Market orientation
Market orientation can be defined by Ian Chambers as “A market orientated business is one which continually identifies, reviews and analyses consumer’s needs.”
Market orientation is reflected on the Coca-Cola Company’s mission statement:
“Consumer demand drives everything we do.” Another brief from their mission statement includes “We will serve consumers a broad selection of the nonalcoholic ready-to-drink beverages they want to drink throughout the day.”
Coca-Coca has an “action orientation”, instead of waiting for change to happen it is at the leading edge, driving action forward.
Findings
A market orientated organisation like Coca-Cola would:
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Know what its customers, consumer, client needs. As they know people like Coca-Cola and want it available to them.
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Understand that every activity of an organisation can have an impact on customer satisfaction. If things do not quite work out as planned e.g. like the launch of New Coke. By the company learning through experience of taking risks is vital if better results are to be achieved next time.
- Have senior management committed to the importance of marketing.
Coca-Cola is now trying to develop the brands vertically (most well known brands include Coca-Cola, diet coke, Sprite and Fanta), by creating a deeper consumer desire for that brand than expected the day before. This involves giving people more reasons to buy Coca-Cola brands instead of reasons to buy competing ones, such as Pepsi (Owned by PepsiCo) and Richard Branson’s Virgin Cola.
The Coca-Cola company emphasis on creating value by actively meeting consumers needs with new products to support existing brands to help generate growth for the organisation. This involved Coca-Cola developing a strategy for a Company brand, where they conduct product and packaging research, develop precise consumer communications and ask for consumer feedback. Their integrated (linked) marketing programs include activities such as advertising, point-of-sale merchandising and product sampling.
Coca-Cola is committed to re-inventing itself for successive generations of consumers, by offering a range of new drinks to provide a wide variety of choice, refreshment, excitement and fun.
Earlier this year Coca-Cola and One2One (one of the mobile phone operators in the UK) had joined together to target the teens market. They was the first tie-up between a softdrink and a mobile telcoms brand. They offered ‘Collect and Connect’, the promotion offers Coke drinkers the chance to receive a pre-pay mobile phone inn exchange for collecting 60 on-pack tokens and paying £30. It was coke biggest ever UK promotion.
Later this year Coca-Cola GB was again focusing on teenagers by offering them the chance to win a 48-hour break in teen-themed house, sponsored by its Fanta brand. The “Fanta House” features an Internet café, an electronic games room, a table football room, and a chill-out zone. Coca-Cola is dubbing the initiative “the ultimate hang-out”.
Conclusion
From the information that I have gathered that through increasing competition from other competitors, Coca-Cola is adopting to market orientated. They are researching and providing customers with what they want and satisfying their needs through the promotions and offers on pre-paid mobile phones and having competitions for The Fanta house. The emphasis on consumer orientation has meant that their products have continued to be successful by being able to provide the products that the consumers want and if they do not prove to be successful they are bold enough to listen and to make changed.
Bibliography
Definition of market orientated, background information on marketing, marketing concepts, and information on Coca-Cola.
- Management, second edition , R.Bennett 1994, pages 127&128
- Business Studies, third edition, S.Hammond, Longman, 1994, pages 99, 136-138
- Business Studies, edited by Ian Chambers, Causeway Press, 1995, pages 133-134
- GNVQ Advance Business, second edition, D.Needham & R.Dransfield, Heinemann 1995, pages 226-227
- Market Relations, N.Hawkins, Blackwell Business, 1995, pages 13, 18-20 & 295