A blog post in response to Daryl Chan‘s post on October 31, 2013.

The marketing blog of Daryl Chan perfectly highlighted the product development strategies implemented by Coca-Cola from an external marketing blog. As consumers are becoming more health-conscious by carefully monitoring their diet, Coca-Cola took into account of this social trend and developed many new products to satisfy this growing market segment. This social trend includes avoiding high sugar and calories intake, as well as avoiding unnecessary chemicals by selecting organic products. In order to adapt to these changes, many companies in the food industry have decided to implement different growth strategies, or even alter their existing product mix and product line to successfully cater this group of customers. However, I disagree to the fact that “Out of the 4 main growth strategies, the Coca-Cola Company is seen to implement product development to a huge extent”, but instead a combination between product development and diversification strategies, with some changes in the product breadth and depth.

By looking closely at its previous product mix, Coca-Cola products are targeted and positioned very similarly. Since the image Coca-Cola’s products are portrayed to be unhealthy, there are groups of health-conscious customers who were unsatisfied by the existing products offered by Coca-Cola. Adding healthier alternatives to its product line, such as low-calorie beverages like Coke Zero, or even a completely new product line of non-soda beverages including Dasani bottled water and Minute Maid, Coca-Cola successfully captured more customers from both existing and new customers. As Coca-Cola offers new products to its current and new target market, it can be concluded that Coca-Cola mainly employs in both product development and diversification strategies.

However, it can be seen that Daryl has made many interesting and relevant points on Coca-Cola’s product development strategies, branding, and values. These factors have contributed to the success of Coca-Cola, making it the biggest non alcoholic beverage company of the world, with more than 500 brands in over 200 countries.