Communication in internationalization strategies, from traditional to digital marketing: the case of Coca-Cola Italia

Nowadays, digitalization is influencing every aspect of our lives and companies, which must face this new situation, are changing their way of doing business. Even companies which have decided to internationalize and expand their business beyond the national borders must take into consideration this phenomenon, starting to use the innovative and efficient tools offered by the Internet and developed in the last years. However, digital marketing is not replacing the traditional one. In fact, the following work aims to examine the effects of the digital transformation over companies, in a period in which the old and new forms of communication intertwine and overlap, as traditional media are incorporating some innovations typical of social media, new media are using some typical features of classic media. This is generally called Integrated Marketing Communication. Considering social media and web 2.0 services across national boundaries, companies must integrate them in a wider integrated communication strategy, as well as to create coherent communication strategies in order to make the message clear and send it uniformly throughout the world, knowing that in the various parts of the globe the value system, the local culture, the language of expression, the way in which symbolism is understood, sometimes changes even drastically. In order to better understand this phenomenon, the case of Coca-Cola Italia has been analyzed. In particular, the case study shows how Coca Cola, during the digital revolution, is approaching this unstoppable and substantial change. It is obvious that the giant of Atlanta is certainly not opposing evolution and progress; indeed, is taking advantage from digital strategies, but reiterating and stressing without shame the importance that television still holds today. In fact, TV is still a fundamental asset of its business. Moreover, the case study shows that despite company's universally known and consumed product, it always has to set new goals and differentiates its digital strategy according to country characteristics.