IBS GURGAON

PRESENTATION ON

The Launch of New COKE

PRESENTED TO

Prof. Vipin Khurana

PRESENTED BY

Nipun Nikunj

INTRODUCTION•Founded - 1892• Headquarter- Midtown Atlanta, Georgia• Founder -John Pemberton• Present Chairman - Muhtar Kent

• Its name is known for the ingredients used “coca leaves and kola seeds”

• Coca cola- “ To Make Mouth Happy” in Chinese

•First Advertisement appeared in Atlanta Journal

BACKGROUND NOTE

1895

1919

1930

1970

1978

Drink as a cure for mental and physical exhaustion

Sold to an investment group owned by Ernest Woodruff for $25million

Pepsi Cola emerged as Coca Cola major competitor

Pepsi ad budget exceeded Coca Cola’s ad budget

Coca cola was beaten by Pepsi

THE RATIONALE Coca cola’s new CEO Goizueta could

not stop the decline in Coca Cola market share

Share fell down from 24.3% to 21.8% in 1984

Ad was not much effective

COCA-COLA’S STRATEGY

More vending machines

Occupied more shelf space

Competitively priced

Wider distribution

MARKET RESEARCH Sample Size – 2,00,000 Duration – 2 yrs Expenditure - $4 million

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Individual Interview Blind taste test Focus Group Test

THE LAUNCH AND ITS AFTERMATH Lunched New Coke with punch line

“Catch the wave”

Consumer Reactions : Taste similar to Pepsi Perceived as me-too product Worse than the original coke

Received complaints calls and letters.

NEW COKE :WHAT WENT WRONG?

Failed to understand the emotional attachment of the customers to coke

Against customer’s taste , preferences and

opinions

Findings of market research were erroneous and late

Company was unprepared for unseen

conditions

WRONG INTERPRETATION OF THE RESEARCH

Misinterpret customer’s response

Individual Interviews were followed by focus group research

Focused more on winning taste than other marketing soft drinks

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS….??????

1. Market researchers had expected coca cola to conduct focused group testing of a new product first and then use individual interviews to verify the results of the focus groups.

What other types of research methods would have been helpful to the company in providing consumer insights? Discuss.

CONTINUE….

2. The launch of new coke turned out to be a nightmare for coca cola. Discuss the marketing implications of introducing new coke. Was it necessary to re-formulate new coke?

CONTINUE….

3. Though some analysts felt that the launch of New Coke was a blunder, others thought it was a deliberate marketing poly. Is the failure of New Coke really a marketing blunder? Give your opinion and substantiate it.

CONCLUSION

Coke

Class

ic

Peps

i Col

a

Diet C

oke

Mount

ain

DewSp

rite

Dr. Pe

pper

Diet P

epsi

7-UP

Caffien

Fair

Diet C

oke

Barq'

s Roo

t bee

r0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

Market Shares

Market Shares

At the end of the 2001 coke covered 44% market share as compared to 32% of Pepsi’s

LEARNING

Analyze the research process analyze the type of research

Test the product before implementation

Interpret the research correctly

SIMILAR RESEARCH PAPERS

Success after changing marketing strategy

Title- Success story of McDonald in India

Failure after changing the marketing strategy

Title- Failure of the changing marketing strategy of Pepsi.