Dominican Republic Has It All Coca Cola is an internationally renowned brand. Coca Cola is a beverage company and the world leader in soft drink sales. Coca-Cola produces and distributes several brands in the United States and internationally. The company also produces and markets many fruit juices and other non-soda beverages. The Coca-Cola Company is based in Atlanta, Georgia. Coca-Cola’s soft drinks include its flagship product Coca-Cola which is popularly known as Coke. Coca Cola has globalized its product and has done tremendously well in world markets. The soft drink industry in the Dominican Republic has seen steady growth over the past few decades. As the economy of the Dominican Republic continues to grow, so will the needs and wants of consumers. Coca Cola already has a step in the Dominican Republic market. However, Coca Cola has continued to elevate their promotional strategies in order to obtain a larger market share and fair well in the Dominican Republic. The target market for Coca Cola is the entire population. Coca Cola has a very strong brand name. The strong brand name is what makes the company and its products popular. It brings the company huge amounts of profit and worldwide recognition. Due to its reputation, Coca Cola has the ability to target the entire population of the Dominican Republic. Its product has been around for almost a century. Coca Cola is a globalized product, meaning that Coca Cola is basically the same throughout the entire world. The product is catered to the tastes of consumers globally. The formula for Coca Cola is relatively the same. Coca Cola’s strong brand name only adds to the reputation of its product. Pricing for Coca Cola is also standardized. Retailers sell the product for relatively the same price. Coca Cola is inexpensive and affordable. Due to its low pricing, everyone has the ability to purchase Coca Cola. This is another reason why Coca Cola has the capability to target the entire population of the Dominican Republic. Its low pricing allows affordability and does not leave any potential customer out. Although there are competitors, Coca Cola has retained its low pricing and are still stronger than competitors. Again, Coca Cola’s strong brand name helps its sales tremendously. Coca Cola is distributed through a wide variety of channels. Coca Cola can be found in small convenience stores, supermarkets, wholesalers, and even vending machines. Coca Cola has purposely made its product convenient for consumers to purchase. The product is readily accessible. Many restaurants carry Coca Cola, making it even easier for consumers to purchase. This allows Coca Cola to cover a wide area of distribution. Coca Cola implements a very effective advertising method. Coca Cola utilizes television and magazine commercials to inform people about its product. Coca Cola’s website is user friendly, attractive, and informative. Coca Cola also implements corporate social responsibility. The company has teamed up with many non-profit organizations to fulfill its role of corporate social responsibility. Consumers are able to physically see Coca Cola’s role in their everyday lives. Coca Cola has also sponsored many sports teams, which they have done in the Dominican Republic. This also gives the company great exposure and they are able to use the exposure to strengthen their sales effectively. Coca Cola just needs to strengthen their footing in the Dominican Republic for them to be even more successful. Coca Cola does not have a long history in the Dominican Republic like it has with the United States. However, in due time, Coca Cola will reach the iconic status in the Dominican Republic as it has done in the rest of the world.
Appendix: Country Analysis
Cultural Analysis
I. Introduction: This cultural analysis will help analyze how the Dominican Republic is on a micro level. This will help Coca Cola better understand its market, and assist in generating profits.
II. Brief discussion of the country’s relevant history: The Dominican Republic’s History and Politics are two subjects that become intertwined with each other, as the politics have controlled the history of the island since before Columbus discovered it in 1493. From the indigenous tribes fighting each other for control, to the Europeans racing to colonize Dominica, the island has changed hands many times. This can be seen through the unique culture that exists there today. During these changes, the politics of the Dominican Republic were altered as different tribes had different ways of ruling just like its numerous owners.
III. Geographical setting
A. Location: The capital city of Roseau, located across from the cruise line docks, is home to the New Market where tropical fruits, vegetables, and flowers are sold on Saturday mornings. The Old Market that existed here sold slaves up until slavery’s abolishment. On the northern end of the island is Fort Shirley, which has been recently restored and is close to the second city of Portsmouth. On the southern end of the island is the fishing village of Pointe Michel. The geography of Pointe Michel is one of the most unique spots of the whole island. A few yards off the beach at Pointe Michel, volcanic activity can be seen through thousands of bubbles in the water created by cracks in the rocks beneath. At the end of the island on the southernmost tip, are the villages Soufriere, and Scott’s Head. Scott’s Head has the ruins of Fort Cachacou, which has not been restored as of yet.
B. Climate: The average temperature range is between 75 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Average rainfall varies between 50 inches on coastal areas, and 300 inches within the interior. The driest months are from January to June, and hurricane season which is usually between July and early October. As a result of this wet climate, Dominica’s main agriculture comes from tropical fruits, flowers, and vegetables. The country has strict restrictions on the importing and exporting of any of these items.
C. Topography: Millions of years ago, fierce volcanic activity began deep below the sea, in the region known now as the Caribbean. Some of these volcanoes managed to push their way up from the ocean floor to become islands. The tallest of these islands is Dominica. The geography of the Dominican Republic is quite unique. It is an island fortress unlike any other island in the Caribbean, and is the largest and most mountainous of the Windward Islands. The island was created by volcanic activity and still shows signs of active volcanic activity. Its steep mountains prevented colonists from completely taking over, and have made the island a prime destination for Eco-tourists. The island contains over 3,000 peaks, the tallest of which are Morne Diablotin (4,747 ft) and Morne Trois Pitons (4,600ft). The island itself is located between the French islands of Guadeloupe to the north and Martinique to the south. It is 29 miles long and 16 miles wide, and covers 290 square miles. Its exact location is approximately 15 degrees North and 61 degrees West.
IV. Social institutions
A. Education
1. The role of education in society
a. Primary education (quality, levels of development, etc.): Primary education is officially free and compulsory for children between the ages of 5 and 14, although those who live in isolated areas have limited access to schooling.
b. Secondary education (quality, levels of development, etc.): Primary education is followed by a two-year intermediate school and a four-year secondary course, after which a diploma called the bachillerato (high school diploma) is awarded. Relatively few lower income students succeed in reaching this level, due to financial hardships and limitation due to location. Most of the wealthier students attend private schools, which are frequently sponsored by religious institutions. Some public and private vocational schools are available, particularly in the field of agriculture, but this too reaches only a tiny percentage of the population.
c. Higher education ( quality, levels of the development, etc.): Higher education is offered and supported in the Dominican Republic. There are over than 26 higher education institutes. Higher education has enjoyed spectacular growth since the 1980s, post Trujillo era.
2. Literacy rates: The Dominican Republic has a literacy rate of 89.1%.
B. Political system
1. Political structure: In 1951, universal adult suffrage was granted to everyone over 21 years of age. This replaced property-ownership or payment of taxes as qualifications for voting. On May 24, 1955 on the steps of the Dominica Trade Union Hall, in Roseau, the Labor Party was formed. The Party was made possible by the changes to the voting system of 1951, and drew the support of the rural and urban poor alike. The Labor Party subscribed to social reformist policies and concentrated on addressing the lack of schools (out of 12,000 school aged children only 5000 attended for any length of time, and the majority of those only attended sporadically), as well as the lack of public health services. Both these issues were addressed and by 1970 there were 80 schools in operation. By the end of the 50s, diseases such as the yaws and malaria were eradicated. With the completion of the Princess Margaret Hospital, 240 hospital beds were gained. The Dominican Republic was granted Associated Statehood in 1967, which provided for basic independence with defense and external affairs left for the United Kingdom to handle.
2. Political parties: The new constitution came, which made the legislature consist of eleven elected, three nominated, and one “ex-officio” and the Speaker of the House of Assembly (www.delphis.dm). This resulted in the population having a say in affairs as they could elect a majority of their representatives. In 1968, the Freedom Party was formed from the remnants of the Dominica United Peoples Party; this party drew its support from the Roseau mercantile and administrative class. Even with the advent of these parties though, little had changed for the poor working class, a 1961 census reported that 1.4% of the farmers on the island occupied 56.4% of the land. As in many other places around the world the 70s were a time of political and social turbulence. The black population was beginning to resist the British system and beginning to celebrate their original heritage.
3. Stability of the government: This is followed by the full independence of Dominica through a republican Constitution in 1978, which was made up of twenty-one elected officials, nine nominated members, with a Prime Minister and Cabinet based on the Westminster model. In 1980, came the election of Eugenia Charles, who became the first female prime minister in the Caribbean. In 1981, Patrick John attempted two unsuccessful coups. He was tried and acquitted in 1981, but retired in 1985 and sentenced to twelve years in prison. The latest election appointed Pierre Charies Prime Minister on June 25, 2001.
4. Role of local government: The local government has system of top-down rule and strong central authority, based off the French. The country is divided into 29 provinces, plus the National District. The provinces are subdivided into a total of 77 municipalities. Neither provinces nor municipalities have power to levy taxes. Local government is weak because it lacks taxing authority and central government set virtually all policies.
C. Legal system
1. Organization of the judiciary system: The Dominican legal system is derived from laws known as the Napoleonic code. The legal system consists of: Peace courts, Courts of First Instance, Appeals Courts, and Supreme Court of Justice.
2. Code, common, socialist, or Islamic-law country?: Common law country.
3. Participation in patents, trademarks, and other conventions: The Dominican Republic participates in international patents, trademarks and copyrights.
D. Social organizations
1. Social classes: Social classes in the Dominican Republic consist of the elite, the middle sector, and the urban poor. The elite make up approximately 3-5% of the population. The middle sector consists of approximately 30-35% of the population. The urban poor consist of approximately 55-60% of the population.
2. Race, ethnicity and subcultures: Dominicans traditionally preferred to think of themselves as descendants of the island’s Indians and the Spanish. There was a preference in Dominican society for light skin and “white” racial features. However, the Dominican society now consists of mainly of mixed races, paving away the preference for lighter skins.
V. Religion and aesthetics
A. Religion and other belief systems
1. Relationship with the people: Many Dominicans view the Roman Catholic clergy with ambivalence. People respect the advice of their local priest, or their bishop, with regard to religious matters.
2. Which religions are prominent?: Roman Catholicism is the official religion of the Dominican Republic, established by a Concordat with the Vatican.
3. Membership of each religion: The Dominican Republic is 68.9% Roman Catholic, 18.2% Evangelical, 10.6% with no religion, and 2.3% other. However, other sources place the irreligious ratio at 7% and nearly 10%. Recent immigration, as well as proselytizing, has brought other religions with the following shares of the population: Spiritist: 2.2%, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 1.1%, Buddhist: 0.10%, Bahá'í: 0.1%, Islam: 0.02%, Judaism: 0.01%, Chinese Folk Religion: 0.1%.
4. Any powerful or influential cults: Many Haitian immigrants and descendents adhered to voodoo. In the past, they practiced it in secret because the government and the general population regarded the folk religion as pagan. However, recently voodoo is practiced out in the open and has a strong hold upon many Dominican citizens.
B. Aesthetics
1. Music: Musically, the Dominican Republic is known for the creation of the musical style called merengue, a type of lively, fast-paced rhythm and dance music consisting of a tempo of about 120 to 160 beats per minute. This is based on musical elements like drums, brass, chorded instruments, and accordion, as well as some elements unique to the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, such as the tambora and güira. Its syncopated beats use Latin percussion, brass instruments, bass, and piano or keyboard. Between 1937 and 1950 merengue music was promoted internationally by Dominicans groups like Billo's Caracas Boys, Chapuseaux and Damiron "Los Reyes del Merengue", Joseito Mateo, and others. Radio, television, and international media popularized it further. Some well-known merengue performers include Johnny Ventura, singer/songwriter Juan Luis Guerra, Fernando Villalona, Eddy Herrera, Sergio Vargas, Toño Rosario, Milly Quezada, and Chichí Peralta. Merengue became popular in the United States, mostly on the East Coast, during the 1980s and 90s, when many Dominican artists, among them Victor Roque y La Gran Manzana, Henry Hierro, Zacarias Ferreira, Aventura, and Milly Jocelyn Y Los Vecinos, residing in the U.S. (particularly New York) started performing in the Latin club scene and gained radio airplay.
VI. Living conditions
A. Diet and nutrition
1. Meat and vegetable consumption rates: Meat and vegetables are both consumed almost equally in the Dominican Republic.
2. Typical meals: Like most Caribbean islands the cuisine is largely based on fish and chicken for meat and local fruits and vegetables, such as coconut, beans, rice and many others.
3. Foods available: Dominican Republic cuisine is predominately made up of a combination of Spanish, Taino, and African influences. Some Dominican dishes are, Black Bean Soup, Coconut Grouper, Corn Pudding, Conch Fritters, Dominican Tamales or “Pasteles en Hojas” which means: Tamales wrapped in banana leaves.
B. Housing
1. Types of housing available: There are apartments, houses, and condos available in the Dominican Republic.
2. Do most people own or rent? More people own homes than rent.
3. Do most people live in one-family dwellings or with other families? One-family dwellings.
C. Clothing
1. National dress: Traditional Dominican clothing is not often worn, unless in festivities. In Dominican society, appearance is very important. People are extremely fashion conscious and believe that clothes indicate social standing and success. They take great pride in wearing good fabrics and clothes of the best standard they can afford. Designer labels, particularly those from the USA, are looked upon favorably.
2. Types of clothing worn at work: Clothing worn at work in the Dominican Republic is similar to the USA. White collar workers wear shirts and ties. Men wear good quality, conservative, dark colored businesses suits. Women wear stylish suits or dresses. Blue collar workers wear clothing that depends on the sector they are in.
D. Recreation, sports, and other leisure activities
1. Types available and in demand: Baseball is by far the most popular sport in the Dominican Republic. The country has a baseball league of six teams. Boxing, basketball, soccer, and volleyball are also popular.
E. Social security: Social security coverage includes old-age pensions, disability pensions, survivors’ and maternity benefits, and compensation for work injuries. Wage earners, government employees, and domestic and agricultural workers are eligible.
F. Healthcare: The state healthcare system is free but far from adequate. There are of course medical insurance which will entitle citizens to receive better health care. However, generally the free healthcare system is not up to par.
VII. Language
A. Official language(s): The Dominican Republic is entirely Spanish speaking. Schools are based on a Spanish educational model, with English being taught as a secondary language in most private schools, it is also being taught in public school as well.
B. Spoken versus written language(s): The official written language for the Dominican Republic is Spanish.
C. Dialects: Dominican Spanish is similar to Puerto Rican, Cuban, Canarian, Audalusian, Panamanian, and Venezuelan Spanish. Despite the particularities, speakers of Dominican Spanish have typically have no trouble understanding speakers of other Spanish dialects, due to exposure to such dialects in mass media and use of standard Spanish in the Dominican education system.
Economic Analysis
I. Introduction: The economic analysis will enable Coca Cola to understand the economy of the Dominican Republic. Coca Cola has not been in the country for that long, therefore this analysis is crucial for Coca Cola to become successful.
II. Population
A. Total: 9,927,320.
1. Growth rates: 1.489%.
2. Birthrates: 22.39 births/1000 population.
B. Distribution of population
1. Sex: 1.04 male(s)/female(s)
2. Geographic areas (Urban, suburban, and rural density and concentration): 69% urban population, 31% mix of suburban and rural.
3. Migration rates and patterns: There is a great deal of Haitian immigration in the Dominican Republic. Although there are many other races, such as Arabs and Japanese, mainly Haitians immigrate to the Dominican Republic. Emigration from the Dominican Republic remains high. Most citizens of the Dominican Republic emigrate to the United States.
4. Ethnic groups: Mixed 73%, White 16%, Black 11%.
III. Economic statistics and activity
A. Gross national product (GNP or GDP)
1. Total: $61.67 billion GDP
2. Rate of growth (real GNP or GDP): 7.2% GDP
B. Personal income per capita: $5,231.
C. Average family income: $8.200.
D. Distribution of wealth
1. Income classes: Poor, middle class, wealthy.
2. Proportion of the population in each class: The Dominican Republic has an extremely off-balance distribution of wealth. The top 10% gain 40% of wealth.
3. Is the distribution distorted? Yes.
E. Minerals and resources: Nickel, bauxite, gold, silver, petroleum, and hydropower.
F. Surface transportation
1. Modes: Buses, trains, ship, cars, airplanes.
2. Availability: Transportation system is widely available with many stops in most of the island’s major cities.
3. Ports: Santo Domingo, Haina Occidental, Multimodal Caucedo, Puerto Plata, Boca Chica, San Pedro de Macoris, Central Romona, Cayo Levantado, Manzanillo, Cabo Rojo, Barahona, Azua.
G. Communication systems
1. Types: Telephones, mobile phones, VoiP lines, radio, television, internet.
2. Availability: Media communication systems are available all over the Dominican Republic.
H. Foreign investment
1. Opportunities?: There are many opportunities for investment in the Dominican Republic, as the country has been on a steady growth for the past two decades.
2. Which industries?: Primarily mining, financial services, telecommunications, energy, cement, and tourism.
I. International trade statistics
1. Major exports
a. Dollar value: $6.161 billion.
2. Major imports
a. Dollar value: $14.53 billion.
3. Balance-of-payments situation
a. Surplus or deficit? Deficit.
4. Exchange rates
a. Single or multiple exchange rates?: Single.
b. Current rate of exchange: 1 USD – 37.47788 DOP
J. Trade restrictions
1. Import taxes: 5% to 35%.
2. Tariffs: 5% to 80%.
3. Customs duties: Tobacco (200 cigarettes), liquor (1 liter of alcohol), gifts (up to a value of $100), prohibits all animal, agricultural, horticultural products and drugs.
K. Labor force
1. Size: 3.986 million.
2. Unemployment rates: 15.5%.
L. Inflation rates: 4.52%.
IV. Developments in science and technology
A. Current technology available (computers, machinery, tools, etc.): The Dominican Republic is very advanced in technological terms. However, they may be a little slower to receive the newest products and innovations. The Dominican Republic has just about everything the United States has in terms of technology and machinery.
B. Technological skills of the labor force and general population: Technological skills are not as predominate in the Dominican Republic. Only people who have gone to school and had to a chance to learn have obtained technological skills. As the Dominican Republic is still quite agrarian, not everyone has technological skills.
V. Channels of distribution
A. Retailers
1. Typical size of retail outlets: Depends on the type of retailer. Retailer can be as small as a convenience store, or as large as a supermarket.
2. Customary markup for various classes of goods: Globalized product, therefore no markup.
3. Methods of operation (cash/credit): Both cash and credit.
4. Scale of operation (large/small): Large.
B. Wholesale middlemen
1. Customary markup for various classes of goods: Globalized product, therefore no markup.
2. Method of operation (cash/credit): Cash.
VI. Media
A. Availability of media: Media is available throughout the entire country. The main form of media is the television, and the radio is second.

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“Dominican Republic.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 01 Dec. 2011. .
“República Dominicana.” República Dominicana - Lo Tiene Todo. Web. 01 Dec. 2011. .
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