In the year 1886, Coca Cola came into existence in USA. We can see that it has been more than 100 years and still people love to have this carbonated drink at any occasion or any time. Since then it has earned their position in the market as the leader in soft drinks and it lies in top 10 brands of the world.

Coca Cola can consider only one major competitor, which is challenging enough to take its spot and i.e. Pepsi Cola. Pepsi has been there in the market for a long time but Coca Cola smart business strategies led it to more popularity amongst youngsters. Still they can never back down the challenge of Pepsi Cola because no other brand is yet present to break their market share.

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SWOT analysis of Coca Cola
One of the reason for success of any business is their SWOT analysis and it is now been opted by every small or large organization to make their work easier for them. SWOT analysis of Coca Cola varies for different geographic location because of its diverse market. It may not be very much different in every part of the world so let us just focus on the general SWOT analysis of Coca Cola in detail:

Strengths
• First thing which works strongly in favor of Coca Cola is its brand name, which needs no introduction. It has been present in the market for very long time and has not been ever complaint about its quality, so that works a great deal for this carbonated drink.

• It has a close relation with small business such as small stores or petrol pumps etc. It is easily available everywhere so that is one of the reasons it is consumed by people in high number of quantity.

• It has associated itself with number of celebrities from all over the world. Along with that, it has also associated itself with sports, which are famous all over the world such as cricket etc. This gives strong brand recognition to Coca Cola internationally.

• It has a very large number of YUM accounts i.e. it associates itself with number of renowned brands all over the world for e.g. McDonalds and Hardees etc. These food chains only serve Coca Cola drinks with their meals.

• The financial position of Coca Cola is very strong i.e. it is making abnormal profits from its sales all over the world.

• Brand loyalty is a very strong factor in the case of Coca Cola as it has become the first word on the mouth of almost every person whenever they ask for a Cola drink.

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Weakness
It has become a very strong victim of brand dilution i.e. people sometimes do not differentiate Coca Cola with other Cola drinks. People who drink carbonated Cola do not care whether they are having Coca Cola or any other drink. In some countries the publicity of Coca Cola has been done very negatively which has affect the repute of this brand.

Opportunities
• It should collaborate with other famous brands such as upcoming five star hotels, which have been opening all over the world.

• They could offer a new product for those people who are not a big fan of carbonated drinks. They can come up with a Cola drink, which should specifically cater to those people.

• Unrelated diversification is a very useful procedure which is not been opted by many brands and only few are going for it such as Virgin Mobiles who also have Virgin airlines. Coca Cola should also do the same to increase their market share.

• In addition, they should acquire those brands, which have failed to survive in the rural area. This will give them the chance for a growth in increased number of areas.

Threats
• People have now more awareness of hazardous ingredients in the soft drink and that could potentially prove to be dangerous in the end.

• Also in some of the Islamic countries, there has been propaganda about the company running by the Jews and some religious fanatics are forcing people to quit the drinking of any Cola drink.

• Leakages of information through intermediaries are something, which is very difficult to control, and can prove to be dangerous in the long run.

• Fake productions in some countries have negatively affected the image of Coca Cola.

• These are some of the SWOT analysis of Coca Cola, whichis generally applied in their strategies. Although in some countries, SWOT analysis of Coca Cola will differ from their general strategies.

BCG matrix
BCG matrix which is also known as Boston Matrix is a very useful tool in determining which product lies in which category. It normally has 4 things i.e. Star, Cash Cow, Question Mark and Dogs. Let’s just focus on each of them individually.

Star (Kinley)
Star products are those, which have high market growth along with high market share. They will perform well if their market strategies are updated regularly and the investment is done properly. Kinley is bottled water that falls under Star.

Cash Cow (Coke)
Cash cows have low market growth but have very high market share. Coke drink is the perfect example of Cash Cow because it is generating abnormal profit and does not need to grow more.

Question mark (minute maid)
Question mark has high market growth but low market share. The company is not sure whether to continue with it or not in the future, because they do not earn as expected. Minute Maid falls under this category.

Dogs (Georgia)
Dogs have low market growth and low market share. They are normally considered as the flop products, which will be shut down immediately. Georgia falls under the category of Dogs.

These are the couple of business strategies for Coca Cola, which has helped them in big deal. SWOT analysis of Coca Cola may vary in every country but BCG matrix is more or less stays same in every part of the world.

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