Coca-Cola has been one of the most successful marketers for its products that the world has ever seen. Presenting their product (with a much stronger formula) over a century ago as a beverage with medicinal qualities, the marketing and sales tactics of this company have adapted to the changing times over the past many decades with a great deal of success. An examination of some of the company's marketing techniques reveals why the company is so successful.
One of the biggest innovations consciously developed by the Coca-Cola company was the design of its contoured bottle, which set the soft drink immediately and distinctive apart from all of its competitors. This did not address the issue of the initial need for the product, which much of Coca-Cola's past and present advertising is geared towards, but rather assisted the consumer -- and the company -- in the information gathering and alternative-examining phases of the marketing process (Brown 1996). When searching for a single product amidst a plethora of highly similar choices, any piece of differentiating information can be an advantage. By making the very bottle in which the drink is delivered stand out, and then by aggressively marketing the product tying the Coca-Cola brand and quality to the easily recognized and identified shape of the bottle, Coca-Cola was providing consumers with a very definite and concrete piece of information that could be utilized in an analysis of alternatives. Other marketing techniques, such as heavy product placement tying Coca-Cola to certain celebrities and making it ubiquitous with American culture, provide more subtle and indirect information that nonetheless has a profound effect on consumer choice.
Coca-Cola's successes are sharply contrasted by the less successful efforts of other companies. Even a related and still largely successful product like Dr. Pepper can be used as an example to demonstrate an instance of weak marketing skills and techniques. Though this soft drink also sells fairly well and has also been around for quite some time, it does not sell...
Marketing can be seen as a major factor in this situation.
Dr. Pepper does engage in advertising, of course, and in some ways these efforts can be considered fairly successful -- they promote the taste and "refreshing" quality of the product being sold, providing consumers with some information about what to expect while drinking a can of Dr. Pepper. These marketing efforts do not provide a great deal of information that differentiates the product from others in the wide array of soft drinks that are available to consumers. Given the unique nature of Dr. Pepper's taste when compared to other soft drinks (even when compared to Coca-Cola's competing brand, Mr. Pibb), the failure of the company's marketing efforts in establishing this differentiation and making consumers aware of the necessary information can be seen as a major reason fro the company's reduced market share in the face of much fiercer and more effective competition. Dr. Pepper's advertising efforts promote the drink as a vaguely exciting diversion, but they do not crate a real need for the product nor do they suggest real and concrete ways in which Dr. Pepper can be seen as different from and better than other soft drinks.
Conclusion
Of all the many factors that influence consumers during the decision making process, it is the available information regarding different products and services that is most essential. Much of this information comes in the form of marketing, which companies produce in an attempt to convince consumers to choose their product or service, Many other types of information are also important, but companies have little control over these.
References
Brown, a. (1996). "Consumer behavior." Accessed 8 June 2010. http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~renglish/370/notes/chapt05/index.htm
Geoffs, J. (2010). "Buyer behavior." Accessed 8 June 2010. http://tutor2u.net/business/marketing/buying_decision_process.asp
Kerin, R.; Hartley, S. & Rudelius, W. (2008). Marketing. New York: McGraw-Hill.
