Over the years Coke and Pepsi managed their rivalry in the carbonated soft drinks (CSD) industry by following some of the tactics identified below. Both companies came up on the market with the same product coca-cola, two different recipes. Coca-Cola was discovered in 1886 in Atlanta Georgia, by pharmacist John Pemberton, while Pepsi-Cola was formulated 7 years later, in New Bern, North Carolina, by pharmacist Caleb Bradham. Since then the two giants, Coke and Pepsi are on a continuous “battle without blood” over the $74 billion CDS industry in the United States.
One of the first tactics identified is that Coke first introduced its product in grocery stores and other channels through open-top coolers. Also, they developed automatic fountain dispensers and introduced vending machines. Pepsi had a rough start, but they were willing to achieve. In this way after bankruptcies in 1923 and again in 1932, they came back and the business started to pick up. Their first move was to price their 12-oz container to a nickel, same as Coke would charge for a 6.5-oz. After that Pepsi started focusing more on take-home sales to target family consumption. With an aggressive marketing campaign, called “Pepsi Generation” Pepsi targeted the young and “young at heart. Not only that, but Pepsi put a special accent on quality by working to modernize their plants and the store delivery.
In the 1960s, both Coke and Pepsi experimented with cola and non-cola flavors and new packaging options. Non-returnable glass bottles were introduced along with metal cans.
Another Pepsi’s strategy was to sell concentrate at 20% lower than Coke, promising to spend the extra income