Cola Wars Case Study

DMBA 630
Marketing and Strategy Management in the Global Markeplace

Introduction
Carbonated Soft Drinks (CSD) have been around for over a century and now accounts for a $60 Billion market with the average American consuming about 53 gallons a year. Coca-Cola was invented in 1886 by John Pemberton as a “potion for mental and physical disorders.” Asa Candler acquired the formula and began marketing it as Coca-Cola. The first bottling franchise was accorded in 1899 for a sum of one dollar.
Pepsi-Cola was invented in 1893 by Caleb Bradham a pharmacist from North Carolina. Pepsi also franchised its bottling operations. Pepsi struggled over the years going bankrupt twice within a decade, first in 1923 and again in 1931. Pepsi competed aggressively against coke offering almost twice the amount of Pepsi for the same price in the 1930s.
Coca –Cola or Coke on the other hand was the market leader through the early 20th century with numerous imitators popping up trying to clone Coke. Coke fought back in the courts to aggressively deter imitators and counterfeiters. During the 1920s and 1930s, Coke was marketed to multiple market segments making it available to anyone desiring the brand. Eventually Coke sued Pepsi for trademark infringement in 1938 and lost. Pepsi gained market share and became a titan competitor in the market for CSDs beating out all other brands except Coke. Thus began the “Cola Wars” in 1950 with Pepsi’s aggressive “beat Coke” strategy. For the last quarter of the 20th century both Coke and Pepsi mustered annual growth of 10%. By the turn of the 21st century US consumption of CDS began to drop; at the same time there were many new entrants and differentiated competitors in the hotly contested drink markets. Strategy, competition, product differentiation, pricing, branding and market segmentation defines the game