Designing Marketing Campaign for Coca-Cola Company - Case Study Example

Marketing Campaign Name Institution Course Instructor Executive Summary Recent research studies indicate that different markets continue to become more and more competitive. The increase in the number of firms in different industries is arguable the major cause of the stiff competition witnessed in the recent past. In order to remain competitive in the markets and retain their market position, different organizations have implemented different techniques. While some organizations have focused on the production techniques, others have focused on marketing techniques to retain their marketing share. This report will describe Pepsi market situation and provide a marketing campaign for the organizations. Pepsi is a global company formed in the 19th century. The company initially produced soft drinks but has expanded into the snack food industry. The US based company faces a competition from Coca-Cola Company both in the local and global soft drink markets. Through Pepsi has a better customer taste than Coca-Cola, it has continued to perform below the Cola-Cola both in USA and in other parts of the world. This is attributed to the effective marketing techniques used by the company to create awareness to potential customers and acquire new customers. The report provides a campaign plan which PepsiCo should implement in order to keep pace with its rival in the market. Table of contents Executive Summary 2 1.0 Introduction 6 1.1 Background information 6 1.2 Description of the Organization 7 1.3 Types of products 7 1.4 Competitive Review 8 3.0 Marketing Campaign Objectives 9 3.0 Research Methodology 10 3.1 Research Design 10 3.2 Data Collection Method and Forms 10 3.21 Sources and collection of the research data 10 3.220 Collection of the Primary Data 11 3.221 Questionnaire method 11 3.222 Collection of data through interview 11 3.3 Fieldwork 12 3.4 Data Analysis Procedure 12 4.0 Results 12 4.1 Value preposition 12 4.2 Company Uniqueness 13 4.3 Customers Relationship 14 4.4 Customers Profile 15 5.0 Marketing Campaign for the PepsiCo Company 16 5.1 Target Market 16 5.20 Marketing Mediums for Campaign 17 5.21 Radio 17 5.22 Television 17 5.23 Email 18 5.24 Social media 18 5.25 Events and Trade shows 19 5.26 Publicity 19 5.26 Print 19 5.3 Campaign Schedule 21 6.0 Conclusions and Recommendations 21 6.1 Conclusion 21 6.2 Recommendations 22 1.0 Introduction According to a recent survey, the 21st century is characterized by stiff competition among different business organizations. In response, the organizations have devised measures to remain competitive in the market and retain their initial market share. At the heart of the measures is marketing campaign which organizations have embraced as a measure to counter their competitors. A marketing campaign is an endeavor by an organization to create an awareness of its products in order to reinforce its market position and also acquire customers. Marketing campaign is done after a thorough study of the market situation and understanding of an organization position in a market. It uses a combination of communication media as it involves a series of communication to customers. This paper provides a marketing campaign for the PepsiCo Company which it should implement to acquire more customers, increase its market share and counter the stiff competitor offered by its competitors such as Coca-Cola Company. 1.1 Background information PepsiCo has operated in a fairly competitive market both in local and global market for a long time. The major competitor has been the Coca-Cola Company which takes the largest market share in soft drink industry. Dr. Pepper Snapple has also been gaining popularity in the US market and hence posing competition to PepsiCo in the soft drink. In order to increase their revenue, PepsiCo diversified its operations when it ventured in the snacks food industry. Despite the measure, the increase in the popularity of the Coca-Cola both in the local and international market has affected the Pepsi market share. Coca-Cola has continued to launch competitive programs to increase its market share and counter the competition from the Pepsi products. It is in the advent of the declining market share and stiff competition that this campaign has been devised to reverse the trends and retain the Pepsi market share. 1.2 Description of the Organization PepsiCo is a global company that operates in the carbonated drink or soft drink. Pepsi was inverted by a pharmacist named Caled Bradham in the 1890s in North Carolina. The company is located in US and has its headquarters in Purchase in New York. In the year 1919, PepsiCo was incorporated in Delaware (Chu & Bloomberg, 2014). In the next century, the company has expanded to become one of the most famous companies in the world operating in more than 200 countries. It witnessed a fast expansion in 1960s when it invented Mountain Dew and diet Pepsi. The expansion was further enhanced by the merger the company formed with Frito-Lay in the same period. The merger saw the company extend to the snacks food industry. 1.3 Types of products PepsiCo provides a wide range of products both in the snack food industry and soft drink industry. Some of the popular products include Sierra Mist, Aquafina, Tropicana, Tostitos, SunChips, Rold Gold, Doritos, Cheetos and Gatorade. However, Pepsi is the most popular and well know company’s brand. This drink brings the company the most revenue among all the PepsiCo products. It is ranked the second most popular soft drinks in the worlds after Coca-Cola. Statistics indicate that it is consumer by customers from more than 200 countries in the world and generates annual revenue of $20billion (Chu & Bloomberg, 2014). 1.4 Competitive Review PepsiCo uses different marketing strategies to grab the attention of customers in the market. For instance, it uses different celebrities to advertise its products. Some of them include Tina Turner, Cindy Crawford, Michael Jackson and Britney Spear just to name a few. In the recent past, the company has made some effective promotional campaigns. For instance, the company teamed with the Apple Company and came up with free songs on iTunes. Other campaign promotions include teaming up with yahoo to enhance online marketing among other promotional endeavors. It continues to provide donations and grants to different organizations that provide humanitarian services to the public as a method of marketing itself to potential customers. Pepsi is operating in a market that is dominated by major global companies. In particular, it competes with the Coca-Cola Company and Dr. Pepper Snapple. In the local US market, Coca-Cola has the largest market share of 43 percent (Chu & Bloomberg, 2014). Coca-Cola produces other products such as Coke Zero and Sprite among others. The company has always been determined to increase its market share by improving the health of their products. It is a major competitor as the brand is colorful and the company has managed to win customers loyalty. It is also a major competitor in the global market and still takes the largest market share. Dr Pepper Snapple is a recent product. However, the company has been in the market for centuries dealing with food industry. It account for about 15 percent of the US soft drink industry. It is does not operate outside US market and therefore, not a competitor in the global market. Pepsi despite coming second after Coca-Cola, it has a better customer taste preference than Coca-Cola. Tests experiments done on the drinks in the past indicate that Pepsi has better taste than Coca-Cola. The product is gradually gaining huge preference due to the marketing strategies it has implementing in the recent past. For instance, the company has a colorful websites that remind customers the freshness of the products. In addition, the website is connected to other social media in order to reach the large market that uses these social media (Louis & Yazijian, 2010). 3.0 Marketing Campaign Objectives While the basic objective of the marketing campaign is to increase the company share in the markets, the campaign has a number of quantitative and qualitative objectives to be achieved by the campaign. They include: Create awareness among different customers about PepsiCo Company’s products. Promote Pepsi brand so that it counter the expansion of the Coca-Cola which has dominated the market both locally and globally and strengthen its market position. Identity precisely PepsiCo Company’s market target so that it can determine how to effectively address their needs. Persuade potential customers to buy the PepsiCo products from the company. Increase the sales by 25 percent in the next two years. Enhance communication between the customers and the company in order to understand what the customers really needs. Additionally, address the customers’ complaints. Create a good image of the organization through addressing negative complaints and promoting positive publicity. 3.0 Research Methodology 3.1 Research Design The present research was conducted in Qatar and all the research data were collected within the country. The research applied both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. The quantitative approach focused on Pepsi marketing aspects that can be quantified or which they can be expressed in the terms of quality. For instance, information on the amount of the sale made by the Pepsi in Qatar and its competitors was best gathered using quantitative research method. Various statistics of the Pepco Company in Qatar and its competitor were collected and analyzed. On the other hand, qualitative approach focused on the aspects relating to quality. For example, the approach played a central role in investigating the behavioral attitude of the customers towards the Pepsi products. Most of the information obtained in the interviews and questionnaires were qualitative data (Green, 2010). 3.2 Data Collection Method and Forms 3.21 Sources and collection of the research data The task of data collection started with the definition of the research problem and was done throughout the research work. It was arguably the main activity during the research. The data collected was classified as primary and secondary data. The primary data was the data that was collected afresh during the research. It includes mainly the information collected from questionnaires and interviews. Whereas secondary data include the data that had been done previously and are already documented. The secondary data include books, monographs, organization’s reports and articles and textbooks. The secondary data were obtained from the libraries, internet and others in the organization’s data stories (Green, 2010). 3.220 Collection of the Primary Data The primary data was collected in the course of the surveys in the field in form of interview and through questionnaires. 3.221 Questionnaire method Questionnaires were opted for since they are able to make big enquires. In this method, questionnaires forms which contained numerous questions were posted to various respondents in the markets and working for the company in the Qatar. The respondent was required to fill in response to the questions in the form and post back the form. The questions ranged from closed to open ended question (Green, 2010). The responses formed a major source of primary data used in the report. 3.222 Collection of data through interview Collection of the data through the interview involves oral-verbal responses. The method depends on the method of contact used. The most commonly used method was face to face personal interview. With the advanced technology, interviews it was possible to conducted interview through phone and Skype. Their responses were recorded by used of a recorder and stored for future analysis (Fisher, 2009). The people interviewed were informed in advance and were interviewed using structured questions. However, they are some workers who could not be reached and were engaged in a phone interview. 3.3 Fieldwork Research involves a great deal of money, energy and more important time. Large areas of study are not only expensive to study but also time consuming (Ferber 2000). The limitation is overcome by use of sampling. Sampling involves taking part of population to represent the whole population. It saves the time and money which could have been used to study the whole population. The research intended to study the PepsiCo products within the Qatar markets. Since it is not possible to conduct the survey in all parts of the country, ten five parts of the country were sampled which mirrored the rest of the market. The sampled parts represented all the regions in the country. 3.4 Data Analysis Procedure The analysis of the data collected was done after collecting all the necessary information. The data was classified as primary and secondary data. After collection of the primary data, the data were arranged depending on the information contained. The information was evaluated and compared with the secondary data and the information represented in a better and in an easily understandably form such as table and form. For the purpose of this paper, the results are discussed under value preposition, company or the product uniqueness, customers’ relationship and customer’s profile. The results are described in an easy to understand form. 4.0 Results 4.1 Value preposition The results indicate that Pepsi has enjoyed a health competition with its main rival Coca-Cola. The two companies take the largest share of the market both in USA and in the global market. However, in the recent years, Coca-Cola has been gaining more ground in the market due to their value preposition as a feel-good drink for people of all ages. In order to increase its market shares in the soft drink industry. The decline in the Pepsi market share demands the company to implement take some measures in order to maintain its position in the market share. Research studies in the past have indicated that Pepsi has a better taste in comparison to Coca-Cola. In addition, Pepsi is regarded to be more health and cool drink favorable for young people. The company can utilize the value preposition to increase its market share through creating awareness about the value of the drinks. 4.2 Company Uniqueness Pepsi stand unique among its competitors in the market. Unlike it major competitor, Coca-Cola, the company does not specialize on drinks only. Instead, the company has diversified in snacks food industry. The company produces snacks as part of its brand in the market which contributes a significant portion of its total revenue. In addition, Pepsi taste has been tested and compared with soft drinks from other competitors. It taste has been ranked as the best taste over the others. The brand is viewed by customer as a cool drink that has less health effect. Lastly, Pepsi exhibit high innovation and creative in its product that is not common among its competitors in the soft and snacks industry. The company is characterized by innovation in production, high quality product, differentiating, marketing and advertisement. These three aspects make the company’s products appear unique in the market. Most small business organizations want to trade with an innovative and quality product. Consequently, most business organizations are willing to trade with the Pepsi products. PepsiCo has created an image of an organization that provides solution to the business organizations’ problem. It has created the image through a number action which the company has implemented. First, in the recent past, the organization has focused on selling the drinks at an affordable price. For instance, the company has increased the amount of a unit drink while the prices remained the same. Second, the company has improved it means of supply in order to meet other businesses’ expectations. Business organizations in the snacks and drinks industries continue to expect improved services from the manufacture. In order to meet their need, the company has improved its supplies in order to provide the goods to the customers effectively and at the lowest cost. This has been achieved by training employees working in marketing department on the best methods to use to connect to the other business organizations. 4.3 Customers Relationship Pepsi has established some techniques to maintain a long term relationship with other businesses. In the increasing customer loyalty, organization area not only focused on the how to reach at many customers, but also how to maintain the relationship between the customers and the company. For a long time, the company has invested in retention programs to maintain relationship with other business organizations more than any of its competitors. It is arguable true that the programs play a significant role in the company’s marketing strategy and campaign. Some of the retention programs the company has implemented include: Pepsi has built a network with other business organizations, suppliers, business colleagues and community around the world. Networks are very important not only on increasing market base but also in maintain the relationship with the customers. Networks allow both the customers and the company to main contact which enhance long-term relationship. In order to enhance the long term relationship using the networks, the company has ensured that the networks add value to the other organizations and the other people involved. In response, the networks provide ground in which the company can communicate effectively to other organizations. Communication with the other organizations is another retention programs commonly used by Pepsi to maintain relationship with other organization. Easy communication between customers and a company is essential in maintain a long term relationship with customers. Pepsi has invested in this technique in order to establish customers’ loyalty. There are many media through which the company connects with other business organizations such as online communication among other. It is through the communication that the company keeps reminding other business organizations about the company products. The communication therefore, enhances the relationship as the organizations are reminded about the company’s products every now and then. 4.4 Customers Profile Business organizations that trade with Pepsi products are normally classified into a number of the classes. The classification is done based on geographical factors, demographical factors and behavioral factors. On the bases of the geographical market, the customers are classified with their location. For instance, there is the local market which comprises the market in USA. The market outside US is referred to as the global market and is further classified into regions such as European customers and Asian customers among others. Based on the demographical factors, the customers are classified on sex, age income level and education level. The company groups their customers using these factors in order to determine the needs of every group and the best way to meet their needs. Lastly, behavioral classification is based on the customers’ reaction to the Pepsi products (Mattison, 2014). For example, there are those customers who are loyal to the product while there are those that use the drinks at special occasion. 5.0 Marketing Campaign for the PepsiCo Company It is apparent that PepsiCo Company is facing a considerable competition from Coca-Cola and other soft drinks companies both in the local market in US and in the global market. Coca-Cola continues to take the largest market share in the two markets while the Pepsi has been follow at a close margin. However, the company can reduce the margin and increase its market share through an effective marketing campaign. The marketing campaign will not only improve the company recognition but also increase its sales in the market (Mattison, 2014). 5.1 Target Market This marketing campaign intends to reach to specific market segments through other business organizations willing to trade on Pepsi products. In the past, Pepsi has been considered as a drink for the young people. Consequently, most promotion methods have been targeting the young people. However, this marketing campaign will go beyond the young people and capture people of all walks. Pepsi does not have health affect neither does it have alcoholic effects. Therefore, it can be consumed by young and old, and religious and not religious. The marketing campaign intended to reach to all these potential customers through other business organizations. In addition, the company targets both the domestic markets and the global market. Pepsi face an equal market competition from its rival Coca-Cola both in the local and international market. The campaign intended to reach out to these markets (Mattison, 2014). 5.20 Marketing Mediums for Campaign True marketing campaign is not just about advertisements but communicating to customers about their products. In order to communicate effectively to other organizations, the choice of medium to use is very critical. There are simple media that send single message while there are those that are complex and communicate a wide message to a large number of people. This campaign will use the following media to reach out the target market and communicate the message its trading organizations: 5.21 Radio Campaign through radio will be one of the most important media of campaign. Radio will be used to reach out the large number of the business organizations especially in the remote areas. Radio is listened to large number of people both in urban areas and rural areas. It is also listened by all types of people: old and young, poor and rich and religion and non-religious. Consequently, the use of the radio to campaign for the Pepsi will see the company reach out a wide range of business organizations in the rural area. Both local and international radio stations will be used to as the campaign intends to create awareness to both local and global markets (Mattison, 2014). 5.22 Television Television is also an important part of the campaign. Televisions are watched by a considerable large number of people all over the world. Through they are not very common in the rural area, television are effective than radio in advertisement due to the fact they provide visual images about the product. Coca-Cola has used television for a long time and has contributes to its success. Therefore, Pepsi intend to use television to inform other business organizations about Pepsi products, inform them about the value of the products and persuade them to buy the products. Like in the radio advertisement, the campaign will use both local and international television stations. 5.23 Email Email is a single but an important tool of marketing. The campaign does not only aim at communication to its trading organizations only. It also aims at ensuring that organizations can communicate to the company to clarify about the company’s products, ask questions or send their complaints to the company. Email help to achieve the two way communication between the trading organizations and the company. The campaign will encourage the business organizations to use email to communicate to the company to express any concern they may have to the organization. The company will also ensure that any email sent by organizations is responded to appropriate and at the right time (Mattison, 2014). 5.24 Social media Social media has become the most important tool of marketing. The media are used by different organizations to communicate to the large number of orgnizations spread all over the world. Social media is more effective in marketing campaign due to a number of reasons. First, media connect people from all parts of the world where they share their experience towards a certain product. Second, the media two way communication where organizations can communicate to the company and the company respond to their complaints (Mattison, 2014). Some of the social media that will be used in this campaign include Facebook, Blogs, Twitter, Myspace and YouTube just to mention a few of them. Due to the importance of the social media in the campaign, a lot of emphasis will be given to the technique. 5.25 Events and Trade shows Events and Trade shows will also take a significant part of the Pepsi Campaign. Events and trade shows present an opportunity for an organization to communicate, inform and persuade other organizations about its products. The campaign will use various events such as sporting events, social events and community events to communicate to other organizations. On the other hand, trade shows are held quite often every year (Mattison, 2014). The campaign will use these chances to communicate to a large number of organizations who visits these trade shows. 5.26 Publicity Publicity will also be used in the campaign to communicate to different organizations. Publicity is an important marketing technique that enables an organization to be known and consequently communicating to customers. Publicity will be achieved through different methods such as taking part in community activities, taking parts in charitable works and sponsoring sports among other activities that are of concern to the general community. It is during these activities that the company will reach out a large number of customers. 5.26 Print Prints and publications will take a major part of the campaign. Prints are very important in informing other organizations about the services and the products offered by a company. They will be printed periodically and will be decorated with colorful images of the Pepsi products. They will provide detailed information about where to get the products, the costs and the health implications of the products. In addition, they will persuade other organizations to trade with the products. The prints will be distributed in different parts of the world through the suppliers so that they can reach the targeted market segments (Mattison, 2014). Buy four get five A Pepsi Poster 5.3 Campaign Schedule The campaign intends to take a period of one year. The company will combine the marketing techniques discussed above in order to achieve the campaign objectives. The campaign will take place in all the countries and will be identical in every country. The campaign will be implementing into three phase where the objectives and the achievement of the campaign will be evaluated. Every phase will take four months and each phase will have its goals to be accomplished within this period. 6.0 Conclusions and Recommendations 6.1 Conclusion This paper provides a marketing campaign plan for the PepsiCo Company which it should implement to acquire more customers, increase its market share and counter the stiff competitor offered by its competitors such as Coca-Cola Company. A study of the company market indicated that the company has been in competing fairly with Coca-Cola. However, Coca-Cola has been gaining ground on the industry and consequently affecting the Pepsi position in the market. This necessities some measures in order to retain the company market share and counter the Coca-Cola effort to increase its market share. Pepsi has some advantages over the Coca-Cola such as tastes and the health implications. Therefore, the company need to devise a technique to creating awareness about its product and will increase its market share. This report provides a marketing campaign in which the company can use to create awareness and increase market share. 6.2 Recommendations It is apparent that Coca-Cola has continued to excel in the soft drink Industry more than Pepsi. The company has implemented effective marketing techniques to outdo its competitor. However, Pepsi is keeping pace with the Coca-Cola by improving its marketing strategies. In order to maintain its position, the report recommends that PepsiCo should implement the marketing campaign. The campaign which should take one year should be implemented in all the country where the company sales its products. It should be effectively implemented so that it achieves it intended objectives and goals. The organization management should play a vital role in the implementing the strategy supervising and evaluating its progress to ensure that it achieves it intended goals. Should be campaign not achieve the desired outcomes, the management should evaluate possible issues that hindered the outcome and consequently devise a better campaign. Reference Chu, D., & Bloomberg News (Firm). (2014). How to play Coca-Cola and Pepsico. New York: Bloomberg. Green, P., (2010), Multidimensional Scaling in Marketing Analysis, Boston: Allyn & Bacon, Inc., 1970. Fisher, R. (2009), The Design of Experiments, 7th rev. ed., New York: Hafner Publishing Co. Louis, J. C., & Yazijian, H. (2010). The cola wars. New York: Everest House. Mattison, R. (2014). Winning telco customers using marketing databases. Boston: Artech House. Appendix: Interview Question Form Interview Questions Responses Job Title Organization (department) Nationality Years of Experience Which is the market strategies that are currently been used to create awareness? Why is the Coca-Cola performing better than Pepsi despite Pepsi having a better customer taste? Do you think it’s possible for Pepsi to overtake Coca-Cola in the market share? What are some of advantages of Pepsi over Coca-Cola? What is the impact of the social media on the Pepsi marketing techniques? Currently, which are the media that PepsiCo is using to create awareness and how effective are the media? Read More