Introduction
As part of reading and studying the material in The Conscious Marketer, the most critical thought was to accept that brand sometimes means more than product quality. While this thought is quite challenging to accept, the most important thing is overcoming the barrier that leaves the marketer at the starting point after initial failures. The book is replete with examples that allow you to get emotionally involved in the problem and understand it from the inside rather than being a mere observer (Joseph, 2020). This allowed me to form the view of the brand: product quality is essential in the early stages, and at launch, it must be maintained at all times. However, at some point, the product’s name will already signify quality. The consumer will want to buy a product from that business because it has shown itself more than once to be talented and responsible for its work. A brand is a name, but every company needs to earn that name to become recognizable and help promote its products.
A separate aspect of The Conscious Marketer, which requires highlighting, is the topic of brand consciousness. In this case, brand consciousness is the fundamental characteristic of a brand and its products, which makes the brand recognizable but also responsive to the social needs of consumers. Jim Joseph says that brand consciousness affects the behavior of consumers and stakeholders because it creates social, political, and economic change (Joseph, 2020). It is essential to understand that a brand is something unique, so its change and impact on society should be seen as driving the scientific side of marketing. The consumer will respect a brand if it accepts society’s position on an issue. Brands make a difference in our reality, and it is essential to use them.
Brand Analysis
The Product Line
The study will identify the merits of the Coca-Cola brand and the fundamentals of the company’s success. Coca-Cola is a brand that has been around for over 100 years and has come a long way in shaping the company’s name. Coca-Cola has filled a vast economic niche by offering consumers high-quality products (Xiang, 2022). Although the exact formula of Coca-Cola remains part of the trade secret, there are nevertheless many counterparts to the company’s drinks striving to emulate it. Coca-Cola dominates the soft drink market (Chu, 2020), producing not only Coke but also various versions with syrups: vanilla, cherry, and lime, for example. Coca-Cola’s product line includes sugar-free drinks and various variations – Fanta, Sprite, and Monster – as well as coffee and low-alcohol beverages. As the company grew in the late twentieth century, it decided to expand its line as market conditions and competition with Pepsi forced a shift to new products.
Coca-Cola is now one of the wealthiest soft drink companies. Its logo and the shape of its glass bottles are recognizable, and, according to Jim Joseph’s principles, it has to do with the feeling the drinks create. Joseph talks about how Coke brings joy and makes the consumer happy (Joseph, 2020). He says that the product line’s success is tied to emotion, which is a central theme of the marketing strategy. Coca-Cola products have created a strong emotional connection between the product and the consumer, which is why the drinks are so popular and even have a specific designation, “Coke.” The company’s product line combines a unique syrup technology (presumably from coca leaves) and a beverage that has become familiar to almost everyone globally. The main hallmark of Coca-Cola products is happiness from drinking the beverage, so from a conscious marketing standpoint, the company is doing its job right.
Branding
What makes a brand successful is the quality of the products, the uniqueness of the name, and how the company uses that name. Creating uniqueness is a complex system of values that affects the consumer’s perception, emotions, and the inner world (Xiang, 2022). For Coca-Cola, the brand is not just a name but a gift to the consumer. The Coca-Cola name is a set of feelings and perceptions that customers associate with the company. These include the company’s color scheme: the red colors are easy to remember, and the white letters add up to a clear and resonant word. The Coca-Cola logo has been around almost since the beginning of the company’s history, and the long journey also appeals to audiences. Jim Joseph believes this is because Coke creates a multidisciplinary and multidirectional stream of cultural introductions (Joseph, 2020). It allows the company to infiltrate any country and territory because Coca-Cola will create their ideas of happiness for them.
The Coca-Cola brand is instantly recognizable because of the logo: even opening a tin or glass bottle of Coke reminds the consumer of the drink. It could be argued that Coca-Cola is fully conscious of sensory perception: sounds, colors, and smells will remind one of the drink even if they are not labeled. Consistent use of beverage characteristics has led Coca-Cola to the point where consumers regularly have unobtrusive brand sensory perceptions that point to the beverage’s value – delivering emotion and happiness. The brand is based almost entirely on the sensations the consumer gets when he sees the packaging. Coca-Cola excels at conscious marketing because it builds a two-way dialogue with the consumer and purposefully incorporates the brand into everyday life.
Recommendations for the Brand
Coca-Cola already has an international calling; its brand is recognizable and meets the hallmarks of conscious marketing. The company’s strengths include creating unique, long-lasting marketing strategies that allow consumers to remember the product (Chu, 2020). Coca-Cola has created a reality in which its name is a mark of quality and equals strong positive emotions and a memorable drink taste (Joseph, 2020). However, the company still produces products with a relatively high sugar content that creates a cola taste. The company should not stop the action of reducing the amount of sugar in its products or replacing it with sugar substitutes that will not be detrimental to the consumer. Coca-Cola can make its product healthier and healthier and bring diet drinks to the forefront. Although the company is already moving in this direction, Coca-Cola should remember that it can significantly expand its distribution by “healthifying” its beverages.
Conclusion
The Coca-Cola brand is known worldwide only because of its main product, Coke. Drinks with additives, water, coffee, and low-alcohol beverages have not yet received the same distribution. This is justified not only by consumers’ already established commitment to a particular product but also by the likely reluctance to continue marketing campaigns to unpopular beverages. Coca-Cola should continue on the path of conscious marketing and increasing awareness of the quality and benefits of its other products. For example, the company launched an energy drink not long ago but quickly left the market: it had no memorable advertising or unique qualities. Coca-Cola must overcome the barrier of the progress it has already made and break new ground to give its product line a name.
References
Chu, B. (2020). Analysis on the success of Coca-Cola marketing strategy. Advances in Economic, Business, and Management Research, 155, 96-100. Web.
Joseph, J. (2020). The conscious marketer: Inspiring a deeper and more conscious brand experience. Amplify Publishing.
Xiang, M. (2022). Analysis of Coca-Cola’s company’s marketing model. Journal of Economics, Business and Management, 10(2), 120-123. Web.