Chapter 10 - Product Concepts

Notice the word "Enjoy" on their label

The evolution of Coca-Cola's labeling from 1886-Today

"the real thing" is Coca-Cola's Trademark slogan

Coca-Cola is a master of labeling because they promote a strong red color on there labels. In addition, it is beautifully contrasted with the scripted white-bubbled Coca-Cola brand name.  Coca-Cola's brand name is also conveniently labeled with the trademark logo protecting their brand.  Trademark protection is very important because other company's can try to imitate Coca-Cola's branding technique's resulting in trademark infringement.

This is an example of "co-branding" and more specifically complimentary branding.  With complimentary branding, products are advertised or marketed together to suggest usage such as Whiskey and Coca-Cola.




Somehow Coca-Cola is a strong company with respects to branding because I am very aware of their presence.  I noticed their brand being advertised in pizza shops, McDonald's, movies, and trains.  There is strong brand awareness in my life towards them and it must be because of their marketing efforts.

Maybe after this project I will have the mind of an informed consumer which will lead me to understand Coca-Cola's marketing strategies.  Thus, I will be more conscientious before making a purchase.  

Chapter 18 - Sales Promotion and Personal Selling

This is January 31, 2011.  * A free large Coca-Cola fountain drink is being promoted at AMC Theatres with the purchase of a large popcorn. *

This Coca-Cola promotion reinforces their brand awareness while strengthening their customer loyalty.

Maybe, Coca-Cola gets some of the profits sold by the theatre since this promotion increases the theatre's sale of the large popcorn.

This is July 1, 1951.  Not much has changed since then.  This is a promotion that stimulates the customer to try a free soda while probably reinforcing brand awareness and strengthening customer loyalty.
 

According to www.cocacola.com, The Coca-Cola Company has spent approximately $5 Billion in promotional and marketing programs in 2010.  As the ultimate consumer that I am, the promotions that trickle down to me are usually coupons.  Since there is brand loyalty already, Coca-Cola just needs to reinforce brand awareness  by continuing to promote their products continuously to be able to compete against their competitor Pepsi.  Also, I feel that Coca-Cola also must continue to provide the same quality consistently it they want to keep me as a consumer. 

Chapter 17 - Advertising and Public Relations

Coca-Cola has been the official sponsor of American Idol for all ten seasons and has partnered with BET, NASCAR, the NBA, NCAA and the Olympic games.  From my observations, Coca-Cola is brilliant in their advertising strategies because they have great product placement.  In many movies that I've seen, one of the actors were drinking a Coca-Cola.  The following are a list of expenditures that The Coca-Cola Company has spent on advertising in about the last 20 years:

2006: $2.6 billion
2005: $2.5 billion
2004: $2.2 billion
2003: $1.8 billion
2002: $1.7 billion
2001: $2.0 billion
2000: $1.7 billion
1999: $1.7 billion
1998: $1.6 billion
1997: $1.6 billion
1996: $1.4 billion
1995: $1.3 billion
1994: $1.1 billion
1993: $1.0 billion




There advertising costs have more than doubled since 1993.

Chapter 15 - Retailing

Five Guys® Becomes Largest Chain to Roll Out Coca-Cola Freestyle® Nationwide

North America, September 30, 2011

Lorton, VA - Custom-made burgers, meet custom-made drinks. Your search for a tailor-made dining experience is finally over as Five Guys® becomes the largest restaurant chain to endorse the installation of Coca-Cola Freestyle® for its entire system.  

In addition to Coca-Cola's interactive vending machines across U.S. universities and malls and their partnership with the Japanese Red Cross in creating a vending machine where donations are simultaneously accepted, Coca-Cola has marketed another style of the automatic vending retailing strategy.   

This sleek, stylish new fountain is touch screen operated, enabling consumers to select from more than 100 regular and low-calorie beverage brands. Many varieties of waters, fruit-flavored and sparkling beverages are now available to U.S consumers exclusively on Coca-Cola Freestyle.  Coca-Cola Freestyle uses unique, proprietary PurePour Technology TM and has the capacity to dispense more than 100 branded beverages in the same footprint as a standard eight-valve machine


Coca-Cola is sold in Supermarkets, Department Stores, Restaurants, Convenient Stores, Drugstores, Warehouses, Specialty Stores, and via the Internet.  With their automatic vending retailing strategy Coca-Cola has access to virtually any arena in the world as long as their is an electrical outlet.


Maybe their next vending machine should be battery operated so that their soda could be sold in the desert.

Chapter 6 - Consumer Decision Making

As a consumer I buy Coca-Cola soda with low involvement and use routine response behavior.  One of the factors that influence my decisions to purchase Coca-Cola instead of Pepsi is that there is a cultural factor.  For some reason I feel that Coca-Cola is cool because it is partnered with McDonald's in their fast food chains.  In addition, Coca-Cola is especially marketed in the Olympics and subliminally advertised in movies.

In spite of all that, I feel that Coca-Cola genuinely has a crisp feeling that I cannot seem to get enough of.

While reviewing this chapter on the Consumer Decision process, I realized that my decisions to purchase Coca-Cola is more involved than my conscious realized.