Cola Wars

The Cola wars really began getting started in the 1970s and 1980s. Pepsi was starting to become popular in the United States and they had effective advertising, like the Pepsi challenge. Coke was outspending Pepsi in advertising by $100 million but was losing market share because it was not as effective. A change for Coke was worth considering.
After ninety-nine years of the original formula the top executives agreed to change the taste to a sweeter flavor and take the old Coke off the market. The new CEO of Coke, Goizueta’s father joked threatening to disown him. The media publicized the protests and Coke was worried about boycotting. Coke apologized to the public and brought the original taste of Coke back. The major blunder by Coke was short lived and Coke kept both flavors in the market. Coke classic outsold new Coke 2-1 nationwide and Coke’s fortunes was improving steadily. There is huge power in the media. The power of the media should be a factor in making decisions that may affect an organization’s public image. It might have been thought that Coke engineered the New Coke scenario to get attention and free publicity.
The marketing research was flawed even though the results for new Coke were positive. “No other product has been so widely used and so deeply entrenched in societal values and culture as Coke.” In blind taste tests, new Coke was chosen over old Coke but participants were not told that old Coke would be taken away. The symbolic value and the emotional involvement of Coke should have been foreseen. “People were speaking of Coke as an American symbol and as a longtime friend who had suddenly betrayed them.”
The international battle has always been less important to Pepsi than to Coke. Pepsi has had problems in the international arena and has generated more than 70% of its beverage profits from the United States whereas Coca-Cola