Cola Wars
Coke and Pepsi are two of the most recognizable brands in the world. The battle to obtain the number one spot in the soda industry is a constant struggle between these two top conglomerates. Their distinctive marketing, advertising, and branding efforts have these two companies at the top of their class. Regardless of the proclaimed evident differences, the two products actually have more in common than not. The menu before you will take you through a tour of the comparison and contrasting of two of the best product companies in the world.
Company Mission Statement
Pepsi and Coke are constantly at work striving to outdo each other. At one point in time Pepsi’s mission statement was short, sweet, and definitely fierce; “Beat Coke” (Collins & Porras, 1991, pg.30). This is a vivid portrayal of the company’s strive to beat out their number one competition. Presently Pepsi’s mission is “Our mission is to be the world's premier consumer products company focused on convenience foods and beverages. We seek to produce healthy financial rewards to investors as we provide opportunities for growth and enrichment to our employees, our business partners and the communities in which we operate. And in everything we do, we strive for honesty, fairness and integrity.” (http://www.pepsico.com/company/overview.shtml)
Coke’s mission statement is direct and simple. “The Coca-Cola Company exists to benefit and refresh everyone it touches.” (http://www2.coca-cola.com/ourcompany/ourpromise.html) Coke further describes a relationship like one that Pepsi illustrates; however, it is separate from the mission statement so it doesn’t come at you all at once. I feel that the Coke mission statement is much more effective. It reaches out and grabs you and creates the warm fuzzy feeling, while Pepsi’s sounds like it was created solely to impress stockholders.
Taste Test
The battle of the better cola has heated up in the past few decades with Pepsi introducing the Pepsi challenge. Pepsi started doing ad’s consisting of blind taste tests on television showing that the average consumer was choosing Pepsi over Coke. So which one is better?
In all actuality there is very little difference between the two cola kings. Coke has a prevalent vanilla hint to it while Pepsi has a strong citrus accent to it (Consumer Reports, 1991). Other than the vanilla and citrus flavors, the two colas are almost identical in ingredients.
Brand Image
Coke has a package that is consistent and timeless. Dana Blankenhorn states that a “product has to match the promise, the promise must be deliverable and consistency counts (1999).” All of their advertisements have been fun loving and about enjoyment of life. In 1985 Coke made the mistake of trying to change its’ famous formula and quickly learned to stick with consistency (Bradford, 1999, pg 16). The “new Coke” was quickly rejected and replaced [next page]