Nipun Nikunj presented to Prof. Vipin Khurana on the launch of new Coke. The presentation provided background on Coca-Cola's founding and history of competition with Pepsi. It described how Coca-Cola's market share declined in the 1980s, leading to the development of New Coke. Market research with 200,000 participants was conducted over 2 years and $4 million, but failed to understand customers' emotional attachment to the original formula. The launch of New Coke was perceived as a "me-too" product and worse than classic Coke, leading to customer complaints. The presentation examined what went wrong with New Coke and lessons learned.

1. IBS GURGAON
PRESENTATION
ON
The Launch of New COKE
PRESENTED TO
Prof. Vipin Khurana
PRESENTED BY
Nipun Nikunj

2. INTRODUCTION
•Founded - 1892
• Headquarter- Midtown Atlanta, Georgia
• Founder -John Pemberton
• Present Chairman - Muhtar Kent
• Its name is known for the ingredients used “coca leaves
and kola seeds”
• Coca cola- “ To Make Mouth Happy” in Chinese
•First Advertisement appeared in Atlanta Journal

3. BACKGROUND NOTE
1895
1919
1930
1970
1978
Drink as a cure for mental and physical exhaustion
Sold to an investment group owned by Ernest
Woodruff for $25million
Pepsi Cola emerged as Coca Cola major
competitor
Pepsi ad budget exceeded Coca Cola’s
ad budget
Coca cola was beaten by Pepsi

4. THE RATIONALE
 Coca cola’s new CEO Goizueta could not
stop the decline in Coca Cola market share
 Share fell down from 24.3% to 21.8% in
1984
 Ad was not much effective

5. COCA-COLA’S STRATEGY
 More vending machines
 Occupied more shelf space
 Competitively priced
 Wider distribution

6. MARKET RESEARCH
 Sample Size – 2,00,000
 Duration – 2 yrs
 Expenditure - $4 million
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
Individual
Interview
Blind taste test Focus Group Test

7. THE LAUNCH AND ITS AFTERMATH
 Lunched New Coke with punch line “Catch
the wave”
 Consumer Reactions :
 Taste similar to Pepsi
 Perceived as me-too product
 Worse than the original coke
 Received complaints calls and letters.

8. NEW COKE :WHAT WENT WRONG?
 Failed to understand the emotional attachment of
the customers to coke
 Against customer’s taste , preferences and
opinions
 Findings of market research were erroneous and
late
 Company was unprepared for unseen conditions

9. WRONG INTERPRETATION OF THE RESEARCH
 Misinterpret customer’s response
 Individual Interviews were followed by focus group
research
 Focused more on winning taste than other marketing soft
drinks

10. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS….??????
 1. Market researchers had expected coca cola to
conduct focused group testing of a new product first
and then use individual interviews to verify the
results of the focus groups.
What other types of research methods would have
been helpful to the company in providing consumer
insights? Discuss.

11. CONTINUE….
2. The launch of new coke turned out to be a
nightmare for coca cola. Discuss the marketing
implications of introducing new coke. Was it
necessary to re-formulate new coke?

12. CONTINUE….
3. Though some analysts felt that the launch of New
Coke was a blunder, others thought it was a
deliberate marketing poly. Is the failure of New
Coke really a marketing blunder? Give your opinion
and substantiate it.

13. CONCLUSION
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
Coke
Classic
Pepsi
Cola
Diet
Coke
Mountain
Dew
Sprite Dr.
Pepper
Diet
Pepsi
7-UP Caffien
Fair Diet
Coke
Barq's
Root
beer
Market Shares
Market Shares
At the end of the 2001 coke covered 44% market share as compared to 32% of
Pepsi’s

14. LEARNING
 Analyze the research process
 analyze the type of research
 Test the product before implementation
 Interpret the research correctly

15. SIMILAR RESEARCH PAPERS
 Success after changing marketing strategy
Title- Success story of McDonald in India
 Failure after changing the marketing strategy
Title- Failure of the changing marketing strategy of
Pepsi.