sugar than other coke drinks. The product contains artificial sweeteners. Due to reduced sugar, the overall calorie content of drink is low. However, promotional strategies associated with the drink have led it towards a number of controversies, affecting the products revenues. Acquisitions have been made on Coca-Cola that its product contains harmful ingredients such as aspartame, which led to further reducing its popularity in the market (Poniewozik, 2014). The advertisements of Diet Coke as well as other drinks of the brand do not contain any information regarding its prices. This is done strategically to prevent creating denial behaviour in consumers due to prices. The advertisements of the company are less focussed upon the manner in which the firm functions and therefore information regarding distribution policies adopted by the firm is less visible. However, in some of the Coca-Cola advertisements, it is portrayed that Coca-Cola products are available in a number of remote corners of the world. This essentially states that the company adopts a wide distribution strategy. Since the firm mainly targets to attract youngsters, the company uses promotional mediums which are more popularly used by this age group such as television advertisements, online promotions and eye catching billboards and hoardings. Celebrities are also included to promote the products (Kotler and Armstrong, 2013). Motivation Motivation is an essential aspect in every advertisement campaign. Coca-Cola tries to combine different social values and promote them in coherence with the company’s drink. Through evoking senses such as unity, patriotism and confidence, the brand tries to motivate consumers to purchase its products. Through such socially enwrapped advertisement strategies, Coca-Cola puts across the message of being communally responsible. This further attracts a large number of consumers. However, the recent controversies must not be fully ignored by the company. The company officials must realise that such issues have sprung up only because the brand’s communication with the public was not clear. Amidst providing an inspiring message, the advertisement overlooked the fact that it may be perceived wrongly by the mass media due to narrow minded perception. The company cannot expect all consumers to be intelligent enough to realise the true message send across such advertisements (Shimp and Terence, 2000). Risks and Buyer process Coca-Cola products are mainly targeted to attract youngsters. Hence, innovative advertising strategies are pursued to influence them. But often when advertisements are caught up in such scandals, youngsters are impacted not to buy them. Both the Super Bowl Coca-Cola advertisement and the “You are on” campaign had caused many consumers to quit purchasing Coke products and had shifted towards buying other products (Leiss, 2013). Such consumer behaviour may cause the brand to lose a significant portion of its market stand to competitors. Also through such advertisements, the brand may propagate the wrong message in the market in respect of its products, negatively impacting its overall image (Leiss, 2013). To avoid such circumstances, Coca-Cola must ensure that their advertisements are clear and do not imply anything harmful to the society. Perceptions Consumer perceptions’ regarding a product gets adequately influenced through advertisements. This is the reason why marketing professionals strive hard to develop themes and promotional strategies which impact the minds of consumers and makes them recall the advertisement message when they see the product displayed in a supermarket or at any shop. This generates a tendency in them to go ahead and purchase the product. However, in the process of developing influential strategies, the wrong message gets passed on. Many consumers are not able to perceive the innovativeness and the indirect messages which are associated with such advertisements. They form the wrong ideas and therefore get misdirected. Viewer’s wrong perception was the main reason behind the rise of such controversies. Even though the company had made it clear in the press that both the so called controversial advertisement were not developed with the intention of disrupting social harmony, it was still seen that many consumers were adamant to accept it and condemned the brand. Coke officials state that the company has been facing such controversial issues since a long time. Apart from such advertising controversies, a large number of American citizens are seen to reduce soft drink consumption. The fear of adverse impacts on health due to artificial sweeteners and high presence of preservatives has caused consumers to shift towards more healthy eating options. The decline in sale and customer base of soft drinks due to increase in health consciousness cannot be prevented by the company. It therefore becomes all the more necessary for the company to maintain consumer base. It is essential for it to develop strategies which propagate the right messages and does not lead it towards controversies (Schudson, 2013). Critique and recommendations Promotion is an important part of marketing a product and advertisements is an important tool used by companies to communicate with consumers. However, if advertisements are not properly created, it may create confusions in the mind of consumers leading to negative impacts (Gummesson, 1987). Not all consumers think alike and therefore while some interpreted the theme of “You are on Coke” advertisement of Coca-Cola positively, many superficially understood it to be related to cocaine. Coca-Cola executives had stated that the brand believes that its consumers are intelligent enough to understand what the company promotes and that they mean no harm. The company is seen to take the approach of remaining calm against controversies and essentially denying all negative acquisitions. However, in order to minimize the repetition of such controversies, the brand must take more care in farming its promotional strategies. Reference list Gummesson, E., 1987. The new marketing—developing long-term interactive relationships. Long range planning, 20(4), pp. 10-20. Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G., 2013. Principles of Marketing. New Jersey: Pearson. Leiss, W., 2013. Social communication in advertising: Consumption in the mediated marketplace. London: Routledge. Poniewozik, J., 2014. Coca-Cola’s It’s Beautiful Super Bowl Ad Brings Out Some Ugly Americans. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 02 December 2014]. Sacks, E., 2014. Coca Colas America the Beautiful Super Bowl commercial angers conservative pundits. [online] Available at: [Accessed 02 December 2014]. Schudson, M., 2013. Advertising, The Uneasy Persuasion (RLE Advertising): Its Dubious Impact on American Society. London: Routledge. Shimp, T. A. and Terence, A. S., 2000. Advertising, promotion, and supplemental aspects of integrated marketing communications. Fort Worth: Dryden Press. Superbowl commercials, 2014. Coke’s Wildly Controversial – America The Beautiful – Super Bowl Spot. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 02 December 2014]. US magazine, 2014. Coca-Colas Multi-Lingual America the Beautiful Commercial Sparks Controversy, Praise. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 02 December 2014]. USA Today, 2014. Coca-Cola Super Bowl ad: Can you believe this reaction? [Online] Available at: [Accessed 02 December 2014]. Read More