Cola Wars in China Case Study
Cola Wars in China
Ryan Criscione
Alfred State College
Cola Wars in China
Wahaha Group was founded in 1987 and since then has become China’s leading soft drink producer. In fact, the company maintains a leading position in a number of product categories such as; water, milk drinks and mixed congee, and tea and juice drinks (Cravens, 2009). The Wahaha Group began as a children’s company and even though it is still considered one today, the company has really evolved into something much more. Dominating product categories all across China and taking on consumer giants, this local company has displayed good management as well as company goals to get where it is today. Unlike many other Chinese companies of large size, The Wahaha Group maintains a solid cash position and no long-term bank debt (Cravens, 2009). This has allowed the company to enter multiple markets, The Wahaha Group specifically focuses to extend into food and beverage categories in which there was no dominate player (Cravens, 2009). This allows the company to take over these markets and establish itself as a dominate force in that particular category. The size of the company has allowed it to make acquistions of other poorly run larger companies. In turn this benfits The Wahaha Group because it can be supported by geographic expansion and allowed Wahaha to produce locally in various markets (Cravens, 2009). Since Wahaha is a local company, their marketing strategy is much of the same. Wahaha’s dominate presence in China allowed the company to contact distribution companies and have those companies carry Wahaha products, much like Coca-Cola does. Wahaha has branded its name by maintaining a leading position in a number of different beverages categories. This ensures that local consumers know who they are and how reliable they have become. The company does a fantastic job advertising and ranks in among the top 10 advertisers in China’s $11.2 billion advertising market while being
Ryan Criscione
Alfred State College
Cola Wars in China
Wahaha Group was founded in 1987 and since then has become China’s leading soft drink producer. In fact, the company maintains a leading position in a number of product categories such as; water, milk drinks and mixed congee, and tea and juice drinks (Cravens, 2009). The Wahaha Group began as a children’s company and even though it is still considered one today, the company has really evolved into something much more. Dominating product categories all across China and taking on consumer giants, this local company has displayed good management as well as company goals to get where it is today. Unlike many other Chinese companies of large size, The Wahaha Group maintains a solid cash position and no long-term bank debt (Cravens, 2009). This has allowed the company to enter multiple markets, The Wahaha Group specifically focuses to extend into food and beverage categories in which there was no dominate player (Cravens, 2009). This allows the company to take over these markets and establish itself as a dominate force in that particular category. The size of the company has allowed it to make acquistions of other poorly run larger companies. In turn this benfits The Wahaha Group because it can be supported by geographic expansion and allowed Wahaha to produce locally in various markets (Cravens, 2009). Since Wahaha is a local company, their marketing strategy is much of the same. Wahaha’s dominate presence in China allowed the company to contact distribution companies and have those companies carry Wahaha products, much like Coca-Cola does. Wahaha has branded its name by maintaining a leading position in a number of different beverages categories. This ensures that local consumers know who they are and how reliable they have become. The company does a fantastic job advertising and ranks in among the top 10 advertisers in China’s $11.2 billion advertising market while being
References: Chan, S. (2006). Future cola in china. Beijing: Berekly. Retrieved from http://are.berkeley.edu/~sberto/FutureCola.pdf Cravens, P. (2009). Strategic Marketing. (Adapted for Alfred State College, MKTG 6003). New York: McGraw-Hill Tucker, S. (2009). Danone to quit joint venture with wahaha. Hong Kong: Food & Beverage. Retrieved from http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/849e7eda-ad87-11de-bb8a-00144feabdc0.html