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General Mills
General mills products are widely known in many countries and it is common to find that nearly every house consumes one of Mills products. One their brands, Gold medal flour, have been known since 1880 and their sale has been on growth since their introduction to the market. There are other brands like Pillsbury that is refrigerated and frozen dough and there is also frozen vegetables green giant brand. Other than the products mentioned above, General Mills other brands include Betty Crocker that has existed since the 1921. Other than dessert mixes, there has been Betty Crocker cooking book that is common among most chefs.
The company’s product mix is actually all the products it offers to their customers. There are four dimensions that include width, length, depth, and consistency. The width is all the product lines that a company deals with, this can be affected by how much sales one company makes because more sales imply coming up with more product lines. General Mills width of product mix includes cereals, dough, fruit, meals, pizza, pastries, and vegetables that the company continues to expand as their sales increase. Other than product width, General Mills deal in product length which is the total number of products that the company actually offers. Product length is therefore all the products drawn from all the product lines within the company expressed as the average products. For General Mills, they have so much to offer from their different product lines. The Company’s product mix depth is the number of variations in each product. In practice, General Mills produces the identical products that are differentiated to meet the diverse demands of its customers. When it comes to depth, General Mills manufacture products and pack them into different sizes and quantities depending on the purchasing powers of its customers. The flavors are also packed into numerous quantities with particular reference to ice-cream, one of the firm’s popular product lines, in order to make them affordable to all the customers independent of their income power. The fourth dimension is consistency which is how a company produces, uses, and distributes its products. General Mills have done well in consistency; for instance, in distribution, General Mills has succeeded in distributing their products to a number of countries using international distribution chains.
The Coca-Cola
If there is one company that has been consistent in the global non-alcoholic and soft-drinks market, it is the Coca-Cola Company. The company, through its product invention and innovational skills, has improved their products throughout with technological evolvement and changes in demands and taste of its potential customers. The company has been in existence for over 127 years and has more than 500 brands with at least 3500 products dominating the soft-drinks market. The Coca-Cola Company has been able to dominate and lead the market due to its diverse product lines created through high degree of product innovation and invention, making it to sustain the changing market demands and needs. As a way capturing the new consumers’ product needs, Coke launched the diet soda to increase their market sales by targeting potential customers with health related issues and complications such as cancer. Coca-Cola has also spent a significant amount of resources to advertise and market their products, hence building positive brand image and popularity. Given the stiff competition that Coca-Cola faces from Pepsi Inc., Coca-Cola allocated resources for corporate social responsibilities (CSR) and activities. CSR(s) is a strong marketing tool that Coca-Cola uses in building strong positive brand image among its potential consumers. The company gives back to the society (customers) by establishing foundations targeting minorities and disadvantaged members of the society. The product safety campaign has also helped Coca-Cola to grow; it sell its products in plastic bottles that are recyclable and convenient for the consumers.
There is always room for improvement and the Coca-Cola Company can get more ideas to improve their products. To increase their customer base to capture low income earners, the company should come up with smaller sized products that are affordable to low income groups who are currently uncovered in the market. Similarly, given the health issues resounding Coca-Cola Coke products, the company should develop healthy drinks by working in collaboration in health experts to increase the fighting against diabetes and obesity.
