Chapter 14 marketing and retailing - visit

I walked into 7/11 and right away I noticed that Coca Cola signs were already at the front of the door. With different sale promotions and prices. Then while walking in I also noticed that even then there was still small advertisements around the Coca Cola products, making sure that you saw all their other products available and it was marked with the slogan "refresh". Which happens to be one part of Coca Colas mission statement. "To refresh the world." Another thing that I noticed was that Coca Cola wasn't the only thing being sold there by the Coca Cola company. There was Sprite, Fanta, Dasani water, Evian water and many many more selections.  So Coca Cola really does make sure that all its soft drink products and water products get to all the stores and in a large quantity. Also I noticed that one weakness as explained in the chapter is that not only did they sell Coca Cola at 7/11 but they also sold Pepsi. Pepsi being coca colas biggest rival. This makes it more difficult for Coca Cola to advertise in a store such as 7/11 or other large chain stores because the stores have other companies that pay them to also sell inside their stores. So this is a weakness in selling wholesale to such stores. However besides that fact. It seems that they do very well there being a Coke product the brand is very popular and not difficult to sell. 

Ch. 14 - Marketing Channels and Retailing

“A marketing channel is a business structure of interdependent organizations that reach from the point of production to the consumer." This is Coca Cola’s most successful point in business, their distribution network. Where there are people there is Coke. This came to be true after learning that even in the poorest of countries one can always find Coca Cola. They make sure that their products reach all over their target markets. One way that they have expanded their network all across the globe is through the use of small retailers. They use small retailers such as bars, restaurants and supermarkets to get their drinks into the hands of consumers and also for drinking on the premise itself. Another way that Coca Cola sells all its products is through distribution channels. These channels help actually distribute the Coca Cola products to large chain retail stores, such as Wal-Mart , Costco , BJ's and many more. This being the most profitable to the company because its all sold as wholesale. The only downside to this strategy

is that these stores normally always also sell other brands of soft drinks such as Pepsi. So this does not allow Coca Cola to be its number one priority when it comes to marketing in the store. Another form of distribution that Coca Cola has come up with is their creative ideas of vending machines. They offer different vending machines to get their product and name more recognized than it already is. They have used different ad campaigns through these vending machines such as the “hug me” machine in which case , people hug the vending machine in order to get a free drink. Another great way that they get Coca Cola into the hands of the people and get them to consume it. One other most popular method is through the use of their newer models of vending machines known as the Coca Cola Freestyle. This vending machine has a touch screen interface that allows you to choose from over 100 different Coca Cola soft drinks

in one machine! This gives the user the ability to have options in what they would like to drink instead of going to a different company of soft drink. They offer a wide variety of flavors and drinks to hit all their target markets in one machine. Which proves that how they sell and get products into the hands of the people is just as important as what they actually sell. They place all these vending machines in great locations where they will have lots of foot traffic and pit stops. The whole importance of retailing and using the right distribution channels is to be able to place the product into the consumer's hands, because customers want convenience anywhere they are. Coca Cola’s distribution networks are vast and worldwide. This gets them to the top and has them everywhere there is people. Allowing them to continue to climb new heights in success.

Ch. 6 - Consumer Decision Making

Consumer decision making process is extremely vital when it comes to a company

prospering fully. Coca Cola analyzes the Consumer decision process in order to analyze how and why clients purchase Coke over any other soft drink.Understanding the behavior of customers makes it easier to see where the market is headed in the near future. Coca Cola will never actually be a need but only a want. So in order for them to tap strongly into the want recognition they use their brand name that is so recognized and easily accessible. in order to affect consumer decision making they target all types of culture. Such as becoming apart of certain meals for others, making it a full part of the culture of others. Also they do not target a specific social class. Coca Cola’s soft drinks at times can be even cheaper than water. Making it easily accessible to the poor , but still making it a

classic drink for the rich. Another thing that they do is they get involved through the use of their advertisements to stimulate the want in the market. They have given themselves a name to share Coca Cola with the world. Different advertisements sharing that no matter where you are, whether it's at a party, with friends or with family, coke is the all occasion drink for a good time. Being passed down from grandfather to father to son, makes Coke a Classic in the socialization process. The relation to Coke and consumer involvement is everything because it is not  need , so it can not sell itself. As they target different cultures, and subcultures, they never forget about targeting the rest of the world.

Ch. 5 - Developing a Global Vision

Coca Cola just as other companies have stressed their importance when it comes to global marketing.

They must compete with other companies to dominate the word of marketing. Coca Cola has been successful with their “where there is people there is Coke” campaign. Coca Cola’s distribution network is one of the largest around the world. It is estimated that 94% of people all around the world recognize the cursive red and white lettering that is Coca Cola. They use effective global marketing

strategies to advertise their products in different places , with low prices and lots of promotions. Using the four p’s to successfully market to the entire world. One impact that this multinational firm has is that it has more than 900 plants around the entire world, employing thousands. This helps the workers of the world become financially stable and independent. Also globally Coca Cola helps raise the GDP ( Gross Domestic Product) of different countries. Another issue that they like to focus on are external environmental issues. One of the largest ones being obesity. So one thing that Coca Cola does to affect this world’s issue is to get them active. Coca Cola has partnered up with different health organizations to bring light upon the issue and created several programs to get people more active than staying home and drinking more calories than they are burning. They also have created lower calorie drinks and advertise their most profitable water dasani which is sold around the world to give people options. Another global issue is the environment. Coca Cola’s new “ plant bottle” which gets rid of the process of adding petroleum to the bottles, helps the environment and is 100% recyclable. They are the world leaders at sustainable water use, and industry leaders in packaging , energy and climate protection. Sustainability for the environment is part of their 2020 vision. Another

global vision Coca Cola is trying to impact is the workplace for women across the world. Their goal for 2020 is to “ enable the economic empowerment of five million women across the world. They also are large advocates of human rights. They have a vision and have accomplished a great safety records for the employees that work for them. With all this Coca Cola's global vision is to move forward and positively. When it comes to the world's issues such as gender equality , obesity and environment. Coca Cola is changing itself to recognize the different target markets in the world. Also using promotion and advertisement to effectively carry out their global marketing strategy to be a more productive company that sells products and that helps shape the world into a better place.