Warketing

College : IMT- Ghaziabad

Objective
“Over the past few years, tensions between India and its neighbours have been at an all
time high. Consider a hypothetical extension of this – Due to repeated terrorist attacks on
all fronts, the situation is fast approaching a critical point. The entire country is on high alert,
and the spectre of war looms on the horizon. In this context, an emergency has been
declared, and several legislative changes have been initiated which have resulted in a warlike
hysteria sweeping the nation. Industries, corporations, and of course marketers have to
adapt to this new world order – and exploit these conditions to extract as much profit as
possible.”
The objective here is to maximise sales and profits by using the prevalent conditions to your
advantage.

Target Group: Urban middle-class population in Indian metros.

a write-up outlining the marketing strategy for the chosen product (Teams will have to choose
any existing company already involved in the selected product and operating in India).
Write up must include the following –
1. Positioning of the product
2. Environmental analysis, and a strategy to react to changes
brought about by the onset of war (which is highly likely in the
given scenario)
3. Communication mix
Product: Coke in Beverage Category

Rationale behind the promotions during war time :

“We should not forget that people still have needs to fulfill. They are still going to buy products
and services from someone while our country is at war or at peace. The point is one should not
let go of its plan to grow company’s bottom line while our soldiers are on the front line”

Positioning Of The Product:

o Currently, coke is positioned as a drink the friends and family share during festivals and
functions to spread the joy. Coke – “Little drops of Joy”

o This image can be changed slightly to promote Coke as a drink which the Nation can share.
This will enable Coke to be associated with nationalistic feelings and will reduce the
perception of it being a foreign product. Coke’s brand ambassadors Rajvardhan Singh
Rathore (Olympic silver medallist and First officer in Indian Army) , Aamir Khan , Gautam
Gambhir who all are National icons in their fields will help Coke to get associated with
nationalistic feelings.

o In its advertisements Coke will use a new tag line that promotes the Unity of the nation -
“Cherishing the Spirit of India !! ”

o To associate Coke with India’s National spirit further by introducing campaigns such as –
§ “Serve The Nation “ Campaign: In this war like situation, Coke will try to serve the
country by contributing part of its sales to the Government Of India , made by selling
every bottle of Coke during this war like situation or any future worse situation.
Company will request Government Of India to use contribution for the benefits of Indian
Soldiers and their families.
o Consumers typically choose products and services that give them the greatest value.
Additional value which Coke will provide to its customers will not only be the refreshment
in stressful environment but also the satisfaction of performing duty of serving the Nation
through indirect means (Coke’s “Serve The Nation “ Campaign ).
“In this world of tension, enjoy some Moments of peace- Have Coke!!”

o This repositioning of Coke from that of a drink for Occasions to one that gives some
moments of peace and satisfaction (with its “Serve The Nation” campaign association) would
help Coke to associate with people in a better way when Nationalist feelings are running high
in country.

Environmental Analysis
Business environment can be studied using PEST analysis.

Political and Legal Environment –

• Uncertain Political environment. Passing of the emergency act restricts the resources
available for a company – in terms of Human and raw materials. This will impact Coca –
Cola Negatively

Social Environment –

• Increased Fear of War and Terror attack and Nationalistic emotions. The patriotic
aspect of the people becomes more important than many other factors like convenience or
price. This will impact the marketing strategies .
• Social interactions reduce. Currently Coke is positioned as drink to share joy during
occasions. This would impact Coke usage because there will be lesser occasions for
celebrations.
 • Increasing worries and stress levels among the public. With all the talk of war going
around, people’s emotions will be stressed and there will be confusion in the minds of the
general public.

Economic Environment –

• Decreased spending - With the spectre of war looming, the factor of risk and fear of
unemployment increases and people start to save money. Decreased spending can affect
Coke.
• Possible increased taxes for non essential items. Coke will fall under this purview and
this can get affected severely.
• Lesser availability of resources – With more resources being allocated for potential
war, the resources needed by Coke would be restricted.
• Limited financial availability – The impact would be less on Coke because of its huge
Global presence it can obtain finances from outside.

Technological Environment –

• Internet :– Internet is very important communication medium in tech savvy metro cities.
With close to 100% reach to target group of Urban Middle class in Metro cities, Internet
can act a substitute for TV as a Information source. Coke should have strategy to
effectively use Internet for communication.
Marketing Strategies
• Reason for continuing marketing is not only to increase sales and profits but also to
strengthen brand. Because an interesting statistic is that brands that continued to advertise
throughout the Second World War eventually became the market leaders in their field
when the war was over.

• Coke will continue to promote with its Brand Ambassador Rajvardhan Singh Rathore,
Aamir Khan and Gautam Gambhir. This will help Coke to connect with people in a better
way. Coke will have to work out a creative advertising campaign with its advertising
agency to show Rajvardhan Singh Rathore in advertising campaign because as being a
First officer in Indian Army, he may not available during this situation for advertising.

• At least at the beginning of this conflict – Coke will focus on shorter lead time campaigns
that will enable Coke to make (and change) decisions on a day-to-day, hour-to-hour
basis. Coke will probably make decisions about long-term campaigns after the initial
shock of war has subsided and nation has a better indication of its own immediate future
pertaining to involvement in War.

• Coke plans to institute a temporary internal review board. That review board would read
exclusively for sensitivity issues in Ad campaigns during this war like situation that
might have been overlooked in the day-to-day grind.

• Given the economical situation and fear of possible unemployment among people there
can be a tendency among people reducing spending on non essentials.
o Re - Introduce the smaller size bottles of Coke that was earlier being sold for Rs
5. This will give the users a cheaper option to go for.
Communication Mix
For Coke, communication mix is a way of conveying company’s Value message of serving the
nation to its customers.

Advertising

Sales Direct
Promotion Markting

Public Personal
Relations Selling

Figure: Communication Mix

For Target group of Urban Middle – class population Coke will use Communication mix in
following way-

Advertising

Coke will use television, radio and even online advertising as well as traditional advertising
channels of newspapers and magazines, billboards as a communication medium.

New Coke ads will be centered around “Serve The Nation” Campaign and they will feature
Aamir Khan, Gautam Gambhir and people of different regions, communities and occupations.
Ads will be broadcasted on TV, radio and also on internet. Advertisements will try to convey
Coke’s ‘refreshment with satisfaction’ value add to customers.

Usually Coke ads have lesser focus on news channels than entertainment channels but
considering war like situation both types of channels will be given equal attention.
Paying attention to online marketing plan can be more critical during wartime. Considering out
target group, people will tend to go online to escape the news hype on TV and radio. Investing in
web presence, key word search placement and developing an online advertisements can be good
priorities for company.

Billboards at prime locations in Metros can also be attractive communication channels to

advertise with slogans like “Cherishing the Spirit of India !!” , “In this world of tension, enjoy
some Moments of peace- Have Coke”.

Direct Marketing

Telemarketing, e-mail spamming and junk mail are universally despised and so Direct Marketing
tools will be used with thought and caution during such stressful situations of warlike hysteria.

Coke will only make use of television infomercials. A special informatory advertisement will be
broadcasted featuring Brand Ambassador Aamir Khan, explaining people about Coke’s “Serve
The Nation “ Campaign and how will it benefit Indian soldiers.

Personal Selling

Coke will not concentrate more in this communication channel as it does not see beneficial
return on investment in this communication channel.

Public Relations

Press release will be given in leading local as well as English news papers about Coke’s “Serve
The Nation” Campaign. Communicating developments about Campaign to customers in a clear
and timely manner will be essential. Coke will create a section on the home page of company
Web site, which can be quickly and easily updated, to publicize developments that impact its
customers. Weekly report showing financial information about Coke’s contribution through
“Serve The Nation” Campaign will be published in newspapers and also on home page of
company web site. Company web site will also include FAQs sections which will try to answer
the general questions, people may have about “Serve The Nation” Campaign.

Sales Promotion

Sales promotion will be based on “Serve The Nation” Campaign. Posters of Coke’s brand
ambassador Raj Vardhan Singh
Rathore as well as Aamir Khan and
Gautam Gambhir with slogan
“Cherishing the Spirit of India” will be
put up in retail outlets, vendors place
and every other place where coke is
being sold.

This will act as that final

push/encouragement to buy Coke.

Conclusion:
Such Marketing strategy will help Coca cola to use warlike hysteria to its advantage by
increasing its sales and profits but also projecting itself as a socially responsible company.