The war of the market between the two giants' soft drinks manufacturers is going on.Despite the niche market to penetrate on, the main war of these two giants company is on the production of best selling,appetising cola drink.It is also the contestation of economic power of the most consumed soft drink between the West and the East.Pepsi has a large market in the Eastern region while Coca Cola is a strong brand in the Western region as well as in Africa.In the mid 80's Pepsi launched an aggresive marketing and branding strategy in Africa and some parts of the East to try and penetrate the market which was largely dominated by Coca Cola.They introduced first ever 1.5 & 2 litres packaging (bottles) of softdrinks and subsidised kiosks (containers) and this concept hit the African market.
In counter acting this aggressive marketing and packaging strategy,Coca Cola hiked the market price of the containers(bottles) which Pepsi at the time where buying them from a subsidiary company co-owned by Coca Cola LTD.This has had serious and negative impact on Pepsi as a company and a brand in terms of market penetration and eventually the company collapsed in Africa but remained strong in large parge part of the East and some countries in the Western region.
In the advent of the 21st Century,Pepsi resurfaced robustly in the African market in which lately they came up with addictive "no sugar" cola (very good for diabetic market) and Pepsi Max flavour which ever since introduced in the market has enjoyed massive consumption in the market.At some stage,some niche market of Coke was seriously affected as they switched over to Pepsi flavour.The current Coke Zero flavour,packaging and branding appears to be an intellectual property and recipe theft by Coca Cola.
The predominant branding colours on corporate brands for the Coca Cola is understood to be Red & White while Pepsi has been consistent in the usage of corporate colours.The fact remains that Coca Cola market is shrinking especially on Coke flavour especially in Africa and some regions in the Latin America.It is no longer strong and thirst-quencher as it used to be.At some stage in the 70's & 80's it has this "soft-drug" element or taste in its taste which makes everyone so addicted to it.No wonder why it was named coke.
What went wrong is a secret that the Coca Cola LTD company knows better than anyone.It appears they(Coca Cola)have hit the against rock in terms of creatives (branding & marketing wise) hence have resorted on stealing the branding and packaging strategy of their rival brand, Pepsi.
It is not a hidden secret that the newly launched Coke Zero (no sugar)brand and the branding colours is a flop in the market.The packaging is dull and not enticing.It doesn't click well to the existing niche market which has since become aware of the tricks Coca Cola LTD is employing to create confusion in the market.I personally rated the Coke Zero packaging, branding and flavour amongst the lowest-probably the lowest in the history of Coke brand.
What is your views guys on this issues?Isn't Coke Zero creating a serious fiasco in the market?
