Coca Cola and Social Media Marketing
Chris Wharton
University of Redlands
Principles of Marketing BUSB 340
Vernon Stauble
7/28/2011
This paper will define the concept of social media marketing and briefly discuss some strategies associated with the concept. In addition, the paper will discuss how Coca Cola implements social media marketing into their current advertising campaign. Now let us define social media marketing.
Social media marketing is described by (Grant, 2010) “as a term that refers to using social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, You Tube, and Digg, as well as blogs, forums and other online communities to reach online consumers.” Social media marketing has given companies a profound opportunity in reaching
…show more content…
We can now analyze Coca Colas marketing strategy (McKay, 2009) “keeping pace with their market” and how they incorporate it in the marketing campaign.
Keeping pace with the market signifies Coca Cola realizes they need to stay current with trends and interest of the general public. They achieved this by diversifying into alternative markets such as, water and energy drinks. Coca Cola accomplished this by acquiring Vitamin Water, which produces water, and energy drinks. Coca Cola draws customers by involving them in an online interactional program or by apps located on smart phones called “Flavor Creator.” This program enables customers to design their own drink based on their personal preferences, and design their own bottle label. Furthermore, by engaging the public they are encouraged to vote for their favorite flavor and the one who acquires the most votes wins $5,000.00. With the purchase of Vitamin water, Coca Cola is betting this will make up a large portion of their growth in North America. An additional strategy Coca Cola fosters is sports marketing through social media, such as Digg.
The sports marketing concept utilizes a gathering place known as “Coke Zero Social Arena”. As stated by (Conway, 2011), “Coca Cola, Turner Sports, and CBS partnered to create one of the largest online fan experiences in social media.” This arena is where fans can go to read professional commentary, fan chatter, and watch live streams of
The use of social media marketing has become a standard way in which organizations advertise their products or services. Social media marketing allows consumers to have immediate access to other consumers reviews or to post a review about a product or service. There is engagement between the company and the consumer (Evans, Dave 2010). Social Media emerged in the late 1980’s when websites such as Prodigy, Compuserve and America Online. Prodigy was first of it’s kind and was known as a ”consumer online service”. Half of the page is devoted to advertising. Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Hi5, Bebo and Orkut are all social media platforms that are utilized as platforms today.
One of the key roles of social media from a marketing perspective is the development of a client based platform. It is becoming an increasingly important part of any business’s marketing. Businesses can utilize existing online platforms to build networks of current and potential clients. By being active online allows businesses to connect with their customers in innovative ways to become a trusted source of information and convey the passion they have for their industry.
It is interesting how social media today is influencing the marketing role of many companies and how it’s playing a big role in their success. The more the company advertises on social media, the
Barker, M.S., Barker, D.I., Bormann, N.F., & Neher, K.E. (2013). Social media marketing: A strategic
Coca Colas strategy is to target the distinct market groups that are divided by competitive intensity and socioeconomic levels. They have implemented a planned product, pricing, and packaging strategy through certain channels of distributions so they can gain operational efficiency within the company. Coca Cola have used such events as the Super Bowl and the World Series to attract the consumers attention with their commercials. The customer surveys help the Coca Cola company with their marketing strategy and show, which adjustments would need fixing. Such marketing strategies such as phone surveys, social media, mail surveys, e-mail surveys, and text messaging assist the company on further marketing strategies on improving their revenue.
Social media marketing is relatively new to the ?integrated marketing communications systems of several public and private businesses.? (Mercadal, 2013, para. 2) Social media is used by almost sixty-six percent of American adults. (Lanham, 2016) Integrated marketing communications try to connect companies and other organizations with their target audience. (Mercadal, 2013) Therefore, social media marketing strategically looks at demographics of the audiences in each social media platform and use the platforms that match the audience who would be interested in products or services sold. (Smith,
Social media has become essential as a marketing tool for CU's, which is why 74% of marketers are incorporating social media into their marketing budgets. The CMO Survey released in August 2014, indicates that “marketing budgets are expected to increase by 7.2% in the next year.” With 1.65 billion social accounts that are active globally, social media has become an effective
Coca-Cola is shifting its product strategy to develop healthy beverages. “Minnick’s ambitions, if they hold, would utterly redefine Coca-Cola’s image as a purveyor of sugar-laden junk that you should’ve give your kids” (Carvens & Piercy, 2009). Entering a healthy-beverage market segment can potentially improve as well as expand Coca-Cola image. The new market segment will reel in even more consumers for the company, only
Social media is not new. Facebook has been around since 2004, YouTube since 2005, and Twitter in 2006. What is new is how social media sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are affecting the way businesses market their products and services. Never before in our history have consumers been able to communicate so effortlessly with each other and with the businesses they frequent. Never before have businesses been able to interact and react to customer feedback so quickly and efficiently. However, just because businesses have the ability to use social media for their marketing and advertising efforts, does not necessarily mean they should. This paper intends to
Social media is an effective media of communication between the consumers and companies. The companies are using social media for improving consumer engagement and brand lift. This essay gives a brief overview of social media platforms and how effective they have been. It shows that the whole marketing concept has undergone radical transformation due to the social media interaction. The essay ends in conclusion depicting what marketers need to take care in order to have successful social media campaign.
The Coca Cola company is perceived to be the most famous trademark on the globe, and it is equally so. The company claims more than 400 brands that appeal to a wide range of individuals throughout the world. They are in a position to fulfill needs of every one of their buyers making their experience with their beverages a better one. The entity’s drinks entice a lot of people across all races, age, and gender. Coca Cola is outstanding for its overall popularity as its items are sold in over four hundred countries in the world, while major contenders like Pepsi are just available in very few countries. Such a competitive advantage has placed
The marketing industry is an elaborate network that links companies to their consumers, primarily through written communication. The main objective of marketing is to identify trends and patterns in consumer behavior, and utilize the data to influence consumers to purchase more goods. From a macroenviroment standpoint, the general conditions of a market are heavily dependent on global environmental factors. The most significant factor that influences the markets today is technological advancements. Since the release of Facebook, Linked-in, Twitter, and Myspace in the early 2000s, the number of people using social media has increased to over sixty-five percent. The ever-growing dependency on social media platforms, has given marketers the tremendous opportunity to further market potential consumers. Social media marketing is a specific form of marketing that focuses on producing ad content that social media users will post on their own networks. This particular marketing technique is effective because ads and content are created, based on what personal information users post on social media. Firms and organizations that advertise their brands on social media are more likely to increase their customer base and annual revenue. By doing so, companies are able to increase exposure of their brand and widen previous hidden, customer bases. As a marketer, the fine line between right and wrong is often blurred. The amount and
Social media is defined as a group of Internet-based applications which build on the platform of Web 2.0 and the contents of these applications can be modified by all users in a participatory and collaborative method (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). Social media creates a platform for companies to talk to their customers as a hybrid element of promotion mix. With the emergence of social media, the tools and strategies for companies to connect with customers have also changed (Mangold and Faulds, 2009). To adapt with the emergence of social media in the marketing, companies should have unique insights about these significances (Quan-Haase and Young, 2010). The significances of social media embody three main aspects which are technology, decision-making and purchase behaviors of customers.
The marketing strategy or mode that we will focus on is direct marketing. The company uses direct marketing in several ways. The company partners with various movie theatres and restaurants to advertise and sell its products. This direct marketing campaign has been successful for a long time, and even today it continues to make a difference. By partnering with movie theatres and restaurants, the Company can avoid competition because customers visiting such places will only enjoy Coca-Cola products when a soft drink is needed. Clients are made to be interested when they see slogans like-we go together-meaning a particular dish is served together with Coca-Cola drink for best results. Coca-Cola has also started mobile advertising. It uses mobile graphics and texts to appeal the market. The Company has a
Innovation is much more than taking a current beverage and repackaging it with different flavors. It also means more than boosting Coca-Cola Classic sales (Cravens, 2009). “New formulations could potentially serve as the basis for future advertising efforts, while providing shelter from health critics and politicians who blame soda for the nation's obesity epidemic” (Schultz, 2013). New formulations and brand extensions will help consumers that are no longer purchasing the brand to try new flavors or brand products, have a positive experience, and then hopefully return to the purchasing of previous products also (Bloomberg Businessweek, 2005). The innovation strategy should strengthen the brand.