Translate the following text. Use a dictionary if necessary. Give the answer to the question: What helps keep Coke’s distribution on target?

Coca-Cola

If you want a Coca-Cola, there’s usually one close by – no matter where you might be in the world. And that’s no accident. The top marketing executive for the best-known brand name in the world states the objective simply: “To make Coca-Cola available within arm’s reach of desire”.

In order to meet that objective, Coke works with many and various channels of distribution. But that is merely the start. Think about what it takes for a bottle, can, or cup of Coke to be there whenever you’re ready. In warehouses and distribution centers, on trucks, and at retail outlets, Coke handles, stores, and transports over 200 billion savings of soft drink a year.

Getting all of that product to consumers could be a logistical nightmare, but Coke does it effectively and at a low cost. As a point of comparison: a can of Coke at the store costs about the same as it costs you to have the post office deliver a letter.

Fast information about what the market needs helps keep Coke’s distribution on target. In the United States, computer systems show Coke managers exactly what’s selling in each market; that allows Coke to plan inventories and deliveries. Coke also operates a 24-hour-a-day communications center to respond to the 2 million requests it gets from channel members each year. Orders are processed instantly – so sales to consumers at the end of the channel aren’t lost because of stock-outs. And Coke products move efficiently through the channel. In Cincinnati, for example, Coke has the beverage industry’s first fully automated distribution center. Forklifts were replaced with automatically guided vehicles which speed up the product flow and reduce labor costs.

Coke’s strategies in international markets rely on many of the ideas that have worked very well in the United States. But the stage of market development varies in different countries, so Coke’s emphasis varies as well. To increase sales in France, for example, Coke must first make more product available at retail stores; so Coke is installing thousands of soft drink coolers in French supermarkets. In Great Britain, Coke wants to have more inventory even closer to the point of consumption – in consumers’ homes. So Coke is urging retailers to carry multipacks and larger packages. In Japan, by contrast, single-unit vending machine sales are very important – so Coke uses a small army of truck drivers to constantly restock its 750,000 vending machines, more per capita than anywhere else in the world. In less-developed areas, the place system is not always so sophisticated. In the Philippines, for example, it’s difficult for delivery trucks to reach some small shops in crowded areas. Instead, riders on bicycles equipped with sidecars make deliveries.

Coke is also working to increase fountain drink sales in international markets. As part of that effort, Coke equips restaurants and food outlets with Coke dispensers. Once a Coke dispenser is installed, the retailer usually doesn’t have room for a competitor’s dispenser. And when a consumer wants a fountain drink, Coke isn’t just “the real thing”, it’s the only thing. That’s why Coke has been installing 1,500 fountain dispensers a year in Taiwan – and that is why its fountain drink sales are growing 60 percent a year.

Some people think Pepsi is beating Coke in the “cola wars” because Pepsi’s ads get so much attention. But as this case suggests, who wins the competition will depend on whole marketing strategies – including Place – not just promotion.

JUST FOR FUN

Brain food

A regular customer at a local store notices that the owner is very intelligent.

“Tell me, what makes you so smart?” the customer asks.

“Fish heads”, says the owner. “If you eat enough of them, you’ll be absolutely brilliant!”

“And do you sell them here?” asks the customer.

“Only $5 each”, says the store owner.

The customer quickly buys three. A week later, he comes back to the store and complains that the fish heads taste terrible and that he’s not any smarter.

“You haven’t eaten enough of them”, replies the store owner, so the customer buys ten more fish heads. The next day, he returns and he’s really angry.

“Hey!” he says. “You’re selling me fish heads for $5 each. I just found out I can buy the whole fish at the market for $2! You’re cheating me!”

“You see?” says the store owner. “You’re smarter today!”

SUPPLEMENTARY UNIT 1