Coca-Cola is one of the largest retail brands in the world and the number one soft drink company. According to Brand Footprint study, the beverage company was able to remain the number one FMCG brand for the third successive year in 2015. The company was able to achieve the highest ever Consumer Reach Points (CRP), which measures buying frequency and brand penetration based on a decision made by 250 billion consumers in more than 35 companies.
The marketing and distribution strategy of coke has been so impressive that almost every retailer and wholesaler located in remote corners of the world want to stock and deal with its product. The company has been able to capture the minds of the customers through an effective marketing strategy that has resulted in improving brand image and maximum visibility.
Recently the company had announced its ‘One Brand’ marketing strategy to further penetrate the highly saturated soft drinks market. In this article, we will look at the salient features of the strategy for promoting its brand.
Overview of ‘One Brand’ Marketing Approach
One brand is the latest marketing approach of the company that focuses on integrating the Coca-Cola Trademark on all its products all over the world. According to a spokesperson of the company, Coca-Cola has adopted the new strategy to reinforce its commitment to provide greater consumer choice with more clarity.
Over the years the company had introduced different versions of its trademark soft drink that had their own brand identity. Coke drinks with no or lower sugar and calorie alternatives had different brand image and persona that were used to market the products to the target consumers.
However, after a thorough research, it was found that not everyone clearly understood the options available to them and the benefits of different drinks. As a result, the management of the company decided to introduce the ‘one brand’ marketing strategy to make it easier for consumers to make decisions when selecting a particular product of the company.
In Great Britain, for instance, all the four different brands of cola including Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Life, and Coca-Coal Zero will be marketed under one brand – Coca-Cola. The company intends to unite the distinct brands under one brand that will help consumers make a closer association with the parent brand.
According to the General Manager of Coca-Cola in Great Britain and Ireland, the ‘one-brand’ marketing strategy will entail promoting all variants of the soft drink in advertising. This will make it clearer for the consumers to decide which brand to choose from among the group. By using this strategy, the company intends to achieve more than 50% of sales from variants of Coca-Cola by the year 2020.
Whether the recent ‘one-brand’ marketing program of the company achieves its objectives is not clear at the moment. However, it is certainly innovative and one-of-a-kind in the FMCG sector. From packaging to social media marketing and advertising, the marketing message will feature a united brand containing different variants of the brand. The unification of the design and marketing message represents the first time in the 130-year history of the iconic brand that a unique identity is shared across products in a prominent manner.
