BloggingStocks has a new home! Daily Finance.

Click here to visit the new home of BloggingStocks!

Hot on DailyFinance:

See More Stories

Coke vs. Pepsi: Battle of the Brands

Posted Apr 10th 2007 4:40PM by Eric BuscemiEric Buscemi RSS Feed
Filed under: Products and Services, Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, Coca-Cola (KO), PepsiCo (PEP), Marketing and Advertising, Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE), Battle of the Brands


This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and watch out for more Battle of the Brands posts.

Some people drink Pepsi, some people drink Coke,
The wacky morning DJ says democracy's a joke.
-- Cake, Comfort Eagle

Unless you are a rare RC Cola drinker, your carbonated beverage decision in the supermarket comes down to the two heavyweights: the flagship products from the Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) and PepsiCo Inc (NYSE: PEP). But the battle between these brands spans much further than the supermarket shelves. From which brand restaurants stock, to what countries each operates in, this rivalry is all-encompassing and global. But instead of a list of countries or restaurant chains, lets take a deeper look at the actual products.

Cola and Beyond

We don't have space to list, nor would you have time to read, every different variant of Coca-Cola and Pepsi, which would force me to include failed ideas such as Crystal Pepsi. Suffice it to say, you won't find many original ideas here, and when a successful idea comes from either company, an imitator just as quickly appears from the other. Coke/Pepsi, Diet Coke/Diet Pepsi, Cherry Coke/Wild Cherry Pepsi, Coke with Lime/Pepsi Lime, Coke Zero/Pepsi One, Coca-Cola Blak/Pepsi Cappuccino. Had enough yet? Because that was just a list of comparable colas. Both companies also make lemon-lime sodas, orange sodas, and other similar carbonated and noncarbonated beverages. So then what differentiates them? Certainly not their product arsenal, but taste and marketing.

As far as taste goes, you will find most people prefer either Coke or Pepsi, but would drink either if no other choice was offered.

There is, however, one social stigma I noticed back when I was a bartender. A Jack Daniels drinker, for example, that likes his whiskey mixed with cola is much more apt to demand Coca-Cola -- the drink is called a Jack and Coke, after all, and some drinkers take that very literally and very seriously.

I also discovered yesterday that everybody in my office, except Kevin, was able to differentiate between the two colas. So there is at least a recognizable, although not overpowering, difference in taste. Is it enough to make one company a clear cut winner? Not likely, and that is where the marketing comes into play.

Selling Image

Coca-Cola used to have a much wider lead over Pepsi. It was the clear leader -- the standard. But thanks to an infamous branding disaster known as Coke II (which is why Coca-Cola added "Classic" to its name), and a strong push by Pepsi to market to the next generation of cola-chugging children, that gap has narrowed significantly.

While Coke had been playing it safe with ads featuring cute polar bears, Pepsi stole away Generation X with the appropriately titled "The Choice of a New Generation" and "GeneratioNext" marketing campaigns. They had the hottest celebrities drinking Pepsi -- the Spice Girls, Pink, Beyonce, and Puff Daddy. Pepsi continues the celebrity trend to date -- current endorsers include Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blidge, and The All-American Rejects.

Then again, there may be something to be said for Coke's blander advertising campaigns, because for every successful celebrity Pepsi hires, there seems to be one going off the deep end, like bald-headed Britney Spears. Although Spears no longer works for Pepsi, she will be forever associated with it (unless she keeps acting the way she is now, then we'll remember nothing from her other than her descent into insanity). She is not the first celebrity Pepsi may have wished they didn't hire, either. Michael Jackson and Madonna were also controversial spokespeople for the edgier cola.

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola is trying to get hipper without the help of any celebrities. In their big Superbowl ad, they spoofed the Grand Theft Auto series of video games with the "Give a Little Love" ad. The ad was definitely aimed at a younger audience, but still friendly and disney-fied.

Whatever direction the advertising for these two powerhouses goes in, it's unlikely either one is going anywhere. Coca-Cola has a market cap of $111.37 billion and PepsiCo is right behind them with a cap of $103.21 billion. Soda, though declining in popularity, is still an American staple, and don't forget that both companies also make a plethora of non-soda beverages.

Be sure to vote in our poll for Pepsi or Coke as your preferred brand, and let us know why you love it in the comments. Results of all Battle of the Brands match-ups coming soon.

Tags: Battle of the Brands, BattleOfTheBrands, Britney Spears, BritneySpears, carbonated beverages, celebrity endorsements, Cherry Coke, Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Blak, Coke, Coke II, Coke Zero, CokeZero, cola wars, colas, Crystal Pepsi, CrystalPepsi, Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, GeneratioNext, Jack and Coke, JackAndCoke, KO, Madonna, Michael Jackson, PEP, Pepsi, Pepsi One, Pepsico, RC cola, Superbowl ads, SuperbowlAds

Print this

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

| 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 20 Comments
Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA-33.4512,598.55
NASDAQ-19.722,874.04
S&P 500-5.861,324.80

Last updated: May 16, 2012: 09:01 PM

Hot Stocks

General Electric

19.00+0.60(+3.26)

Alcoa

8.49-0.22(-2.53)

Apple Inc

546.075-7.095(-1.28)

Google Inc 'A'

628.93+17.82(+2.92)

Bank of America

7.11-0.19(-2.60)

Wal-Mart Stores

59.19-0.16(-0.27)

Exxon Mobil Corp

82.17+0.38(+0.46)

Ford

10.16+0.01(+0.10)

Citigroup

26.92-0.87(-3.13)

IBM

199.73+0.69(+0.35)

Yahoo

15.28-0.12(-0.78)

Starbucks

53.02-0.32(-0.60)

Microsoft

29.90-0.31(-1.03)

Home Depot

48.77+0.10(+0.21)

DailyFinance Headlines

Benzinga Headlines

TheFlyOnTheWall.com Headlines

BioHealth Investor Headlines

WalletPop Headlines

DailyFinance BlackBerry App

My Portfolios

Track your stocks here!

Find out why more people track their portfolios on AOL Money & Finance then anywhere else.

  • My Portfolio
  • Create a New Portfolio

BloggingStocks Partners

More from AOL Money & Finance

BioHealth Investor Headlines

Page Loaded in 1337216471232 ms.