Make up Post: Comparison of Toyota, Coca- Cola and Wal-Mart strategy.

The marketing strategy that a company adopts gives the success in its industry position. Well known companies such as Coca-Cola (soft drinks), Wal-Mart (retailing) and Toyota with the introduction of the Prius (auto hybrids) have the largest market share in the industry and employ several market leader strategies (pg.577).

In product development (pg.323), the investment in R&D is essential not only for Toyota, who plans to have all of its vehicles to be hybrid- electric by 2012, but also for Coca-Cola who employs a hybrid brand structure and wants to extend brands for new products such as new Coke and C2. Wal-Mart on the other hand uses product mix and private brands such as Sam`s Choice (beverages) and Spring Valley (food products) to have enough and exclusive selection of products, resulting in greater store traffic and loyalty.

When setting prices, Toyota use a product quality leadership (pg.348), the Prius had captured the largest demand of hybrid auto market, charging high selling prices for new and used cars ($20,975 - $26,940), resulting in a production and sales increase. In contrast to, Wal-Mart uses market share leadership, in its effort to be low cost producer (pg.350) and EDLP, is force to find innovative ways to take costs out of the supply chain. Wal-Mart uses its buying power and information about consumer buying habits to force vendors into squeezing their costs and keeping their profit margins low(Always low Prices). While Coca- Cola has current profit maximization estimating the demand and costs at different prices (penetration in price sensitive foreign markets) and choosing the right price to maximize shareholders value and profits.

In reference to place, Toyota used for the Prius a centralized inventory system based on orders taken from consumers (selective distribution pg.413), but now due to the high demand Toyota is considering to manufacture its hybrid vehicles in United States and returning to the dealership-based placement. On the other hand, Coca-Cola employs an intensive distribution (pg. 413) to make the product globally available, it opened a new bottling factory (Somalia) for door to door distribution. As a result, it attracted more businesses, stabilized the economy and increased sales in the international market. In the same way, Wal-Mart with 3,500 stores worldwide, uses intensive distribution and logistics partnerships (pg.425) to improve customer service and reduce channel costs. Despite of unsuccessful locations in some countries such as South Korea, Wal-Mart continue as discount retailer leader in many countries.

In promotion, Toyota is based on the type of product and PLC utilize direct marketing to corporate buyers and give them a detail information about the Prius, personal selling (training sales people), public relations to expand high credibility (environmentally friendly vehicle) and sales promotion (cash and tax rebate incentives up to $2000). Wal-Mart spend over $US100M annually on marketing and advertising, establish a push strategy toward communities to market their products and on-line platforms to move virtual customers into the physical stores. Coca- Cola use Television to have mass- market coverage, also partnerships with sports, TV Shows, outdoor events and celebrities to improve the market position and change the consumer behavior.

In the global market, Toyota, Coca-Cola and Wal- Mart have used effective marketing strategies triggering growth, brand positioning and a competitive advantage to deliver more value and satisfaction to their consumers.