Coca Cola, the American non-alcoholic beverages company which was founded in 1892 has a huge market in the United Kingdom. The largest manufacturer, retailer and marketer of soft drinks were found by Asa Chandler. The company is known as Coca-cola Great Britain (CCGB) in the UK. It is responsible for marketing 21 brands and over 100 products to consumers in United Kingdom. It also develops the brand Coke, extends existing brands and protects the Coke trademark in the UK. Along with this, the Coca-cola Enterprises Ltd (CCE) is the local bottler responsible for manufacturing, distribution, sales and trade in England, Scotland and Wales.
The UK operations of Coke, manufactures and markets wide range of drinks. Brands like Diet-Coke, Sprite, Fanta, Powerade and many more come under its UK operations. The UK unit of Coke consists of seven manufacturing sites, eight distribution centers, twelve full vending service, five regional offices and one business support center. Special concentration is given to packaging and supply chain across the UK as a measure towards its 'green' movement. Coke has crossed the 1 billion pound sales in the UK and has become the first company to do so.
At Coke UK, the priority is to treat the employees well by helping them develop and offer a rewarding work life. They do this for the employees to: excel in their performance, develop skills for improvement and move towards their career goals. They also provide on-the-job learning and coaching to them as well as keep them motivated by giving great career opportunities for self-development.
They associated with the WWF and have also started 'Live Positively' initiative that makes people aware about various areas of social and environmental conscience. Through this, they deliver several messages across regarding their packaging, workplace, global water stewardship, climate and energy protection and active healthy lifestyle.
The company's UK operations are on a high, becoming the highest revenue earning company in the country. Again, it faces various threats in the form of competition from Pepsi Co, growing awareness about healthy lifestyle and climate change. But the biggest opportunity to still increase its business in UK is to take advantage of the upcoming Olympics in the country.
Thorough advertising and huge sponsorships can help more. Though the company is on a roller coaster ride in the UK, a doubt still remains whether till will be able to sustain the downfall of the European market by the day? And what about the slow performance of the other brands under its belt, for how long can they rely on their flagship brand only?
[...] The economic turmoil in United States might hamper long- term competitive advantage. PepsiCo (closest competitor) is aggressively expanding regional penetration across global institutional non alcoholic beverage segment. On the other hand, Coca- Cola Company has witnessed steep decline in market share across institutional channels in UK and Europe. ➢ Opportunities: In 2010, The Coca-Cola Company registered Facebook fan portfolio worth 28 million annually. Majority of markets including UK and United States are witnessing strong e-tailing based purchases in past 18-24 months. [...]
[...] In 2011, the company increased average unit price by across advanced economies. Coca-Cola Company has been expanding volume share across core markets for past 2-3 years. Majority of its brands are priced lower than closest competitor “PepsiCo”. On the other hand, higher inflation centric emerging markets such as India and China unit pricing remained unchanged. The company is focusing on expanding customer segmentation via low priced based positioning in emerging markets. ➢ Place: North America is the biggest market for The Coca-Cola Company constituting 32% of total group revenues. [...]
[...] Craig Smith, “Corporate Social Responsibility: Whether or How?” California Management Review, 45/4 (Summer 2003): 52-76. [...]
[...] United States. Strong bottling network Low penetration across global Low debt based enterprise cash flows institutional non alcoholic beverage segment Opportunities Threats High e-commerce and social media Fluctuation in commodity pricing centric food retail market growth Fastest growing regions such as prospects India, China, Eastern Europe etc are Consumer shift towards healthier non highly unregulated and unorganized alcoholic beverages such as fruit & distribution infrastructure vegetable juices and functional drinks. ➢ Strengths: Globally, the company has strong vertically diversified non alcoholic beverage portfolio of 500 in January 2012. [...]
[...] ➢ Higher fluctuation in commodities marketspace will hamper operating margins. ➢ PepsiCo and Britvic are the core competitors for The Coca-Cola Company in United Kingdom and European markets. PepsiCo is offering high discount coupon based promotional and marketing campaigns in emerging markets for past 4-10 months. Cheaper product portfolio in economic downturn and turmoil (EU debt crises) and fragmented marketspace will hamper competitive advantage. ➢ Counterfeit brands from China, Vietnam and Indonesia will hamper customer loyalty and retention rates on long-term basis. [...]
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