The Vision, Mission, and Value Proposition of Coca-Cola’s Naturally Sweet Division
1.0 Naturally Sweet Division: A new vision, mission, and value proposition
Innovation drives market-relevant and consumer-need-fulfilling product development (cf. Kanagal, 2015). The primary purpose of the Naturally Sweet Division is to develop naturally sweetened products using proven innovative technologies that brings the traditional culture of the Coca-Cola brand in products that perfectly satisfies the growing health-conscious, sugar-free product preferences of the post-modern consumers. This innovation factor will drive and guide the Naturally Sweet Division’s vision, mission, and value proposition to its health-conscious target consumers of all ages, guiding its product research and development endeavors.
Our new mission: To keep the world healthy, trim, and slim
Our new vision: Consumers: Bring to the world a select portfolio of quality beverage brands that supports the consumers’ desire for naturally sweetened drinks.
Our new value proposition: The Naturally Sweet Division offers the consumers who prefer sugar-free beverages with naturally sweetened brands in the absence of synthetic non-sugar sweeteners while encouraging non-Coca-Cola patrons to try these innovative brands.
The Naturally Sweet Division’s new mission of keeping the world healthy aligns with Coca-Cola’s corporate mission of refreshing the world (i.e. with healthy beverage brands), inspiring moments of optimism and happiness (i.e. in relation to the consumers’ health goals), and creating value (so that health-conscious consumers will treasure its naturally sweetened brands) and making a difference (i.e. in the lives of consumers whose health constitutes the most, and perhaps the only, important value in their lives) (TCCC, 2016a, 2016b). Moreover, its vision aligns perfectly with Coca-Cola’s six-point vision of people, portfolio, partners, planet, profit, and productivity. All these visions will still be pursued by the division with enhanced details in portfolio (by adding consumer-relevant naturally sweetened brands).
2.0 Naturally Sweet Division’s business model
2.1 Model description: The Naturally Sweet Division’s business model revolves primarily on understanding and determining the consumers’ healthy food choices and preferences and then design or purchase the best beverage brands to perfectly meet those needs and preferences. Thus, the Naturally Sweet Division is consumer need driven with close and specific attention to the needs of the health-conscious segment of consumers in Coca-Cola’s global markets. Innovative syrup formulation in research and development will be driven by the consumers’ growing and even changing preferences but only when such change in preferences had been deemed stabilizing, expected to be shortly stable, or already stable. This approach ensures that any new product proposed for development or acquisition must meet an already stable or strongly stabilizing change in consumer preferences.
Distribution and manufacturing of Naturally Sweet brands will continue to follow Coca-Cola’s distribution system (i.e. through partners and subsidiaries) and supply chain networks around the world, which is currently serving the other brands, and then beyond into retailer units that were not traditional retail outlets of Coca-Cola’s existing products. Thus, these brands will be displayed with other Coca-Cola products in its traditional retail outlets as well as in largely natural products exclusive outlets, including organic supermarkets and specialty shops, which are not, and perhaps will never be part of, primary retail outlets of the other Coca-Cola brands. Acquired brands must pass its ‘naturally sweetened’ product quality test criterion.
2.2 Competitive advantage: The Naturally Sweet Division’s primary source of competitive advantage is its capability to deliver ‘naturally sweetened’ beverage brands that satisfy consumer preferences for low to zero sugar content beverages while Coca-Cola’s closest rival, PepsiCo, remained unable to effectively respond to this fundamental change.
3.0 Naturally Sweet Division’s new product line
3.1 Product description: All products under the Naturally Sweet Division, whether internally developed or acquired, must pass the primary criteria of ‘naturally sweetened’ syrup formulation. ‘Naturally sweetened’ is defined as beverage syrup formulations that used zero to extremely low table sugar content without using any commercially available artificial sweeteners, such as, sorbitol, saccharin, acesulfame potassium, aspartame, and similar substances (cf. Findikli & Turkoglu, 2014). Moreover, the product packaging design must be highly attractive with a velvety feel while keeping the traditional spirit of the Coca-Cola design. It must attract tactile curiosity and encourage taste testing as an initial motivation to try the products. It must also express a lively and fun spirit, which are intrinsic in the fundamental Coca-Cola packaging designs. Moreover, it must communicate a healthy lifestyle, safe and non-fattening ingredients, and a relaxed mood.
3.2 Differentiation approach: The primary differentiation approach for the Naturally Sweet Division brands must be positioning them as offering a unique value or solution to the health-conscious consumers’ preference for non-sugar-based beverage products. This approach will effectively handle even new markets for these products. To attract Coca-Cola brand patrons, some of the brands in this division will be marketed as extensions of the Coca-Cola brand (Nolega, Oloko, William, & Oteki, 2015). Unless production costs necessitate it, pricing policy for these new brands will be consistent with the Company’s pricing policy with other portfolio brands. While competitors might normally increase pricing for products and beverages with ‘natural products’ label, nothing of this approach will be utilized in marketing the new brands and products under this division. In addition, highly attractive packaging designs will also be employed to increase product differentiation as described in the previous sub-section 3.1.
4.0 Principles of stakeholder engagement
4.1 Corporate culture: The Naturally Sweet Division will continue to reflect the characteristics of Coca-Cola’s Winning Culture, which consists of living shared values of leadership, collaboration, integrity, accountability, passion, diversity, and quality; of focusing on the market (i.e. the consumers, the customers, and franchise partners); of working smart (i.e. remaining responsive to change and courageously changing course when needed); of acting like owners (e.g. being accountable to their actions and lack thereof); and of being the brand (i.e. inspiring others to be creative, passionate, optimistic, and fun) (TCCC, 2016a).
4.2 Social responsibility: The Naturally Sweet Division will also support Coca-Cola’s sustainability programs and principles, which focused on the Three P’s of Profit, People, and Planet. It will take part in supporting Coca-Cola’s Profit commitments of delivering value to its shareholders. Moreover, it will take part in the Company’s People initiatives, which focused on empower women entrepreneurs, promoting community well-being by inspiring happier and healthier lives, and upholding human and workplace rights by working to ensure that all of its diverse workforce are respected and treated with dignity (TCCC, 2016b). Furthermore, it will support the Company’s Planet projects, such as water stewardship and replenishment program, sustainable packing, climate protection (by growing its business while not increasing greenhouse gas impacts), and agricultural sustainability (by ensuring sustainable ingredients supply and by supporting its contract farmers and relevant agricultural communities) (TCCC, 2016b).
4.3 Ethics: The Division’s ethical policies will be consistent with Coca-Cola’s corporate governance principles, which includes the promotion of long-term shareholder interests by strengthening the Board and executive management accountability, and support public trust in Coca-Cola (TCCC, 2016c).
References
Findikli, Z. & Turkoglu, S. (2014, October). Determination of the effects of some artificial
sweeteners on human peripheral lymphocytes using the comet assay. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health Sciences, 6(8), 147-153.
Kanagal, N.B. (2015, February). Innovation and product innovation in marketing strategy.
Nolega, K.S., Oloko, M., William, S., & Oteki, E.B. (2015, September-December). Effects of
product differentiation strategies on firm product performance: A case of Kenya Seed Company (KSC), Kitale. International Journal of Novel Research in Marketing Management and Economics, 2(3), 100-110.
TCCC. (2016a). Mission, vision, & values. Coca-Colacompany.com. Retrieved from:
http://www.coca-colacompany.com/our-company/mission-vision-values <16 June 2016>
TCCC. (2016b). Sustainability. Coca-Colacompany.com. Retrieved from:
http://www.coca-colacompany.com/sustainability <16 June 2016>
TCCC. (2016c). Corporate Governance. Coca-Colacompany.com. Retrieved from:
http://www.coca-colacompany.com/investors/corporate-governance <16 June 2016>
