COCACOLA MARKETING STRATEGY 2021

1. Introduction to the company

a, Introduction to the company
The Coca-Cola Company, American corporation founded in 1892 and today engaged
primarily in the manufacture and sale of syrup and concentrate for Coca-Cola, a
sweetened carbonated beverage.
In 1960, coca cola was first introduced in VietNam . After that, coca-cola Indochina Pte
Company was established officially in Vietnam in August 1995. With the orientation to
become a comprehensive, consumer-oriented beverage company, the company is
constantly improving and providing a wide range of quality and diversified beverages,
including low-sugar and sugar-free product lines. , at the same time diversifying models
and expanding business coverage everywhere. Coca-Cola's beverage brands in Vietnam
include Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Light, Coke Zero, Sprite, Fanta,...
Marketing goal: to establish the image and create public awareness about the presence
of Coca-Cola Company in the Vietnamese market. When customers have a good
impression of the company, there will be Prioritize selection with products of the same
type.
Objectives: Coca Cola aims to sustain its long term growth while keeping in mind its
short term commitments. The company aims to achieve long term sustained profitability
and maximize return ,...
b, Target customers of Coca Cola
Age
They target young people between the ages 12-30. That's why it mostly uses pop stars in
their advertisements. They arrange different campaigns in universities, colleges, schools,
etc. in acquiring contracts.
Geographical location
Coca Cola's products are covered all over the country. However, they change different
strategies for each region. Because the needs of target customers in each region are
different due to climate, culture, customs and habits ,... For example, people in the south
prefer sweetness to people in the north. But the essential ingredients and process are the
same.

Gender segmentation
Coca -cola is aimed at both men and women. However, there is a clear difference in
preference and taste.For example, coca light is quite popular among women while
stronger flavored coca zero is preferred by men. This is also seen in product design and


advertising. The product design of coca zero mainly focuses on two main colors, black
and red, more masculine than coca light.
=> Target market The young generation mostly those who consume the drink on a daily
basis. It targets both male and females who are from the ages of 12-30 years, who love
fun and entertainment. Their lifestyles are busy, full of life and youthful.
c, Customer journey
Customer behavior

-Recommended
- Caught advert

TOUCH POINT

-FB, Tiktok,you
website, shopee

WHAT SHOULD THE BUSINESS DO

- Improve SEO
-Advertisement
communication
- Covering on
Tiktok platform
with hashtags

about products.


2. Analysis

a, Offline communication channels: (2-3 years)
*Advertising
Advertising is very important for coca-cola since it has a huge customer base globally.
To reach out to all its loyal customers with the new launches as well as to inform new
customers about all its products coca-cola uses influential advertising techniques. The
slogans used in the coca-cola ads are so catchy that it creates a permanent impact on the
viewers
and
encourages
them
to
buy
the
product.
Company introduces different innovative themes and concepts to sell their product and
advertises mainly in electronic media and out of home advertising. These advertisements
help
in
creating
awareness
as
well
as
building
brand

image.
Objective:
Coca
Cola
uses
advertisement
to
+
Do
brand
promotion
+
Contain
brand
loyalty
+
Contain
brand
awareness.
+
Contain
and
increase
demand
- Media of advertising
•

•

•

Print media: Coca-cola ads can be seen in various newspapers and magazines.
When special offers are introduced or new products are launched then the
company posts catchy ads on the entire cover page of the magazine or one full
page of newspapers. Therefore all those who read newspapers or magazines can
never miss out any influential ads of coca-cola.
Point of purchase advertising: Posters and stickers are displayed in various stores
on the coca-cola brands and new launches. When customers come to buy some
coca-cola products or any other products such posters and stickers catch their
attention and may induce them to buy more products than what they had planned
before seeing the posters. Point of purchase advertising includes: Posters and
Stickers, cooler, Freezers, Display racks etc.
Television
commercials:
Television is the most common platform which unites all the potential customers,
partners, investors etc. Therefore the ads aired on television will reach the


•

•

maximum number of target audience, even more than other mediums of
advertising. Coca-cola has always aired attention seeking television commercials.
Social
media
advertising:
Coca Cola’s social media accounts are used to connect with its fans and followers
and for customer engagement. There are more than 1,250 promotional videos of
Coca Cola on its official YouTube channel. As competition has kept intensifying in

the soda industry, companies are focusing more than ever on their social image
and reputation
Outdoor
advertising:
Outdoor advertising involves posting ads on billboards and hoardings. Coca cola is
very much conscious about their billboards and hoardings. The billboards and
hoardings of coca-cola can be seen in every nook and corner. Coca-cola makes
sure that its hoardings and billboards are present in urban as well as rural areas.

* PR
- Company is focused on initiatives that reduce environmental footprint, support active,
healthy living, create a safe, inclusive work environment for associates, and enhance
economic development. So, the PR activities of Coca-Cola Company include social,
humanitarian
and
environmental
aspects.
- Social aspect: In 2021, Coca-Cola Vietnam Company has been conducting many
support activities for affected communities in Ho Chi Minh City during the pandemic.
The company has donated more than 37,000 beverage products, thousands of medical and
antiseptic products, masks as well as personal protective equipment to hospitals, isolation
areas and communities. Along with a donation of USD 400,000 through the Vietnam Red
Cross, the Coca-Cola Foundation has contributed a total amount of up to VND 16 billion
to support activities to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Vietnam.
- Humanitarian aspect: New Year of the Rat 2020, Coca cola with the journey to connect
the family. This year, Coca Cola continues the tradition every year on Tet holiday to bring
new joys to expatriates across the North and South. In Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City,
Coca Cola has invited more than 3,000 people working far away from their hometown to
join the family bonding parties. Just for them to meet, get closer together in the New Year
atmosphere. At the same time, Coca Cola did not forget to give thousands of warm gifts

to
people
across
19
provinces
in
North-Central-South.
- Environmental aspects: the Coca-Cola Company's strategy "For a world without waste"
aims to be able to collect and recycle 100% of the bottles and cans sold by the company
by 2030; at the same time, reduce the use of virgin plastic and use 100% recyclable
packaging materials. To achieve this, The Coca-Cola Company and The Ocean Cleanup
nonprofit are officially working together to achieve a clear common goal: to prevent
plastic waste from ending up in the ocean. With the first approach of treating marine
waste from rivers, the partnership is geared towards the implementation of solar-powered


Interceptor river cleaning systems developed by the Dutch non-profit organization. An
Interceptor system was installed by The Ocean Cleanup in Can Tho, Vietnam.

*Sales promotion:
Consumers:
- Coca-Cola mainly organizes prize-winning programs to attract customers to participate
and purchase products.
• 2021: Coke Studio "Bung giai dieu hung khoi" program
Customers will scan the QR code on the product packaging and then enter the coupon
code on the eyelet or bottle cap for a chance to win a Zing MP3 VIP account, and many
different gifts. Prizes include Code Zing MP3 VIP 2 months (90820 prizes), Zing VIP 1
week (272319 prizes), Portable speaker Sony SRS-XB23 (280 awards),T-shirts (2987
prizes),1 Billion VND (2 prizes)
•

2019: “Hung khoi Viet Nam” program

Customers will receive a code on the coca cola can and will send that code to the 8069
switchboard or send a message on Zalo. Then the software will automatically dial the
numbers to choose the winning codes for the daily and monthly prizes. The total prize
value of the promotion is up to 3.2 billion VND.
=> Advantages: The organization of these promotions has both helped Coca Cola
promote sales, attract customers who are interested in the brand especially young people
when Coca Cola cooperates with Zalo, Zingmp3,... In addition, these programs also help
to promote the image of Coca Cola on social networks when posting information about
winners on the company's fanpage.
=> Disadvantages: The program's rules are quite complicated, so it mainly attracts young
customers because they can understand and use technology easily. Therefore, these
promotions have not yet reached customers in the entire market.
- Besides, Coca Cola also reduces product prices when customers order products on ecommerce platforms such as Shopee, Tiki, and Lazada. If customers buy a lot, they also
get a discount code.
Trade:
•
•

Discounts to retailers and stores
Give gifts such as refrigerators,... to retailers and shops or restaurants when they
buy a large quantity of Coca Cola products.


•

Give vouchers when buying in bulk such as when buying 30 boxes of Coca Cola
worth 2,460,000 VND, customers will get 1 voucher for any products of Coca

Cola company worth 330,000 VND

*Direct marketing (do they use letters, catalogue, TV shopping, telemarketing? why?
Who are they targeting?)
The brand utilises direct marketing in a variety of ways, through associating with
different restaurants and movie houses to promote the Coca-Cola brand. For example, in
restaurants such as Mc Donald, the only available soft drink at the group is Coca-Cola
brand, this entices the consumers to purchase a drink from the brand. In this way Coca Cola pushes the competition out, and has shared gain for the brand over and over. CocaCola also sponsors a lot of events around the world like cricket and football. Consumers
can also contact Coca-Cola through a helpline.
Direct Marketing Objectives
Coca-Cola’s objectives are the following:
• Consumers to increase consumption of their product.
• Offering their products at different outlets, retailers and being present in most
stores in the world.
• To increase their brand, through fast food such as McDonalds.
• To do more market research and finance on research and development.
• Providing low caloric products for consumers to meet the global health needs.
• Being transparent to consumers about how much sugar intake they are getting in
their soft drinks.
•

b, Online communication channels
* SEO + website (traffic, engagement)
Coca-Cola uses the internet to promote its products. The company has its own website,
which is user-friendly. The website has various attractive features which encourage
customer interaction, it allows customers to become interactive through various games,
contests, shopping, and through a special section of the website that enables consumers to
find out how they can help their community. The customers are even allowed to give their
feedback on various coca-cola brands and also their suggestic for improving the product.
- Traffic overview

According to Ubersuggest, statistics show that: organic keywords are 1,765; organic
monthly traffic are: 23,977….
RANKING

SEO TITLE


Top searched seo titles are : Ai là nhà sáng lập Coca Cola, Vì một thế giới khơng rác thải,
Coca Cola ra mắt chai tái chế từ rác thải nhựa đầu tiên trên thế giới,Trao vòng đời mới
cho rác thải…. show that Coca has been aiming for practical benefits for the community
KEYWORD

Top searched seo keywords are: blackpink coke, bts coke,.... show that Coca-Cola's
customers are interested in popular music groups

COMPARE TO PEPSI



=> Pepsi is better than Coca in organic monthly traffic, domain authority. Coca is better
than Pepsi in backlink
* Social networks (volume - fan, follower, engagement, social listening (comments positive or negative)
- On social platforms of coca cola get a lot of hits and followers like:
• facebook: 104,862,765 followers
•
instagram: 2.7 million followers,
•
youtube : 3.6 million subscribers, videos have quite a lot of views over 1 million

views
* Display Ad
- Coca Cola uses social networking platforms to bring its images to customers such as
facebook, instagram, tv, youtube, zalo,or public transport such as buses,....
For example: Coke Studio "Bung giai dieu hung khoi" program advertised on the
youtube platform with 1.4 million views.
3. Evaluation
a, SWOT analysis
* Strengths
- Strong brand identity: Coca-Cola is a highly popular brand with a unique brand identity.
Its soft drinks are the most-selling drinks in history.


- Extended global reach: It is sold in more than 200 countries with 9 billion servings per
day of Company products. It has introduced more than 500 new products globally. Some
of these are variations of Coca-Cola beverages, like Coca Cola Vanilla and Cherry CocaCola. Its brands are known to touch every lifestyle and demography.
- Greatest brand association and customer loyalty: Coca-Cola is considered one of US’s
most emotionally-connected brands. This valuable brand is associated with ‘happiness’
and has strong customer loyalty. Customers can quickly identify their particular taste.
Finding its substitutes is difficult for them. Moreover, Coca-Cola and Fanta have a huge
fan following than other beverage names in the industry.
* Weaknesses
- Hard for consumers to distinguish Coke from Pepsi - Both Coca and Pepsi have taste
and color quite similar that make consumers confused and not have the distinction in their
consumption
- Consumers worry their health will be badly affected if they consume too many
carbonated drinks. It results in two grave health issues – obesity and diabetes. Besides,
health experts have prohibited misusing soft drinks. It is a controversial issue for the
company. However, Coca-Cola hasn’t devised any health alternative or solution for this
problem yet.

* Opportunities
- Increase presence in developing nations : Many regions with hot climates have the
highest consumption of cold drinks. Thus, increasing presence in such locations can be
excellent – Middle Eastern and African countries are a good example.
- Along with the development of digital technology, it is easy for the company to reach
the right target customers of the company, spread the company’s communication
messages.
- Healthy Products: It can start to produce healthier product lines with less sugar and
calorie ingredients so that people don’t get the chance to boycott its drink for health
reasons.
* Threats
- Aggressive competition with Pepsi : Pepsi is the biggest rival of Coca-Cola. Had it not
been Pepsi, Coca-Cola would have been the clear market leader in the beverage. Besides,
many other companies are indirectly competing with Coca-Cola such as Starbucks, Tân
Hiệp Phát, Tropicana, Lipton juices, and Nescafe, are the indirect competitors of CocaCola which can threaten its market position
- Economic Uncertainty : The recent events have negatively affected business operations,
supply and distribution chains, and devastated revenues of many global companies. In Q2


of 2020, Coca Cola’s revenues declined drastically as restaurants, theaters, and other
venues that contribute about half of its revenue remained closed due to the global crisis.
- Increasing Health-Consciousness: Consumers are increasingly adopting healthy
lifestyles and avoiding products with unhealthy ingredients. The increase in healthconsciousness can reduce Coca Cola’s sales and profits as customers migrate to healthier
options offered by competitors.

b, Campaign Evaluation
Coca-cola has successfully implemented all its communication strategies. This has helped
the company in gaining customers and also maintaining a good rapport with the potential
customers.

c, Evaluation of the Advertising strategy
Coca-Cola advertisements have been devised according to the messages they aim to
convey to its target audience, and images, words and sounds featuring within them have
been developed by marketing professionals in a perfect way, in order to serve the purpose
of attracting maximum people. Messages sent through images, words and audio materials
promoting Coca-Cola are intended towards a happy life. Coca-Cola helps to best satisfy
the thirst, drinking Coca-Cola is stylish, and drinking Coca-Cola is part of a
lifestyle.Through its advertising strategy, the company tries to communicate a message
that this drink satisfies the thirst in the best possible manner and this encourages millions
of people per day to consume coca-cola.

d, Evaluation of Direct marketing strategy
The company has successfully implemented this strategy. Its partnership with various
theatres and restaurants has created this habit among the customers to drink coca-cola
products often.
Mc Donald’s has contributed a lot in promoting coca - cola drinks to its customers, by
offering only this brand with all its meal combos.

e, Evaluation of internet marketing strategy
The internet marketing of coca-cola brands has succeeded in capturing the young
population as well as other professionals who are mainly working online. Coca-cola's
website has enabled people to share their views and suggestions thus enabling the brand
to modify their products as per customer needs and wants.

f, Evaluation of sales promotion


Coca-cola offers attractive schemes during various seasons which help in gaining more
customer support. Such sales promotional activities increased sales to a greater extent

g, Evaluation of public relation strategy
Through this strategy coca-cola has succeeded in creating a public image. All those who
try a new product are so satisfied with the new launch that they encourage others also to
try it through word of mouth.
However, Hard for consumers to distinguish Coke from Pepsi - Both Coca and Pepsi
have taste and color quite similar that make consumers confused and not have the
distinction in their consumption
4, Conclusion
From the analysis of the marketing communication strategy of coca-cola, it can be
concluded that the company has successfully implemented all its strategies efficiently and
effectively and is thus accelerating its growth every year.
For any company to operate successfully and attract more and more customers it has to
adopt the most efficient promotion mix.
This analysis shows that the company is using its promotional mix in an effective and
efficient manner.
That is the reason why Coca-Cola has captured the global market and is one of the most
valuable brands across the world.
Corporate Social Responsibility activities play a significant role in building up goodwill.
Coca-cola is efficiently performing all the activities directed towards corporate social
responsibility