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HOW COKE IS KICKING PEPSI'S CAN
Contents
1. THE NIGHT PROWLER AND THE SWAN 2. WHERE'S OSWALDO? 3. HOSING THE SODA JERKS 4. THE REAL SECRET FORMULA 5. THE PEPSI CHALLENGE 6. IS BIGGER BETTER? Listen Pause Loading | Download MP3 Help | | |
It's the bloodiest clash yet of the cola titans. Coke, with its relentless focus--and a surprise attack--has stolen enough Of pepsi's market share to ask, is the war finally over?
Inside the chairman's office on the 25th floor of Coca-Cola's stately headquarters in Atlanta, in the top left-hand drawer of his desk, Roberto Goizueta has for many years kept two charts. One describes Coca-Cola's fundamental business: selling the concentrate that transforms fizzy water into Coke. The diagram plots the four reasons Goizueta adores the business: (1) Selling concentrate requires little capital; (2) it produces superb returns; (3) it demands minimal reinvestment; (4) it spills an ocean of cash.
One day recently, Coca-Cola's cerebral chairman and CEO was asked to pull out the second chart. This one illustrates PepsiCo's altogether different strategy, which has involved pouring billions of dollars into capital-intensive businesses like restaurants. Goizueta slides open the drawer and riffles through the papers. "I threw it out," he says nonchalantly. Raising his eyebrows, he dismisses the world's most famous No. 2 with trademark dispassion. "As they've become less relevant," Goizueta says, "I don't need to look at them very much anymore."
Poor Roger Enrico. He certainly can't say the same about Coke. Since he became PepsiCo's chief executive in April, Enrico has been seeing a whole lot more red--Coca-Cola red--than he ever expected. Not to mention red as in ink, as in blood. PepsiCo has been badly wounded in the cola wars. Its casualties are high. Caroline Levy, who follows the soft