Coca Cola Company Case Study

Date: 22/10/2012 The Coca-Cola Company is a multinational business organisation founded in the late 1890’s in Georgia, USA. Its main focus is selling soft drinks and is especially famous for its first soft drink, after which is named, Coca-Cola. The first product was patented in 1887 and registered as a trademark in 1893. By 1895 it was sold in the whole USA and since then has been expanding around the world (The Coca-Cola Company, Product Descriptions). Throughout its history it has been subject to a lot of criticism for its various practices and has enjoyed incredible success.
The organisations main strength it’s the fact that it is the most recognised product worldwide. Part of that recognition can be attributed to the fact that The Coca-Cola Company localizes its products and advertising campaigns, which has been highly successful. Coca-Cola has been credited with forming the modern image of Father Christmas as a jolly, old bearded man, dressed in red. (Coca-Cola at home) The main goal of all the campaigns has been that people choose the soft drink as their favoured beverage, a mission that has been greatly accomplished in many areas.
Another advantage of the company is that it also has different headquarters in each country, giving it the ability to dictate all campaigns and give ideas on products. (The Times, Creating an effective organisational structure, Page 2: A global and local strategy). Also the company is always trying to expand its range of products, focusing on beverages, but not only soft drinks as it sells juice, water, energy drinks and squashes as well. (The Times, Creating an effective organisational structure, Page 4: The corporate segment -Head Office).

Coca-Cola is normally associated with the United States of America, mainly because of its patriotic advertisements that were then exported to other countries. It has a dominant role in modern popular culture, with mass media references and even films containing the company’s name in the title. Coca-Cola has such an effect on culture, that it is sometimes considered a sign that someone is richer or higher class if they drink more Coca-Cola than others.
The company has proven very popular, despite the facts that most of the company’s products are unhealthy. Coca-Cola’s main ingredient is sugar. As a lot of the marketing is aimed at young people, the fact that products are unhealthy has sparked a bit of controversy, seeing as there is a lot of aggressive marketing towards young people. This is usually in the form of sponsorships to high school in the form of sports facilities or funds. In return the company is allowed to sell its products in the schools, thus attracting people from an early age.
Also there are accusations of children working for the company in sweat shops and not giving adequate healthcare, whilst not complying to workers right and destroying trade unions through rough ways (The Globalization of Coca-Cola) One of Coca-colas main external features that keep it favoured is that it maintains a very good relationship with its bottlers. In contradiction to common knowledge, it is not the company that actually bottles and distributes its products. Instead they only make the basic syrup and ingredients in concentrate and then sell them to bottlers and from there they end up with distributors..
This is a example of how the business adhere to its ‘culture’ as it tries to promote teamwork, by allying itself with other companies. (The Times, Creating an effective organisational structure, Page 5: Structure and culture). This is helpful in many ways as it creates good connections with many businesses, making the Coca-Cola products much more sought after and popular with vendors, shops, supermarkets. There are some external problems though. After endorsing Israel, the company lost its popularity in the Middle East and was heavily boycotted. This gave competitors a chance to swoop in and they are now dominating those markets.
Also, another problem with the company is that its products, however big role they play in popular culture, aren’t considered essential. So if a country’s economy is weak, it is inevitable that the beverages market is going to fall quite steeply. Another factor is that there are many cheap substitutes for their products, which, while not international, can prove to be strong competition in local markets, as many of them promote the fact that they are local, while Coca-Cola retains its American image and the majority of them are cheaper. REFERENCES * Coca-Cola at home, http://xroads. virginia. du/~CLASS/coke/coke1. html, retrieved on 21/10/2012 at 19:00 * The Coca-Cola Company, Product Descriptions, http://www. virtualvender. coca-cola. com/ft/index. jsp, retrieved on 21/10/2012 at 18:10 * The Globalization of Coca-Cola, https://segue. atlas. uiuc. edu/index. php? action=site;site=estensl2;section=4052;page=13292, retrieved on 21/10/2012 at 19:05 * The Times, Creating an effective organisational structure, Page 2: A global and local strategy, http://businesscasestudies. co. uk/coca-cola-great-britain/creating-an-effective-organisational-structure/a-global-and-local-strategy. tml, retrieved on 21/10/2012 at 19:10 * The Times, Creating an effective organisational structure, Page 4: The corporate segment -Head Office, http://businesscasestudies. co. uk/coca-cola-great-britain/creating-an-effective-organisational-structure/the-corporate-segment-head-office. html, retrieved on 21/10/2012 at 19:13 * The Times, Creating an effective organisational structure, Page 5: Structure and culture, http://businesscasestudies. co. uk/coca-cola-great-britain/creating-an-effective-organisational-structure/structure-and-culture. html, retrieved on 21/10/2012 at 19:15