Chapter 2: Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage

One of the single and most important aspects of Business and Marketing is Strategic Planning. It is very critical to a companies success and if done wrong way, it can be even more critical to a companies downfall. It involves planning where it is you want your company to one day be and what it is that's going to take you there. A lot of us find out something new everyday of our lives so its no question that Strategic Planning needs
mission, vision and outside the box thinking!

The Coca-Cola Company is no stranger to bad-judgement and with more people taking the - "I want to eat healthier" approach, the companies sales have not seen much of an increase as expected. But with times like these, comes adjustment and Strategic Planning. With wanting to stay on top of the competition, Coca-Cola has introduced lines of beverages that have less sugar or none at all. Take 'Diet Coke' for example, people love that stuff! It was introduced in 1982 because Coca-Cola wanted their company to market a more "Healthy Conscious" approach and statistics have shown that it has worked. After all, number's don't lie folks.. just look at the 2000 U.S. Presidential election. I'm joking.

Coca-Cola is the worlds most recognizable brand and as I've mentioned before, they deliver over 3,500 to over 200 countries around the world. And don't be mistaken because they don't just deliver soft drinks but also are a large provider for water (Dasani), juice (Minute Maid), sports drinks (Vitamin Water & Powerade), milk and even coffee (Nestea & Georgia)! Everyday this company explores new ways to "create and share beverages to energize, relax, nourish, hydrate and enjoy." Here is something Coca-Cola is truly best at and that is staying ahead of the competition with great marketing and Strategic Planning of their company.