This paper will critically analyze the market situation and positioning of Coca- Cola in the beverage industry. In order to have a clear idea of Coca-Cola, there are many different methods available to find useful information, including the company’s website, magazines and others. Also, it can obtain the relevant market conceptions from books, such as Brassington and Pettitt (2007). To begin with, this paper will introduce the general overview of Coca-Cola and its target market. Then, it will identify the segmentation criteria and some buyer behavior issues of Coca-Cola. Moreover, it will compare with other competitors from the competitive marketing positioning (product, price, place and communication).
The global brand Coco-Cola has a history of over 100 years. It was originally founded in 1886 by Dr. John Styth Pemberton and after that the company has developed into the world’s largest manufacturer of non-alcoholic beverage. The company enjoys a leading market position. Today, it operates more than 200 countries all over the world and produces over a billion cans of Coca-Cola per day, which account for about 48 percent of the soft drink market worldwide. The brand declares the purpose as “to refresh the world…”, “to inspire moments of optimism and happiness…”, “to create value and make a difference”.
The Coco-Cola adopted different strategies to the target market. The consumer segmentation criteria were based on demographics (age and income), psychographics and behavior. Coca-Cola has continued to be committed to make products pervasiveness. There is no difference about the palate in different countries or regions. The company wants to extend the Coke to each place, wherever in convenient stores, supermarkets or others. Therefore, it can be said with certainty that Coke is a soft drink without having any place restriction.
The target market of Coco-Cola basically focused on the young generation around the world because the company wishes to