Merchandising and Licensing to Improve Brand Equity. The Coca-Cola Case

Abstract

Today’s markets are characterized by over-supply, intense competitiveness in every sector, increasingly aggressive competition and product and market strategies which are open to imitation. Consequently, the brand, and the values it carries, has become the truly critical competitive factor. In order to compete, each company needs to develop an integrated communication campaign which includes different communication tools, with high-impact like advertising, or with specific promotional tasks, as sales promotions (for short-term sales volume increases), merchandising (essential for promoting brand values at points-of-sale), licensing (which aims to transmit brand equity to members of the public and market sectors which would otherwise be difficult to reach) and sponsorship (where brand values are highlighted by associating the company with highly-visible shows and events).