In 1985, Coca-Cola changed its secret formula for the first time in 99 years after Pepsi's blind taste test campaign showed many preferred Pepsi. People strongly protested the new taste and sales declined. Within 3 months, Coca-Cola re-introduced the original formula as "Coca-Cola Classic" which consumers embraced. The company learned not to ignore deep emotional brand attachments when threatened by competitors and to have courage to correct mistakes.

1. SUBJECT:
Strategic Marketing Management (SMM)
ASSIGNMENT ON:
Summary On the Coca-Cola's Biggest Mistake
SUBMITTED TO:
Sir Adnan Pitafi
SUBMITTED BY:
Varda Shaikh___18S-MBA-BS-19

2. Summary
After 99 Years of
Excellence What
Coca-Cola Did
April 23 1985, that’s where the story began. On that day, The Coca-Cola Company took the
biggest risk in consumer goods history, announcing that it was changing nearly century-old
secret formula for the world's most popular soft drink.
Factors That Shaped the Launch Decision
Coca-Cola’s biggest competitor Pepsi, started blind taste test challenge campaign. Where
Pepsi invited people and gave them choice to choose between two soft drinks by tasting
them blindly, surprisingly most of the people preferred Pepsi over Coca-Cola.
This campaign brought panic to Coca-Cola Company and they started worrying
about it. They started conducting the market survey over the people’s changing behavior
towards their soft drink and suddenly decided to change the original Coca-Cola formula.
People’s Response
People started protesting against new taste, thousands of people popped up around the
country, Songs were written to honor the old taste. Protesters at a Coca-Cola event in
downtown Atlanta in May carried signs with "We want the real thing" and "Our children
will never know refreshment."
Result
The sales were declining and within a three months, the Coca-Cola Company decided to get
back the old taste into the market.
The Return of a Classic

3. In July 1985, the old Coca-Cola was returning to store shelves as ‘Coca-Cola classic’ and
consumers applauded their decision.
Coca-Cola Was More than Just a Soft Drink
Coca-Cola started campaign for the new taste of Coke with the emotional slogan "Red,
White and You", which ensured the bond between the Coca-Cola and its people.
Analysis
Findings
1. They did the marketing research but the panic they got from Pepsi campaign, is
something which made them not to think about the consequences seriously.
2. What they did, they preferred their perception over the emotions of the people.
3. All the time, money and skill poured into consumer research but they couldn’t
measure the deep and emotional attachment of the people to the original Coca-Cola.
Observation
As Coca-Cola has been sold for 99 years, it became a tradition for the people than just a
product. It wasn’t easy for them to accept the change as the company thought.
Recommendation
1. Don’t be bias, the preconceived idea that people were favoring the Pepsi more over
coke and will like the new taste for sure, is what messed up everything.
2. Don’t imitate the competitors, as it can never be a long term strategy. If the Pepsi
were doing the taste test, it wasn’t mean they start doing the same thing.
Learning
Have courage to accept the mistakes and correct it, as the Coca-Cola did. Though they spent
million dollars on new coke but they also didn’t hesitate to re-introduce the old coke as it
wasn’t accepting by the mass.