3 pages due tomorrow early as possible

Market Structures in a Manufacturing Industry

Name DeMario Brown

Course ECO 100

Instructor Osinubi

Manufacturing companies are some of the major contributors to the overall economic development in America. The manufacturing sector has been one of the world’s largest in relation to the output which is 18.2% of all the goods produced worldwide. A manufacturing business is any type of a business using raw materials or components to produce a finished product. Manufacturing businesses include mining, consumer goods, telecommunications, and petroleum among others. So far the manufacturing sector has over 12million employees representing 8.5% of the total workforce in the country. (US Census Bureau, 2014) We are going to look at the Coca-Cola manufacturing company; its marketing strategy, market outcomes and the trends in this industry.

Coca-Cola is one of the biggest manufacturing company in the world. It’s the world leading beverage company with branches in over 200countries and has 400 brands of non-alcoholic drinks. It was created in 1886 in Atlanta Georgia by Dr John S. Pemberton. By 1906, the brand had already started expanding to international levels. It’s popularly known for its carbonated non-alcoholic drinks. Some of its brands include energy drinks, light beverages, juice, water, teas, and coffee. (Ashurst, 2016) Coca-Cola Company operates as an oligopoly which means they have control of the prices of their products.

Market structures define a competitive environment in which an organization operates. The soft drink has been an oligopoly for several reasons. The two competing firms which are Coca-Cola and Pepsi control the immense part of the market share. There is also a lack of finances for other small firms to launch their products on a larger scale to compete with the two firms. It would also require a huge investment from the other brands for advertising and to brand their products to get to the level where Coca-Cola and Pepsi are. Lastly, these two companies engage in a non-price product disparity which makes them remain on top.

Coca-Cola company uses some competitive strategies which make it remain on top. Characteristics of an oligopoly market structure are; the industry is dominated by few large firms and in this case, those firms are Coca-Cola and Pepsi which is its main competitor, the firms sell identical or differentiated products and, there are significant barriers of entry in this industry. The most notable strategy that Coca-Cola uses is the product differentiation. The company maintains a brand image which is slightly different from that of the competitor Pepsi. Although their products are almost identical, their marketing practices create the brand loyalty for each product.

A different strategy that Coca-Cola has used is to ensure that their products are accessible globally. They achieved this goal by entering into contracts with restaurants, fast food or offering their products during the main event. For example, during the world cup 2018, they were supplying drinks to players, coaches, reporters and everyone who attended the match in general. They also gave cups to the spectators and this makes their product well known globally. Also, there are fast foods which will only sell Coca-Cola products like the McDonalds. The main goal of this strategy is to make consumers consume their products more since they will not go to other places to buy another drink which leaves them with only one option, to drink the Coca-Cola brand. As illustrated in the table below, we will be able to see how much profit Coca-Cola makes as compared to its competitors.

As illustrated in the table below and following the current trends on how Coca-Cola is still opening more branches worldwide, we can say that it's going to get bigger and keep creating more jobs for the people and improving the economy of the countries.

References

US Census Bureau. (2014). North American industry classification system.

Ashurst, P. R. (2016). Chemistry and technology of soft drinks and fruit juices. John Wiley & Sons.