Coca-Cola Business Functions: Trends and Best Practices

Introduction to Functional Analysis

Functional analysis of business activities is conventionally understood as a top-down process that begins with the comprehensive aims and goals of an organization, identifies the functions that attain those goals, and then breaks those functions and activities down to the level of recurring, cyclical transactions. More precisely, functional analysis draws on organizational analysis, encompassing both the corporate setting and the regulatory environment, and takes into account both transactional and structural analysis.

Structural analysis involves examining and investigating the component parts that constitute the whole, while transactional analysis involves scrutinizing the actions themselves in a more specific way. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the functions and responsibilities of typical business units within the Coca-Cola Company. The paper considers current trends and best practices observed in functional units and examines how those trends can be applied to improve business performance at Coca-Cola.

Marketing Function

The marketing function is a critical component of any organization, as it ensures that the company's business operations ultimately meet the needs of its consumer base. All organizations seek to develop a unique and distinguishing marketing mix. The marketing function represents a significant organizational resource, and relevant variables may include market share, market position, the organization's reputation in society, its standing as a market leader, and the mix and depth of its product portfolio. In general, the marketing function of any organization encompasses the four Ps: place, price, product, and promotion (Saxena, 2006).

One of the major current trends in the marketing function is the rise of the news feed in social media. In the contemporary era, social media accounts for a major portion of time spent online, with approximately sixty percent of that time occurring on mobile devices. The prevailing trend is that personalization in culture and philosophy will only become more widespread going forward, making relevant content and accurate targeting more important than ever (Kotler and Keller, 2011).

This trend is not limited to Facebook; it is evident across all social network platforms, in personalized search engines, e-commerce websites, and even in traditional news media. This development holds significant implications for Coca-Cola. The company can apply news feed data from social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to understand what consumers are saying about its products. This information can in turn enable the organization to adapt its offerings to meet consumers' evolving needs and wants. Furthermore, Coca-Cola can use this intelligence to compete more effectively in marketing terms against rival organizations such as Pepsi (Kotler and Keller, 2011).