Planning and Developing a Marketing Campaign Essay

In this assignment, I will be exploring the marketing mix and all of its different factors as well as to apply this to Coca-Cola and how they are currently and may be affected by the marketing mix in the future. Product – A product is anything that is capable of satisfying customer needs. There are two different offerings of this being, a physical item or of a virtual type. The product is therefore created at a specific cost and marketed at a desired price that would be deemed as acceptable for the quality of the item. Every product will follow a lifecycle, a company can increase its competitive edge. There are many different ways in which they can develop or expand upon a certain product so that it can remain relevant and up to date with the changing market especially when it reaches the decline or end of its life. Product development – The process of creating or improving a product or service and managing it during all stages from design through marketing. Product development is a key part of introducing a new, appealing product to their audience, this process may involve numerous modifications to the product so that it does meet the needs and purpose of the product. There are various stages that a new or improved product or service goes through from design, through developing, testing, and marketing it. Form and Function – form fit function, is used in manufacturing to describe the identifying characteristics of a part. For example, the screw is intended to hold other parts of the product together. In practice, the rule of form follows function, start the design process by first getting as much information as possible about the purpose of the piece you are creating. Using this process allows a company to understand and ensure that the product is acceptable as well as fit for its purpose. Without this process, the intentions and purpose for a product can be lost, which ideally is not a stage of which what a company would want to beat. Packaging – Packaging is a very crucial part when creating and marketing a product because it is the first thing the customer sees before purchasing the product, therefore, this makes the packaging of the product to be respectable and appropriate to catch the eye of the consumer. How the product is packaged may also be what attracts the consumer to check out the product on the shelf or it could be a product that stands out from the rest online, amongst its competitors. For this reason, companies conduct extensive research on color schemes, designs and types of product packaging that is the most appealing to its intended consumer. The main function of packaging is to protect the product from damage during the process from the producer to the consumer, this process involves travel and shelf life of the product. Branding – Branding a product was much easier when there were no websites, smartphones, interactive games or social media. Today, creative teams are required to seamlessly brand products across multiple media, using the same voice, design and messaging, often with different creative teams and designers creating separate brand extensions. Without a strong brand behind your product line, there’s little to compel a buyer to choose you over another option. And with so many options in most markets today, branding is more important than ever. Product branding gives the items in your store an identity within the marketplace. Good branding can allow your specific products to stand out against what a competitor offers, and engender the kind of brand loyalty that pulls customers into your store. That identity is built of numerous components, including logos, design, packaging, messaging as well as names and descriptions. Coca-Cola has been around since 1892 and has developed a well-known brand all over the world. They are a company who have worked on producing a high quality, refreshing product that meets the needs of their consumers. They have developed their product minimally and have always offered the same refreshing taste. From having a simple and unique design this has meant that they can stand out amongst competitive brands such as Pepsi. In addition, the look of the product has also been similar since they started, by doing this Coca-Cola is able to provide a distinctive well-known product all over the world. Coca-Cola is the best marketing and branding company in the world, the company built began with one soda. Today it is one of the world’s most valuable brands and they’ve done it by integrating different components into the marketing mix. Price – is the value that is put into a product or service and is the result of a complex set of calculations, research and understanding, and risk-taking ability. A pricing strategy takes into account segments, ability to pay, market conditions, competitor actions, trade margins and input costs, amongst others. It is targeted at the defined customers and against competitors. Penetration Pricing – Penetration pricing refers to a marketing strategy used by businesses to attract customers to a new product or service. Penetration pricing is the practice of offering a low price for a new product or service during its initial offering in order to lure customers away from competitors. Penetration pricing is most commonly associated with a marketing objective of increasing market share or sales volume. In the short term, penetration pricing is likely to result in lower profits than would be the case if the price were set higher. Skimming Pricing – Price skimming is a pricing strategy in which a marketer sets a relatively high initial price for a product or service at first, then lowers the price over time. It is a temporal version of price discrimination/yield management. Competitive Pricing – Competitive pricing is setting the price of a product or service based on what the competition is charging. This pricing method is used more often by businesses selling similar products since services can vary from business to business, while the attributes of a product remain similar. This type of pricing strategy is generally used once a price for a product or service has reached a level of equilibrium, which occurs when a product has been on the market for a long time and there are many substitutes for the product. Cost plus Pricing – Cost-plus pricing, also called markup pricing or markup pricing is the practice by a company of determining the cost of their product to them and then adding a percentage on top of that price to determine the selling price to the customer. Cost-plus pricing is a very simple cost-based pricing strategy for setting the prices of goods and services. The amount of money charged for a product or service, or the sum of the values that Consumers exchange for the benefits of having or using the product or services. As price gives us the profit so this P is very important for a business price of the product should be that which gives maximum benefit to the company and which gives maximum satisfaction to the customer. For Coca-Cola, there are many factors that they kept in mind while determining the pricing strategy. Firstly, the price should be set according to the product demand of public because it is of what which gives the company maximum revenue. Price should also not be too low or too high then the price competitor is charging from otherwise nobody will buy their product. Another factor is that price must be keeping the view of your target market. The price of Coca-Cola, despite being the market leader is the same as that of its competitors, sometimes, Pepsi places its customers into some psychological pricing strategies by reducing a high priced bottle and consumers think that they save a lot of money from this. Place – In the marketing mix, the process of moving products from the producer to the intended user is called the place. In other words, it is how your product is bought and where it is bought. This movement could be through a combination of intermediaries such as distributors, wholesalers, and retailers. In addition, a newer method is the internet which itself is a marketplace now. Through the use of the right place, a company can increase sales and maintain these over a longer period of time. In turn, this would mean a greater share of the market and increased revenues and profits. Correct placement is a vital activity that is focused on reaching the right target audience at the right time. Distribution Channels – Channels are broken into direct and indirect forms, with a †direct† channel allowing the consumer to buy the good from the manufacturer, and a †indirect† channel allowing the consumer to buy the good from a wholesaler or retailer. A distribution channel is a chain of businesses or intermediaries through which a good or service passes until it reaches the end consumer. It can include wholesalers, retailers, distributors and even the internet itself. Retailers – A retailer is a person or business that sells goods to the public in relatively small quantities for use or consumption rather than for resale. Retail distribution is the most traditional form of the distribution channel. The common model includes the manufacturer using an intermediary such as a wholesaler or distributor to deliver products directly to retailers, then ultimately to the consumer.   Wholesalers – Manufacturers may also employ wholesale operations that purchase products from manufacturers at a deeply discounted price. The wholesaler often uses a distributor or other smaller wholesaler as an intermediary to deliver products in bulk to retailers, or it may offer products directly to retailers or consumers. The scope of the manufacturer relationship with the wholesaler can have varying effects on product delivery time and price. Coca-Cola is a global business that operates on a local scale, in every community where we do business. We are able to create global reach with local focus because of the strength of the Coca-Cola system, which comprises our Company and our nearly 250 bottling partners worldwide. The firm’s distribution system is one of the most well planned and executed compared to all other drinks of the same category. It has such an impact on consumers and is so successful that even wholesalers and distributors need the product for their business’ success. Coke’s position on consumer’s mind makes it essential to retailers and wholesalers. They have achieved their goal due to this high visibility, and to the availability of their products all over the world, even remote places. Promotion – There is much more to promotion than advertising. Businesses use various methods to gain publicity. Promotion refers to the methods used by a business to make customers aware of its product. Advertising is just one of the means a business can use to create publicity. For example, product promotion performed by a typical business might take the form of advertising the product in question via print or Internet ads, direct mail or e-mail letters, trade shows, telephone and personal sales calls, TV and radio ads, billboards, posters and flyers. Public relations – Public relations is the way organizations, companies and individuals communicate with the public and media. A PR specialist communicates with the target audience directly or indirectly through media with an aim to create and maintain a positive image and create a strong relationship with the audience. Examples include press releases, newsletters, public appearances, etc. as well as utilization of the World Wide Web. Sponsorship – advertising that seeks to establish a deeper association and integration between an advertiser and a publisher, often involving coordinated beyond-the-banner placements. Examples of sponsorships vary widely, as the whole point is to establish a unique advertising opportunity than afforded by typical rotating advertisements. They may include several fixed ad placements, advertorials, co-branded content sections, or anything the advertiser and publisher can agree on. Social and or other Media – The emergence of Internet-based social media has made it possible for one person to communicate with hundreds or even thousands of other people about products and the companies that provide them. The impact of consumer-to-consumer communications has been greatly magnified in the marketplace. The first role of social media is reliable with the use of traditional integrated marketing Communication tools. That is, companies can use social media to talk to their customers through such platforms as blogs, as well as Facebook groups. These media may either be the company- sponsored or sponsored by other individuals or organizations. The second promotion-related role of social media is unique: customers can use it to communicate with one another. Guerrilla marketing – The goal of guerrilla marketing was to use unconventional tactics to advertise on a small budget. It is an advertisement strategy concept designed for businesses to promote their products or services in an unconventional way with little budget to spend. This involves high energy and imagination focusing on grasping the attention of the public in more personal and memorable level. The term guerrilla marketing was inspired by guerrilla warfare which is a form of irregular warfare and relates to the small tactic strategies used by armed civilians. Many of these tactics include ambushes, sabotage, raids and elements of surprise. Much like guerrilla warfare, guerrilla marketing uses the same sort of tactics in the marketing industry. Personal selling – Personal selling is the process of communicating with a potential buyer face-to-face with the purpose of selling a product or service. Personal selling is one part of a company’s promotion mix, along with advertising, sales promotion, and public relations. It is a strategy that salespeople use to convince customers to purchase a product. The salesperson uses a personalized approach, tailored to meet the individual needs of the customer, to demonstrate the ways that the product will benefit the company. Product placement – An advertising technique used by companies to subtly promote their products through a non-traditional advertising technique, usually through appearances in film, television, or other media. Product placements are often initiated through an agreement between a product manufacturer and the media company in which the media company receives an economic benefit. A company will often pay a fee to have their product used, displayed, or significantly featured in a movie or show. For example, Coca-Cola could pay a given fee to have the title character drinking a Coke, instead of a Pepsi beverage. Digital Marketing – The promotion of products or brands via one or more forms of electronic media. For example, advertising mediums that might be used as part of the digital marketing strategy of a business could include promotional efforts made via the Internet, social media, mobile phones and electronic billboards, as well as via digital and television and radio channels. Corporate image – Similar to a firm’s reputation or goodwill, it is the public perception of the firm rather than a reflection of its actual state or position. Unlike corporate identity, it is fluid and can change overnight from positive to negative to neutral. Large firms use various corporate advertising techniques to enhance their image in order to improve their desirability as a supplier, employer, customer or the borrower.