Cocacola and pepsi the soda wars

Coca Cola vs Pepsi : the Soda Wars
A
I introduce myself, my name is Diletta Purificati, I will analyze the "Cola Wars", a
comparison between Coca-Cola and Pepsi in relation to the '60s, which represented a
turbulent decade from a social and political point of view.
I have divided my presentation into 3 main parts: I will start with a brief historical
introduction related to the brands I have considered, in the central part I will make a
comparison between the marketing campaigns mutually targeted for direct competition
between the product lines of each company and in conclusion a consideration about the
changes of the two giants over the years.
I decided to bring this theme as I think it is particularly interesting to go and investigate
the socio- political history of products, which have made history and are used daily.
Moreover, this choice is also given by the aesthetic nature of the ads and packaging that
have always been part of the collective imagination. I will focus in particular to analyze
the ads of the '60s: Coca Cola, a traditionalist brand, has addressed the concerns arising
from the turbulence of the time reassuring people that things would improve, as opposed
to the Pepsi brand, for which 1961 was a branding boom, under the slogan "Come
Alive!" bringing the brand to claim ownership of the "We Generation".
The controversy began in 1886, when Jhon S. Pemberton developed the original
recipe for Coca- Cola. Pepsi-Cola was created 13 years later by pharmacist Caleb
Bradham.
Coca-Cola developed its iconic bottle, got sponsorships of big names and expanded
in Europe. Meanwhile, Pepsi went bankrupt because of World War I. Eight years
later it failed again, but during World War II, Pepsi expanded its advertising and
began selling its drink in cans.
In the 1950s, Coca-Cola commercials began to hit TV, while Pepsi modified the logo,
replacing it with more modern handwriting.
Coca-Cola began to go public in 1962, in the wake of the launch of Sprite, which
would become one of its most successful brands.
Pepsi merged with FritoLay in the mid-60s to create PepsiCo, the can is relaunched and
Diet Pepsi is born. In 1965 Pepsi enters Italy, laying the foundations for the war we are

going to talk about.
Coca-Cola’s advertising has traditionally focused on health, nostalgia and the family
as a nourishing unit. Pepsi has positioned itself as a young brand that keeps pace
with the aesthetic and social changes that occur with the emergence of each new
generation of young people.


So my analysis is based on the advertising choices adopted by the respective brands in
the 60s.
Although similar in terms of targeting and actions taken related to music and youth,
Coca and Pepsi have traveled different distances.


B Coca Cola
Coca- Cola is a Soft drink which is not only refreshment, but an
American symbol. It has grown to one of the world’s biggest and most
successful companies.
Advertising was an important factor in John Pemberton and Asa Candler's success and
by the turn of the century, the drink was sold across the United States and Canada.
Around the same time, the company began selling syrup to independent bottling
companies licensed to sell the drink. Even today, the US soft drink industry is organized
on this principle.
Coca-Cola’s mission is to
- Refresh the world...
- Inspire moments of optimism
- Create value and make a difference

[The company’s] vision serves as the framework for our Roadmap and guides every
aspect of our business by describing what we need to accomplish in order to continue
achieving sustainable, quality growth.

The advertiser is Coca Cola; the intended audience are every customer as a target,
however its segmentation is mainly based on “age, family size and income.”
The perfect segmentation was a main factor for Coca-Cola’s success.
Age is one of the most important segments of Coca-Cola dividing it mainly into two
parts: Coca- Cola mainly addresses its product to a young customer base aged
between 10-35.
That is why they often use well-known pop stars to promote their product. Also, the
company targets universities, schools, Colleges etc. in acquiring contracts.
However, the Coca-Cola diet products also addresses an elderly segment considering
people with diabetic who are often 40 plus.
The growing importance of Health Consciousness affected Coca-Cola’s product
portfolio by offering drinks tailored to the new customer needs, such as Diet Coke.
Moreover, the whole Non-alcohol market has increased as many people switched over
from beer or other alcoholic beverages and it definitely will increase further.
The population growth rate has also a strong influence on the market as it differs
strongly between countries. The company has to adapt its production to it and consider
it in their strategy and further planning.


Age distribution plays also an important role: as it was discussed earlier, Coca-Cola
mainly concentrates on the young generation. So a country with a young population
would be a more interesting market for the company than a country dominated by an
elderly generation


Income distribution and career attitudes are other factors that influence Coca-Cola’s
decision making processes.
Furthermore, Coca-Cola is an iconic American product: so in some countries the
sales volume depends on how open the people are towards America or American
products.

Income is another important factor: the company offers its product in many different
sizes and packages at different price levels making it affordable also for students,
families, middle-class etc. This segment is also connected to family size, because of the
variation in bottle size and packaging.
In general, Coca-Cola targets both men and female, however there are some
differences in taste and preferences.
Coca-Cola light for example is quite popular among girls and women, whereas
Coke Zero and Thums up (available in India) has a stronger taste and is mainly
preferred by men.
ANALISI PUBBLICITA’
The advertiser is Coca-Cola, a commercial company that has the purpose of Selling
goods and services; changingattitudes; creating new desires in a target audience; giving
infoabout a product or service.In particular in advertising that I will go to analyze coca
cola is proposed in the headline as“Foul weather friend”. A foul-weather friend is
someone who likes to be around you when you are unemployed, depressed and in the
dumps. It feels sorry for you butcoca cola contributes with its inimitable taste to make
things go right and to overcome bad times. This is an advertisement for a magazine that
explores the state of the world in the twenty century, however,the image is intended to
do more.
Coca-cola uses an Audience-based approach: tries to convince the target audience that
they need a particular product because their lives will be better if they use a certain
product and the things go right.
The tone of language is informal and conversational. The pun can be found in the
juxtaposition between foul and fool, which is not present in the text but can be
considered as an assonance of the pronunciation of the two words, to indicate the
uncertain nature of the month of March.
The Sloganis straightforward: it has a simple structure and represents a colloquial
expression used in common language to approach all types of consumers.
The relationship with the target audience is light and the tone is therefore informal.
Coca Cola combines socio-political aspects with an appeal to the emotions, the style is

descriptive with short noun phrases and short sentences. Coca cola uses a social lexical
field to highlight the product.


The typographical features draw attention to the product. The prominent image and
the large slogan immediately catch the eye, but the advertisers are confident that their
target audience will not be put off by the size and extent of the copy. The small print of
the copy relay on words rather than color and appeal to the Human desire to makes
things right.


The lexis of the advertisement is colloquial and reflects the product. There are no
incomplete structures of the sentences in the copy of the advertisement, we can find an
incomplete structure in the headline given by the lack of the verb (foul weather friend).
You can see the presence of the modal verb (can count on). There is only one
comparative represented by better and a metaphor represented by “Coca Cola makes a
great fair weather friend”.
The dominant tense is the present tense, because the advertiser is promoting a
product that is currently available e and the imperative represents the call to action
towards consumers (take off/put back).
The layout displays an Horizontal axis: The space on the left of the page has the
culturally shared information. The space on the right is the new info. Western logic of
reading.
Coca cola uses the packshot which, as a rule, is represented by a professional
photograph made with the technique of still life to which is entrusted the visual
presentation of the article; thanks to it you can place the packaging within the visual
advertising, with the intent to identify the product and the brand making them
recognizable to the public. The same is achieved in advertising of Pepsi cola.
As the threat of new entrants is quite low in this specific industry, the rivalry between
the two existing companies Coca-Cola and PepsiCo is even higher. Here, you can

identify a Duopoly. The two big players have the majority of the market share.
Pepsi:
PepsiCo is a world leader in convenient snacks, food and beverages with revenues of
more than
$39 billion and over 185,000 employees worldwide in 2009. PepsiCo has attained a
leadership position as being to next to Coca Cola in a soft drink bottling. Their business
profit is increasing rapidly due to a high standard of performance, marketing strategies,
competitiveness, determination, commitment, and the personal and professional
integrity of their people, products and business practices.
Pepsi segments its market in several ways. Pepsi, mainly segment their market
demographically assuming age, income and family size. Pepsi’s behavioral
segmentation has been a key to the company’s success.
Age is one of the most significant parts of the segmentation of Pepsi. Pepsi introduces
Pepsi diet for the people who are suffering from diabetic and for those who are likely
to avoid sugar and for the aged people specially 40 plus. Pepsi mainly produces the
Pepsi cola the main customer of Pepsi cola is young people whose age is 10 to 35.
On income basis Pepsi also segment their market by making little pack. They offer a
competitive price range to all class of people. They consider the economic situation in
our country. So they introduce Pepsi in different price for different the people whose


income is different. They think about student, poor people, and middle class people
economic condition for their pricing. Family size basis is also a base segmentation for
Pepsi.


Pepsi Generation
Pepsi-Cola enjoyed extraordinary success during the 1960s and 1970s mainly because
of its new man in charge, Donald M. Kendall. Kendall was noted for leading his
company in five major areas during this period: massive advertising; the introduction

of new soft drink brands; creative packaging; overseas expansion; and product line
expansion.
In 1963, Kendall and Pepsi made marketing history when the company changed the
way it advertised its product. Instead of focusing on Pepsi the beverage, its television
campaigns appealed directly to a specific group of people—baby boomers. Baby
boomers were children born immediately after World War II (1939-45), between 1946
and 1964, and they numbered in the millions. Pepsi told them to "Come alive! You're in
the Pepsi Generation." Advertising slogans that followed continued to target the
energetic, youthful lifestyles of baby boomer teens. They also advised a generation of
viewers who were experiencing significant social changes: "You've got a lot to live.
Pepsi's got a lot to give" and "Join the Pepsi people, feelin' free."
ANALISI PUBBLICITA’
The mid 1960s campaign that featured the slogan “Come Alive! You’re in the Pepsi
Generation!”.
The advertiser is PepsiCo, a commercial company that has the purpose of Selling
goods and services; changingattitudes; creating new desires in a target audience; giving
infoabout a product or service.In particular in advertising that I will go to analyze coca
cola is proposed in the headline as“Foul weather friend”. A foul-weather friend is
someone who likes to be around you when you are unemployed, depressed and in the
dumps. It feels sorry for you butcoca cola contributes with its inimitable taste to make
things go right and to overcome bad times. This is an advertisement for a magazine that
explores the state of the world in the twenty century, however,the image is intended to
do more.
Coca-cola uses an Audience-based approach:
The tone of language
The Slogan
The relationship with the target audience
The typographical features
The lexis of the advertisement reflects the product. There are no incomplete structures
of the sentences in the copy of the advertisement, we can find an incomplete structure

in the headline given by the lack of the verb (foul weather friend). You can see the


presence of the modal verb (can count on). There is only one comparative represented
by better and a metaphor represented by “Coca Cola makes a great fair weather friend”.


The dominant tense is the present tense, because the advertiser is promoting a
product that is currently available e and the imperative represents the call to action
towards consumers (take off/put back).
The layout displays a Vertical axis: In the top section are the consumer’s aspirations
and desires. In the bottom section: general info on the product. The logo is placed at
the bottom right-end corner of the page.
Coca cola uses the packshot which, as a rule, is represented by a professional
photograph made with the technique of still life to which is entrusted the visual
presentation of the article; thanks to it you can place the packaging within the visual
advertising, with the intent to identify the product and the brand making them
recognizable to the public. The same is achieved in advertising of Pepsi cola.

C. CONCLUSIONI

As successful as Pepsi was during the 1960s, it was still trailing behind Coke. In
response, Kendall thought it was important to expand the company' product line
beyond soft drinks. At a grocer's convention in 1960, he met Herman W. Lay, the
president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Frito-Lay, the nation's leading
manufacturer of such snack foods as Lay's potato chips, Cheetos, Ruffles, and Rold
Gold pretzels. The two decided to merge companies, and in 1965, PepsiCo, Inc.
became the name of the new company. A year later they introduced Doritos, which
eventually became the most popular snack chip in the United States.