The Concept and Process of Marketing (Coca-Cola case) Essay

The Concept and Process of Marketing (Coca-Cola case) - Essay Example Marketing can also be defined as a process through organization creates effective channels of exchanging of goods and services with their customers, through coordination of the four P’s of marketing, which are product, price, place and promotion. Marketing therefore involves identifying a product that can satisfy a given consumer need, determination of its price, determination of an effective distribution channel for the product to reach the customer, and finally designing ways to inform the potential consumers about the product (Wysong and Flores, 2008, p.54). 1.2 Consumers Needs and Wants Consumers are motivated to buy goods and services by their specific wants and needs, a consumers needs are those items that every person requires for survivor such as clothes, food and shelters. The consumer’s wants refers to those items that a person would consider buying after fulfilling his or her needs, which may include a car, going for holiday among others. However, a want can easily translate into a need when a person desperately wants an item. However, Hartline and Ferrell (2010, p.184) warns that referring to needs as necessities is simplistic since the definition of a need is subjective. Therefore, in this respect, a need occurs when a consumer’s level of satisfaction is below the desired level while a want is a desire of a given product to cater for a need (Hartline and Ferrell, 2010, p.184). As stated earlier, a consumer will buy goods and services primarily to satisfy his or her wants and needs. Therefore, it is prudent for a business to understand the needs, which can be satisfied by its products. As Hartline and Ferrell...For instance, Coca-Cola has in the past used their bottles to conduct a lottery, whereby a faithful customer who manages to collect specific winning bottle tops gets the reward. 2.37 Consumer profitability. Companies undergo various costs in the process of advertising, consumer relations, and in the process of trying to increase their sales. Consumer profitability is the difference between the revenue that a company gets customers, and the cost they incur to get those customers (Raaij and Eric 2002, p 1). Coca- Cola Company should do the cost benefit analysis, in order to ensure that revenue incurred in the customer relation process is more than the costs incurred, and that such difference is significant. 2.38 Narrow marketing focus Narrow marketing involves a product with fluctuating prices in the market, which is usually as a result of change in demand or supply. A narrow marketing strategy involves a company not putting efforts to win new customers. The cost of narrow marketing focus is low sales, fluctuation in product demand. Coca–Cola Company can avoid this pitfall through adopting strategies to get new customers and using good customer relations to retain existing customers.