Coca Cola employs a highly successful integrated marketing communications approach that includes mass media advertising, direct marketing, and social media marketing. Television, print, and online ads build widespread brand recognition, while exclusive partnerships and mobile marketing create personalized promotions. Coca Cola's social media presence engages over 86 million fans. This highly effective mix of traditional and digital marketing components has generated over $46 billion in annual revenue and positioned Coca Cola as the number one soft drink worldwide.

1. Case Study: Coca Cola Integrated Marketing Communications
This case study examines the Coca Cola IMC approach as described in the Cola War blog
(http://softdrinkcolawar.blogspot.com/). Factors considered will include an examination of
which components are expended in regards to the integrated approach, the comparative
importance of the components, component efficiency, and the overall success of the IMC
approach.
Integrated Components Used
The integrated components used by Coca Cola employed a mass media methodology which
included television advertising, print media and banner ads. The approach utilized a
marketing mix of advertising, direct marketing, as well as Web based interactive and social
media marketing and sales promotion.
Coca Cola advertising has historically been among the most prolific in marketing history. The
various ad campaigns throughout the company’s one hundred twenty nine year history have
often had a major impact on culture and society, including a hit song which received airplay
on popular radio stations in 1971. The logo and bottle designs are immediately recognizable
throughout the world, and are integral to the brand’s image and recognition in the
marketplace (Wikipedia, 2015). In the southern U.S. the beverage is so pervasive that all soft
drinks, typically referred to variously as soda, pop, or soda pop, are called Coke (McConchie,
2015). Coca Cola has repeatedly been ranked as the number one soft drink in the world as a
direct result of their aggressive advertising campaigns, and was even the first soft drink
consumed by astronauts in space (Hartlaub, 2015).
Direct marketing efforts by Coca Cola are myriad. The devices operated incorporate vendor
company partnerships designed for exclusivity, i.e. restaurants and movie theatres only
offering Coke products, eliminating any direct competition. They sponsor sporting events via
use of the company, e.g. baseball fields, again offering attendant consumers the brand’s

2. products solely. This allows for one-to-one sales to important clients in especially reserved
seating areas. Mobile marketing endeavors send out text messages in an attempt to
personalize promotions, and viral marketing exertions rely heavily on word-of-mouth
communication from brand loyalists (Wilkin, 2009).
Web based and social media marketing campaigns constitute industry benchmarks. Because
the brand is so universally recognized throughout the world, little if any audience building is
necessary. Fans number over eighty six million across social media channels engaged by the
brand. Differing tactics are provided on individual social networking sites, yet a consistently
unified message is upheld. Crowd-sourced content as well as direct engagement are
hallmarks of Coca Cola’s social media marketing (Shively, 2014). Web based interactive
marketing is focused on design and functionality, relying on banners, video and public
relations. New products, online games, and social, cultural and sporting events are the focus
of the Coca Cola Website content (Darakeva, 2013). Coca Cola’s commitment to a campaign
of audience engagement throughout their online marketing crusades is well recognized.
Sales promotion for Coca Cola is aimed at two strategies, retail and food service. Retail
efforts are directed toward company partnerships, direct store delivery and point-of-sale
(POS) techniques. Reliance on exclusive company partnerships wherein restaurants only
offer Coke products eliminates competition. Direct store delivery is a crucial link in the value
chain, and offers mobile advertising with bright red delivery trucks emblazoned with the
brand logo. POS displays include brand specific coolers for in-store sales along with vending
machines which carry Coke products. Food service activities emphasize Coke products in
food pairings, menu optimization, and specialty beverages. Meals comprised of convenience
foods such as hamburgers, hot dogs, French fries, etc., are often supplemented by the
suggestion of Coke products for accompaniment. Such foods may be combined with Coca
Cola brand drinks for menu optimization, which may include specialty beverages such as
Diet Coke, Cherry Coke, and others (CokeSolutions, 2014).
Comparative Importance of the Components

3. A comparison of the relative importance of the Coca Cola IMC components reveals a
marketing communications mix which is iconic. So much of the brand image is immediately
recognizable, right down to the bright red and white lettering of the names Coke and Coca
Cola. This imagery is carried out globally, and is so established and acclaimed world-wide
that even in languages that may not be familiar in local markets are readily known by
consumers (Wikipedia, 2015). Multi-lingual ad use was in fact the case during the recent
airing of the NFL Super Bowl Championship, in which the use of English, Spanish, Tagalog,
Hebrew, Hindi, Keres, and Senegalese-French languages were incorporated along with the
song America the Beautiful (Indian Country Today Media Network, 2015).
The Coca Cola IMC messaging has established a longing for the product that supersedes the
desire for that typically associated with a drink to quench one’s thirst (Dudovskiy, 2015). The
rank and positioning of the elements used as part of the integrated marketing approach cannot
therefore be overstated. The resultant international presence of Coca Cola is a direct
outgrowth of the marriage of the advertising, direct marketing, as well as Web based
interactive and social media marketing and sales promotion efforts that have been included
over the years in their IMC endeavors. Coca Cola has established itself as a player on the
large-scale stage as a direct outcome secondary to the comparative importance of the
components of the integrated marketing communications mix.
Component Efficiency
The efficiency of the combined IMC elements has proven to be quite lucrative. Revenue has
recently been listed at forty six billion USD, with a profit margin of 15.43% and a book value
per share of six dollars and ninety five cents USD (Yahoo! Finance, 2015). Annual sales in
excess of forty six billion USD and a ranking of #4 of the World’s Most Valuable Brands
place Coca Cola squarely on the global market. The company, which was incorporated on
September 5, 1919, now carries over five hundred different beverages which are marketed on
six continents (Forbes, 2014).

4. The competence of the combined components used in the Coca Cola integrated marketing
communications exemplifies the excellence that can be achieved by a single brand. The
achievement can further be evaluated by examination of media metrics such as advertising
equivalency, the sum total audience which has been attained through particular media outlets,
statistical figures of journalists hosted, number of articles published etc. In terms of market
share benchmarks, Coca Cola is promoting and selling its products in over two hundred
countries, and employs almost one hundred forty thousand associates, lending credence to the
consideration of the company as a market leader in the majority of these marketplaces.
Assessment of unique Website visitors, length of visit, search engine results (both free and
paid) numbering in the billions on both Google and Bing as well as others offer insight to the
combined component efficacy (Dudovskiy, 2015).
Overall Success of the IMC Approach
An effective integrated marketing communications approach that is deployed and maintained
is an essential modern business requirement (Perner, 2008). In terms of successful outcome,
Coca Cola’s IMC approach has set a standard that offers a point of reference of desired
triumph that is enviable across the industrial landscape. Record-setting sales and revenues,
brand visibility and recognition and positioning on the global market are indicative of the
Herculean levels of accomplishment achieved by the company. Coca Cola products are
consumed world-wide as a direct result of retail and in-store marketing efforts which are
meticulously detailed. In the almost one hundred thirty years of business practice in the soft
drink trade, Coke has risen to the top of the industrial food chain.
The elements which are expended in regards to the integrated approach, the comparative
importance of the components, component efficiency, and the overall success of the IMC
approach have combined to create a sensation that customers have warmly embraced. As long
as this integrated marketing communications strategy is utilized there is no doubt that Coca
Cola will continue to be a market leader that is universally recognized.