Marketing Strategy of Pepsi and Coca Cola - Essay Example

For the product itself, flavours are very alike to Coca-Colas. Pepsi have also broadened their product line to include other flavours and brands for example, Mountain Dew and also many different sizes, just as their competitor, to gain a greater segment of the market. In this paper we will study the marketing strategy, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and the future outlook of both the companies and their product. In order to have a full insight into the theme of the marketing strategies we will analyze the two well known brands separately The "Coca-Cola" trademark was registered for the first time in 1893, although it was seven years earlier that pharmacist Dr John Styth created a fragrant caramel-coloured syrup that went on sale as a soda fountain drink in Atlanta, Georgia.

Large-scale bottling began in 1894, after the rights to bottle and sell Coca-Cola across most of the US were sold for just US$1. In 1923, Fanta became the first soft drink other than Coca-Cola to be marketed by the company, and in the same year The Coca-Cola Company extended into fruit juices and concentrates with the acquisition of the Minute Maid Corporation, which added frozen citrus concentrates and other drinks, along with the brands Minute Maid and Hi-C to its growing portfolio. Further reclassifications took place over the 2001-2002 period. . While North America and Latin America remained largely unchanged during this restructuring, with Puerto Rico moving from the latter to the former, the Middle East division was added to Europe and Eurasia, which then changed its name to Europe, Eurasia & Middle East.

Simultaneously, Africa and Middle East, less the reclassified Middle East division, reverted to Africa. Furthermore, during the first quarter of 2001, Asia Pacific was renamed Asia, and during the first quarter of 2002, Egypt was reclassified from Europe, Eurasia and Middle East to Africa. The Coca-Cola Company also signed a number of bottling agreements in 2001. In the Philippines, the company acquired Australian-based bottler Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd's 35% interest in Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc.

Later in the year, in a joint venture with San Miguel, The Coca-Cola Company acquired the Filipino soft drinks maker Cosmos Bottling Corp.However, the competition in the US bottled water market intensified in the following years and the joint venture failed to live up to expectations in terms of sales. In April 2005 The Coca-Cola Company acquired Danone's stake in CCDA, taking over full control of its US water joint venture. In another venture outside cola-based carbonates in 2002, The Coca-Cola Company announced an agreement with Diageo and Pernod Ricard to acquire the Seagram's Mixers business, located primarily in the US and Mexico.

In addition, The Coca-Cola Company also agreed to a long-term global licensing deal with the French company that adds Seagram's well-known brand of mixers, including Ginger Ale, Tonic, Club Soda and Seltzer, to The Coca-Cola Company's growing portfolio of non-alcoholic beverages.The early years of the new millennium have also witnessed