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Letter of Transmittal
Date 26 August 26, 2014
Board of Directors
Coca-Cola, Pakistan
Dear Sir(s)
Subject: A comprehensive situation analysis for the company Coca-Cola
Enclosed in this document is a comprehensive report on the brand Coca-Cola which includes a
detailed analysis of the internal and external environment. The analysis is done using particular
theories and models such as SWOT analysis which aids in good analysis.
The information was gathered from your company website, the analyst reports published by
experts and other relevant articles which include reports of supporters and critics of your
company to provide an unbiased analysis. The report includes good and bad features of the
company and it provides conclusions and recommendations at the end. I hope this report would
prove to be of immense importance. However, should you require any assistance in
understanding or interpretation of this work please feel free to contact me.
Best Regards,
(Name)
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This project unfolds a detailed integrated situation analysis for Coke, a brand owned by Coca
Cola. The Coca-Cola System in Pakistan serves over 2 hundred thousand customers/retail
outlets. Coca-Cola employs 2500 people in Pakistan (2010). During the last two years. The
company has over the time invested almost $145million and the total service of the company has
been over 54 years in Pakistan.
The project gives an introduction about the current scenario. The SWOT and marketing situation
are discussed in detailed.
The report deals with corporate and brand strategies of Coke. It also talks about the industry
situation in terms of porters 5 forces. The internal situation of the business is discussed through
a detailed SWOT analysis. Competitors have not been ignored; hence, a very comprehensive
analysis on competitors of Coke has been done as well.
The report is concise yet comprehensive. Many concepts and theories have been covered and the
ones not discussed were not the part of the scope of this project.




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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 4
HISTORY OF COKE .......................................................................................................................................... 4
INTERNAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT .................................................................................................. 4
SWOT ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................................................ 4
Strengths ............................................................................................................................................... 4
Weaknesses........................................................................................................................................... 5
Opportunities ........................................................................................................................................ 5
Threats .................................................................................................................................................. 6
EXTERNAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT .................................................................................................. 6
CURRENT MARKET SITUATION ........................................................................................................... 6
CORPORATE AND BRAND STRATEGIES ................................................................................................ 7
CORPORATE IMAGE STRATEGY .......................................................................................................................... 7
BRAND DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY ..................................................................................................................... 8
PROMOTION OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS ............................................................................................... 9
DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY ................................................................................................................................. 9
DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY ............................................................................................................................ 9
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................... 10
REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................... 11








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Introduction
History of coke
The company was setup in Pakistan in 1953 when it started to operate. The brands owned by
Coca-Cola in Pakistan are Coke, Sprite and Fanta. There are eight filling companies of Coca-
Cola in Pakistan. The plants of the company are scattered all over the country and are present in
all provinces. There are nearly 70000 retail outlets of the company all over the country. The
Coca-Cola System in Pakistan has nearly 3,000 people working constantly for the company. The
company has invested over $130 million over its 56 years of business in Pakistan.
Internal Business Environment
The internal business environment includes the factors which are at least to some extent in the
control of any given business. The main aspects in it are the productions processes and its
efficiency, skills which the management has and the communication processes in place. For
effective management and monitoring of the internal working environment, Coca-Cola should
conduct an interim evaluation of business processes and actively work on all the factors that
cause inefficiency in any stage of the production and other internal processes.
SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis is a tool used to analyze the companys environment very comprehensively. It
stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The analysis has been applied to
the company in question Coca-Cola and is explained below.
Strengths
Established Company:
The biggest strength of the country is that it is a single huge company which is under direct
supervision of the Head Office, Coca-Cola International. All of the plants through which the
company is run are required to accept the same laws and policies and run under them.
Strong financial backbone:
The turnover and financial input and output of the company are very large and are near to
unmatched which are being very efficiently managed by the company
Brand Image:
The company enjoys a very good brand image internationally and people prefer the product of
the company over other competitor brands which make the brand Coca-Cola the most popular
brand globally.

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Diet Coke:
The company responded to health concerns of its customers has there is a very high volume of
sugar in soft drinks, Coke launched its sugar free product and successfully sold it.
Bottling system:
The bottling companies are locally owned and operated by independent business people who are
authorized to sell products of the Coca-Cola Company.
First movers:
The company enjoys the first mover advantage in that it was the first one to introduce the soft
drinks in Pakistani markets.
Weaknesses:
Limitation of resources:
The biggest weakness of the company is that financial function is centralized and heavily
dependent upon Coca-Cola International USA.
Non Availability:
The distribution system is not large enough to make sure the availability of the products in small
town and rural areas.
Advertising mistakes:
Coke has been accused of airing international copy of ads in Pakistan. Many a times they have
failed to customize TVCs according to the local environment.
Opportunities:
Line extension:
Apart from that another opportunity that Coke has is that of diversifying further into snacks
category. Pepsi has introduced Lays, Cheetos and Kurkure; similarly Coke can explore this
segment as well.
Buy out competition:
Another opportunity that we have seen being put to use before is the ability for Coca Cola to buy
out their competition. Coke currently holds about 36% market share in Pakistan.


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Threats:
Major Threat:
Pepsi is the market leader in Pakistan which has always been a competitive threat to the company
in the country.
Potential Threats:
o New Entrants:
There have been new entrants in the market which advertise their products as belonging to the
Muslims thus taking advantage of the anti-Jewish group of people.
o Similar Products:
Beverages like Milo, coffee, fruit juices, etc are also a source of threat for Coke and its products.
o Taxes (Government Laws and Policies):
The Coca-Cola management is not happy with the Government tax laws and policies.
o Purchasing power:
Consumer buying power also represents a key threat in the industry. With the ever-increasing
inflation rate and deteriorating economical saturation, consumers have started spending wisely.
External Business Environment
The factors which come under the external business environment include those which apply to
the country as a whole or at least apply at the industry level: they are not company specific. The
changes in the external environment create opportunities and threats for companies so they
should be carefully monitored by Coca-Cola and should be dealt through a proactive strategy.
The factors include changing economic situation in Pakistan such as fluctuating interest rates and
inflation rates which play a great role in overall strategy of a company, the demographical
patterns such as urbanization is increasing in Pakistan which could be an opportunity for the
company to stress in its premium products and customer preferences and what they value should
be considered and acted upon then. Political instability is a big issue in Pakistan so the company
should keep an eye on new governments expected and their expected style of policy making.
Current Marketing Situation
In order to understand the current marketing situation of Coke, the 4 Ps (Price, Placement,
Product and Promotion) were analyzed. The analysis is as follows:


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Product:
The basic need that Coke fulfills is that of quenching thirst. The most widely available variants
are classic coke and diet coke. It is available in variable sizes i.e. 300ml, 500ml, 1.5ltrs and cans.
Price:
Coke follows competitive pricing strategy. Since Pepsi is its direct competitor, so it sets the
prices keeping in mind the prices set by Pepsi.
Placement:
Coke has been very strategically efficient in terms of its placement. Coke freezers are not only
seen in big super stores, departmental and medical stores, but also at tuck shops, cafes at
universities and school. Moreover, coke has signed contracts with various restaurants and cafes
to ensure that the only cola served is Coca Cola.
Promotion:
Coke has been very active in terms of promotion. It has executed several activities in order to
engage the customers and create awareness.
Corporate and branding strategies
Corporate Image strategy
Coca Cola has been here for more than a century, and that experience has enabled it to develop
the best practices a corporation could have. Managing such a diverse range of beverages takes
considerable centralization in following some principal methods that are shared among the
different brands. Those methods are derived from the vision of coke which focuses on six
aspects;
People
Portfolio
Partners
Planet
Profit
Productivity
The core values that the corporation follows to maintain and promote the corporate image of
Coca Cola are as follows;

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Leadership
Collaboration
Integrity
Accountability
Passion
Diversity
Quality
An organization so well established like Coca Cola needs to utilize its strong brand name,
therefore in developing worlds and the developed, Coca colas logo and company colors are
evident across every village, town and city, globally. An employee force of 139,600 serves to be
representative of how this corporate giant is managed in over 200 countries (Schawbel, 2008).
Brand development strategy
It is a daunting task for the products in the aisle and shelves to get noticed amid the crowd of
competitors. Hence its essential that the brand understudy has a strategy that is dynamic and
well versed in understanding the customer, this shall lead to effective ways to create brand
awareness and most importantly create brand loyalty.
Coke has been fairly dynamic in keeping up with vibrant market needs and trends. The brand has
been able to evolve to keep in-line with the demands of the market. Coca Cola used to focus on
the three As
:

Availability
Acceptability
Affordability
Now the brand orbits its brand strategy around the three Ps
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, which are as under:
Preference
Pervasive Penetration
Price Related Value
The company always tries to maintain the brand identity and does so by testing much of the
attributes every month on a sample of almost 4000 customers. The strategy of the company

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relating to the development of its brand is quite
effective and the company has very successfully
retained the image. In Pakistani market the company
adopts a very good strategy by promoting the
musical talent of the country in the platform
provided by the company named Coke Studio
where best musicians are combined with best singers
and so many masterpieces have been produced from
there. It is perceived and preservation of the cultural norms by the company which is widely
appreciated.
Moving along, according to cokes website, the second most recognized expression in the world
after ok is Coca Cola. This fact leads to the interpretation that Coke has become a part of its
target sets everyday life.
Over the course of time, Coca Cola has managed to create a portfolio, unmatched by any other
player in the beverage market. According to the coke website 10,450 soft drinks from Coca
Cola are consumed every second of every day (Daye, 2007). The colors red and white have
become the trade dress for coke.
Promotion Opportunity Analysis
Distribution Strategy
Distribution offers a numerous opportunities for the marketer that may normally be associated
with other elements of the marketing mix. Another opportunity for promotion lies in placement,
e.g., the airline companies can be contracted to offer drinks of the company on-board which
could be a very good advertising and earning strategy. The company can give free or at low cost
its cups or shirts with its logo on them to the distributors which would create more brand
awareness of the company.
An effective strategy can be adopted considering the factors such as the time given in choosing
any particular product or category of products; soft drinks. Comparison is made of which
products; Coke vs. Pepsi. The category and types of products which are being compared such as
slushes, soft drinks and juices. Are there any complementing products such as Lays which is a
brand of chips introduced by Pepsi.
Differentiation Strategy
A differentiation strategy is a way to develop the services or products such that the customers
value the uniqueness in their attributes and they think of it to be different and superior to other
such products.

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The company reserves a huge chunk of its advertising expense (20%) to retain and enhance its
differentiation strategy. The company has adopted some mechanisms such as soft sell approach
to support these strategies. Due to these strategies the company has been very successful in
creating a good image in the following aspects:
A symbol of innovation and quality.
Communicating its customers about its significant strengths successfully.
A sign of enjoyment and fun for families and friends
Conclusion
Coca-Cola is no different, hence it has been far reaching and been able to successfully manage to
remain in the limelight ever since its election as the favorite non-drink in the world. Coke been
able to recognize the importance of brand loyalty, it realizes that it is the integral factor in not
only reaching the top slot in beverages but it is also instrumental in staying there.
The company has been very much successful in all aspects since it was formed. It has some
incredible strengths as discussed in the report above and it should use those to exploit all the
opportunities available and reduce its weaknesses. The directors and management should look
forward to reduce and minimize the weaknesses of the company which would result in company
and brand becoming more optimistic.

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REFERENCES
Clow, Kenneth E. Baack, Donald, (2007). Integrated Advertising, Promotion, and Marketing
Communications 3rd edition. Pearson Education. pp. 910.
Coca Cola Inc. The Company . Retrieved from http://coca-cola.com (viewed 18 Aug 2014)
Coca Cola Inc., (2009-2010), Beverage Benefits, Sustainability Review. Retrieved from
http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/pdf/SR09/SR09_BevBen_6_9.pdf (viewed 17
Aug 2014)
Coca Cola Inc., Coca Cola fun fact. Retrieved from
http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/125/coca-cola-fun-facts-infographic.html (viewed 14 Aug 2014)
Coca Cola Inc. About Us. Retrieved from
http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/ourcompany/hal_nutritional_labeling.html (viewed 20
Aug 2014)
Daye, D, (2007), Brand Spotlight: Coca Cola, The Blake Project, Retrieved from
http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2007/04/brand_spotlight.html (viewed 17 Aug 2014)
Schawbel,D, (2008),Interview With a Coca-Cola Executive About Personal Branding, Personal
Branding Blog. Retrieved from
http://personalbrandingblog.wordpress.com/2008/10/13/interview-with-a-coca-cola-executive-
about-personal-branding/ (viewed 16 Aug 2014)