Put down your soft drink because this piece of marketing nearly killed one of the biggest brands in the world by…
In 1975 Pepsi ran a campaign.
“The Taste Test Challenge.”
In it, what Pepsi did was go around the U.S. and get people to do a blind taste test.
Option A and well, Option B.
In one there was Coca Cola and the other was Pepsi.
They did over 6 million taste tests.
Pepsi won.
The majority of the people before the taste test said that “Coke” was their favourite soft drink.
However, after the taste test nearly 10% more preferred Pepsi.
The adverts went down a storm and ran for 9 years.
It was so effective that in the mid 80s, Coca Cola decided to launch, New Coke. A sweeter version meant to mimic the Pepsi taste.
New Coke flopped. Over 100,000 people signed up to be “the Old Coke Drinkers” and one woman made history by holding a placard in front of Coca Cola HQ with…
Our Children Will Never Know The Taste Of Refreshment.
Pepsi’s share in the market rose from 17% to 25% whilst New Coke ended up being shelved just 75 days later.
Weirdly though, after the change back to Old Coca Cola the company ended up solidifying their position as the leaders in the market.
Pepsi had won the battle but not the war.
Why? They didn’t convert anyone to long time Pepsi drinkers. They didn’t make people feel engaged with who they were as a brand.
They had the big names by the mid 80s but no deadly punch to Coke.
Never just show and tell, like Pepsi.
If you want people to be part of your journey, build something that people will always be willing to return to.
That’s the power of a brand.