BTECH MARKETING (TOP-UP)

BTM 401

ASSIGNMENT 1

CASE STUDY Glocalization at Coca-Cola: Adapting Locally While Marketing Globally

BRIEF HISTORY

Coca-Cola is a brand that is extremely well-known the world over to the point that it may even be one of the more ubiquitous brands in existence. Coca-Cola began building its global network in the 1920s and has grown its reach to over 200 countries with nearly 450 brands. The brand has a rich history of global emotional advertising strategies while maintaining a degree of differentiation and specialization at a local level.

GLOBAL STRATEGY

The companys global advertising strategy notably took off in 1971 with the Id Like to Buy the World a Coke campaign, which featured young people of many nationalities gathering on a hilltop drinking Coke and singing together. Throughout the following decades, Coca-Cola continued advertising campaigns with emotional roots that had global appeal, such as Have a Coke and a Smile, Cant Beat the Feeling, Cant Beat the Real Thing, Always Coca-Cola, and The Coke Side of Life.

In 2016, Coca-Cola took its global marketing to a new height by unifying all four of its trademarked brands (Coke Zero, Diet Coke, Coke Life, and Coca-Cola) under one message, strategy, and budget with the Taste the Feeling campaign. An international network of four advertising agencies produced a series of advertisements that would be shown all over the world. According to Chief Marketing Officer Marcos de Quinto, the goal was to reinforce that Coca-Cola is for everybody. Furthermore, Rodolfo Echeverria, VP of global creative, connections, and digital at The Coca-Cola Company, reiterated:

The universal moments and storytelling depicted in the campaign were created to resonate with our consumers globally. The same images and TV creative in Japan will also be seen in Italy, in Mexico and around the world.

LOCALIZATION STRATEGY

At the same time, a large part of Coca-Colas success in such a broad variety of international markets has been its historical multilocal approach. While there has been universal branding to some degree, the organizational structure is geographic and is divided into the various operating groups: North America, Latin America, Europe, Eurasia and Africa, and Pacific. Coca-Cola allows for differences in packaging, distribution, and media as they best fit with the needs, tastes, and cultural preferences of each geographic area. This approach is emphasized by late CEO Roberto Goizuetas Think global, Act local strategy and has allowed Coca-Cola to remain locally relevant. Ahmet C. Bozer, president of the Coca-Cola Companys Eurasia and Africa Group, stated, We may be giving the same happiness message, the same brand architecture may be communicated, but it has to be done differently in each country.

Localized messages: Often, advertising and promotional messages are customized to local geographic markets through use of models that mirror the local ethnicities and cultural preferences. For example, during the FIFA World Cup, Coca-Cola maintained a consistent brand message and image, but the web page for each country was locally customized with the use of local celebrities and culture. In addition, during the Arab Spring of 2011, Egypt was wrought with turmoil. Market research showed that, particularly among young consumers, people wanted to create a bright future despite the current political and social uncertainties. Coca-Cola put together a marketing communication that showed Egyptian people in Tahir Square in Cairo throwing ropes over dark clouds and pulling them to open up the clouds and reveal the sun. This particular advertisement, based in local consumer insights paired with the global strategy, was particularly effective.

Customized Products: Coca-Cola does not just customize marketing communications to local markets. Across the globe, a wide variety of differences in tastes and preferences exist and Coca-Cola adapts the product offerings in local markets to meet them as well. Some flagship brands are present in each market, such as Coca-Cola Classic and Sprite. Even still, there are differences from region to region. Coca-Cola utilizes local bottling and distribution operations, which may use slightly different methods and inputs such as sweeteners. Some countries use cane sugar, and some use high-fructose corn syrup. There are also differences in the amount of sugar between regions. One study showed that Sprite in Thailand has 47 g of sugar per 330 ml, while in Poland and Austria it has 19 g. The local bottlers sometimes innovate new products as well. For example, in India, Coca-Cola already produced Maaza Juice. The local team came up with the idea to produce Maaza Milk Shakes because dairy is a very popular drink category in India. The mango-flavored dairy milk shakes were wildly successful.

Marketing communications and product innovations that are popular in one local market are often spread to similar local markets with like cultural tastes and preferences. For example, a Ramadan campaign to celebrate the Muslim holy month in Turkey was replicated in various other Muslim countries. And Minute Maids Pulpy, Chinas innovation of an orange juice with lots of pulp, was successful in other countries with shared tastes.

As you can see, Coca-Colas widespread success across the globe in so many countries and cultures is strongly rooted in both global strategy and local strategies. In other words, Coca-Cola is a prime example of glocalization at its finest!

Critical Thinking Questions:

1. Which of the core values might Coca-Cola encounter when entering various new markets?

2. Think about the seven global considerations when entering a foreign market and evaluate Coca-Cola on each of them (cultural homogeniety, needs, affordability, relevant values, infrastructure, communication, and ethical implications).

3. Do you have any experience with finding different sorts of beverages in different countries or even regions of the same country? If so, please share.