case study

Case Study

Brand building is now an indispensable strategy for any company that tries to grab a market share larger than competitors ' some time in the future . Consumers have so many choices now that shopping can become overwhelming unless they use trusted brand names as touchstones (Khermouch 2001 . The company that has a strong brand often has an advantage over competitors even if their production if more cost-efficient and their relationship between quality and price more attractive - consumers may simply never find this out if they are using only famous brands p

In this sense Coca Cola certainly has an advantage over other companies After years of careful brand building , it is one of the most powerful global brands . In 2001 , for instance , Business Week together with Interbrand Corporation Ltd . ranked it the most powerful global brand (Khermouch 2001 . The authors , however , note that this definition refers in the first place to the name of Coke , not Fanta or Sprite

Global brands are those that are perceived to reflect the same set of values around the world (Chevron 1995 . In this sense Coca Cola does not seem to do a good job of its marketing campaign since its image will now take a plunge in Britain . The British are going to perceive Coca Cola as delivering poor value - instead of offering healthy water , it is selling stuff full of bromate that provokes cancer . Although this message was not planned by the company , since Coke itself admitted that their `pure ' water poses a serious risk to health , this is now a part of their marketing communications and will be impressed on consumers minds . It is difficult for Coke to maintain consistency in its PR around the world since each individual market is different and is subject to different twists . However , it is also good for Coke that their image did not suffer in all nations at a time . Thus , being seen as a producer of harmful stuff in the UK , Coca Cola can still enjoy popularity , for instance , with the US consumers

In terms of brand positioning , Coca Cola is probably seeing its Dasani water at the mid range of the market for bottled water . They are probably not targeting the poor since they can easily replace bottled with tap water with , as is seen from the case , little harm to their health and great savings for their purse . Instead , producers of bottled water target the middle class , people with some spare cash who can make `lifestyle choices , choosing bottled water over the water flowing from their taps . By presenting bottled water on the market , manufacturers , in my opinion , created a need rather than satisfied an existing one

The main issue for Coke in this case is the image of the socially responsible company . Here one can argue about the effect of the withdrawal resulting from discovery of bromate in water on the company image . On the one hand , Coke was found to be producing something that could potentially harm the health...