Question

Complete the following information about the organization and products and/or services you will focus on as you develop a complete marketing plan throughout the course. You may need to do research to get answers to the questions below. Be sure the organization and offer you select will 1) remain interesting to you for the duration of the course, and 2) have sufficient information available for you to conduct research and make informed recommendations in your marketing plan.

Company Profile

• Company Name: southwest airlines
• Industry:
• Major products and/or services (names, types):
• Products and/or services your marketing plan will focus on:
• Target customers:
• Distribution channel(s):
• Headquarters (city, state, country):
• Year founded:
• Number of employees:
• Annual revenue (estimated)
• Key competitors:
• Link to Web site:
• Link to Yahoo! Finance information page (for public companies):

Market Segmentation and Targeting

• What problem does your product or service solve?
• Describe the total market for your solution: Who are potential customers?
• What are the key segments within this market?
• Identify and briefly describe 1–3 segments that this company serves.
• Which segment does this marketing plan focus on, and why? Why do you believe this segment will offer growth and profit opportunities?

Situation and Company Analysis

Economic Environment

Discuss factors that affect your consumers’ purchasing power and spending patterns. What is the economic environment that you are operating in? Is it growth, recovery or recession? Will it be easy to find staff? What is the current interest rate i.e. is it increasing or decreasing? What is consumer confidence like?

Technical Environment

The technological environment changes rapidly. You need to make sure that you are aware of trends in your industry and other industries could affect your business. New technologies create new markets and can influence you, consumers and competitors. Industry environment What are the trends in your industry? Are there new entrants in the market? Has a substitute product been introduced? Are there changes in industry practices or new benchmarks to use?

Competitive Environment

How many competitors do you have? Who are the key competitors? What are the key selling points or competitive advantages of each one? What is your advantage over competitors? Is the market large enough to support you and competitors?

Political Environment

Consider the political environment for the areas that your business will trade and operate in. Is there a stable political system? Are there any licenses and regulations that you should be aware of? Do you need to win support to be able to operate?

SWOT Analysis

Instruction: Complete the table below with descriptive responses and explanation as you answer the questions below.

Strengths	Weaknesses
Does the organization have a strong brand presence? What resources are available for marketing activities? Does the company have unique products or services that satisfy the needs of its target market? What makes the company’s products or services unique? What value is brought to customers?	Does the organization have a weak brand presence? Are resources insufficient for marketing activities? Does the company lack distinctive products or services? Do current products or services fail to satisfy the needs of customers? Do current products or services fail to bring value to customers?
Opportunities	Threats
What is the unique opportunity that the company is trying to take advantage of? Does the target market have any unfulfilled needs that the company can satisfy? Are there emerging target markets with needs that the company can satisfy? Are there ways the company and its competitors can benefit from working together? Are there opportunities for collaborating with customers to build a brand presence? Describe and analyze if market demand is increasing? Are there changes in the government regulations that will affect the company? Describe any emerging global issues that will affect the company?	What are the tactics that competitors use to pursue customers? What are the strengths of the company’s biggest and or emerging competitors? In what ways are the competitors’ products or services superior to the company’s offerings? How are competitors likely to respond to any changes in the way the company markets? Is the company behind in adopting new technologies for marketing? Describe any ways in which international competitors are taking away market share? What do customers dislike about the company? Describe and analyze if market demand is decreasing?

Mission, Objectives, and Goals

State the mission or business purpose: what the organization wants to achieve, in market-oriented terms. (Example: Disney’s mission could be, “We create happiness by providing the finest in entertainment for people of all ages.)

List 1–3 objectives that move the organization a step closer to achieving the mission. (Example: A Disney objective could be, “To be the most popular theme park for international visitors.”)

Convert objectives into specific marketing goals that are easy to measure and evaluate. (Example: Our goal is to increase the market share of international theme park visitors by 10% in the next two years.”)

Answer 1

COCA-COLA COMPANY

Coca-Cola is a soft drink that is bought and consumed in households, hotels, offices and shops. The product is also a wide brand and the product is sold alongside other soft drinks and snacks.

MISSION STATEMENT: “To refresh the world in mind, body and spirit, to inspire moments of optimism and happiness through our brands and actions and to create value and make difference.”

GOALS

• to satisfy customer needs
• to be the leader in production of soft drinks
• to improve profitability
• to increase the market share
• to expand geographically

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

The has been continuous innovation and this has seen new products being introduced into the market. The use of advertising helps in promotion of the brand and informing consumers about the features of the product. This leads to increased sales because of increase in number of customers.

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS

Coca-Cola is a product that is sold in more than 200 countries across the world. The presence of coca cola has therefore built the drink a brand name, therefore brand equity is Coca-Cola’s strength. “Interbrand in 2011 awarded Coca cola with the highest brand equity award.” with the highest brand equity.” (Marketing91.com, 2014) . The product therefore has a large distribution network because of geographical dispersion. This has increased the market share of the product against that of its competitor, Pepsi. The product is also sold alongside other soft drinks. Customers are loyal to the product. “Because of the good taste of Coca cola, finding substitutes becomes difficult for the customer.” (Marketing91.com, 2014)

WEAKNESSSES

The product has been in the news for not being a healthy product for consumption. Coca-Cola, being a carbonated drink has been attributed to causing obesity. This means that the consumption of the drink may decline as people strive to take healthy drinks that are noncarbonated.

There have been increased lawsuits that have been filed against Coca-Cola show that the company consumes large amounts of water even in water scarce regions. There has been blame that they mix water with pesticides to clear contaminants.

OPPORTUNITIES

The supply chain throughout the Coca-Cola product is improved. This means that the company will be able to reach a wide number of customers and at reduced costs. Developing countries will also continue to buy Coca-Cola products because the countries are moving slowly towards healthy beverages. This higher consumption in developing countries can help capitalize Coca-Cola.

THREATS

There are indirect competitors in the industry such as Starbucks, Café coffee day, Costa coffee who sell coffee which is healthier than carbonated Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola also faces the threat of shortage of water. This is because the main raw material in its manufacture is water, and there have been law suits against the company to the way in which they use water.