In the last article, we did a 360-degree SWOT Analysis of Gatorade. Today, we will be looking at the SWOT analysis of Sprite – a much-loved subsidiary of the coca-cola company.
Sprite is the sixth best-selling soft drink brand worldwide and is sold in more than 190 countries. Its lemony flavour and refreshing feel are largely popular among teenagers and the youth demographic.
Much of the success of this brand comes from its extensive marketing efforts that included collaboration with hip-hop artists and basketball champions. However, with the change in the marketing scenario, Sprite has also re-strategise its marketing techniques. If you are interested in learning about the latest trends in marketing, go over to our Free MasterClass On Digital Marketing 101 by Karan Shah, the CEO and Founder of IIDE.
In this case study, we will learn about the SWOT Analysis of Sprite. But first, let us know about the company and the product better.
About Sprite
(Story of Sprite, Source: Marketing Mind)
Sprite was first created in 1959 in West Germany. The drink was originally known as Clear Lemon Fanta and was part of the Fanta brand. Two years later, the drink was renamed Sprite and released in the United States. Sprite quickly gained popularity after its launch in 1961. It was distributed in 39 countries by 1967. The drink’s fan base was primarily made up of young people.
The youth-oriented beverage began its collaboration with the worlds of hip-hop and basketball in the late 1980s. Urban-oriented artists such as LL Cool J and Missy Elliott were included in the commercial campaigns. Today, NBA stars such as LeBron James feature in advertisements, reinforcing the association. Sprite is presently sold in more than 190 countries worldwide and comes in multiple flavours, including cranberry, cherry, grape, orange, and vanilla.
| Founder | The Coca-Cola Company |
|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1961 |
| Origin | Germany |
| No. of Employees | N/A |
| Company Type | Product of Coca-Cola |
| Market Cap | N/A |
| Annual Revenue | $10.1 Million |
| Net Income/ Profit | N/A |
Products of Sprite
Sprite aficionados can choose from over 17 different flavors, that include:
- The perennial favorite lemon-lime (Lymon) flavor drink
- Sprite Zero
- Sprite Cherry
- Sprite 6 Mix
- Sprite Ice
Competitors of Sprite
Sprite was first launched to give a competition to 7-Up. There are many other soda drinks in the market that provide close competition to Sprite. Some of them are:
- Pepsi
- Gatorade
- Mountain Dew
- Dr. Pepper
- 7-Up
As now we have a better understanding of Sprite, let’s look into the SWOT Analysis of Sprite.
SWOT Analysis of Sprite
Carrying out a detailed SWOT Analysis of Sprite helps in finding its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Understanding internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis helps in forming correct objectives and plans for the future.
So let us go ahead and first have a glance at the strengths of Sprite from the SWOT analysis of Sprite.
Strengths of Sprite
Strengths represent everything that an organization is good at and why it sets them apart from the competition. They are the internal and positive attributes of any company. Sprite’s strengths are:
- Successful Track Record of Developing New Products: Sprite offers a lot of product options other than its flagship sprite bottle and it has been successful in new product development so far.
- Loyal Customer Base: Sprite has a loyal customer base who will not drink any other drink other than the bubbly sprite.
- Excellent Branding: Sprite has strongly positioned itself as a youthful drink since its inception in 1961. Its advertisements, green bubbly brand theme, all are easily recognized by its target customer group.
- Reliable Suppliers: The company has a strong foundation of reliable raw material suppliers that enables it to overcome supply chain bottlenecks.
- Promotion Strategy: The company has always invested well in the promotion of their products and many times hired legends of various sports to advertise and have made use of their huge fan bases.
- Support of Coca-Cola: Having a stable and strong parent company Coca-Cola has given a boost to their brand and helped in development.
Weaknesses of Sprite
Weaknesses pull an organization back from performing at its best. They are the negative internal factors that weaken business strengths. A few drawbacks or weaknesses of Sprite are:
- Weak Product Demand Forecasting: Sprite has lagged behind in pre-determining the market needs and offering that before its competitor does. It is not just a missed opportunity but also results in high inventory.
- Low Work Morale: Sprite has reported low work morale among its workers that has resulted in high employee turnover rates. This ultimately hampers the company culture and also increases training and development funds.
- Research & Development: Although sprite does invest a lot of money and effort in its research and development process, it is very weak in comparison to its other competitors. Sprite is missing out on a lot of opportunities due to that. An effective research and development can help sprite to diversify its product range that works best towards its target market.
- Common USP: Eventually the products are a great success in terms of sales, but when the question occurs what is the USP (unique selling proposition) of the product then the answer is undefined because most competitors like 7-Up and Mountain Dew are already selling the same category which makes Monster’s USP common in the market.
- Variety of Products Creating Confusion: The huge variety of products Sprite has to offer has somewhat held them back as it has been seen to confuse the customers who are only looking for a narrow segment of lime drink. So many flavours like ginger, cherry, tropical mix etc. have left the customers not knowing what to choose which has only resulted in the loss of market shares to the other competitors.
Opportunities for Sprite
Opportunities are the factors that provide an organization with a chance to edge over others. They are the external factors that can contribute to the success of any company. Certain opportunities that Sprite has:
- New Trends in Consumer Behaviors: As the trends in the market and consumer behavior are rapidly changing, sprite can tackle that before its competitors. It is also a chance to venture into niche markets and position itself.
- The Success of the Coca-Cola Brand: The massive success of the Coca-cola brand means that sprite has an opportunity to leverage that brand image. It has access to the vast financial and technical resources of the coca-cola company which is a big advantage.
- The Trend of Healthy Lifestyle: Leading a healthy lifestyle is one of the current popular trends and this brings in a lot of potentials for Sprite to make use of. This allows diversifying and expanding their portfolio to new dimensions.
- Social Media Presence: Sprite has a strong social media presence with almost 1 million followers on Instagram. They promote their product by featuring famous singers and artists in their advertisements and Sprite is getting sales through this strategy. This is why Sprite should continue increasing its social media presence.
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- Stealing Market Share: Having a strong parent company to support them and a powerful brand image, “stealing” the market shares of their competitors is still a viable option using the latest technology to present alternatives to the competing products.
- R&D on Technology: The technology market has lots of potential for Sprite products. There are opportunities to provide innovative and creative solutions to the present problems in the refreshment market by using research and technology.
Threats to Sprite
Threats are the factors that can affect an organization in a harmful way. These are the external factors over which no company has control. A couple of Sprite’s threats are:
- Internal and External Competition: Sprite does not only have to compete with other major brands like 7-up but also has to fight for market share with other brands of coca-cola like Fanta and coke itself.
- Counterfeit Products: There is a massive growth in counterfeit products in the market, mostly in backward countries. This can cost a considerable market share for Sprite. Sprite might also have to put effort on making their audience aware about these counterfeit products.
- Health Consciousness: A sly but major threat to sprite, or any other soda drink, is the health-conscious lifestyle that people are adopting. Needless to say, carbonated drinks are not very good for your health. Most of the wealthy countries are health-conscious and stay away from these drinks.
- Environmental Consciousness: There is also a surge of environment-conscious buying habits worldwide. Sprite bottles, that mostly sell in plastic bottles and throwaway cans, can face a major backlash if this trend continues.
- Increasing Online Business: The recent trend of online shopping could have negative effects on Sprite as it is a company having huge supply chains and physical infrastructure that could take time to quickly adjust to this new era.
This ends our elaborated SWOT analysis of Sprite. Let us conclude our learning below.
To Conclude
Sprite is a globally popular brand that is developed by one of the biggest beverage manufacturers in the world, Coca-Cola. Within five decades of its introduction, Sprite has gained a loyal fanbase worldwide and enjoys a good profit.
In the SWOT analysis of Sprite, we recognized that sprite stays ahead of the competition with its strong supply chain, range of products, and excellent branding. However, the competition is strong and threats are inevitable. Sprite can turn around the same threat as its opportunities and create even bigger market dominance.
With the growing competition in the market, brands are left with a challenge to stay one step ahead of their competitors by upscaling their marketing efforts. Today, there are more than 3 billion people connected to the internet, and putting emphasis on your digital presence is never a bad idea. If you don’t have any idea of what digital marketing is or want to learn more about it and upgrade yourself, here is IIDE’s 3 Month Advanced Online Digital Marketing Course to know more.
We hope this blog on the SWOT analysis of Sprite has given you a good insight into the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
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