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The Coca-Cola Company is incorporated in Wilmington, Delaware but headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The enterprise is a multinational beverage firm and retailer, producer, and vender of non-alcoholic, syrups and beverage distillates (Coca-Cola Company, 2016). It has been established in 1886. The company provides number of products such as Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero, Coca-Cola Life and others (Coca-Cola Company, 2017). Moreover, the organisation has worldwide operations. In more than 200 nations, the company has an operational reach. The stock of the company trades on the NYSE and is segment of the S&P 500 Index, DJIA, the Russell 1000 Index and the Russell 100 Growth Stock Index.
The brand identity is one of the significant issues for the company that can support in foreign market expansion. The company is a tremendously identifiable organisation. Products offered by the company have a universal reach with occurrence in every regions of the world (DeFranco, 2015). Due to their known name, the company has been successful in building strong customer loyalty (Tran, et al. 2015). The particular taste of beverages that are offered by the organisation is easy to identify and it is difficult to find a substitute for their consumers. It can be further pointed out, that the organisation is in the beverage industry for more than 130 years and it has been possible due to its strong brand awareness and preferences by its million customers. It is evident that the company witnessed a rise in sales when it launched the campaign of giving names of the consumers on the bottles of beverages. It prompted customers to purchase the product, take images next to the bottles and post the photos on social media sites (Blair and Chiou, 2014). It significantly helped the organisation to strengthen its brand image and gain competitive advantage. The Coca Cola Company serves with more than 550 products globally, which is easily recognisable by people (DeFranco, 2015). Thus, it can be illustrated that the strong brand image among consumers would extensively assist the organisation in international market expansion.
We can do it today.
The Coca-Cola Company has a robust distribution network. It is evident that when the consumer is able to avail the product easily from specific location then it not only benefits the organisation to increase sales but also supports in raising customer base in the intended international market (Pfitzer, Bockstette and Stamp, 2013). The Coca-Cola Company has largest distribution network, which can help it to expand in foreign market. However, it is crucial for the organisation to use company-owned or controlled distributions, wholesalers, retailers and independent bottlers to expand its business activities in foreign market successfully. On the other hand, it can be mentioned that a meaningful network would allow having an enhanced level of quality control and safety of its products while shipping goods to international market.
Another issue that needs to be considered by the firm is ensuring healthy beverages. It has been observed that the company does not produce healthy beverage. This can be viewed as weakness of the firm. Most of products of the firm are not viewed well to health of people as they contain high percent of calories (Powell and Gard, 2015). Moreover, it is identified that now societies in global context are becoming alert of stoutness detrimental impacts, the business environment is transforming and consumers are undertaking actions for ensuring that they maintain a healthy lifestyle (Mohan, Sivakumaran and Sharma, 2013). It indicates that the intake of beverages in growing economies may decrease, as customers will favour a healthy alternative. Thus, it can be pointed out that Coca-Cola Company may lose its consumers if it do not produce health beverages.
The organisation has the opportunity to diversify its products based on the changes in the customer tastes. The organisation has been working tough to utilise its abundant war chest for building an existence in the promptly augmenting beverage segments. At present, the firm holds sixteen percent of Keurig Green Mountain and is establishing a new Keurig device in order to boost its sales and incomes (DeFranco, 2015). Furthermore, the company recently confirmed its purchase of a seventeen percent stake in Monster Beverage. This deal has provided the Coca-Cola Company with access to a well-known energy-drink growth section. Thus, it can be illustrated that dealing with other firms for product diversification would help the Coca-Cola Company to bolster its top and bottom-lines. Moreover, the organisation would be able to capture younger customer base, which would ultimately contribute in the sales and income (Douglas and Craig, 2013). Through product diversification, the company would have the opportunity to target new market globally that can support in the strong growth of the organisation.
Indirect competition needs to be taken in account by the Coca-Cola Company for successful foreign market expansion. Firms such as Dunkin’ Brands Group and Starbucks do not contend directly with Coca-Cola but they impact on the market share on the Coca-Cola Company (Kahn, 2013). It has been identified that the chains of rivals provide buyers healthier alternatives, exceptional choices and consumer loyalty rewards that are not easily matched by beverages offered by the Coca-Cola Company. On the other hand, it can be pointed that the retail chains and smaller franchises offer clienteles with private-label substitutes for traditional Coke products. This in turn, allows competitor to deliver beverages at a lower cost in international markets. Moreover, the industry data shows that the potential consumers would endure to be drawn away from simple drink choices in favour of customisable choices, which hold a high nutritional gain (DeFranco, 2015). Thus, it can be illustrated that considering the level of competition would enable the Coca-Cola Company to develop successful international marketing strategy that can help in gaining edge over rivals in the foreign markets.
For becoming an international business and exploring foreign market, it is crucial for the organisation to strengthen both of its internal and external activities. In the current study, the Coca-Cola Company has been selected as a central character for analysing positive and negative aspects of being a foreign business by applying SWOT analysis. It has been ascertained that the brand identity, awareness, and healthy distribution network of the company are the major strengths of the Coca-Cola Company. This would extensively support the foreign business of the organisation that would enable it to enter any new market rapidly and augment its sales revenue effectively.
Appendix: SWOT Analysis
Strengths
| Weaknesses
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Opportunities
| Threats
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- Blair, T.C. and Chiou, S.C., 2014. The impact of brand knowledge on consumers of different genders and from different cultures. Asia Pacific Management Review, 19(1), p.47.
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