Marketing Strategies Of Coca-Cola Amatil

Discuss about the Marketing strategies of Coca-Cola Amatil.

Coca-Cola Amatil is well known company in the food and beverage industry. The company is doing well in the operating market and adopting new and innovative strategies to stay competitive in the market. In current time, company is operating in six countries i.e. Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Fiji, South Korea and New Guinea and now it is seeking to expand the business in more countries. The objectives and competencies of the company is described below. Mission

There are many challenges in the food and beverage industry and company has to deal with them. The competition is increasing with the new strategies that are threatening Coca-Cola Amatil. The mission of the company is to flourish the business continuously over the next ten years and beyond. Further, the company is focused on understanding the trends of the market that will shape the business in future (Coca-Cola Amatil, 2017).

Vision of the company is to serve as the framework and guide every aspect of the business to achieve sustainable quality growth. Company focuses on these areas:

• People- Become a great place where people can work and get inspired to be the best they can be.
• Portfolio- Being the company with the portfolio of the quality beverages brands to satisfy the desires and needs of people.
• Partners- Working with the winning network of the suppliers and consumers and creating mutual values for them

The business objective of Coca-Cola Amatil is to be the leading beverage company among the customers. In current time, to achieve this goal the company is focused on small level of innovations, public images, safety messages and high level of promotional techniques for achieving customer satisfaction.

The strategic goals for Coca-Cola Amatil are set for only three years and after three years; the company changes its strategies for effective business operations. The strategic objectives are set by top management of the company. Annual meeting by the management is also conducted by to have a review of the strategy to ensure that they are moving in the right direction (Baines, Fill & Page, 2011). The successful past strategies of the company is as follows:

• Providing quality products to the valuable customers to stay competitive in the market,
• Selecting and retaining the professional people in the business,
• Building outstanding corporate image among the customers by on time delivery of products,
• Satisfying the customers by providing extra ordinary services and excellent services, and
• Providing complete operational and tactical support to the employees as well as customers in the operating market (Lapersonne, 2013).

Now, company is focused on some new strategies to establish its strong brand image in the market. Some of its strategies in the business activities are as follows:

Growth strategy-

The soft drink sector is too large and there is the strong competition in the market. So, Coca-Cola Amatil is trying to focus on other products rather than carbonated drink to be the market leader as customers are health conscious now. The company is now competing in non-carbonated energy drink to make strong presence in the soft drink market (Choi, 2015).

Differentiation strategy-

Company has adopted differentiation strategy to gain competitive advantage in various operating market. In some markets, company has adopted cost cutting strategy to get cost leadership over the competitors. Aim of the company to achieve high level of market share in the competitive market. Differentiation strategy is adopted by the company to analyze the preference of the customers in the beverage products (Cameron, 2014).

Objectives

Emergent strategy-

To develop the business at the global level, company is targeting the customers from the different areas in the world having different products, brand name and popularity. With the bottling pattern, company is able to target the customers very closely such as grocery stores, movie theaters, street vendors, and convenience store. Company uses localized strategies to develop strong relationship with the potential customers. 

Controversies always negative impact on the business operations of the company. In 2014, Coca-Cola Amatil was affected by the controversy of fraud and money laundering. There were reports by the company about the suspicious activities regarding their vehicle fleet. The company works with Orix, specialized in the management of motor vehicle and other transport. Orix was used by the Coca-Cola Amatil to distribute the products with fleets of trucks. CEO of Orix was charged for $500,000 in corrupt commissions towards the employee of Coca-Cola. Along with this, executive was charged for the money laundering also. This criticism was raised by the stakeholders of the company as the first stakeholder was obviously the CEO charged (Ace, 2015).

Next criticism was raised by the customers when company changed its products and introduced sugar free drinks for the customers. The company was criticized by the health conscious consumers and according to them the product is still containing sugar which is unhealthy for the customers who have diabetes, heart disease and some type of cancer. The customers criticized the soft drink products and stated that there is still high sugar in the product and it has no difference from the previous ones (Han, 2015).

Political

The CCA products have to deal with the regulations of FDA. So, the company must meet the obligations imposed by the government of country on the products. Along with this, change in the laws and regulations may affect the product distribution of the company. Taxes, changes in labor laws and internal marketing of the company can affect Coca-Cola Amatil in this way.

Economic

The products of Coca-Cola Amatil are distributed in many countries. Each country has different taste, customs, cultures, preferences and desires. So, the company has to change and update its products according to the customers by creating new tastes and flavors in it. They have around $80 plus billion worth of equity in the business and majority of the income of the company is from various countries. Customers are looking for the healthy drinks so; Coca-Cola Amatil is putting maximum efforts in this direction.

Strategies

Social

Coca-Cola Amatil is offering majority of the products in the cultured countries and trying to meet the demands of the customers. In some countries, it has created 30 alternative flavors to satisfy the customers. Customers are now very conscious for their health and they are seeking for sugar free drinks as these drinks are better for their health. So, the company needs to respond these requirements by creating healthy products (Hooley, Piercy & Nicoulaud, 2012).

Technological

Technological factors i.e. machinery have helped the company in managing bottler and higher quantities. Coca-Cola Amatil has many factories with the top of the name machinery to ensure the fast delivery and quality of the products. Further, company is using social media technology to stay connected with the customers.

Ecological

Company is adhering to follow the environmental laws while manufacturing the products. If anything wrong in the production, it can impact in the distribution if the products or stop the production completely. Along with this, the company is affected by water accessibility as water is important for the production of soft drink. But climate change can impact the business operations.

Legal

There are some legal aspects affecting the business of Coca-Cola Amatil significantly. Legal factors include laws and regulations at the national and global level. The company has received all the rights applicable in the business operations. Each and every business process and product developments go under the patented process (Cadogan, 2012).

Strengths

Although the company is known as British American company but it has now famous in al, over the world. CCA has owned the Coca-Cola bottling plant and has made a successful history in the business operations. Now, CCA is ruling at the soft drink business and has strong presence in various countries in which it is operating. By the innovative marketing strategies, the company is able cover large base of target customers. Further, due to its unique taste and successful marketing strategies, company has got competitive advantage over its competitors. Coca-Cola Amatil has unique delivery management system to transport the products from the bottling plant to the place of purchase. One of core strength of the company is that it has just-in-time inventory system to forecast the required materials in the future (Balmer, 2012).

Weakness

One of the weaknesses of Coca-Cola Amatil is that the changing taste and preferences of the customers and the competitors are taking advantage in soft-drink market. the market is continuously changing and new products are being introduced by the competitors and that is increasing competition in the market. 

Controversies

Opportunities

For the company Coca-Cola Amatil, there are high growth opportunities in various countries. The company is currently operating in six countries i.e. Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Fiji, South Korea and New Guinea and there are opportunities for the company to expand the business in various new markets. Further, Coca-Cola Amatil has opportunity to improve its relationship with the Coca-Cola Company by using brand name to introduce new products. Introducing new products with the brand name would be very effective for the company to attract more and more customers (Sekar, M., & Kalakumari. 2015).

Threats

One of the most serious threats for the company is growing terrorist threat. Terrorism has negative impact on the buying behavior of the customers. Along with this, government regulations always impact on the business activities of the company. Some ventures of the CCA have negative feedback in the market. Further, competitors are big threat for the company as the success of the competitors can be the cause of failure of a business. For example, if Pepsi gets 5% of increment in the soft drink market, then it would be loss of 5% for CCA (Kotler et al, 2012).

For the effective leadership, there can be no alternative option to retain the employees to create a dynamic environment for the business operations. Coca-Cola Amatil is achieving effective leadership by developing clear and compelling vision along with the constantly communicating intentions. Alison Watkins is the Chief Executive officer of the Coca-Cola Amatil company. According to him, his role in the company is to create an environment of the success for the employees and motivate them to achieve the set objectives for the business. That is the true essence of leadership. For the Coca-Cola Amatil company, the business execution includes three core capabilities i.e.

• Commercial leadership- which includes all the strategic actions to attract the retail customers who sell the Coca-Cola brand every day in all over the world
• Consumer marketing- which develop the strong bond and emotional relationship with the customers and
• Franchise leadership- which includes the work with various bottling partners across the world for creating greater system alignment

Consumer marketing-

In the Coca-Cola Amatil company, marketing investments are designed to improve the customer awareness and increase the customer preferences for the company’s products. by the suppliers and distributors, company is able to create and implement effective strategies at the global and local level.

Commercial leadership-

The system of Coca-Cola Amatil includes millions of customers in all over the world. The company is focused on improving the value for the customers by providing quality beverage products in the market. Company tries to understand the needs and requirements of the customer weather customers are sophisticated in the developed market or they are kiosk owner in the growing market. Company ensures that customers get right products by the right promotional tools in the market (Shetty, 2011).

Franchise leadership-

The company is focused in improving its franchise leadership competencies by the shared values, aligned incentives and flexibility that support the changing needs and preferences of the customers. The financial position and success of the company depends upon its partners. The company works with many partners to identify the system requirements so that efficiencies and scale can be achieved by the bottling system. Company’s system leadership allows it to expand its volume base in the business (Cravens & Piercy, 2013).

Under the leadership of Alison Watkins, Coca-Cola Amatil is able to made strong commitment regarding quality to its customers. He has set the objective for ambitious, long term growth with the goal of doubling the revenue by 2020. He has tried to develop innovative corporate culture and reinvested cost cutting dividends for the brand development.

References

Ace, A., (2015), Coca-Cola Amatil: Fraud and Money Laudering, accessed on 5^th September 2017 from https://businessethicscases.blogspot.in/2015/11/coca-cola-amatil-fraud-and-money.html

Baines, P., Fill, C. & Page, K., (2011), Marketing, (2^nd), New York: Oxford University Press

Balmer, J.M., (2012), Corporate Brand Management Imperatives: California Management Review, 54(3), pp.6-33

Cadogan, J. W., (2012), International marketing, strategic orientations and business success: International Marketing Review, 29(4), 340-348

Cameron, R., (2014), Applying the Materiality Concept: The Case of Abnormal Items: CORPORATE OWNERSHIP & CONTROL, 42

Choi, C., (2015), Coca-Cola beats estimates after cost-cutting, higher prices in North America, accessed on 5^th September 2017 from https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/coca-cola-beats-estimates-after-cost-cutting-higher-prices-in-north-america-1.2228948

Coca-Cola Amatil, (2017), Our Company, accessed on 5^th September 2017 from https://www.ccamatil.com/en/our-company

Cravens, D., & Piercy, N., (2013), Strategic Marketing, (10^th), Singapore: McGraw-Hill

Han, E., (2015), Coca-Cola accused of 'greenwashing' with launch of sugar-reduced Coke Life, accessed on 5^th September 2017 from https://www.smh.com.au/national/health/cocacola-accused-of-greenwashing-with-launch-of-sugarreduced-coke-life-20150330-1mas6u.html

Hooley, G., Piercy, N., & Nicoulaud, B., (2012), Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning, (5^th), Essex: Pearson Education

Kotler, P., Keller, K., Brady, M., Goodman, M., & Hansen, T., (2012), Marketing Management, (2^nd), Essex: Pearson Education Ltd

Lapersonne, A., (2013), Managing Multiple Sources of Competitive Advantage in a Complex Competitive Environment, 5(2), pp.221-251.

Sekar, M., & Kalakumari. T., (2015), A CONCEPTUAL FRAME WORK OF MARKETING STRATEGIES IN COCA-COLA: Global Journal of commerce and management perspective, 3(1), 153-157

Shetty, N., (2011), Leadership Style at Coca-Cola Company, accessed on 5^th September 2017 from https://www.managementparadise.com/forums/foundation-human-skills-f-h-s/221096-leadership-style-coca-cola-company.html#post453091