Marketing Research Analysis Coca-Cola

Question: Discuss about theMarketing Research Analysis for Coca-Cola. Answer: Strategic Marketing Plan: The marketing plan of Coca-cola is always perfect and in world, they are the top seller in the soft drink sector. They launched their first purified bottled water Dasani, in USA, in the year 1999. After its huge success they launch the product in UK market, spending millions of pound ( De Mooij, 2013). Mission Statement: The main objective of Coca-cola was to refresh and benefit everyone at its reach. The marketing plan objectives were mainly focussed on three criteria: To build strong customer awareness for the new product Dasani. To create wide recognition for brand by capturing market share in drinks segment. To become the market leader in the drink segment with projected sales figure. Effectiveness of Mission Statement: Coca-cola has a broad market base in terms of consumer. The company focuses on different sector of consumer. Coca-cola targets consumer throughout the world and from different cultural backgrounds. Therefore, nobody thought that launching of Dasani bottled water in UK will be a debacle for such a knowledgeable company Coca-cola. Still just only five weeks after its launch, Coca-cola was forced to take all the bottled water off the market of UK. Coca-cola launched their product Dasani, using the logo Pure, still water. However, the Food Standard Agency claimed this misleading as they added magnesium and calcium during the process of filtration. Coca-cola did not understand the fact that European consumers are different from the the US consumers about purchasing of bottled water. The water source is one of the key factors, as the market is exposed to several mineral water and spring water brands (Schuhmann, 2016). Effectiveness of Dasani in U.K The biggest issue in the failure of Dasani was that they were using local tap water to purify, unlike other bottled water, which was using water from alpine glaciers or a natural precious spring (Carroll, 2016). As discussed by Simon Mowbray, there were many people, who were well known about the source of Dasani and he himself mentioned the fact in Grocer magazine, but did not think that anyone will raise the issue. However, in real, it was actually like a bomb, which was waiting to go off. Distilled tap water with minerals added to it, can only be termed as substandard product in well-informed and sophisticated bottled water market. Main reasons behind the failure of Dasani were Misleading communication and lack of clearness: The product was advertised as pure and natural mineral water, which in real was not true. The company was forced to back off from its positions, when Food Standards Agency (FSA) discovered it and they lost their face in market (Jaffee and Newman, 2013). Provoked retail partners: Coca-cola tried to bully traders for not to stock other brands of bottled water. However, it did not turned well and made the issue more complicated for Dasani. Immature communication of corporate personnel: During the press conference, top-level officials of the company communicated in a unprofessional and irresponsible manner. A remorseful approach could have managed the damage to some extent. Controversies with Food Standard Agency: They faced arguments with FSA also, as they found Dasanis label misleading (Jaffee and Newman, 2013). Coca-cola could launch Dasani again with the same source of water but distributors, retailers, shareholders and consumers lacked their confidence on the product due to contamination and unfavourable media approach. Therefore, the only available option to the company was to launch Dasani again, using different source of water and communicate clearly to the media that the product is now safe and natural source of water is used for bottling. The company must build a clear strategy for the brand. Alternatively, it could buy an established, existing brand of water. Though, it as an expensive alternative, but there is opportunities of further development through Coca-colas strong marketing and distribution channel (Collins and Wright, 2014). Performance objective and Metrics Financial performance metrics Social responsibility Metrics Coca-colas very first attempt to launch bottled water, named Dasani turned out to be a biggest failure. Company was forced to recall its 500000 bottles of Dasani on the issue of using tap water as source only after five weeks of its launch. The price of Dasani bottled water was at 95p, whereas the price of original source water for each bottle was 0.03p only. This means they were earning a profit percentage of more than 3000%. The product was advertised as pure and natural mineral water, which in real was not true. The Food Standard Agency claimed that they added magnesium and calcium during the process of filtration. This was very irresponsible approach towards society. Table: Performance, financial and social responsibility metrics (Source: Carroll, 2016) References: Carroll, C. (2016). 1 The Dasani Controversy: A Case Study of How the.The Crisis of Food Brands: Sustaining Safe, Innovative and Competitive Food Supply, 3. Retrieved from: https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=enlr=id=Kdi_CwAAQBAJoi=fndpg=PT42dq=Carroll,+C.+(2016).+1+The+Dasani+Controversy:+A+Case+Study+of+How+the.+The+Crisis+of+Food+Brands:+Sustaining+Safe,+Innovative+and+Competitive+Food+Supply,+3.ots=oXZoih3vLGsig=hz0zB57hpFodOtOWUNW50PcTL6M#v=onepageqf=false Collins, H., Wright, A. (2014). Still Sparkling: The Phenomenon of Bottled WaterAn Irish Context.Journal of Marketing Management,2(1), 15-31. Retrieved from:https://jmm-net.com/journals/jmm/Vol_2_No_1_March_2014/2.pdf De Mooij, M. (2013).Global marketing and advertising: Understanding cultural paradoxes. Sage Publications.Retrieved from: https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=enlr=id=YbGNAQAAQBAJoi=fndpg=PP1dq=coca-cola+marketing+strategyots=_BY6tOkf9Asig=TKaI_DJ-aE6UcQ27haYLvQl6yyE#v=onepageqf=false Jaffee, D., Newman, S. (2013). A more perfect commodity: bottled water, global accumulation, and local contestation.Rural Sociology,78(1), 1-28. Retrieved from:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1549-0831.2012.00095.x/full Schuhmann, E. (2016). Framing bottled water: an analysis of the framing contest between the anti-bottled water movement and the bottled water industry. 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