Description: For years, Coca-Cola has told us that so many parts of life “go better” with the iconic soft drink. You can now add social media to the list as well.
Source: www.usatoday.com/
Date: Nov 8, 2011
Advertising Age this week named Coke its “Marketer of the Year,” citing it as an example of how small and midsize brands also “can use creative stunts and strategic partnerships to get a lot done on a smaller budget.”
On Facebook, Coca-Cola has received more than 35 million “likes,” and Wendy Clark, Coke’s senior vice president of integrated marketing who oversees the social-media effort, says having all those fans respond to Coke is meaningful.
“Fans are twice as likely to consume and 10 times more likely to purchase than non-fans,” she says, in an interview at Coke headquarters here. READ REST OF STORY
Questions for discussion:
- Why is Coke #1 in social media marketing?
2. Can Coke’s social media strategy be copied by most other organizations?
Sydney D
One reason why coke is so popular is because they have designed their supply chain management (SCM) system to accommodate every part of the world. They distribute in many different ways so that parts of third world countries have access to their products. While doing this they also keep their product consistent and in line with the brand.
One thing Coke does is pay attention to their customers and in this case their facebook fans. They are using facebook to their advantage by looking a feedback and comments in real time. This is quite different from television advertising or bulletins in the sense that they can take reports on how many people like coke with a single click of their mouse. Instead of waiting on reports to see how many people saw the commercial compared to how much coke was sold in that period that the commercial ran. I think this would be a step forward for any business as long as they care what their fans think and take in to consideration what they want.
Enoch Dugbatey
Coke is being there for a very long time and they have a strong fan base and they connect to their fans more. But 35 million likes on facebook doesnt necessarily mean that all of the fans buy. Other organizations like charities can make good use of coke’s strategy. If they connect with people on social networks they can attract more of the youthful population.
Kristen Schalin
Coke is number 1 in the social media marketing because it allows its fans to originate the page and it pretty much allows the fans to run the page. They can comment almost anything they want “whether members enthuse about their love of Coke and its products or blast the company”. All posts stay up the Coke allows the fans to curate the conversation, as long as they are appropriate posts. One of their key marketing strategies is to communicate with their fans, build apps, and have contests for them. Coke stays in communication with their fans, allows their voices to be heard. Being this in touch with their fans allows them to reach # 1 in the social media. This not only makes their fans feel connected but also benefits Coke. They are able to measure their marketing strategies in real time rather than waiting for data to come back and be analyzed.
I believe Coke’s social media strategy can be copied by most other organizations. Any company can benefit of having real time statistics regarding their consumers. Being more involved and being able to communicate and let the customers voice their opinions will always benefit a company. When consumers speak if organizations listen and capitalize on their opinions it will only benefit the outcome of their organization.
Kristin Schneider
Coke is number one in social media marketing thanks to its user generated content. Coke has a massive brand outreach and visibility. Coke has an aggressive social networking marketing campaign that seems more like a story then an advertisement. Coke does this by using what they call “engagement marketing”. This form of marketing directly engages the consumers and invites and encourages them to participate in the evolution of the brand. Coke believes that consumers should be actively involved in the production and creation of the marketing. This develops a relationship between the brand and the consumer. The Coke campaign features user-generated content, encouraging followers to share the content through other social networking sites. Coke offers things like blogs asking the consumers to help shape the future of their products. These sorts of things lead to a deeper relationship between the company and its consumers. This relationship drives the word-of-mouth marketing. From this example, it is clear that social interaction must remain a key aspect of marketing and communication efforts for a long time to come. There are four truths when it comes to Coke’s social media; They don’t own their brands – your fans find you, -Every day is election day – woo the audience constantly, -Fish where the fish are – be where you should be, Success – revolves around genuine and compelling content.
megane
Social networks are located throughout the world (or has Internet networks available) with twitter or facebook or my space. It is becoming increasingly preventable in our daily and has become an important tool to use for marketers. Web marketing has become a trade, how to manage the information is not easy, it is essential to control the image of the mark on the web. Currently, the investment is redirected to virtual technologies.Marketing social media is an integral element of corporate strategy in the next decade as it seeks to double its sells. Coca Cola has operated this way and become one of the most popular brands on Facebook. Know what the fans think of the brand and significant decisions in the future of the brand.
I think Coke is going to be copied by several other competitors or other organizations because the current trend is to focus on new marketing technologies. It seems to me essential to a firm part of the area of the time if it wishes to remain competitive. I think Coke is a perfect example to follow because it is full of energy and innovation.
Brad Zhang
Coke Cola has some characters to put itself to the place of nuber one in the social media. The first is its univrsality. In now days, Coke is delievered to every coner in the world. It is cheap to buy, it is easy to deliver, and it does not need any other support during consumption. It is just a drink, tasty drink that every body want to drink and easily get. The second reason is Coke’s great market strategy. Coke makes its commercials every where just like its products. So Coke creates an atmosphere of Coke that makes consumers cannot reject to buy it. There are toys, keys, shirts, shoes, even planes with Coke Cola. So Coke makes its symble to be a mark of mdern world. The third reason is Coke’s interactive with cutomers. Coke’s customers are not just simplely buy and drink coke, they can join some activities that coke holds. And Coke makes its customers happy to be apart of its culture.
I think Coke’s strategy can be copied by thers but can hardly be success. Because it is hard to find a product as faous and as simple as Coke. For example, if Apple use the same strategy, it may have a good reaction in North America and Europe. People in other parts of the world may not able to afford Apple’s devices. Also Apple’s devices rely on Internet, Phone Cell Service, and repair service. These are barriers that companies like Apple have to face. Compare with Coke, Starbucks may be able to copy the strategy, but coffee is not as famous as coke on this planet, and its more expensive than coke.
Jian Li
Social media is popular in these years, individuals, celebrities, profit or non-profit organizations are all the users for different types of social media. For a business, social media brings many advantages, having a steady follower by following its page; it is more effective than the traditional way of advertising, and also providing a more direct way to communicate with the customers. Coke publicizes its product by using the most famous celebrities for its spokesperson and unique advertising creative ideas. It sponsors the big event which draws the attention to a large amount of people. It also builds customers loyalty and enlarges its market all over the world.
Coke is a good example of business. It is not hard to copy Coke’s strategy of promotion, but it is not easy to have the same results as Coke. The reason is that Coke has large intangible value which needs a long period to build. It is similar to any other world-wide famous brand since is well-known, widely accepted by the customers as well as having a big group of fans who is loyal to the brand and product. After having a good and deep impression for people, the brand itself can be attractive and make the brand promotion more effective.