Brand Management Strategy - Essay Example

Thus, a product may be a physical good (e.g., a cereal, tennis racquet, or automobile), service (e.g., an airline, bank, or insurance company), retail store (e.g., a department store, specialty store, or supermarket), person (e.g., a political figure, entertainer, or professional athlete), organization (e.g., a nonprofit organization, trade organization, or arts group), place (e.g., a city, state, or country), or idea (e.g., a political or social cause). Brands play a critical role in a firm's international marketing strategy.

Coherent international brand architecture is a key component of the firm's overall international marketing strategy as it provides a framework to leverage strong brands into other markets, assimilate acquired brands, and rationalize the firm's international branding strategy. This paper aims at making a detailed analysis of the product portfolio of Coca Cola and determines the effectiveness of its brand strategies. Most discussion and research on branding, both in domestic or international markets focus on the equity or value associated with a brand name and the factors that create or are the underlying source of value (Aaker, 1996; Kapferer, 1997; Keller, 1998).

Considerable attention has, for example, been devoted to examining about extending the value embodied in a brand and its equity to other products without resulting in dilution of value (Aaker and Keller, 1990). This interest has been stimulated in part by the increasing market power and value associated with a strong brand and in part by the prohibitive costs of launching a successful new brand. In international markets, interest has been centered on global branding - defining the meaning of a global brand, discussing the advantages and pitfalls, and the conditions under which building a global brand is most likely to be successful (Roth, 1995a, b; Quelch, 1999).

While this focus is appropriate for a relatively few high profile brands such as Coca-Cola, it ignores the complexity of the issues faced by the vast majority of multinational firms who own a variety of national, regional and international brands, at different levels in the organization, spanning a broad range of diverse country markets. Typically, these brands differ in their strength, associations, target market and the range of products covered, both within and across markets. Equally the use of brands at different organizational levels may vary from company to company.

Research of Brand PortfolioCoca-Cola is the manufacturer, distributor and marketer of nonalcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups across the globe. They also manufacture, distribute and market some finished beverages. Along with Coca-Cola, which is recognized as the world's most valuable brand, they market four of the world's top five soft drink brands, including Diet Coke, Fanta and Sprite. The Company owns or licenses more than 400 brands, including carbonated soft drinks, juice and juice drinks, sports drinks, water products, teas, coffees and other beverages to meet consumers' desires, needs and lifestyle choices.

More than 1.3 billion servings