Strategic Analysis of Fritz Kola

Marketing Report: Fritz Kola

The following report is a critical look into the German brand Fritz Kola, and attempts to understand its position in the current market and calculate its future opportunities and threats. It attempts to do that by looking at the origin and the market position of the cola and examine the customer base it currently has. It will also look at the competitive advantages that the brand currently has and understand how the brand managed to be a competitive force to large brands like Pepsi and Coca Cola in Germany. Doing so will allow the research to see if its marketing processes are sustainable in the future and identify areas for improvement.

Fritz Kola: Origins and History

The brand was started by then-students Micro Wiegart and Lorenz Hampl in 2003, who wanted to create an alternative cola brand as Coca Cola and Pepsi were the two biggest cola brands them. Initially, there was only one flavour of the brand, with the simple tagline ‘much much caffeine’, and a black and white picture of the founders on the bottle as logo (ozy.com) The two brands had cornered the market and they wanted to create an alternative.

Because of this, almost every brewery they approached to make the cola refused because they only made beers and pilsners, the cola making were left to the big companies. The founders had to approach breweries as internet research did not shed any light on how they could’ve made their cola. The duo managed to find a single brewery to help them make their cola, and since then, the company has expanded to sell over 71 million bottles in the year 2019, becoming a household name in Germany (BBC, 2021).

Current Status of Fritz Kola

Currently, Fritz Kola’s headquarters is located in Hamburg and the sole owner is listed as Micro Wiegart. The total number of employees the company presently employees is 104 and their annual revenue is listed as 52.2 million dollars (dnb.com).

The business model of the company started out as simplistic and they still follow that particular model to some extent. The company owners elucidated that owing to the fact that they had limited means, the brand design on the labels was just their own faces, to avoid paying for copyright fees. Additionally, the design was made on photoshop (BBC, 2021; creativepool.com).

The brand started out with marketing their products more to bars than restaurants and supermarkets, but eventually they have outreached to supermarkets and restaurants as well. Apart from Germany, where the brand is currently the best selling brand of cola, the company also exports its products to and has big markets in Netherlands, Poland and Belgium. The focus of the brand shifted gradually from making one variety of cola to several flavours and a sugar-free variety as well, making mixers to go with alcohol and so on. The initial marketing strategy was to develop a good product with a good formulation to capture the attention of people and then expand to different variations (creativepool.com).

Current Strengths and Weaknesses of the Brand

The brand has been operating for 17 years by now and there are several strengths about its marketing and operational approach, but also some weaknesses exists. According to a study done by Buse (2012) on the brand, the appeal of the brand may be with individuals who want an alternative to Pepsi and Coca Cola and the wide range of flavours available may be available to consumers. Additionally, the higher than average caffeine content of the brand appeals to a group of individuals who would like that. They have also retained their image of the cola brand being a good mixer with alcohol, from the initial years when it directed its marketing efforts primarily to bars across Germany, in an attempt to popularise their product.

However, the increasing health consciousness of people may be a problematic factor for the brand as people may stop buying their drink because of the high caffeine content. It is also more expensive than the popular brands of Coca Cola and Pepsi, perhaps due to its smaller production process. In terms of expansion, the brand has limited International strategies and this may prove to counterproductive to the expansion plans of the brand, should they have any in the future (creativepool.com).

Short, Medium and Long Term Strategies for the Brand

The short term strategies which the brand can follow is expanding their social media strategies in order to engage with their consumers, both current and potential consumers, more. Another immediate measure they can follow is promotional offers, which may encourage consumers who do not buy their product yet to buy it or to give a chance to their existing customers to buy more.

Medium term, the brand can invest in Search Engine Optimisation of their brand, by creating meaningful content in order to redirect people online to their brand name and to make unaware people cognizant of the features of their beverage and why it is superior to others. Another way to make good content while promoting its brands is by introducing cocktails which could be made with the cola’s mixers. This encourages people to follow the recipes by purchasing the product.

Long term, the company can strategise expansion plans in the emerging markets of Asia, which can prove to be a profitable market for the brand. The brand supplies to nations outside Germany currently, but it also needs to make plans to expand to all the nations of Europe in order to establish itself as a household name in the region. This will also aid the company in getting market familiarity in Asian nations and ultimately help in the long-term plan of expanding all over the world.

Continue your journey with our comprehensive guide to Standardisation Adaptation of International Marketing.

References

BBC News. 2021. The two students who took on Coke and Pepsi. [online] Available at: [Accessed 28 February 2021].

Buse, T., 2012. International Marketing Report: Fritz Kola. GRIN Verlag.

Fritz-Kola, B. and Lewin, K., 2021. Brand Case Studies: Fritz-Kola. [online] Creativepool.com.

Available at: [Accessed 25 March 2021].

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OZY. 2021. How Fritz-Kola Took on Coke (and Kind of Won). [online] Available at:

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