INFINITY BUSINESS SCHOOL(09-11)

MARKETING MANAGEMENT

PROJECT REPORT-SOFT DRINKS

SUBMISSION AND DUE DATE: 8TH Sept 09

SUBMITTED BY:Group 7
NAME ROLL EMAIL ID PHONE
NO. NUMBER
INDU 820 indubhalla1@gmail.com 9818649288
BHALLA
RUCHI ANEJA 848 ruchi_aneja31@yahoo.co.in 9899160832
SNEHA DAS 858 snehadassharma@gmail.co 9810395779
SHARMA m
LAKSHAY 876 lakshay321@hotmail.com 9810833551
MEHRA
TUSHAR 863 goodytushar@yahoo.co.in 9899206419
KASHYAP

NOTE: THE VISITING CARDS, PEER VALUATION FORM,

MAJOR PLAYER FORM AND ARTICLES HAVE BEEN ANNEXED

WITH THE PROJECT AT THE TIME OF SUBMISSION.

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

MAJOR PLAYER’S CHART

1-3
a.) Introduction to Coca Cola India
Limited
4-6
b.) Product Market & Target Market
7-11
c.) Concepts
12-15
d.) Competition analysis
16-19
e) Differentiation Strategy
20-26
f.) Product ,Positioning ,Segmentation
27
g.) Customer Behavior with promotion
28
CONCLUSION
29
LEARNING

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ARTICLES
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

After all, success is the epitome of hardwork, severance, undeterred

missionary, zeal, steadfast determination and most of all encouraging

guidance. So, with immense gratitude We acknowledge all those whose

guidance and encouragement served as a “beacon light” and crowned my

efforts with success.

We sincerely thank Mr. Akshay Chopra (Assistant Key account

manager) of Coca Cola India for giving us an opportunity to take up this

project We thank him for being a constant source of inspiration and mentor

and above all for his encouragement. His abundant experience in sales and

distribution was itself a great source of knowledge and information for me.

Despite his demanding schedule he bestowed every possible facility to me,

so as to carry on the project work without any encumbrance.

We would also like to thank Mr. Manoj Madhavan (General Manager)

for providing us immense knowledge about PepsiCo.

We would like to express our profound sense of gratitude to Professor

Shyam Vyas for guiding us as well as providing us the support to conduct

this project.
We got in touch with Mr. Akshay Chopra,Area Key Account

Manager,Hindustan Coca Cola Bev Pvt. Ltd. He was of great help

to us as he provided us with information regarding the company

and how the marketing department works and implements various

marketing strategies in the company.

Our learning from his interaction has been used in the preparation

of the project.
As He was unable to provide the visiting card by him at the time of

meeting, the following mail was addressed to us.

From: Akshay Chopra <akchopra@apac.ko.com>

Date: Tue, Sep 6, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Subject: Re: Hi Sir
To: Indu Bhalla <indubhalla1@gmail.com>

Hello Indu,

Kindly let me know if you would like to do anything further on the

project so that i can help out for the same.All the best to you and your
team members.

Regards,

Akshay Chopra
Area Key Account Manager
Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd
New Delhi
09873565583

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE
This message (including any attachments) contains information that
may be confidential. Unless you are the intended recipient (or
authorized to receive for the intended recipient), you may not read,
print, retain, use, copy, distribute or disclose to anyone the message
or any information contained in the message. If you have received the
message in error, please advise the sender by reply e-mail, and
destroy all copies of the original message (including any
attachments).
We got in touch with Manoj Madhavan, General Manager, IT

Applications,Pepsi Foods Private Limited. Being part of the

company for a long time , he was of immense help to us as he

assisted us by telling us how the company has progressed all these

years with the ever changing needs and requirements of customers.

Visting Card annexed with the project submission.

We visited Shree Krishna Povision Store , Kalkaji Extn. And asked

them about the customer behaviour relating to the soft drink sector

particularly about Coke and Pepsi.The following feedback was

given by them:

• He told us people tend to come to the store and try new

drinks when they see a new commercial on TV as consumer

is highly driven by Advertisements.

• Younger children are much more keen to try the various

available drinks as they have a tendency to try and choose the

best among them

• Customers tend to buy more when there are discounts and

various add on packs when provided by the company as they

get allured to such promotional and attractive offers.

• Some people are very stuck with their tastes and they do not

want to taste other drinks so they prefer purchasing only the

drink which have they been consuming.

 INTRODUCTION

HISTORY

In May, 1886, Coca Cola was invented by Doctor John Pemberton a

pharmacist from Atlanta, Georgia. John Pemberton concocted the Coca Cola

formula in a three legged brass kettle in his backyard. The name was a

suggestion given by John Pemberton's bookkeeper Frank Robinson.

BIRTH OF COCA COLA

Being a bookkeeper, Frank Robinson also had excellent penmanship. It was

he who first scripted "Coca Cola" into the flowing letters which has become

the famous logo of today.

COCA COLA INDIA LIMITED

Coca-Cola, the corporation nourishing the global

community with the world’s largest selling soft

drink concentrates since 1886, returned to India in

1993 after a 16 year hiatus, giving a new thumbs up

to the Indian soft drink market. In the same year, the

Company took over ownership of the nation’s top

soft-drink brand and bottling network. It’s no

wonder our brands have assumed an iconic status in the minds of the world’s

consumers.

The Company has shaken up the Indian carbonated drinks market greatly,

giving consumers the pleasure of world-class drinks to fill up theirhydration,

refreshment, and nutrition needs. It has also been instrumental in giving an

exponential growth to the country’s job listings.

Coca-Cola India is among the country’s top international investors, having

invested more than US$ 1 billion in India in the first decade, and further

pledged another US$100 million in 2003 for its operations.

It has also been instrumental in giving an exponential growth to the

country’s job listings.

With virtually all the goods and services required to produce and market

Coca-Cola being made in India, the business system of the Company

directly employs approximately 6,000 people, and indirectly creates

employment for more than 125,000 people in related industries through its

vast procurement, supply, and distribution system.

The Indian operations comprises of 50 bottling operations, 25 owned by the

Company, with another 25 being owned by franchisees.

Product Market
Product marketing deals with the first of the "4P"'s of marketing, which are

Product, Price, Place and Promotion. A Product Market is something that is

referred to when pitching a new product to the general public. The people

one is trying to make the product appeal to is the consumer market.

Product marketing in a business addresses five important strategic questions.

 What products will be offered?

 Who will be the target customers?

 How will the products reach those?

 How much the products should be priced at?

 How to introduce the products?

The Coca-Cola Company offers nearly 400 brands in over 200 countries,

besides its namesake Coca-Cola beverage. It offers – Tab, Fanta, Sprite, 7

Up, Diet Coke, Diet Vanilla Coke to name some. The Non Carbonated

beverages include – Minute Maid Juices to Go, PowerAde Sports beverage,

Nestea, Fruitopia, Dasan.

Cokes TARGET MARKET in India is 12-35 year olds, and 10% of the

world is an Indian under 25. This gives them time to work and change

perceptions. Currently operations are focusing on getting current product

offerings accepted, although there has been some experimentation with

different fruit flavours under the Fanta brand.

Selecting Target Market - The target market is the group of customers on

whom the business focuses attention. The target market is where Coca Cola

focuses its marketing efforts as it feels this is where it will be most

productive and successful. The target market for Coca cola is very wide as it

satisfies the needs for many different consumers, ranging from the healthy

diet consciousness through Diet Coke to the average human through its best

selling drink regular Coke. Most Coke products satisfy all age groups as it is

proven that most people of different age groups consume the Coca Cola

product. This market is relatively large and is open to both genders, thereby

allowing greater product diversification.

Coca-Cola classifies its market segments into four broad ways –

• Mass Marketing

• Concentrated Marketing

• Differentiated Marketing

• Niche Marketing

The most apparent method used by Coca Cola is with no doubt the

differentiated marketing method as Coke satisfies a range of different

markets. Diet coke satisfy’s the weight consciousness, Regular Coke, Sprite,

Fanta the average human, coffee, iced tea etc. Each group of beverages

satisfy a particular group of people but majority the average human

Hence we can see that Coke has a particular market segment that it caters to.

Its product market is very vast as it offers many different products that fulfil

the needs of different strata’s of customers. And its target market varies

according to its products and differs across geographical regions.

CONCEPTS
Market Analysis:

The market analysis investigates both the internal and external business

environment. Both with their respective influences will be decisive traits in

relation to Coke’s success and survival in the soft drink industry.

Internal Business Environment

The internal business environment and its influence is that which is to some

extent within the business’s control. Coke must conduct continual appraisals

of the business’s operations and readily act upon any factors, which cause

inefficiencies in any phase of the production and consumer process.

External Business Environment

The External business environment and its influences are usually powerful

forces that can affect a whole industry and. Fluctuations in the economy,

changing customer attitudes and values, and demographic patterns heavily

influence the success of Coca Cola’s products on the market and the

reception they receive from the consumers.

SWOT Analysis:

SWOT analysis is a technique much used in many general management as

well as marketing scenarios. SWOT consists of examining the current

activities of the organisation.

Strengths –

• Extremely recognizable branding - The image is displayed on T-shirts,

hats, and collectible memorabilia.

• Bottling system - allows them to conduct business on a global scale

while at the same time maintain a local approach as the bottling

companies are locally owned and operated by independent business

people who are authorized to sell products of the Coca-Cola

Company.

Weaknesses –

• Declines in unit case volumes in Indonesia and Thailand due to

reduced consumer purchasing power.

• Issue for health care – bad for teeth and too much sugar is not good

for health.

Opportunities -

• Brand recognition is the significant factor affecting Coke's competitive

position.

• Packaging changes have also affected sales and industry positioning;

Coca-Cola's bottling system also allows the company to take advantage

 of infinite growth opportunities around the world. This strategy gives

Coke the opportunity to service a large geographic, diverse area.

Threats –

• New viable competitors and substitutes. Possible substitutes that

continuously put pressure on both Pepsi and Coke include tea, coffee,

juices, milk, and hot chocolate.

• The changing health-consciousness of the market could have a serious

affect.

• Consumer buying power also represents a key threat in the industry

Marketing Objectives

The objective is the starting point of the marketing plan. The purposes of

objectives include:

1. To enable a company to control its marketing plan.

2. To help to motivate individuals and teams to reach a common goal.

3. To provide an agreed, consistent focus for all functions of an

organization.

Selecting Target Market

The target market is the group of customers on whom the business focuses
attention. The target market is where Coca Cola focuses its marketing efforts

as it feels this is where it will be most productive and successful.

The Marketing Mix

The marketing mix is probably the most crucial stage of the marketing

planning process. This is where the marketing tactics for each product are

determined.

• Product: The word product means much more than just physical

goods. In marketing, product also refers to services. Consumers will

buy the coke product because of the high standards and high quality of

the Coca Cola products. offer a help line and complaint phone service

for customers who are not satisfied with the product or wish to give

feedback on the products.

• Price: Price is a very important part of the marketing mix as it can

effect both the supply and demand for Coca Cola. Coca Cola has used

Penetration Pricing as a way of grabbing a foothold in the market and

won a market share. Once customer loyalty is established as seen with

Coca Cola it is then able to slowly raise the price of its product.

• Promotion: Promotion is the p of the marketing mix designed to

inform the marketplace about who you are, how good your product is

and where they can buy it. Promotion is also used to persuade the
 customers to try a new product, or buy more of an old product. Coca

Cola has used advertising as the main form of promotion for extensive

range of products. Coca Cola also utilizes below the line promotions

such as contests, coupons, and free samples.

• Place: It is apparent from the popularity of the Coca Cola’s product

on the market that the business in the past used the method of

intensive distribution as the product is available at every possible

outlet. From supermarkets to service stations to your local corner

shop, anywhere you go you will find the Coca Cola products.

Other factors

Positioning - Positioning is the process of creating, the image the product

holds in the mind of consumers, relative to competing products. Coca Cola

has been positioned based on the process of positioning by direct

comparison and have positioned their products to benefit their target market.

Branding - The popularity of the brand is often the deciding factor. Over the

time Coca Cola has spent millions of dollars developing and promoting their

brand name, resulting in worldwide recognition. Coca Cola utilizes the

Individual brand strategy as Coca Cola’s major products are given their own

brand names e.g. Fanta, Sprite, Coca Cola etc although they may be
presented as different lines they operate under the name of Coca Cola.

Packaging - Packaging protects the product during transportation, while it

sits in the shelf and during use by consumers, it promotes the product and

distinguishes it from the competition. Coca-Cola has benefited from

packaging the product with incentives and endorsements on the labelling as

a promotional strategy to increase it’s volume of sales and revenue.

Implementing, monitoring and controlling – This consists of Financial

forecasting, implementing, monitoring and controlling.

N
COMPETITION ANALYSIS

Major competitor : PEPSI

INTERPRETATION:

In my survey of 300 retail outlets in 3 areas, I found 5 brands of Pepsi out of

its 10 brands and 6 Brands of Coke is available out of its 10 Brands on

average. So the brand availability of Coke is more when compared to Pepsi

Pepsi – Price

P e p s i a g a i n d e c i d e s i t pr i c e o n t h e b a s i s of c o m p e t i t i o n . T h e

best think about the company Pepsi is that it is very flexible

a n d i t c a n c o m e d o w n w i t h t h e p r i c e v e r y q ui c k l y . T h e

c o m p a n y i s r e n o w n e d t o br i n g t h e p r i c e d o w n e v e n u p t o h a l f

if needed.

But this risk taking attitude has also earned Pepsi losses.

Though lowering the price would attract the customers but it

would not help them cover up the cost incurred in production

hence causing them losses.

This was the situation earlier but now Pepsi is a full-fledged

and growing company. It has covered all its losses and is

now growing at a rapid rate.

Promotion

Promotion is one of the four aspects of marketing.

P r o m o t i o n c o m p r i s e s f o ur s u b c a t e g o r i e s :

1. Advertising

2. Personal selling

3. Sales promotion

4. Publicity and public relations

The specification of these four variables creates a

p r o m o t i o n a l m i x o r p r o m o t i o n a l pl a n . A pr o m o t i o n a l m i x
s p e c i f i e s h o w m u c h a t t e n t i o n t o p a y t o e a c h of t h e f o u r

subcategories, and how much money to budget for each. A

p r o m o t i o n a l p l a n c a n h a v e a w i d e r a n g e of o b j e c t i v e s ,

i n c l u d i n g : s a l e s i n c r e a s e s , n e w pr o d u c t a c c e p t a n c e , cr e a t i o n

of brand equity, positioning, competitive retaliations, or

creation of a corporate image.

Both the companies Pepsi and coke are famous for their

promotions. The rivalry was first started when Pepsi started

with its blind taste tests known as the Pepsi Challenge. The

challenge is designed to be a direct response to critics who

allege that Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola are identical drinks,

with no meaningful differences. The challenge takes the

f o r m o f a t a s t e t e s t . A t m a l l s , s h o p p i n g c e n t e r s a n d o t h er

public locations, a Pepsi representative sets up a table with

two blank cups, one containing Pepsi and one with Coke.

Shoppers are encouraged to taste both colas, and then select

w h i c h d r i n k t h e y p r e f e r . T h e n t h e r e pr e s e n t a t i v e r e v e a l s t h e

t w o b o t t l e s s o t h e t a s t e r c a n s e e w h e t h e r t h e y pr e f e r r e d C o k e

or Pepsi. If Pepsi is revealed, the shopper is given a small

p r i z e . T h e i m p l i c a t i o n i s t h a t P e p s i t a s t e s b e t t er t h a n C o k e ,

and thus consumers should purchase Pepsi.

I n b l i n d t a s t e t e s t s , m o r e c o n s u m e r s pr e f e r t h e t a s t e of

Pepsi to that of Coca-Cola. Because Coke was the historical

l e a d e r , m o r e p e o p l e e x p e c t e d t h a t t h e y ' d p r ef e r a n d s e l e c t

Coke. Their surprise at picking Pepsi in the blind taste test

(products were served in unmarked cups) helped change their

m i n d s a b o u t w h i c h p r o d u c t t h e y pr e f e r . C a p t u r i n g t h i s o n

film, Pepsi turned this into a memorable TV campaign that

lasted many years.

Also ad-campaigns are put up on the television by both the

players. The following statistic just tells of much of share of

ads on TV are captured by these players.

FIRM’S DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY

Firms differentiation strategy is by using a different tagline. Some of
them are
mentioned below:

Tagline timeline

1898
 Brad's Drink

1903
 Exhilarating, Invigorating, Aids Digestion

1906
 Original Pure Food Drink

1908
 Delicious and Healthful

1915
 For All Thirsts - Pepsi:Cola

1919
 Pepsi:Cola - It makes you Scintillate

1920
 Drink Pepsi:Cola - It Will Satisfy You

1928
 Peps You Up!
 1933
 It's the Best Cola Drink

1943
 Bigger Drink, Better Taste

1958
 Be Sociable, Have a Pepsi

1963
 Come Alive! You're in the Pepsi Generation1981 Pepsi's Got Your

Taste for Life

1979
 Catch That Pepsi Spirit

1983
 Pepsi Now! 1984 The Choice of a New Generation

1992
 Gotta Have It

1996
 Nothing Official about it

1998
 Yahi hai right choice baby, Aha!
 2008:
 "Yeh hai Youngistaan Meri Jaan!" Hindi - meaning "This is the

Young era my dear" (India and Pakistan)

Brand Differentiation Percentile

Pepsi and coke both are at level when it comes to product Differentiation;

both brands try to differentiate by doing various activities. Pepsi from 2008

has been using the tag line “Yeh hai Youngistaan Meri Jaan!".here they

targeted the young generation by taking out ads that directly or indirectly

relate to the youth, after a few months they also took out a (My can) that was

majorly targeted for the youth. Coke on the other hand uses the complete

opposite strategy after acquiring thumps up the brand has somewhat

followed the thumps up Macho male form of advertisements and has then

decided to be in the middle, the brand made shore that it does not let the
customers get a stereotype about the brand and thus the company uses actors

like hritik roshan and aamir khan and makes different ads every time.

Both these giants have been trying to create separate identities for

themselves as their products are very similar to each other.

Pepsi again has spread worldwide. Pepsi when entering a

n e w m a r k e t d o e s n o t g o i n a l o n e b u t i t l o o k s f or p a r t n e r s a n d

m e r g e r s . T i l l n o w P e p s i h a s c o l l a b or a t e d w i t h c o m p a n i e s

l i k e Q u a k e r O a t s , F r i t o- l a y s , L i p t o n , S t a r b u c k s , e t c . P e p s i

like Coke has spread all over the world. It is because of this

worldwide spread that now it is coming up with

A d v e r t i s e m e n t s w h i c h c a n b e br o a d c a s t e d i n t h e d i f f er e n t

nations in the world. The recent example with would be the

Pepsi advertisements having Ranbir kapoor and john

abraham as its brand ambassadors.

PRODUCT, POSITIONING, SEGMENTATION

Advertising professionals realize that the heart of any campaign is the

 productand the position it holds in people's minds. Products and their

brand names are newsmakers themselves. Wendy's hamburgers,

Apple computers, and California raisins (particularly when they sing

and dance) are objects of our attention and interest.

Understanding the complexities of a brand identity and its position is

no easy task. A good case in point is the activities of Coca-Cola in the

last few years.

After a $4 million research project, Coca-Cola brought out a new Coke

formula in May 1985 with the intention of retiring the old formula. To

everyone's surprise, the intense feelings of American consumers

toward old Coke were such that the old formula had to be kept on the

market, renamed Coke Classic.

WHAT IS POSITIONING?
Positioning begins with a product; the concept really is about positioning

that product in the minds of the consumer. Positioning is a powerful tool that

allows us to create an image; consumers are inundated with advertisements,

with advertisers spending hundreds of dollars annually per consumer in the

U.S. The consumer's mind is geared to the largest volume of advertising and

accepts only what is consistent with prior knowledge and experience.

The best approach to getting into someone's mind is to be first. Positioning is

a perceptual location. It is where your product or service fits into the

marketplace.

It is very easy for the consumer to remember who is first, and much more

difficult to remember who is second, even if the second product offers a

better value, and is a better product. Simply, positioning is how your target

market defines you in relation to your competitors.

There are some key elements of positioning and they are:

Pricing. Is your product a premium item, in the middle, or cheap, cheap,

cheap?

Quality. Is your product well produced? What controls are in place to assure

consistency? Do you offer the consumer guarantees, warranties, and return

policies?

Service. Do you offer customer service and support? Is your product

customized and personalized?

Distribution. How will the consumer purchase your product? The

distribution channel is a very important part of positioning.

Packaging. Packaging is crucial; it makes a strong statement for your

product.

So make sure it is delivering the message you intend it to. This were you

leverage what you do best, and what is unique about your product or service.

Identify your strongest strength and use it to position your product or

service.

Positioning is what the consumer believes and not what the provider wants

the consumer to believe.

Positioning of coca cola

Beverages suited to different ages, stages, lifestyles and occasions.

This includes soft drinks, diet drinks, juices and juice drinks, waters, energy

drinks, sports drinks and cordials.

We are committed to helping our customers select the product that is best

suited to their needs through the provision of detailed product information

supported by general advice on healthy eating, drinking and lifestyles.

Children and the role of our beverages

We respect and support the primary role that parents play in decisions

affecting the lives of young children, including choices about diet and

lifestyle.

Beverage choice, like food selection, is a role for parents and we assist them

in this through the provision of nutrition information and by making

available a wide range of products suitable for all ages, stages and occasions.
CUSTOM ER BEHAVIOR WITH PROMOTION
 LEARNING

Yes this exercise helped us in learning the marketing strategies used by

PepsiCo and Cocoa Cola. We came to know that advertising and promotion

plays a very crucial role in both the companies because a lot of competition

exists between them. Both the companies are environment friendly and have

emphasis towards corporate social responsibility.

The group’s limitation was that we didn’t analyze the coke’s performance

across the world and we didn’t compare Coca Cola India with Coca Cola

International.
 CONCLUSION

The firms marketing efforts of advertising, sales promotion, collaboration

with various fast food joints, offering discounts to retailers and customers ,

different packaging have led to increase in sales and profit of the

company .The company today knows that customer are aware of everything

available in the market so by introducing new products in the market the

company is increasing the trialibility towards their product.

Our group believes that the quality and effectiveness of Coca Cola’s

marketing effort are to a great extent beneficial to the company . They know

what are the consumer needs. Coca Cola uses various film stars in their

advertisement so that they endorses their product. They provide various ad

on packages at the time of festivals. The company even reduces the price of

coke according to the season. Coke has spread all over and is promoting

itself in rural areas.

Our group believes that the firm is able to satisfy its customers but there are

few recommendations:

They should emphasis on the preferences of old people.

Coca Cola should try to emphasis more on providing their infrastructure in

the market so to facilitate more customer.

 Bibliography

http://www.managementparadise.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-4403.html

www.coca-colaindia.com

www.pepsiindia.co.in