Coca Cola 2015 Annual Report Download - page 36

Core Capabilities
Consumer Marketing
Marketing investments are designed to enhance consumer awareness of, and increase consumer preference for, our brands. Successful marketing investments
produce long-term growth in unit case volume, per capita consumption and our share of worldwide nonalcoholic beverage sales. Through our relationships
with our bottling partners and those who sell our products in the marketplace, we create and implement integrated marketing programs, both globally and
locally, that are designed to heighten consumer awareness of and product appeal for our brands. In developing a strategy for a Company brand, we conduct
product and packaging research, establish brand positioning, develop precise consumer communications and solicit consumer feedback. Our integrated
marketing activities include, but are not limited to, advertising, point-of-sale merchandising and sales promotions.
We are focusing on marketing strategies to drive volume growth in emerging markets, increasing our brand value in developing markets and growing profit
in our developed markets. In emerging markets, we are investing in infrastructure programs that drive volume through increased access to consumers. In
developing markets, where consumer access has largely been established, our focus is on differentiating our brands. In our developed markets, we continue to
invest in brands and infrastructure programs but generally at a slower rate than gross profit growth.
Commercial Leadership
The Coca-Cola system has millions of customers around the world who sell or serve our products directly to consumers. We focus on enhancing value for our
customers and providing solutions to grow their beverage businesses. Our approach includes understanding each customer's business and needs — whether
that customer is a sophisticated retailer in a developed market or a kiosk owner in an emerging market. We focus on ensuring that our customers have the
right product and package offerings and the right promotional tools to deliver enhanced value to themselves and the Company. We are constantly looking to
build new beverage consumption occasions in our customers' outlets through unique and innovative consumer experiences, product availability and delivery
systems, and beverage merchandising and displays. We participate in joint brand-building initiatives with our customers in order to drive consumer
preference for our brands. Through our commercial leadership initiatives, we embed ourselves further into our retail customers' businesses while developing
strategies for better execution at the point of sale.
Franchise Leadership
We must continue to improve our franchise leadership capabilities to give our Company and our bottling partners the ability to grow together through shared
values, aligned incentives and a sense of urgency and flexibility that supports consumers' always changing needs and tastes. The financial health and success
of our bottling partners are critical components of the Company's success. We work with our bottling partners to identify processes that enable us to quickly
achieve scale and efficiencies, and we share best practices throughout the bottling system. With our bottling partners, we work to produce differentiated
beverages and packages that are appropriate for the right channels and consumers. We also design business models for sparkling and still beverages in
specific markets to ensure that we appropriately share the value created by these beverages with our bottling partners. We will continue to build a supply
chain network that leverages the size and scale of the Coca-Cola system to gain a competitive advantage.
Bottling and Distribution Operations
Most of our Company beverage products are manufactured, sold and distributed by independent bottling partners. However, from time to time we acquire or
take control of bottling operations, often in underperforming markets where we believe we can use our resources and expertise to improve performance.
Owning such a controlling interest enables us to compensate for limited local resources; help focus the bottler's sales and marketing programs; assist in the
development of the bottler's business and information systems; and establish an appropriate capital structure for the bottler.
Our Company has a long history of providing world-class customer service, demonstrating leadership in the marketplace and leveraging the talent of our
global workforce. In addition, we have an experienced bottler management team. All of these factors are critical to build upon as we manage our bottling and
distribution operations.
The Company has a deep commitment to continuously improving our business. This includes our efforts to develop innovative packaging and
merchandising solutions which help drive demand for our beverages and meet the evolving preferences of our consumers. As we further transform the way we
go to market, the Company continues to seek out ways to be more efficient.
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