Coca-Cola's Internal and External Analysis and Marketing Strategies

Coca-Cola
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Coca-Cola
INTRODUCTION
Coca-Cola is one of the largest companies globally dealing with non-alcoholic beverages. It has its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, where it was founded on January 29, 1892. Over the years, it has become a beverage powerhouse with product lines such as Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Stoney, and Krest. It has managed to create an efficient distribution network that extends to over 200 countries. However, it faces numerous challenges such as packaging and transportation of the products, consequently creating income risks. Its main competitors are PepsiCo, Britvic, Red bull, and Monster Beverage which also have a clear line of products. This essay is an analysis of Coca-Cola's internal and external together with its marketing strategies.
INTERNAL (MICRO) ANALYSIS
Strengths
Even a company as big as coca-cola need regular internal (macro) analysis to weigh their strengths and weaknesses. Its apparent strength is its strong brand identity that has been cultivated for years. Apart from the products, its brand has managed to solidify itself even to the tinny detail. The shape of the bottle alone is unmistakable and is a constant reminder of the brand.
Its unique brand is known worldwide, and it has helped the company establish its products as best-selling in this era. It maintains the broadest range of soft drinks in the beverage industry consisting of 3.900 different products. Consequently, it serves about 1.9 billion of the total 60 billion servings of various beverages taken across the globe per day.
Along with its broad reach, it has managed to create excellent customer loyalty and brand association. It has an emotional and sentimental connection to its customers cultivated over the years. The customers are in love with the taste while others can't seem to find a substitute brand. Its strong distribution network allows the company to meet the ever-growing demand of its reliable suppliers.
As a brand, Coca-Cola is ranked as the top three global brands on Interbrand's annual ranking. Its estimated brand value of about $79.96 billion allows the company to dictate the market, making it difficult for its competitors CITATION Man20 \l 1033 (Glossary, 2020). Its pricing is also standardized, and any alterations depend on its competitors' pricing strategy, mainly Pepsi.
Weaknesses
Its apparent weakness is that it has a strong competitor in Pepsi, which prevents it from completely dominating the market. Both companies have competed since their creation and have managed to keep each other alert. Pepsi seems to be diversifying its products heavily in attempts to gain an edge against Coca-Cola. It has introduced new snack items such as Kurkure and Lays, becoming popular among people CITATION Pan17 \l 1033 (Panagiotopoulou, 2017). At the moment, Coca-Cola has not diversified products apart from their line of soft drinks.
Health concerns are a threat to the credibility and relevance of soft drinks. Carbonated drinks have more sugar which results in numerous health issues such as obesity and diabetes. Consequently, active groups are rallying against companies such as Coca-Cola. Another public opinion concern is its criticism of water management...