Cola wars
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Cola Wars is the term used to describe the campaign of mutually-targeted television advertisements and marketing campaigns in the 1980s and 1990s between Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola. They first began showing people doing blind taste tests in which they preferred one product over the other, then they began hiring more and more popular spokespersons to promote their products.
They focused particularly on rock stars; notable soft drink promoters included Michael Jackson (for Pepsi) and Paula Abdul (for Diet Coke). One example of a heated exchange that occurred during the Cola Wars was Coca-Cola making a strategic retreat on July 11 1985, by announcing its plans to bring back Coke Classic. Pepsi ads often focused on regular people, particularly the young (and young-at-heart) and those in the future, choosing Pepsi over Coke, supporting Pepsi's positioning as "The Choice of a New Generation."
In the mid-1990s, Pepsi launched its most successful long-term strategy of the Cola Wars, Pepsi Stuff. Consumers were invited to "Drink Pepsi, Get Stuff" and collect Pepsi Points on billions of packages and cups. They could redeem the points for free, high-quality, Pepsi lifestyle merchandise. After researching and testing the program for over two years to ensure that it resonated with consumers, Pepsi launched Pepsi Stuff; it was an instant success. Tens of millions of consumers participated. Pepsi outperformed Coke during the summer of the Atlanta Olympics - held in Coke's home - where Coke was a lead sponsor of the Games. Due to its success, the program was expanded to include Mountain Dew, and into Pepsi's international markets worldwide. The company continued to run the program for many years, continually innovating with new features each year. [Source: PROMO Magazine]
The Cola Wars are referenced in the Billy Joel song "We Didn't Start the Fire"; in the South Park episode "It's Christmas in Canada"; and recently in the internet game Kingdom of Loathing.
In 1985, Coca-Cola and Pepsi were launched into space aboard the Space Shuttle in order to conduct a taste test. The companies had to design special cans for use in zero G conditions. The experiment was classified a failure by the shuttle crew, primarily due to the lack of refrigeration and gravity. Coke would later return to space with an improved delivery system.#redirect
During the 1990s, a "second cola war" was reported in the United Kingdom. This time it was due to the launch of Virgin Cola and Sainsbury's generic Classic Cola, that, unlike most generic colas, was designed to look like a top product worthy of competition. For a few years both colas gave Coca-Cola and Pepsi a run for the money, Coca-Cola even sued Sainsburys claming the design of their cans was far too similar to theirs. However, today, both Virgin and Classic Cola are far behind the two major brands.
Related links
External links
- [PROMO magazine on Pepsi Stuff's role in the Cola Wars]
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