coke vs pepsi case study solution

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

We're Hiring!
Help Center

First page of “Cola Wars: Coca-Cola vs. PepsiCo A CASE STUDY”

Download Free PDF

Cola Wars: Coca-Cola vs. PepsiCo A CASE STUDY

Related papers

Jorge Yeshayahu Gonzales-Lara, 2020

The Coca-Cola Company is a total beverage company, offering over 500 brands in more than 200 countries and territories. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Coca-Cola is the world’s largest provider of carbonated soft drinks, with an over 50% market share worldwide. Through the world’s largest beverage distribution system, consumers enjoy the Coca-Cola company’s beverage at a rate of 1.7 billion servings a day - about 19,400 beverages every second. This research investigates Coca-Cola’s preeminent position in the soft drink sector, and why it enjoys it. We explore the external and internal factors which share the company and its direction, and how Coca-Cola has responded to its influences. Additionally, an overview of the company’s strategic efforts shall be undertaken, and some cautionary notes for the future will be sounded.

This study tried to identify the impact of Operation strategies for Coca-Cola Vs Pepsi companies to attract their Customers. Nowadays, economies are becoming more entwined than ever, any possible method that can be used in supporting the building of global brands is appealing. The characterization of the soft-drink industry for decades has intense rivalry between Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Coca-Cola Company ruled the soft-drink market all through the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s in this chess game of big firms. Not only can it be difficult to understand consumer behaviour and target groups’ needs on the domestic market, but also for multi-national companies, this is an even greater struggle. Despite the fact that most of the world’s consumers have certain things in common, their values and attitudes, as well as behaviour are often different. Moreover, the study encompasses three specific target groups in Sweden that have been divided in accordance to age, and thus we do not look at the entire consumer population and as a result, generalization is not obtained. Finally, we have concentrated on age segmentation, and thus other demographic variables are not observed.

The purpose of this research was to analysis the efficiency of global strategies. This paper identified six key strategies necessary for firms to be successful when expanding globally. These strategies include differentiation, marketing, distribution, collaborative strategies, labor and management strategies, and diversification. Within this analysis, we chose to focus on the Coca-Cola Company because they have proven successful in their international operations and are one of the most recognized brands in the world. We performed an in-depth review of how effectively or ineffectively Coca-Cola has used each of the six strategies. The paper focused on Coca-Cola's operations in the United States, China, Belarus, Peru, and Morocco. The author used electronic journals from the various countries to determine how effective Coca-Cola was in these countries. The paper revealed that Coca-Cola was very successful in implementing strategies regardless of the country. However, the author learned that Coca-Cola did not effectively utilize all of the strategies in each country.

The year 2015 marks the 30 th anniversary of the introduction of New Coke by The Coca-Cola Company, a product that quickly vanished following a firestorm of consumer complaints. How is it that customers turned their back on the cola giant? The effects of The Coca-Cola Company's decision to introduce New Coke to replace original Coke in 1985 can be attributed to three areas: it was a replacement beverage, the organization misapplied focus group data, and leadership experienced tunnel vision, ignoring warning signs of trouble. The organization relied on certain models to guide their decision-making in each area, however when combined, New Coke ultimately failed. Although their decision did not have the desired outcome, The Coca-Cola Company can offer modern organizations lessons in avoiding the problems they faced in their decision-making process surrounding New Coke.

This study is conducted between two global giants Coca Cola & Pepsi-cola. This research paper is basically a comparative study of two well known competitors in beverage industry of Pakistan which are Pepsi Cola & Coca Cola. The primary purpose of this paper is to find out which company is leading the market. This research required us to conduct the consumer research on why they chose the drink. To find out the factors & reasons that influence to choose their preferred drink. Abstract-This study is conducted between two global giants Coca Cola & Pepsi-cola. This research paper is basically a comparative study of two well known competitors in beverage industry of Pakistan which are Pepsi Cola & Coca Cola. The primary purpose of this paper is to find out which company is leading the market. This research required us to conduct the consumer research on why they chose the drink. To find out the factors & reasons that influence to choose their preferred drink.

Historia y Sociedad, 2018

| The Coca-Cola Company sold drink concentrates and licensed rights to its trade-marked brands to contracted bottlers who produced and sold bottled drinks in designated geographic areas around the world, including Colombia, beginning in 1927. The franchise system enabled international expansion without large corporate growth or direct local employment allowing the company to externalize liability and financial risk. The franchise system helped the company situate the production of Coca-Cola within local economies, conscripting local elites and workers into its industry, and negotiating its representational forms to fit local contexts. The Coca-Cola Company thus benefited from the economic and political power of both the U.S. and the Colombian elite as it established its business in the country beginning in 1927. Examining print advertising from the 1920s and 1940s, the papers of Coca-Cola executives , and publications of the U.S. multinational and its Colombian franchise bottler, this article argues that The Coca-Cola Company tenuously constructed its industry, products, and brands as simultaneously global and local. While localizing the Coca-Cola industry, products, and brand, the company alluded to its modernity and global popularity, available for purchase by enterprising merchants and thirsty consumers in Colombia.

Communication Research, 1992

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

Alice Mara Serra , 2024

ARIEL: A Review of International English Literature, 1983

Presentation slides, 2020

Rivista Segno , 2022

Physics Procedia, 2015

Applications of Circulation Control Technology, 2006

Cadernos de Estudos Lingüísticos, 2015

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019

Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 2019

Energy, 2007

Strani pravni život, 2011

Encontros Bibli: revista eletrônica de biblioteconomia e ciência da informação, 2020

Business Insights

Artículos, noticias, casos de estudio y documentación sobre negocios. Únete a la comunidad de +50.000 suscriptores de todo el mundo.

Áreas y funciones

Casos de estudio, tags destacados, key concepts.

Personas . Procesos . Tecnología .

Creemos que los procesos claros, con el apoyo de la tecnología adecuada, generan un entorno donde las personas trabajan más felices, y en consecuencia vuelve a tu empresa más productiva.

World class technology. Soluciones de primer nivel para tu empresa.

Case study Coca Cola vs Pepsi: historical rivalry

The historical rivalry of Coca-Cola and Pepsi has its origin since both brands entered the market, at the end of the 19th century , and since then they have had their commercial plateaus among the audience . But the important thing is that, regardless of which of the two maintains its leadership, they r emain very present today as the ideal options to accompany a fast meal at a meeting with friends.

<<< Case study Apple: Keeping on top >>>

Coca-Cola is a company founded a few years before Pepsi , and it could be said that it was the pioneer in incorporating the refreshing drink with coca extracts and caffeine , which has stimulating or energizing effects for the body, in addition to a large amount of not-so-healthy sugar , but curiously addictive, in combination with the rest of the other properties.

In the case of Pepsi , it is a drink created by PepsiCo with characteristics similar to Coca , with a similar flavor but slightly less sweet and with more gas. Emerging after Coca-Cola was his biggest challenge because it was not easy for it to be at the same place on the podium of consumer preferences.

However, there is a very loyal public of Pepsi , and to this day it is a beverage that people continue to choose, perhaps not as massively as its historic rival, but it manages to maintain a comfortable second place , which at times takes away the first place.

In today's case study , we'll be breaking down the historical rivalry between Coca-Cola and Pepsi , who came first, which of the two brands has achieved greater success over time, and what we can expect from these two giants in the future.

Case Coca Cola vs. Pepsi: the origin of the two companies.

Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi are sugary soft drinks sold worldwide , whose formulas were created by pharmacists and distributed as energy drinks for a public that wanted to consume strong non-alcoholic beverages that were pleasant to the palate. Over time, both beverages achieved a large market share and became highly social drinks .

John Pemberton was the inventor of the Coca-Cola beverage in 1886, in a formula based on coca leaves and cola nuts , which i n the early years contained cocaine and, from 1903, was replaced by caffeine. The pharmacist began to distribute t he drink as syrup to combat digestive problems and also provide a little energy to the body.

Pemberton realized that his drink could become a big business , so he commissioned a logo and in 1891 The Coca-Cola Company was founded. From then on, the company expanded to the world with great success , even reaching the Asian market with a name adapted to Chinese ideograms meaning "delicious happiness".

On the other hand, Pepsi emerged in 1893 and was created by the pharmaceutical chemist Caleb Bradham , who just five years later baptized it with the name of Pepsi Cola . Like Coca-Cola, Pepsi began to gain relevance among consumers, especially among car racers , who considered it a very tasty, refreshing, and stimulating drink.

However, in 1927 the company declared bankruptcy after the sharp decline in the price of sugar , when its founder and other manufacturers bought the ingredient in large quantities, although the price did not stop constantly rising.

After the bankruptcy, Roy Megargel formed the Pepsi Cola company and bought all the assets and the trademark from the creditors, for a sum of 35,000 USD. Although Coca-Cola had the opportunity to buy Pepsi Cola three times, in the end, it declined the offer.

Charles Guth , president of Loft Inc, took over the company from that moment on, and it was from then on that the company began to compete vigorously against Coca, even seeking to partially modify the formula so that it would be more similar to its rival Coca-Cola.

The beginning of the eternal rivalry: Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi.

While Coca-Cola developed its famous curvy bottle, expanded to Europe, and signed contracts with big celebrities, Pepsi went bankrupt because of the First World War . In 1931, it went bankrupt again but managed to quickly get back on its feet . So much so that, during the Second World War the number of advertising actions increased , which allowed it to sell soft drinks in cans.

Starting in the 1950s , Coca-Cola began to promote itself on television, while Pepsi decided to bet on rebranding , to keep up with its rival.

In 1962, Coca-Cola launched Sprite, one of the company's largest soft drink brands. For its part, Pepsi merged with Frito Lay to create Pepsico . This merger brought great economic benefits to Pepsi, surpassing its rival in profitability, due to the wide range of snack products that the company came to market. Instead, Coca-Cola did not go beyond the soft drink industry.

While Coke's catalog of brands is broader than Pepsi's, the latter makes up for it with huge global sales of its snacks. In addition, although Coca continues to be the undisputed leader in the beverage and soft drinks market, Pepsi obtained higher revenues thanks to the great diversity of products.

<<<Case study Lays: Towards the conquest of the Asian market>>>

The advertising battles of Coca-Cola and Pepsi throughout history.

Coca-Cola , perhaps due to its comfortable leadership, used more stereotypical symbols , such as the polar bear and Santa Claus for Christmas advertisements, which pointed to illusion, magic, and family unity . Instead, Pepsi's campaigns were aimed at discrediting Coca and its symbols , trying to show that it does not deserve its leadership position.

During the 1940s, Walter Mack was at the helm of Pepsi-Cola , and at that time he stood out for supporting progressive causes , during an era marked by racism. Therefore, he considered that the advertising strategy was aimed at the general public, but that excluded or denigrated African Americans.

Thus, the company decided to invest in campaigns aimed at this racial sector to expand its market share . Despite the sugar crisis, Mack came to form a sales team solely to attract the public of color, for which they suffered a lot of discrimination , both from Pepsi employees themselves and from entities such as the Ku Klux Klan and the laws of racial segregation in force in the country.

Even so, the company increased its market share considerably and was able to take advantage of its inclusive policy to denounce the racism of Coca-Cola for promoting a drink for whites only.

It also outsold its rival in sales during that time in Chicago , but the company was concerned that it would increase that racial market segment among customers . Therefore, after repeated pressure, Walter Mack left Pepsi-Cola , and his sales team to attract the African-American collective was dissolved.

Already in the 1970s, the clearest example of making a marketing strategy against its main competitor is the controversial campaign launched in 1975, called " Pepsi challenge ", where the firm defeated its competitor with a test of the two flavors of soda , totally blind, in which people had to try two unlabeled cups with each of the brand's contents inside.

Only in this way, he appealed to an honest test in which people, without knowing what they were drinking, chose the drink they liked. Thus, many people chose the taste of Pepsi over that of Coca-Cola , so PepsiCo invested large sums of money in advertising, hiring celebrities such as Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, and Michael J. Fox, among others, to promote the drink among young consumers.

Of course, Coca also carried out campaigns in response to Pepsi's hints, which sought to ridicule its constant siege to gain positioning. So it is that to this day Coca Cola remains the number one brand of beverages, while Pepsi remains in second place following in its footsteps, lurking and waiting for the moment to take the big leap that will take away the leadership.

<<< Case study Adobe: collaborative work culture>>>

To conclude, in this case study Coca Cola vs. Pepsi , we've seen that these two companies fight since time immemorial and that few rivals have attacked each other so much throughout history to gain first place in the market of their industry.

For being the first to launch the drink and for incorporating that characteristic flavor, Coca is more popular and known among people worldwide, but we can't forecast anything in the brand war.

So, what beverage do you prefer, Coke or Pepsi?