Marketing Mix is an amalgamation of profile-building strategies that companies use to market their products. Through a feasible and well-organized market mix, companies are able to establish effective marketing strategies to promote their products (Jackson & Ahuja, 2016). The marketing mix comprises four Ps, namely price, promotion, product, and place. The four Ps contain a plethora of strategic marketing tools that work concurrently to achieve the predetermined organizational goals and objectives.
Coca Cola Company
Coca-Cola is the top provider of soft drinks in the world. The company has long been admired by other outfits in the industry for its refined and perfect marketing mix that has made it the number one beverage company in the world. The Coca-Cola Company is among the extensive surviving brand and one of the most successful firms internationally. It is indisputable that the company has a well-regimented marketing mix used to estimate product value and determine the best methods for product distribution and advertising (Hassan, 2014).
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Product
Coca Cola products are consumer-oriented, given that the company's ultimate objective is to satisfy its consumers. These products comprise nearly four hundred brands, including juice drinks, coffees, light beverages, sports drinks, diet, and energy drinks. Since its formation, the company has enlarged its product mix, enabling it to spread risks across the various product lines rather than relying on just one product. Besides, the company has its way of appealing customers through various sizes that its products are packaged in. In addition, the company has enhanced its product mix by introducing new variety in its product lines such as cherry coke, vanilla coke, coke plus, and cherry-vanilla coke (Hassan, 2014). The company's product mix has also been enhanced by the introduction of new sports drinks and juice varieties. The broad product mix has helped the company meet consumer needs while achieving its mission statement to refresh the world.
Price
Price is the most flexible feature of the marketing mix. The company varies the prices of its products depending on the various product sizes and the brand of the product. Consequently, the pricing strategy of Coca Cola can be described as value-based. Distributors and retailers dealing with Coca Cola products often devise their own pricing mechanisms. However, convenience stores and gas stations usually sell products from Coca Cola at fixed prices (Hassan, 2014) . The company prices its products at the same level as its competitors in existing markets for consumers to perceive the difference in product quality but still make the products affordable (Hassan, 2014) . In new markets, the company lowers the product price to penetrate the market, gain a good brand image, and deal with competition. Once the brand awareness is strong and stable, the company reprices its products and positions them as the finest relative to its competitor's products.
Place
The place and distribution of a corporation's products in the market relates to availing the products when and where consumers need them. Intensive distribution tactics like the use of automatic vending machines have helped increase product distribution, subsequently improving the company’s profitability goals. Recently, the company has been working on a global strategy to expand its market to Western Europe, India, Latin America, and BRIC. Consumer health concerns, particularly in Europe, have significantly increased Coke Zero and Diet Coke sales (Hassan, 2014).
Promotion
The company integrates all the four aspects of the promotion mix, including the promotion of sales, advertisements, direct selling, and public relations. Over the years, the company continues to invest heavily in advertisements, thus maintain brand awareness. The forms of advertising used by the company include magazines, television advertisements, and billboards. Public relation tools such as sponsorships and product placement have been widely used by the company. An example is the advert that contains juvenile Chinese celebrities targeting to inform, remind, and persuade the young generation about the company products. Moreover, the company has engaged in personal selling in a business to business fashion (Hassan, 2014) . An example is when the Coca Cola Company enhanced its sales in North America by collaborating with Nestea to produce coffee and tea beverages.
PepsiCo Company
PepsiCo’s marketing mix has progressively improved over time, predominantly as a result of mergers and acquisitions. The company uses a combination of strategies based on its brand and array of products to implement its marketing plan (Chakravarthy, 2018).
Product
PepsiCo's original products were all under the Pepsi brand. Over the years, the company has diversified its products to include energy drinks, soft drinks, snacks, cereals, breakfast bars, sports nutrition, bottled water, and side dishes. Most of the company's present products are a result of mergers and acquisitions (Chakravarthy, 2018). For instance, snacks added to the product mix after the acquisition of Frito-Lay. Other merchandise like t-shirts and glasses are manufactured in supplementary corporations under PepsiCo licensing.
Pricing
PepsiCo uses market-oriented and hybrid everyday value approaches to price its products. The pricing mechanisms at the company are dependent on competition and demand of products by customers. The company offers its products in different packaging sizes, which is also a factor in determining the price. Moreover, more health-conscious products like Tropicana beverages are offered at a relatively higher price since the target market is small. The pricing strategy of PepsiCo is driven by its main competitor, Coca Cola, and the demand from customers (Chakravarthy, 2018).
Place and distribution
The company uses a well-established global network of distributors to sell its products, including retailers, bulk buyers, and online merchandisers. Most products of PepsiCo are obtainable from convenience stores, groceries, and supermarkets. Merchandisers licensed by the company also distribute goods like t-shirts and tumblers.
Promotion
PepsiCo uses strategies of sale promotion, advertising, direct marketing, and public relations to attract customers. The company is reputable for using celebrities to endorse its products on TV, online, print media, and radio adverts. On rare occasions, the company, through sale promotion, offer discounts and packaged deals. Besides, the company uses public relations by offering sponsorships like sports events. Direct marketing is also used occasionally to promote the company's product, for example, through contracts to provide products at wholesale prices to organizations (Chakravarthy, 2018).
Both Coca Cola and PepsiCo have incorporated packaging, brand name, and diversification as part of their product mix. They have brought in an array of new products into the market as a way of reaching more consumers. While Coca Cola Company emphasizes marketing Cola drink due to its profitability, PepsiCo focuses on food products due to the high demand in the product line. PepsiCo focuses more on variety, while Coca Cola focuses on brand name and quality. The two companies are the major determiners of price in the beverage market since a price-based competition between the two would mean losing the market to other competitors.
The two companies have established their niche almost in every continent globally, with comprehensive networks that they use to distribute their products. There is no clear difference in the availability of products offered by both companies. Moreover, the two firms work closely with bottling partners who reach out to customers. With regard to promotional mix, PepsiCo and Coca Cola use similar strategies, including celebrity advertisement, direct marketing, public relations like sponsorships, and sales promotion.
PepsiCo has positioned itself as a follower in order to compete fairly with Coca Cola. The company makes an effort to appeal to a different market segment than Coca Cola. Moreover, PepsiCo associates its brand with the young and energetic segment. Coca Cola, on the other hand, positions itself the 'One Brand,' thus extending global appeal across the world. The company's products stir happiness and positive influence among consumers. Product positioning has helped the two companies to differently persuade sales, create elements of consumer interest and convince customers
Coca-Cola has a policy on corporate social responsibility with the aspect of positive living. The policy core concepts include healthy living, water stewardship, community participation, energy, and climate. The company is recognized for its efforts to uphold ethical issues such as the campaign dubbed “share a coke” to overcome cultural tension and respect the differences (Hassan, 2014). PepsiCo, on the other hand, is dedicated to offering safe and healthy products. The company has a product safety policy that guides the company in ensuring safety in every package (Chakravarthy, 2018).
References
Jackson, G., & Ahuja, V. (2016). Dawn of the digital age and the evolution of the marketing mix. Journal of Direct, Data, and Digital Marketing Practice , 17 (3), 170-186.
Hassan, D. N., Amos, A. A., & Abubakar, O. A. (2014). An evaluation of marketing strategies undertaken by Coca Cola Company as a multinational corporation. Journal of Business and Management , 3 (2), 5-10.
Chakravarthy, C. G., Sajid, M. D., & Bist, B. (2018). A Study on Sales and Distribution on PepsiCo in Jamshedpur. International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics , 119 (12), 4021-4035.
