Principles of Marketing: Coca-Cola's Banana Leaves Packaging Concept

Coca-Cola Case Study: Principles of Marketing – Banana Leaves Packaging Concept
Student Name
Program Name or Degree Name
COURSE XXX: Title of Course
Instructor Name
Month XX, 202X
Coca-Cola Case Study: Principles of Marketing – Banana Leaves Packaging Concept
Introduction
Coca-Cola is the world's largest non-alcoholic beverage company based in Atlanta, Georgia. The company focuses on manufacturing, retail, and marketing beverages, with Coca-Cola being its most famous and popular brand worldwide. Other brands in this market segment include Sprite and Fanta. The company also focuses on hydration, tea, coffee, and sports brands like Dasani, Vitaminwater, Smartwater, Powerade, and Ayataka. The company has also incorporated a nutritional business segment producing dairy- and plant-based beverages like AdeS, MinuteMaid, Simply, and Innocent. These products are marketed and retailed in over 200 countries globally. Given the increasing environmental concerns and the company's extensive array of products, packaging remains a crucial challenge to the organization in the modern business world. As a result, there is an increasing need for sustainable packaging to reduce its carbon footprint and enhance its competitive advantage over competitors like PepsiCo, Britvic, Red bull, and Monster Beverage. According to EPA, 30% of municipal solid waste comes from packaging, while 65% of all household waste is from packaging (EPA, 2021). As a global entity, Coca-Cola contributes significantly to these figures.
In its strategic objectives, the company intends to make 100% of its packaging recyclable by 2025 and use up to 50% of recycled material in its packaging by 2030 (Coca-Cola, 2021). As part of the strategic plan, the company reports that 60% of packaging materials are either refillable or recyclable. The company has incorporated 22% of recycled material in its international packages, with 90% of packaging material recyclable. The current strategic plan is costly to the organization and its consumers. In every $10 spent on a commodity by a consumer, $1 goes to packaging, implying that 10% of consumer spending ends up in the garbage (Popovic, Bossink, & van der Sijde, 2019). Even the process of recycling is costly. According to BulkBag (2021), it costs $30 to recycle tons of landfills, excluding transport and incineration costs. Therefore, to achieve its 2030 packaging strategic goal, the company should consider fully utilizing banana leaves in packaging. The alternative is biodegradable and, therefore, eliminates recycling-related costs while reducing packaging costs.
Internal (Micro) Analysis
A key strength at Coca-Cola is the company's dominance in the beverage industry in terms of market share. With operations in over 200 countries and an array of products involving leisure, nutrition, hydration, and sports, the company's brand is among the world's most well-known brands. It, therefore, enjoys a solid and influential brand name globally. In 2011, the company was awarded the Highest Brand Equity Award by Interbrand, highlighting its brand identity and penetration. Another key strength is its global reach. The company has established sustainable distribution channels that enable its wholesale and retail operations in over 200 countries through 250 global bottling partners. Market research suggests that 9 billion servings of the company's products are consumed daily.
Coca-Cola also enjoys extensive customer loyalty and following, as indicated by its social media platforms. On Twitter, for instance, the company's handle (@CocaColaCo has over 1.1 million followers. However, each of its brands has independent handles that attract an impressive following. @CocaCola, for instance, has 3 million followers, while @FantaFun has over 150,000 followers (Amodu, Archibong, & Aririguzoh, 2018). Other platforms used by the company include Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and YouTube. The extensive global outreach enables the company’s marketing activities.
PepsiCo is Coca-Cola’s key competitor in the beverages industry. Like Coca-Cola, the company enjoys an extensive and loyal market base globally. Both companies enjoy a highly diversified portfolio of brands with robust distribution channels, brand identity, and brand loyalty. In terms of marketing, the companies have a robust online presence and sponsor global and local sporting events. The two companies compete on all fronts, from the taste of their key brands (Coca-Cola and Pepsi) to establishing global customer bases. On the other hand, the companies also share similar environmental problems involving packaging. Therefore, by introducing banana packaging, Coca-Cola stands a chance to establish a futuristic competitive advantage over Pepsi. The action will connect Coca-Cola to millions of banana planters globally, establishing a new distribution channel for its products and an enlarged market base, especially in developing nations with banana plantations. The company can also sell its banana leaves packaging designs to wholesalers and retailers globally, further adding to its established brands.
External (Macro) Analysis
Coca-Cola's external e...