There are several reasons why the Coke brand has earned my dedication and heart. First of all I am just going to get it out of the way that it tastes WAY better, but that is just a fraction of why.
As you can see on the left, Coke has never had a brand redesign and they have been continuously successful without one. Pepsi has had 11 plus over the course of several generations, continuously changing or what they would call it “evolving.” It is necessary for a successful brand to do this? They think so.
Pepsi was insecure enough to introduce the Pepsi Challenge marketing campaign. in 1975, 1995, where they set up a blind tasting between Pepsi-Cola and rival Coca-Cola. The majority of participants picked Pepsi as the better tasting of the two soft drinks. PepsiCo took great advantage of the campaign with television commercials reporting the results to the public. Coke has never reached as far as to put an ambient like campaign on the streets like this, trusting that their customers would continue purchasing because they wanted to, and not because of what a test told them.
Confidence in a brand makes the story they have been telling from the beginning continue on for generations. As soon as that brand ‘story ‘ is interrupted with campaigns, events and additional strategies, one must question the motives and messages the company is sending. Coke has been a household soft drink since the late 19th century and has continued it’s logo, story, and brand commitment to it’s customers and giving back for this many years.
Update: Pepsi has started the Pepsi Refresh Project, a find to help American health, food and shelter, neighborhoods, and even the planet.
This is great stuff they have started doing to help like Coke has done internationally. This is what is important about brands with so much power and money. It should go back to the people.
Jessica Jean Things 