Marketing Management for Swot Analysis Of The Coca Cola Company

threats to prevent or settle them within and beyond the industry. This essay will present the SWOT analysis of the Coca Cola beverage company in line with international performance.
Coca Cola SWOT Quadrant

Strengths Wide global presence Large distribution network Loyalty customers Good marketing strategies The largest market share	Weaknesses Competitors such as Pepsi Lack of diversified products Beverages not considered healthy Water management problems Fluctuation of foreign currency
Opportunities Improvement of Supply chain Developing country-markets Packaged water ventures Improving road network & supply chain Potential revenue from marketing of lesser-selling goods	Threats Competitors Scarcity of water as raw material Changing Customer preferences Deteriorating value of dollar in developing countries Potential entry of new firms

Strengths

Strengths include mainly internal factors that make a business entity to not only to have advantages over its competitors but to maintain a good position in the market. The first strength of the Coca Cola Company is that it has a wide global presence, spreading to more than 200 countries worldwide (Foster, 2014). This has led to the development of a huge brand name in the beverage industry. Secondly, the company holds the largest market share in the beverage industry. It has only Pepsi as the major competitor but Coca Cola wins this competition by a large margin. Its brands including Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Limca among others consist of the major drivers, earning the company huge profits. Thirdly, the Coca Cola Company has better marketing strategies than those of its competitors (Wang, 2015). While it focuses on customers of all ages, Pepsi on the other hand mainly focuses on youngsters. The Coca Cola Company uses celebrity-marketing tool in order to maximize sales. The Coca Cola Company also enjoys a huge customer loyalty to its products. Its products such as Fanta and Coke have a very huge fanatical following and thus, customers prefer these drinks to others (Saraç, 2015). Their good taste renders competing drinks un-preferred. Further, this company boasts of the world’s largest beverage distribution network due to a high demand for its products worldwide. As a result, the company maintains a very high company presence in the market all over.

Weaknesses

In business management, weaknesses include factors that make a business not to perform well as expected. One of the weaknesses facing the company includes competition from Pepsi and smaller beverage companies in different countries (Moodie, 2006). Coca cola could have been a monopoly in most markets if Pepsi and the other smaller companies were absent. Secondly, product diversification for Coca Cola is slow when compared to Pepsi, which has varied its products to snacks ((Foster, 2014). Coca cola does not trade in any snacks like Pepsi, a venture which most probably would earn the company huge revenues. Thirdly, the carbonated beverages are not considered healthy. The company does not produce other healthy alternatives that have no carbonated levels. The sale of Coca Cola products might o down if people continue being sensitized on the risk of having excessive fat intake due to taking carbonated drinks, as they will opt for healthy drinks (Saraç, 2015). Another weakness the Coca Cola faces is that it has featured in lawsuits due to some water quality management issues. The company consumes huge amounts of water even in areas where it is scarce. The company has been blamed severally for adding pesticides in water with an intention to clear the contaminants. The company therefore needs better water management strategies (Moodie, 2006). Further, fluctuation in foreign currencies pegged to the dollar affects the company’s determination of net revenues and losses globally. The variation of foreign currency values brings about the fluctuation that hinders proper planning. 

Opportunities

Opportunities include external factors that an institution may rely on to develop its business ideas into profitable ventures. The first opportunity the Coca cola Company has is diversification. If the company diversifies its products to include health products and food, it will make more profits than the present. Snacks for instance can be distributed using the same distribution channels for drinks (Saraç, 2015). Secondly, the company can utilize the huge market in developing countries, which are currently fascinated by its beverages. Despite developed countries opting for healthy beverages, Coca Cola is still popular in developing countries, a market it should fully utilize. Thirdly, the company can thrive on boosting its brand of packaged water known as Kinley. The strong brand image of the company makes the packaged water to sale in areas that identify with the mother company Coca Cola. Kinley thus needs a further distribution for popularity (Foster, 2014). On the other hand, the company can improve its supply chain with the current increase in development of road networks in different countries. It is likely that its sales will go higher due to easier and cheaper means of supply. Further, the company is likely to earn revenue if it launches consistent marketing for its lesser-selling goods like the Kinley packaged water. 

Threats

Threats include factors that are likely to negatively, influence a business in case they emerge in the course of running the business. Coca Cola is threatened first by the rising scarcity of water as a crucial raw material in its production regions (Waldemer, 2008). The increase in climatic changes including elongated droughts may likely make governments stop operations of the beverage companies within their territories. Secondly, the company faces tough indirect competitors, which offer drinks such as coffee.  These include companies like Starbucks, the Café coffee day and Costa Coffee (Sundar, D. (2012).  They offer customers healthy alternatives to carbonated drinks. Other health drinks including Tropicana, Red Bull, Gatorade, and Real are reducing the market share of Coca Cola beverages.  Thirdly, the changing customer preferences from the Coca Cola Company’s brands to healthier drinks, is a threat to the company (Foster, 2014). An increase in this change might render the company’s future market for particular beverage brands reduced.  The deteriorating and fluctuating foreign currency value as pegged to the dollar is likely to interfere with real time calculations and determination of company global financial standing and may thus continue interfering with both short term and long-term marketing strategies. Lastly, local companies are opting to venture into beverage and alternative drinks (Wang, 2015). These may be considered as a threat as they are not currently competitors are likely to bring up the competition in the near future. The company thus needs marketing strategies that will sustain its brand image and presence in the global market. 

References

Collier, K. (2014). A Case Study on Corporate Peace: The Coca-Cola Company: Coke Studio Pakistan. Business, Peace and Sustainable Development, 2014(2), pp.75-94.

Elmore, B. (2013). Citizen Coke: An Environmental and Political History of the Coca-Cola Company. Enterprise and Society, 14(4), pp.717-731.

Foster, R. (2014). Corporations as Partners: “Connected Capitalism” and The Coca-Cola Company. PoLAR, 37(2), pp.246-258.

Moodie, E. (2006). Microbus crashes and Coca-Cola cash. American Ethnologist, 33(1), pp.63-80.

Saraç Uslusoy, B. (2015). Cultural Hybridity Analysis: Coca Cola Tv Commercial Case. International Peer-Reviewed Journal Of Communication And Humanities Researches, (9), Pp.157-157.

Sundar, D. (2012). Unleashing the Entrepreneurial Potential of Women:initiative of Coca Cola Company. GJRA, 3(8), pp.1-3.

Waldemer, T. (2008). Imperfect Harmony: Coca-cola and the Cannibal Metaphor in beba coca cola, Sangue de Coca-Cola, and A Hora da estrela. Hispanófila, 153(1), pp.97-108.

Wang, M. (2015). Brief Analysis of Sports Marketing Strategy Adopted by Coca Cola Company. Asian Social Science, 11(23).