Communication Plan For Coca Cola Amatil

Discuss about the Communication Plan for Coca Cola Amatil.

Coca Cola Amatil is the company that deals with non-alcoholic products and is one of the biggest bottlers in Australia. The company called coca cola basically operates in Australia with the name of coca cola Amatil. It is headquartered at Sydney. As far as the products range of the company is considered, it has been analysed that the company deals with soft drinks, water, fruit juices, coffee, tea, beer, iced drinks, flavoured milk etc. as per the historical analysis of the company, it has been analysed that the company started its operation as British Tobacco company in 1904 (Ccamatil.com, 2017). After fifty years of struggle, it has become the company called Amatil Ltd. After that in late 1970’s the company acquired coca cola in Australia and Fiji. Later, the share of coca cola has become so large that the company has changed its name as Coca cola Amatil. It has been analysed that marketing is the basic requirement for any business success. It is required by the company to market its products so as to make the people aware about the presence of brand. Coca cola is the company that needs to develop the awareness of the brand among the people between the ages of 35-50. This is because they are the people with heath issues developing and thus they generally avoid drinking soft drinks at this time. The product that is being discussed here to target the market is the diet coke and the fruit juices products of the company.

Communication objectives are those objectives that need to be achieved by implementing some of the communication strategies so as to achieve such objectives. Some of the objectives of the company are:

Increasing overall brand awareness by 20%: it is required by the company to enhance its brand awareness among the people. Australia is the country where people are very fond of drinking and eating. Thus, it is easy to attract the people (News ‹ Coca-Cola Amatil, 2017).

New positioning image: the company has portrayed its image as the youthful drink till now. The company has to change its image from young oriented to health oriented and thus this was also the objective of the company to position the company as the healthy brand.

Segmentation is the process that needs to be conducted in order to divide the customers in different section as per their characteristics. Homogenous nature of one section of the customers or the segment of the customers allows the company to implement similar strategy in order to market the products to that particular segment (Çal & Adams, 2014). As per the above case, it has been analysed that the segmentation can be done with some of the basics such as age, lifestyle etc.

Segmentation

The customers are categorized as per their age. The first segment is the age of 16-35 years of age, the second segment is 35-50 years of age and the last segment is above 50. The next categorization is on the basis of lifestyle. There are two segments on this basis; the first one is related to the customers who like to drink carbonated soft drinks and the second one is related to the customers who believe in drinking fruit juice and healthy drinks (Anderson, Narus & Narayandas, 2009).

Target market of the company can be defined as the market that is being targeted in order to convey a particular message to the customers. It is that particular market for who all the strategies of communication and marketing are made so that that segment of market can be converted into consumers from customers of the products. As per the above analysis, the target market of the company was the people between the ages of 35-50. This is because the company wanted to target the people who are more health conscious and wish to buy the drinks that are healthier as compared to tasty (Peter & Donnelly, 2011). Another segment that has been targeted was the segment of health conscious people who are sports lover. This is because health drinks are also preferred by those segments of the people irrespective of their age.

The target market of the company suggests that it is required to make the strategies in such a way so that the above target market can be targeted easily and brand awareness can be enhanced in this new target market for the company (Hollensen, 2015).

As per the history of the company, coca cola Amatil has portrayed itself with different messages to the customers ill now. As per the above case, the company has to portray itself as the healthy drink and thus the message that needs to be delivered to the customers should be with relation to the health concerns of the customers. The message that has been delivered to the customers was:

• The drink that was tasty but now it is healthy
• Healthy drink for the healthy people

Positioning strategy can be defined as the strategy that deals with choosing some key phrases or word that comes to the mind of the customers whenever they think of the company or the brand. A position strategy of the company is made in order to determine how the company will compete in the market and what value it added to the customer (Frank-Martin & Peattie, 2009). Making an effective positioning strategy requires the company to consider its strengths and weakness. It is required to portray the strengths of the company and the products in front of the customers so that the positioning message builds a great image of the company in the market. It should also be such that it helps the company to be above the competitors in all such ways. There are various positioning strategies that the company can use as per their strengths:

• By product quality
• By product cost
• By product innovation
• By product use and application
• By products users
• By market
• By competitors 

Target market

As per the above case, it has been analysed that they should have used the strategy of products use and application. This is because the company is serving the market with the healthy products md this needs to be showcased by the company and portrayed itself as the healthy brand. It is the use of the brand or the products in healthy way (Wilson & Gilligan, 2012). Thus the positioning strategy of the company is related to its use and application along with its benefits. Coca cola has used the benefits of the healthy drinks to showcase the strength of the products and the brand so that it can target the customers who are heath conscious and are interested in sports. Positioning strategy of the company helps the firm to be remembered by the customers. The companies have to select one or the other strategies of positioning the product so that the message of the company can clearly be delivered to the customers (Sicilia & Palazón, 2008).

Marketing is the broad subject and it involves many activities such as development of the products, pricing decision, promotions of the products, distribution of the products etc. communication is one of the major part of marketing (Harris, Schwartz, Brownell, Javadizadeh & Weinberg, 2011). This is because for mating the products, it is required by the company to communicate some of the messages to the customers so that they can be aware of the products and the brand existence in the market. There are some elements of the communication in which some of the strategies need to be made and implemented so as to use those elements in the marketing of the products. Following are the elements along with the strategy that has been used by Coca Cola Amatil as per above case:

Advertising: advertising is done as per the requirements of the company’s communication objective. The company has prepared a TV and the audio advertisement that deals with portraying the image of the company as the company that cares for the health conscious people. Advertising is used because this is the technique that helps the company to reach the large target audience at a time. It is the costly method to advertise or promote the products but is more effective (Esch & Strödter, 2008).

Personal selling: The Company has also used this strategy by selling the products personally though the canopies at some of the events and in the gyms. This has helped the company to make the people aware about the new products of the company and the presence of the brand. Personal selling is the most effective tool to be used for communication as the feedback of the customers can be easily recorded at the time of selling and it can be altered as well.

Message

Direct marketing: It has been analysed that the company has made use of this tool as well. This is the tool that supports the company to increase the brand awareness by customizing the messages for the customers according to their choice (Armstrong, Kotler, Harker & Brennan, 2015). This is because the marketing can be done by sending the mails, messages etc. to the customers directly. This has greater influence than any other techniques of marketing.

Sales promotion: This is also a great method to be used by the company. The company has made use of some of the discount offers for the customers so as to attract them towards the brand as well as towards the product (Danckert, 2017).

Public relations: It is the method that helps in making relations with the public by engaging is some activities such as campaigning. The company has also make use of this strategy in order to attract the customers towards the products by engaging into some sponsorship programs and road shows (Palmer & Palmer, 2017).

Media mix can be defined as the channels that can be used by the companies to advertise and promote the products. It has been analysed that coca cola also have used, any combination of media to telecast the advertisements so as to deliver the message to the customers. Some of the media used by the company are:

Broadcasting media: Broadcasting media includes the media channels such as television, radio etc. these media channels have great reach and it reaches to every corner of the world. Thus, the company cannot have to make so much of efforts in delivering the message to such media channels.

Print media: Print media is the media that involve the channels such as magazine, newspapers etc. both of these channels are used by the company because the company has posted their ads in newspapers about the discount offers and in magazine along with the new products message. The magazines that were selected to post the ads were the sports magazine or health related magazines so that the target market can read the message that has been posted (ABC News., 2017).

Social media: It has been analysed that social media has also used by the company to advertise the products. Social media tools such as Facebook, instagram etc. are being used by the company (news.com.au — Australia’s #1 news site., 2017). Social media tools are the tools that allow the company to take the feedback from the customers at the portals which helps the company to analyse that market situation and the position of the product in the market.

Positioning strategy

Display media: It is the medium that helps the company to stick their posters on the billboard so that every corner of the city can be covered by the ads. This display over the billboards reminds the customers about the products and the message and stick into the minds of the customers.

Budget element	Cost
Media and advertising cost: Television advertisements cost Radio Billboards Social media and digital media Sponsorship Print media Sales promotion Public relations	$812,000 $254,000 $20,000 $14,000 $18,000 $456,000 $10,000 $20,000 $20,000
Other cost	$20,000
Evaluation and control cost	$46,000
Total cost	$878,000

It has been analysed from the above budget that 92% of the total cost is spent in the media channels and the advertising activities that has been conducted by the company. Other 8% of the total budget has been used for the evaluation and control measures that have been sued to evaluate the results of the campaign or the communication strategy used. It also includes other miscellaneous activities cost such as travelling, meeting etc.

It has been analysed that the communication plan that needs to be implemented by the company has to be valuated so that the success of the campaign can be measured. There are several metrics that provides the proper information about the communication plan implemented. Some of the metrics that can be used in the above case are:

1. Activity metrics: activity metrics are those matrixes that provide the information about the activities of communication that has been implemented; this matrix helps in evaluating the activities of the plan.
2. Reach matrix: it is the matrix that provides the company to assess the size of the audience and the reach of the strategies that has been used by the company. In this matrix the reach of the each of the activity needs to be jotted down so that evaluation of the success of communication plan can be done.
3. Engagement metrics: it is the matrix that helps in analysing the intensity of engagement of the people in the communication plan or the activities. It is the measurement of how the people engagement in the communication activities.
4. Impact matrix: it is the final matrix that can be used to analyse the impact of the communication plan and the activities of the sales and the communication objectives that has been set for making the plan.

Activities	Engagement	Reach	Impact	Notes
Advertising	30%	90%	68%	Advertising has great impact on the people but does not allow the feedback. It has influence on brand awareness.
Public relations	40%	65%	70%	public relations helped in increasing brand awareness but with low reach
Personal selling	50%	58%	70%	Personal selling helps in increasing sales but not brand awareness.
Sales promotion	60%	60%	70%	It helps in enhancing brand awareness
Social media	70%	70%	87%	It has enhanced that sales as well as brand awareness
Direct selling	80%	48%	69%	It does not have great impact on brand awareness

It has been analysed that the brand awareness before campaign was observed to be very low as the people who were health conscious do not have any of the knowledge of the brand at all. This is because they did not want to have such drinks. The people who have the knowledge of the brand knew that it is the brand that serves the people with carbonated drink and which is not good for health. Thus, this is thinking that needs to be changed by the company and attaining the new position in the market. It has been analysed that implementing the campaign can helps the company to develop the brand image of the brand and also make the people aware about the brand with different positioning.

It has been analysed by the matrix that the brand awareness has increased a lot after conducting the campaign. Not all the activities have contributed for the objective but most of the strategies have put in all efforts to attain the communication objective of the company. It has been analysed that implementing the campaign had provide to be very beneficial for the organization so as to achieve the target (News., 2017). The target of communicating the brand has not yet been achieved by the campaign thus it is required to make cages as per the feedback that has been given by the stakeholders of the company.

Stakeholders	Type of feedback	Results
The employees who were involved in the feedback session were the managers of marketing, purchase department and the immediate executives. Sales department of the company has also provided their opinion as per the observation on field.	Interviews and meetings	It has been analysed after the meeting and the interviews that employees were not 100% happy with the plan. They suggests that it is required to take some modifications in the message that has been posted to the customers

Communication strategy mix

Board of directors:

Stakeholders	Type of feedback	Results
The BOD of the company has also shared their feedback on the plan  that has been made	Meetings	It has been analysed that BOD suggests that there should be changes in the way the advertisements are being telecasted.

As per the feedback of the employees and other stakeholders it has been analysed that the company has to make some of the changes in the campaign. Some of the changes that need to be made are:

It has been analysed that the advertisements that has been made for the company is not properly portraying the image of the company and the positioning of the brand. It has been required by the marketing team to put in the message properly so that the right audience can be targeted.

Only putting up the canopies is not the only method that can be used by the companies (Anderson, Narus & Narayandas, 2009). The company has to implement some more strategies so as to conduct the personal selling techniques.

Conclusion:

It has been concluded from the report that Coca cola Amatil is the company that operates in the food and beverage industry of Australia. It has been analyse that the company has its position and image in the market and the company wants to enter the new market segment so as to expand its market and to position itself with different message. The company has targeted the audience that is heat conscious in nature by serving them the diet coke and the fruit juice products. Coca coal is having the image that the company only offers the carbonated drinks for the customers which are not god for heath if used frequently. Thus, it is required change the mind-set of the people by positioning the company with different message. Various strategies have been used by the company in order to achieve the objective of the company to have 20% brand awareness n the market. It has been analysed that the company has used communication mix methods such as direct selling, personal selling, sales promotion, advertising etc.

It has been recommended for the company that it should make a plan that is relevant to the market of Australia. It has been analysed that the organizations wants to change its image and have to increase its brand image in the market by 20%. The company has selected some of the activities that are not helping the company for increasing brand awareness. The comoany should consider the feedback of the stakeholders seriously and should make the changes accordingly in the communication plan.

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