Many startups, when planning their brand/marketing strategy, often suffer from a 'headache-heal-head, foot-heal-foot' approach. For example, they rush into social media marketing (symptom: quickly opening a WeChat official account) without any brand positioning or clear marketing goals. I suggest entrepreneurs carefully study 'integrated marketing' because startups have the 'perfect timing, location, and people' for it. The core of integrated marketing includes being customer-centric and aligning with the company's overall strategy. These two points are often difficult for large companies to achieve or implement with great difficulty. In large companies, 'customer-centric' often becomes 'boss-centric'; brand is optional; and marketing is disconnected from business strategy. I believe no startup wants to go down that path. This article will use the case of Coca-Cola Great Britain's 'one brand' strategy to show why integrated marketing is crucial for startups and how startups can implement it. Case Study: The 'One Brand' Strategy by Coca-Cola Great Britain Insight: British consumers' taste preferences and lifestyles are changing. Many people are troubled by 'obesity,' which has become the root of some diseases. Company Business Strategy: Coca-Cola has long been seeking ways to sustain its business. Most importantly, it seeks methods to help consumers solve their problems and address some social issues we face. 'Obesity' is a concern for many today. For a long time, Coca-Cola's negative brand image has been high sugar, high calories, unhealthy, etc. So how can it improve products to align with consumer changes while also fulfilling corporate social responsibility? To this end, Coca-Cola Great Britain set a business strategy: by 2020, it will become the first country in the world where 50% of the cola sold is low- or no-fat (currently 43%). Product Development: Coca-Cola Great Britain reviewed its cola beverage product lines, totaling four: Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero, and Coca-Cola Life. Each product line has its own identity. In product development, Coca-Cola Great Britain knows well that while people pursue healthy eating, they are unwilling to compromise on taste. How to find a balance between taste and health? Coca-Cola Great Britain innovated, such as adding stevia leaf extract to reduce calorie content while maintaining deliciousness. Coca-Cola Great Britain also developed a new product in 2014: Coca-Cola Life. It has about one-third less sugar and calories than traditional Coca-Cola. To date, Coca-Cola has developed 27 low-sugar, low-calorie beverages. All these product 'restructurings' and innovations are integrated with Coca-Cola Great Britain's overall business strategy. Coca-Cola Product Line: Diet Coke Product Line: Coca-Cola Zero Product Line: Coca-Cola Life Product Line Brand Strategy: But here's the problem: in consumers' minds, the dominant brand image is still traditional Coca-Cola: it's classic. They don't know that Coca-Cola has other colas, nor can they clearly distinguish the specific characteristics of other colas. Coca-Cola Great Britain decided to launch a new 'one brand' strategy. It unifies the four sub-product lines under the big Coca-Cola brand umbrella, but each sub-brand has its distinct characteristics. This brand strategy not only extends the brand appeal of traditional Coca-Cola, preserving its brand image in consumers' minds, but also helps consumers choose the type of cola they need more easily and simply. "We believe this approach will allow sugar-free/low-sugar colas to benefit from their association with the Coca-Cola master brand," said Jon Woods, General Manager of Coca-Cola Great Britain. This brand strategy stems partly from consumer awareness (Oh, this is also Coca-Cola). Coca-Cola's brand has high salience, its brand meaning (Open Happiness) is clear, and it has a strong brand relationship with consumers. But beyond traditional cola, other colas have low recognition. For example, 5 out of 10 people don't know that Diet Coke is sugar-free and calorie-free. On the other hand, it stems from Coca-Cola Great Britain's business strategy. That is, by 2020, sales of low- or no-calorie Coca-Cola products should exceed 50% of its total sales in the UK. Marketing Tactics: At the 'tactical' level, what marketing methods did Coca-Cola Great Britain adopt? 1. Established a 'Responsible Marketing Code' Coca-Cola Great Britain first set boundaries for its marketing plans: a responsible marketing code. It absolutely does not supply Coca-Cola to schools or sell to children under 12. This rule also applies to online sales. Therefore, Coca-Cola's communication messages and sales channels target people aged 12 and above. For example, you won't see Coca-Cola advertising on TV channels like cartoon channels. Around this marketing code, Coca-Cola Great Britain has conducted forward-looking marketing activities that make consumers enjoy and trust Coca-Cola more. 2. Unified visible brand elements. Because clear and simple information is the foundation for people to make the right choices Coca-Cola Great Britain unified the packaging design of the four types of cola, but distinguished them by color: Coca-Cola: red; Coca-Cola Zero: black; Diet Coke: silver; Coca-Cola Life: green. On the ingredient labels of each can, Coca-Cola Great Britain adopted the voluntary front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme, using color-coded labels to show fat, saturated fat, salt, sugar, and calorie content. From March 2015, this label will gradually appear on all product bottles except plain water. 3. Increased media investment In 2015, Coca-Cola Great Britain increased marketing spending on low-calorie and sugar-free, calorie-free colas. For example, Coca-Cola Great Britain's ads will show all categories of cola; its TV ads will describe the characteristics of each category. Coca-Cola Great Britain will also sponsor an international sporting event for the first time: the 2015 Rugby World Cup, to promote the four cola categories and advocate active lifestyles. 4. Channel partnerships For example, in summer 2015, all McDonald's restaurants in the UK will serve sugar-free, calorie-free Diet Coke. This benefits approximately 3.8 million consumers. 5. Community support The above four tactics are strongly related to Coca-Cola products themselves. However, most only solve the problem of making consumers aware of Coca-Cola, but they do not fully reflect Coca-Cola's brand meaning. Coca-Cola hopes to raise people's health awareness. In the UK, more than a quarter of women and a fifth of men exercise less than 30 minutes per week; they are inactive. This has become the fourth leading cause of disease. Coca-Cola realized that the 'too lazy to move' problem is increasingly prominent in the UK. So, around 'active lifestyles', Coca-Cola Great Britain actively supports community activities. For example, it sponsors the Special Olympics and StreetGames. In 2014, Coca-Cola Great Britain partnered with local government agencies to launch the ParkLives project. It organizes free, fun family exercise activities in over 70 parks or local community centers in places like Newcastle. In its first year, ParkLives attracted 22,500 visitors. When we sort out the logical thread of 'Insight – Business Strategy – Brand Strategy – Marketing Tactics' in Coca-Cola Great Britain's case, we can see that the overused term 'integrated marketing' is not about superficially conducting activities on the same theme across various media. It must be integrated with the company's business strategy and require the concerted efforts of various departments (in this case, we see that the departments involved are not just marketing, but also product, sales, etc.). So, why is integrated marketing crucial for startups?

  1. Startups that do not take solving user problems as their mission mostly live in their own world. The core of integrated marketing is 'customer-centric'. If your startup's original intention is to address user pain points, then please value integrated marketing.
  2. Although the word 'sentiment' has been overused, it is hard for startups to sustain without it. What is sentiment? In essence, it is a social responsibility. What is your mission? That is your company's business development strategy. Integrated marketing aims to align your business strategy with your brand/marketing strategy.
  3. Integrated marketing requires a flat organizational structure. Every department can collaborate around the business strategy. Integrated marketing makes a fast-growing startup think clearly: Have we fallen into the trap of rapid expansion and blind hiring? Have we unknowingly formed layers of organizational barriers?
  4. Brand is the backbone of integrated marketing. In this case, we see that the 'one brand' strategy is based on the brand recognition Coca-Cola has accumulated over many years. So, when startups are busy marketing, think first about what you have done for your 'brand'. Brand is a long-term investment, not achieved overnight.
  5. In this case, the realization of users' 'financial value' is not yet reflected. But from Coca-Cola Great Britain's increased marketing spending on sugar-free, low-calorie colas, we can see that it expects to extract more value from health-conscious customers (rather than hardcore cola fans). Integrated marketing reminds you: creativity is important, but don't let creativity overshadow the revenue this marketing strategy brings. How much value do you want to extract from which consumers? Of course, this case only illustrates part of integrated marketing, but I hope it serves as a trigger for more entrepreneurs to think more deeply. Reply with the following keywords to search and read related professional articles: Sales Supervisor, Second-tier Management, Regional Manager, Distributor Management, New Channels, City Manager, Competition, 2015, Manufacturer-Dealer Game, Product Stagnation, Terminal Visit Management, Route Management, Deep Distribution, Internal Management, Sales Skills, Profit Improvement, Recruitment, Distribution, Daily Management, Team Motivation, Trade Promotion, Sales Misconceptions, New Product Launch, Township Market, New Product Pricing, Sales Target Achievement, Closing Deals, Market Visit Inspection, Baijiu, Beer, Sales Increase, Agency Products, Channel Crossing, KA, Terminal Merchandising, New Market, Market Operation, Learning, Book Recommendations, Inventory Management, New Salespeople, Consumer Promotion, Execution, Old Products, Expired Product Handling, Model Market, Franchise Recruitment, New Media, Distributor Development, Performance Appraisal, Assessment, Annual Planning, Shopping Guide, Morning Meeting, Display, Transformation, Stock Pressure, Holidays, Distributor Cost Control, Channel Operation, Marketing Theory and Laws, Brand Truth, Order Meeting, Team Management, Training, Debriefing, Debriefing Report.