For more than a century, Coca Cola and PepsiCo have been the major competitors within the soft drink market. By employing various advertising tactics, strategies such as blind taste tests, and reward initiatives for the consumer, they have grown to become oligopolistic rivals. In the soft-drink business, “The Coca-Cola Company” and “PepsiCo, Incorporated” hold most of the market shares in virtually every region of the world. They have brands that the consumers want, whether it be soft-drink brands or in PepsioCo’s case, snacks. With only one soft-drink market, the two competitors have no choice but to increase sales by stealing the other competitor’s clients. This led to the term, the “cola wars” which was first used to describe the “mutually-targeted” marketing campaigns in the 1980s and 1990s. A revival of the Cola wars is occurring now as PepsiCo remakes a well-known comparative commercial and resurfaces old tactics used in 1979. A closer look at their advertising styles and market shares will provide us with an idea of how the future will be for these two competitors.
. Pepsi’s starting point in its marketing campaign was its position as “The Choice of a new Generation.” Pepsi concentrated on the user of the drink, never the drink, while as Coca Cola did the opposite. In order to enhance the user interface of its campaign, Pepsi began lifestyle marketing, the first and longest-running lifestyle campaign that continues until this day. Pepsi showed people riding dirt bikes, waterskiing, and hand gliding and ended with a Pepsi as their reward. Its advertisements also often focused on celebrities such as Mariah Carey, KISS, Tine Turner, Britney Spears, Madonna, and Ray Charles choosing Pepsi over Coke. This was strategic movement since it was also during the time in which colored television came. Coca Cola also used celebrities such as Whitney Houston, Paula Abdul, Christina Aguilera, and Elton John to advertise its drinks. With mutually