Today,  the Coca Cola company is the biggest non alcoholic beverage company of the world, boasting  more than 500 brands in over 200 countries. Its success can be attributed to many factors but in particular, I would be looking at its marketing growth strategies.

Out of the 4 main growth strategies, the Coca-Cola Company is seen to implement product development to a huge extent. In this aspect, I would refer to Jeudi’s blog (external marketing blog) which has elaborated on this point. The blog states that Diet-Coke and Coke-Zero has been introduced to the same market to relatively more health conscious consumers. This is a very useful strategy as consumers who might enjoy their beverages might become fearful of its health repercussions, or get bored of it after a while. Thus, by re-inventing its taste, it can continue to cater to these group of consumers.

Secondly, the brand loyalty that its consumers have with the company would encourage them to consume these new products. The blog also mentioned that the new products have been created to keep up with the switching and changing trends of its consumers. Although the blog did not specify how Coca-Cola did so, this strategy can be seen in the rapidly rising number of beverage varieties. This has been done through acquisitions of other brands. As seen below, Glaceau, Powerade, Nestea, Fruitopia and Dasani are just

some of the brands that the Coca-Cola company introduced in the past 20 years. Hence, a larger variety of products for the consumers have helped Coca-Cola to boost its brand awareness and value. Although this strategy only targets the current market of Coca-Cola, this market is in fact extremely large both domestically and internationally.

In conclusion, it can be seen that Jeudi has made some very relevant points on Coca-Cola’s product development strategies. These strategies have been immensely successful and have contributed to the success of Coca-Cola to a significant extent.

New Balance is an American footwear manufacturing company which focuses mainly on high performance athletic shoes. Recently, New Balance shoes have become increasingly popular among consumers, probably due to the success of its marketing strategies. In particular, I would analyze its segmentation, targeting and positioning strategies as they have proved very effective in the global market.

New Balance’s segmentation of the market is one that is diverse and increasingly specific. Of course, demographic segmentation is one of the basic forms of segmentation, where it divides its male and female consumers, as well as the youths and adults. However, it goes the extra mile by segmenting its consumers based on their feet structure (high arch, neutral arch or flatfoot) and this has targeted to the consumer’s specific needs effectively. Besides, it has also identified a new and upcoming market which is the shoe-wear of the youths. Hence, it came up with an alternative line of shoes, not designed for running but mainly for casual wear. This new array is known as the New Balance classics:

Furthermore, the New Balance Classics provided the spark for the company do target a new segment of the market: young children. It began to manufacture shoes which are not only comfortable for toddlers, but stylish as well. Hence, it began to branch out to consumers who do not wear the shoes for running purposes.

Currently, New Balance positions itself as a shoe brand which is of superior quality for running. It seeks to convince running enthusiasts that their shoes have the functional capability to meet their needs. With this, many runners are switching over to New Balance to maximize their running performance. Thus, by first positioning itself as a quality brand for running, New Balance then segments and targets the needs of the various groups of consumers, it is of no doubt that their sales and market share have the potential to grow substantially.