Coca-Cola is the market leader in the soft drink industry. It is also the most widely recognized brand, with a Business Insider study revealing that a staggering 94% of the world population recognizes the red and white logo. However, Coca-Cola faces significant challenges with increasingly health-conscious consumers and less access to water resources.
This SWOT analysis will detail how the company might navigate this uncertain future.
Strengths
- High brand equity – in a market dominated by products that look largely the same, Coca-Cola enjoys high brand equity. In 2011, it won Interbrand’s highest brand equity award. More recently, it won the 2019 Effie Index award for the most effective global brand.
- Global presence – the Coca-Cola Company has either a product or manufacturing presence in most of the world’s 196 countries. It is the most widely distributed North American product, eclipsing the likes of McDonald’s and Subway.
- Economies of scale – of the 60 billion beverages served worldwide every day, Coca-Cola serves 3.2% or 1.9 billion of them. This allows the company to spread its costs over billions of servings across hundreds of brands, making each drink extremely cheap to produce.
- Diversified product portfolio – while many associate Coca-Cola with soft drink, the company also owns and distributes over 500 different beverages in markets such as bottled water, fruit juice, sports drinks, and tea and coffee.
Weaknesses
- Competition – as successful as Coca-Cola has been, PepsiCo enjoys a similar market share and brand equity. The two companies have been involved in several acrimonious disputes over the years, resulting in negative press and a decrease in brand equity for each.
- Soft-drink reliance – although highly diversified, Coca-Cola still relies on soft drinks to drive most of its sales. In fact, sales of “Coke” accounted for 78% of total revenue. This reliance may drive profits down as consumers shift to healthier beverages.
- Water management – beverage-centric companies such as Coca-Cola are heavily reliant on water as the main ingredient in their products. Water security and water quality are contentious issues, particularly in the third world. Thus, the company may face challenges in securing enough water to meet demand.
Opportunities
- Diversification – with a clear shift away from carbonated drinks, Cola-Cola needs to diversify to maintain revenue. The company has invested heavily in Keurig Green Mountain, a coffee brand, and energy drink Monster. Developing countries with a need for clean drinking water as well as tea and coffee also represent an opportunity for Coca-Cola to diversify.
- Supply chain improvement – as a global brand, Coca-Cola’s supply chain is subject to increased transportation and distribution costs. The company has the opportunity to leverage existing soft drink networks to instead move products with a higher profit margin.
- Sustainability – as one of the largest manufactures of beverages, Coca-Cola has to accept some responsibility for the pollution arising from single-use plastics. There is scope for Coca-Cola to position themselves as environmentally friendly with innovative, recyclable packaging.
Threats
- Competition – as Coca-Cola focuses on distribution and brand visibility, its main competitor PepsiCo is prioritizing an eCommerce presence with a focus on premium products. There is the potential that Coca-Cola has a competitive disadvantage as consumer buying preferences change.
- Regulation – healthcare professionals are becoming more vocal about the dangers of sugar-laden drinks and their potential to cause diabetes and heart disease. This, in turn, has led to discussions in government about the introduction of sugar taxes on the soft drinks which are a staple of Coca-Cola’s product range.
- Modernization – because of Coca-Cola’s global footprint, they are more susceptible to economic changes in developing countries. In such countries, employees are demanding higher rates of pay as others leave to chase better pay elsewhere. This leaves Coca-Cola understaffed and vulnerable to productivity loss. To some extent, Coca-Cola is also reliant on favorable exchange rates and the cheap and plentiful supply of raw materials to make a profit.
Coca-Cola’s real secret formula? Distribution!




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