What is the given reason for the re-formulation of Coke? Argue with...

What is the given reason for the re-formulation of Coke? Argue with reference to what might be the real reason(s)?

 

 

 

Professor Bowman (third page) lists why he thinks the change may be a success regardless of past mistakes. Do you agree with him? What market research would you suggest?  

 

 

 

33. What type of marketing strategy (of the four listed) is Coke using?

What should Coke do to effectively use this strategy?

 

 

 

34. Suggest and justify a creative new marketing strategy for Coke to boost its sagging sales other than that suggested.

 

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Coca-cola @ @CocaCola . Jul 13, 2021 New can. New formula. Introducing the new and improved Coke Zero Sugar. Now more delicious. #BestCokeEver NOW IMPROVED TAIL zero SUGAR SIX CALORIE COLA Gregory Dorsey @Thurboy69 You'd better have a backup plan if this as screwed up as New Coke was. Wait-do you even remember New Coke? Stop messing with a good thing dammit! 11:36 PM . Jul 13, 2021 50 9 7 + Share this Tweet That change was an attempt to beat back the growing success of Pepsi, which was beginning to cut into Coca-Cola's market share. Daily business updates The latest coverage of business, markets and the economy, sent by email each weekday. Get it sent to your inbox But consumers hated New Coke. In June 1985, the company was getting 1,500 calls a day on its consumer hotline. "People seemed to hold any Coca-cola employee - from security officers at our headquarters building to their neighbors who worked for Coke - personally responsible for the change," according to a detailed account of the fiasco on the company's website, which describes the episode as one of the "most memorable marketing blunders ever." The flavor change so angered people that an episode of the sitcom "The Golden Girls" referred to the fury in a joke, consumers stockpiled cans of the original, and at least one lawsuit tried to make Coca-cola return to its original formula. (A federal judge rejected the suit, mentioning that he preferred Pepsi.)

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In July 1985, after only three months, the company announced that it would restore the original Coca-Cola, now rebranded as "Coca- Cola Classic," to store shelves. "If that is what the consumer wants, that is what we will give him," Charles Millard, chairman of the Coca-cola Bottling Company of New York, said after the about- face. ACKERLEY GREAT NEW! NEW TASTE! Coke BETTER THAN EVER Todd Gipstein/CORBIS, via Corbis, via Getty Images This time around, the change is not likely to cause the same sort of backlash, despite some of the early grumbling, said Doug Bowman, professor of marketing at Emory University's Goizueta Business School. "This is a strategy where Coke is trying to stay ahead of the market," he said. In general, consumers have grown used to beverage companies changing and adapting popular drinks. Professor Bowman noted that in the nearly 40 years since the New Coke kerfuffle, vodka companies have introduced vanilla, lime and peach flavors; popular beer brands have experimented with myriad tastes; and both Coke and Pepsi have dabbled in fruit varieties. Coca-cola even made a limited supply of "New Coke" available in 2019 as part of a promotion related to "Stranger Things," the supernatural thriller set in the 1980s. The advertised changes in the new Coke Zero are subtle by comparison, he said.

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"It is hard to see anyone except the most die-hard Coke Zero Sugar people noticing the difference," said Professor Bowman, who from 2002 to 2004 taught courses at Emory to Coca-Cola employees through a program paid for by the company. Natalia Suarez, a senior brand manager at Coca-Cola, said in a statement that the companyr had tinkered with the soda recipe because, to keep gmwh:g, "we must keep challenging ourselves to innovate and differentiate just as other iconic brands have done." "The consumer landscape is always changing," she added, "which means we must evolve to stay ahead." Coca~Cola Zero Sugar, which the company released in 2005, has had its flavor changed before. In 201?, the compan},l said the product was "reformulated" so that it would taste mote like standard Coca-Cola In its statement, the company said the new change "optimizes existing Coca-Cola Zero Sugar flavors and existing ingredients." Though the company did not say what that process would look like, it nmmisgfi on social media that it would not change the ingredients, which include carbonated water, caramel color, phosphoric acid, aspartame, caffeine and potassium benzoate.

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