Coca Cola Company

I. View Point
This case study is conceptualized under the point of view Joseph V. Tripodi, the Executive
Vice President and Chief Marketing & Commercial Officer of The Coca-Cola Company. Mr.
Tripodi leads the worldwide Marketing and Commercial efforts of the Company to develop and
leverage its capabilities, brands and assets to meet the needs of consumers, shoppers and the
global Coca-Cola system to drive profitable growth.

II.

Time Context
The problem to be discussed in this case study happened in China last 2013.

III.

Historical Background of the Company

The Coca Cola beverage is invented by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in 1886. The
formula and brand was bought in 1889 by Asa Candler who incorporated the Coca Cola Company
in 1892. In 1916, the company began manufacturing its famous bottle, which remains signature
shape of Coca Cola today. In 1928, Robert Woodruff, whom were the company's president at that
time, led the expansion of Coca Cola overseas when introduced the Coca Cola to the Olympic
games for the first time. In the 1960s the company decided to expand with new flavors- Fanta,
Sprite and Fresca. In addition, it acquired the Minute Maid Company, adding an entirely new line of
business juices to the company. The 1980s is a time of much change and innovation at the company.
The introduction of Diet Coke becomes the top law-calorie drink in the world. The company's
presence worldwide was growing rapidly and year after year Coca Cola found a home in more and
more places in the world. As for today, Coca Cola has grown to be the world's most ubiquitous
brand, with more than 1.4 billion beverage servings sold each day.

IV.

Statement of the Problem

Coca-cola has a 2020 vision, and it is to create a long-term destination for their business
and provides them with a Roadmap for winning together with their bottling partners.
In the year 2013, Coca-Cola seems to have hit a standstill. China is one of the key markets of
Coca cola in terms of global sales. Since China holds a large growth potential due to its incredible
population size and fast economic growth, it shows a great opportunity to expand its global market
share. Glooming growth rates, blamed on Chinas recent economic slowdown, are worsen by
increased threats of competition, namely by PepsiCo. Not only did PepsiCo open new factories in
China, but it partnered with Tingyi Cayman Islands Holding Corp., thus gaining access to one
of Chinas largest distribution and bottling networks. In addition to this, as Coca cola engage in
competition in emerging markets, the factors that undermine their success is their lack of
localization and customation, which created neglected markets the semi global and the local
markets. This phenomena regarding the Chinas massive rural population. Future cola
aggressively entered Chinas dwindling rural Cola market and managed to capture 15% of market
share in a period of merely three years. Executives believe the success was given by high-tech
equipment and rapidly localized production, which reduced cost dramatically, enabling thus
competitive pricing strategies. Similarly, their strong advertising campaign was also focused on
creating solid local image as Chinas own cola.

The above mentioned reasons conrm Coca-Colas need to implement some strategic changes
if they wish to reach their 2020 vision goals. The problem to be solved in this study is to know how
to expand the market share of Coca cola in China.

V.

Area of Consideration

Strength
The best global brand in the world in
terms of value ($77,839 billion)
Worlds largest market share in
beverage
Strong marketing and advertising
Most extensive beverage distribution
channel
Customer loyalty
Bargaining power over suppliers
Corporate social responsibility
Opportunities
Bottled water consumption growth
Increasing demand for healthy food and
beverage
Growing beverages consumption in
emerging markets (especially BRIC)
Growth through acquisitions

VI.

Weaknesses
Significant focus on carbonated drinks
Undiversified product portfolio
High debt level due to acquisitions
Negative publicity
Brand failures or many brands with
insignificant amount of revenues

Threats
Changes in consumer preferences
Water scarcity
Strong dollar
Legal requirements to disclose
negative information on product labels
Decreasing gross profit and net profit
margins
Competition from PepsiCo
Saturated carbonated drinks market

Alternative Courses of Action

Develop New Products for localization in China
Advantage: The proposed strategy will immediately reach the said untouched market by
creating localization and having much more value for the product portfolio in local markets.
Disadvantage: The said strategy is very risky, will need a large budget, and time
consuming. It requires time and resources researching and developing new products. In
addition to it, the product to be produced has no assurance of success.
Form Joint Ventures to Acquire a Multitude of Successful Firms
Advantage: By such means, Coca-Cola would receive the benet of an established brand
instantly, not having to waste time and resources researching and developing new products that
may or may not be successful.
Disadvantage: It requires large amount of money in order to acquire and invest to a
company. In addition to that, Coca cola has already acquire a 60% share in the carbonated

VII.

drinks in China, thus another acquisition might be denied as to follow Chinas AntiMonopoly Act rules.
Focus on the Urban Areas in China
Advantage: Coca cola has already established a strong global brand image that can easily
dominate and over power the urban area of China.
Disadvantage: Focusing only on urban areas in China which is just part of its total
population can hinder its 2020 vision goal. It will not be able to expand its market share in
China.

Conclusion and Recommendation

Based on the suggested courses of action, developing new products for localization is the
best way to expand its market share in China.
Since there is a numerous number of non-customers on rural areas it is significant to reach
them, either by developing new products, or tailor current products to be exclusively specific to
local tastes. Coca cola has an advantage implementing this strategy because of its strong brand
image and highly developed distribution channels. Success of this action will rely on extensive
research to understand and know exactly what attracts the untouched market to certain beverages
and what needs are not currently being met. If the Company were to develop a new ideological
philosophy for another product category, it could leverage its knowledge in global brand building
and create a new generation of lovers, focused on goods other than solely Coke.

Samsung Electronics Company

I.

View Point
This case study is analyzed under the view point of Mr. Gee-Sung Choi, the vice
chaiman, president and CEO of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

II.

Time Context
The problem was encountered by the company in the year 2010 in United States of
America.

III.

Historical Background of the Company

Samsung Group, based in Seoul, is South Korea's largest business group. The
multinational conglomerate contains numerous subsidiaries and affiliated businesses, most of
them under the Samsung brand.
Here are key dates in the company's history:
1938: Samsung is founded by Lee Byung-chull as a trading company.
1953: After the Korean War, Lee forms profitable Cheil Sugar, which is followed by
textile, banking and insurance enterprises.
1961: Despite a political coup, charges against Lee of illegal profiteering and a 1966
family scandal of smuggling, the company grows by diversifying into paper products,
department stores and publishing.
1969: Lee, with the help of Sanyo, establishes Samsung Electronics. It produces
inexpensive TVs, microwave ovens and other consumer products for Western companies such
as Sears and General Electric.
1970s: Under a government policy of rapid industrialization, Samsung launches a number
of enterprises in ship building, petrochemicals and aircraft engines.
1980s: The company is exporting electronics under its own name.
1983: Samsung begins production of personal computers.
1987: Lee's son, Lee Kun-hee, assumes control of Samsung.
1988: Samsung Semiconductor and Telecommunications merges with Samsung
Electronics. Its core business focus is home appliances, telecommunications and
semiconductors.
1990: Samsung becomes a world leader in chip production.
1994: Samsung Motors is formed.
1996: Lee Kun-hee is involved in a corruption scandal and gets a suspended sentence for
bribery.
1998: Samsung completes the development of flat-screen televisions and begins the first
mass production of digital TVs. Samsung Motors delivers its first cars.
2005: Samsung develops the first speech-recognition phone.
2007: Samsung Group is accused of political bribery and influence-peddling throughout
the South Korean government, judicial branch and the media.
2012: Samsung Electronics becomes world's largest mobile phone-maker by unit sales,
overtaking Nokia, the market leader. U.S. jurors rule Samsung must pay Apple (AAPL) $1.05
billion in damages for violating six Apple patents on smartphone technology.

IV.

Statement of the Problem

A class-action suit was filed by Oklahoma residents Ryan Russell and Philip Bourne on
behalf of themselves and other Oklahoma residents who had purchased defective televisions

from the company. Samsung Electronics America stated that it "denies the allegations in the
lawsuit, but has agreed to settle the lawsuit to avoid the costs and uncertainty of continued
litigation."
The original suit alleges that malfunctioning capacitors caused certain Samsung-branded
TVs manufactured between Jan. 1, 2006 and Dec. 31, 2008 to "experience symptoms such as
not turning on, a significant delay in turning on, making a clicking sound, cycling on and off,
and other similar problems."
SEA said in a statement that "approximately 1 percent of Samsung televisions sold in the
U.S. from 2006 to 2008 have experienced some performance issues" caused by capacitor
problems and that it had "voluntarily provided free repairs for U.S. customers with affected
televisions" since confirming the problem in early 2010.

V.

Areas of Consideration

Strength
Hardware integration with many open
source OS and software
Excellence in engineering and
producing hardware parts and consumer
electronics
Innovation and design
Focus on environment
Low production costs
Largest share in mobile phones and 2
place in smartphones sales
Ability to market the brand
Opportunities

Growing Indias smartphone market

Growing mobile advertising industry

Growing demand for quality application

processors

Weaknesses
Patent infringement
Too low profit margin
Main competitors are also largest
buyers
Lack its own OS and software
Focus on too many products

Threats

Saturated smartphone markets in

developed countries

Rapid technological change

Declining margins on hardware

production

Growth of tablets market

Obtaining patents through acquisitions

VI.

Alternative Courses of Action

Breached patents

Apples iTV launch

Price wars

To Provide Quality Control

Advantage: It will eliminate deffective products and will avoid the such cases that
will greatly affect the brand and might decrease brand trust and loyalty.
Disadvantage: Improving quality control means of additional expenses to incurr.

VII.

Settle the Lawsuit Filed

Advantage: Providing what the claimants need which is to repair or replace the
damaged products and give them the settlement they want will immediately resolve the
case filed.
Disadvantage: It might not resolve the real issue which is the deffective product.
Deny the Issue
Advantage: By doing this, the brand image of the company will not be harmed.
Disadvantage: There is no assurance that the issue will not be revealed.

Conclusion and Recommendation

Based on the stated alternative courses of actions, the best way to resolve the issue is to
provide a quality control. Total quality management will assure that there will be no
undeffective products to produce. But it doesnt end by just changing or improving the quality
system. They still need to settle the case and provide the claimants the after service they need
like to repair the damaged products and appologizing for the incident. Then assure them that
quality system has been improved and it will not happen again. After that, they can ask not to
leak the issue since the problem has been solved and there is assurance of the quality of the
products to be released.

Proctor and Gamble

(Gillette)

I.

View Point
This study is under the view point of Nick Patterson, the Associate Marketing Director at
Procter & Gamble and the one in-charge of the global expansion of Gillete brand.

II.

Time Context
This occured in the year 2004.

III.

Historical Background of the Company

The quest for a better way to remove facial hair or to shave has taken many twists and
turns over the centuries. The years between 1800 and 1900 have been coined the Golden Era
of the straight edge razor. Men went to barbers to have their mustaches and beards carefully
trimmed. Interchangeable blade-razor sets and seven-day sets were popular in the 1800s.
But it wasnt until 1901 that King C. Gillette fundamentally transformed shaving with the
invention of the first safety razor, which was granted a patent on November 15th, 1904. With
the advent of the safety razor, a man did not need to send his straight edge razor to the barber
for sharpening. The idea of clamping a smaller version of a straight edge onto a handle was
genius the blade was easier to control, which resulted in fewer nicks and cuts, and was
replaceable when it became dull.
In the past century, Gillette has been amongst the leaders in shaving innovations,
delivering cutting edge science and technology to consumers. When King C. Gillette introduced
his revolutionary safety razor, he founded a company on the time-honored credo, There is a
better way to shave and we will find it.
Gillette remains true to this spirit even more than a century later and continues to deliver
on that promise with ground-breaking razors featuring innovative blade technologies from the
Gillette Trac II to Sensor, MACH3 and, of course, Fusion and Fusion ProGlide.
Today, Gillette has two dedicated R&D centers in Boston, USA and Reading, UK
where most of its product R&D takes place. The two R&D centers are amongst 14 such P&G
facilities where Gillette products are developed.
Its South Boston Manufacturing Center, known also as the Gillette World Shaving
Headquarters, has been the technical center for developing and manufacturing the newest wet
shaving technology platforms, using state of the art proprietary technology since 1903. The
Reading Innovation Center in the UK has been a world class innovation powerhouse that
creates ground-breaking experiences that have delighted consumers since 1959.
Unique and diverse professionals drive with passion and creativity, a culture of learning
and technical excellence at Reading and Boston to lead scientific breakthroughs.

IV.

Statement of the Problem

The Gillette Company has a long history of being "the first to market" in its own areas of
operation.
As well as being first to market, Gillette has also continuously produced products which
feature improvements to existing technologies. Being the first to can bring advantages known
as first mover advantages. These include being able to generate initial consumer interest via
both media investment and accompanying press and PR coverage. This then leads to the main
retail stores displaying the products in-store and supporting the products with powerful
promotional campaigns.

For as long as products remain the only one of their kind available, the "first mover" can
establish loyalty and reputation in its brands before potential competitors get going or catch up.
A Brand is thus created.
Being the first mover, they need to create product that is new to the consumers. And this
is the issue encountered by the company. To identify new product opportunities in new product
development

V.

Areas of Consideration

Consumer brand preference

Increased grooming of men has led to an

increase in demand of sophisticated products

Increasing demand for high quality products

with different technology

VI.

Strength
Aggressive advertising

Provides quality and innovation both to

the users
High market share
Brand image and brand equity

Opportunities

Weaknesses
Costlier than other razors, everyday
use item is required to be cheaper
Not easily available, Mostly available
in big stores
Expensive brand maintenance
Manual products only
Threats
Growth in substitute
Price sensitive market
Price wars with competitors

Alternative Courses of Action

Conduct a Market Research
Advantage: Properly conducted market research will identify the kinds of new, improved
products that consumers would switch to if they become available. That involves asking the
right questions to the right people, and also placing a proper interpretation on their answers.
Disadvantage: It requires time, money and effort in conducting reasearch.
Identify strategic positioning the company wanted to maintain
Advantage: In order to guide itself and ensure the entire company is aligned in its
objectives, an organization often develops a vision statement.
Disadvantage: The focus will be on the company not on the consumers.
Determine the areas of improvement that will eliminate competitors
Advantage: In essence, the fact that competitors bring out products to challenge the
original idea, is generally good for that category because the market becomes stimulated and
total sales can increase. This is why product improvement through innovation in both concept
and design has to be ongoing. This is also why Gillette have remained at the forefront of the
shaving industry for the last century.
Disadvantage: The idea to be formed might not be under the preference of the consumers.
It might not be just to create new product just to eliminate competition.

VII.

Conclusion and Recommendation

Properly conducted market research will identify the kinds of new, improved products
that consumers would switch to if they become available.
From consumer research the company moves into technological research and
development. This involves converting a good idea into a product design and then discovering
whether modern technology is able to reproduce it to the high specifications required and in the
quantities needed.
Usually a firm will produce prototypes that can be test marketed on a representative
sample of potential consumers. In the light of their reaction, the product can then be refined and
developed until it is as good as it can be.

Republic of the Philippines

Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Sta. Mesa, Manila

MARK 4133: Brand

Management
(Case Study Analysis)

Submitted to:
Mr.
Professor

Submitted by:
Rica Princess S. Montevirgen
BSBA MM 4-2S