Consumers and Marketing
Marketing is an integral part of a business because it facilitates the route to consumers. Understanding consumers is a fundamental aspect of advertising to have a pre-determined target audience. Competitive advertising relies on matching consumer traits to the utility drawn for the product or service being advertised. Consumers make decisions based on tastes, preferences, and purchasing power; a great advertisement will effectively target a specific consumer base, which makes the understanding of the five conceptions of a consumer (Bhasin, 2020). This paper looks at the perspective of a chief marketing officer and how they can effectively market a product with an understanding of factors such as ethics and utilization of the five conceptions of a consumer.
Product Selection and Its Typical Consumer
For this assignment, the Coca-Cola brand of Coke Soda is used. Coke is a popular soft drink globally and is available in the majority of countries (“Brands & Products | The Coca-Cola Company,” 2020). Typical consumers of the beverage cut across different demographics. The product is relatively affordable, with prices as low as $ 2 for one liter of Coke soda (“Brands & Products | The Coca-Cola Company,” 2020). The product is considered a refreshment by consumers and will be typically be consumed to quench thirst, consumed with meals, and consumed as a treat in developing countries. Having a broad consumer base, marketing Coke gets hectic because of the need to reach diverse audiences such as children above the age of 5, teenagers, middle-aged consumers, and elderly consumers above the age of 65 (Bhasin, 2020). Coca-Cola has to employ diverse marketing techniques and tools to ensure that it captures a significant market share.
Consumer Purchase Decision
Purchasing Coke can be done based on the capable conception of a consumer, and this is a consumer who has experienced the product. Such a consumer had taken a Coke before or has seen someone consuming or a Coke or has had someone narrate the experience of taking a Coke. The capable consumer will purposely go for a Coke based on their perception of the product. Marketing to a capable consumer is simpler because it’s mainly about brand visibility; seeing a picture of a Coke bottle of Soda on a billboard can be sufficient in rejuvenating a capable consumer’s desire to buy the product.
Going by the distinctive, unique taste of Coca-Cola’s Coke, other soft beverage companies have a Coke or Cola brand to compete with Coca-Cola’s Coke. Customers who have tried the competitor brands and failed to draw the same utility as Coca-Cola’s Coke will fall under the Renegade conception of consumers. It implies that such a customer will purpose to consume Coca-Cola’s Coke simply because they are of the perception that other brands have inferior quality. Marketing to such a consumer simply calls for brand visibility. They need to see the brand to know that it still exists continually; this will excite a renegade consumer’s desire to keep consuming Coca-Cola’s Coke.
Purchase decisions among consumers under the wary conception of consumers are based on their personal preferences. They are keen on aspects such as health benefits or health implications associated with Coke’s consumption. Marketing to wary consumers is quite complicated because if falls on the point of a cohort effect. For instance, parents will want to discourage children under the age of ten from consuming carbonated and sugary beverages such as Coke (Bhasin, 2020). Likewise, elderly consumers or middle-aged consumers with underlying medical conditions such as diabetes that require reduced sugar consumption will also purpose to consume less Coke. It implies that advertisements should be done to attract a new customer base because the demographics are consistently shifting. The elderly consumers who were fond of the product might consume less Coke, but wary teenagers who are new potential market entrants need to be attracted to Coca-Cola’s Coke brand to protect the market share.
Protected consumers require certain assurances for them to consume Coke. The availability of sugar-free (Coke-Zero) from Coca-Cola goes to serve protected consumers, for protected consumers to purchase a Coke, they need to be reassured that it’s Coke-Zero if Coca-Cola branded a Coke, as sugar-free. It was found to have sugar that injured a sugar-free enthusiast consumer. Coca-Cola might be liable for damages based on misleading marketing. Marketing to a protected consumer requires accountability and honesty, and they will make purchasing decisions to avoid what they don’t want to consume.
Contracting consumers are intentional consumers who understand the brand and purchase the Coke based on their personal preference. Marketing to consumers under the contacting consumer conception is about brand visibility. They will go where they are sure to find a Coke purchase. This conception entails customers from different conceptions as well. They are the group of customers who will be attracted to a Coke Shelf in a supermarket, and thus brand visibility is sufficient for them. They may not be a critical target for a marketing campaign because they are primarily regular loyal customers.
Ethical Principles
Among the ethical principles that can apply in Coke marketing include truthfulness; this implies that the company has to ensure that the advertisement they put out is actual truth and verifiable (The Selling Office: Advertising and Consumer Protection, 2020). An example of these is having a Coke product such as Coke-Zero to be sugar-free; this will be justice to consumers who are avoiding artificial sugar. Caveat Emptor applies in this case. It’s up to the consumer to ensure they read the branding well so that they don’t confuse a Coke-Zero with an Original Taste Coke at point of purchase (Defining Ethics | Principles of Marketing, 2020).
No maleficence is another ethical principle that falls back to factors such as manufacturing the Coke Soda. The process should be sustainable and have the least harm uphold factors such as environmental conservation compliance; in this case, matters such as water consumption around the manufacturing plants should not leave the locals without sufficient water for domestic use. Marketing of Coke should also apply the principle of beneficence; in such a way that it passes a moral message. For instance, the recent “Small World Vending Machines” at the India – Pakistan border was impactful in creating a chance for people from the two countries to interact in a casual way to promote peace in a previous conflict-torn border (“Brands & Products | The Coca-Cola Company,” 2020).
It is the responsibility of the marketer to incorporate messages that promote both the brand and the underlying principle, for instance, the recent campaign of “Share a Coke” was keen in promoting sharing and togetherness while driving Coke sales up (“Brands & Products | The Coca-Cola Company,” 2020). Customers would look for Coke cans and bottles with their names to share on Social Media with their followers, which promoted interaction and drove sales up.
Privacy Policies
Privacy policies that can be prescribed on social media and data related matters would include personal information security. The personal information of customers who participate in social media campaigns should be kept confidential and shared with third parties. There should be child protection privacy policies against collecting information such as consumer feedback from Children under the age of twelve.
Conclusion
In conclusion, consumer dynamics are integral parts of brand marketing. How a brand is introduced to the customer makes an impression, and thus advertisements should be matched to customers’ interests. In a world characterized by brands steady marketing over different stages, brands are under pressure to propel their products carefully and incorporate social responsibility.
References
Brands & Products | The Coca-Cola Company. Coca-colacompany.com. (2020). Retrieved 6
August 2020, from https://www.coca-colacompany.com/brands.
Bhasin, H. (2020). Marketing strategy of Coca-cola – Coca-cola strategy. Marketing91. Retrieved
6 August 2020, from https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-strategy-of-coca-cola/.
The Selling Office: Advertising and Consumer Protection. Saylordotorg.github.io. (2020).
Retrieved 6 August 2020, from https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_the-business-ethics-workshop/s16-the-selling-office-advertising.html.
Reading: Defining Ethics | Principles of Marketing. Courses.lumenlearning.com. (2020).
Retrieved 6 August 2020, from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/clinton-marketing/chapter/reading-define-ethics/.