Pepsi and Coke are the major participants in the soft industry in the whole world. In some markets, Pepsi holds the large markets share, while in other markets, Coke is the market leader in production and distribution of various soft drinks. For example, India, Pepsi holds a more significant share of the market than coke. For several decades, the two famous beverage companies, Pepsi and Coke, have competed for the global market share. They are multinational companies that deal with beverages and soft drinks. Pepsi and Coke have their subsidiaries in all most every part of the world. It is hard to precisely tell between Pepsi and Coke which one is the winner because of the free nature of the market and the perfect competition (Lemley and McKenna, 2011). Both companies apply different product and commercial style to expand their markets. Personally, I believe Coke has better marketing strategies than Pepsi, and therefore it earns higher profits. I would prefer to take Coke over Pepsi. Coke tends to have a fair marketing strategy which appeals to all generations. Pepsi majorly targets the younger ages by trying to make Coke's image to appear to be 'uncool' drink. Coke has however made their customers to ap Similarities between Pepsi and Coke
Similarities between Coke and Pepsi
Both Coke and Pepsi are well established multinational companies in the beverage industry dealing with soft drinks and beverages. The two companies almost use a similar advertisement line. For the Coke Company, the advertisement line is "Enjoy Coco-Cola," while from Pepsi Company the advertisement is "Joy of Cola."
Both Coke and Pepsi use collectibles to reinforce their public image and reputation concerning consolidating their customer base. These enable the companies to create vast amounts of profits to support their operations (Nestle, 2015). Even though all of them use collectibles, Coke uses a lot of collectibles than Pepsi such as staples, toy trucks, watches, and a teddy bear. All the collectibles put the Coke trademarks on its drinks, which can be found in every market that the company operates.
Differences between Coke and Pepsi
The first major difference between Pepsi and Coke is their brand color. Pepsi comes in blue cans, while Coke comes in red cans. The branding of the two drinks, Pepsi and Coke are always indistinct blues and red color respectively, even though the two drinks are similar in color.
The two drinks have different tastes, and it is straightforward to differentiate between Pepsi from Coke by how they taste. Due to the addition of artificial sweeteners to Pepsi, it is a little sweeter than Coke. When one takes a sip of the two drinks, the difference is too clear (McKelvey, 2006). Coke does not have mild chemical taste after taking it, unlike Pepsi that does leave a slight chemical taste after drinking it because of the addition of the artificial sweeteners. When taking Pepsi, one would get fluid or fruity sort of flavor, while with Coke; one would feel more of a cola flavor in it.
The levels of carbonation between Coke and Pepsi are also different. Therefore upon taking the first sip of Coke, one will feel a fizzy effect which much less in Pepsi. While both the two drinks are shaken, Coke produces more air bubbles than, showing that it is more carbonated as compared to Pepsi.
The essential ingredients for manufacturing Pepsi are citric acid, colorings, caffeine, fructose corn syrup, sugar, carbonated water and other natural flavorings (Yoffie and Wang, 2012). When Coke was introduced, its major ingredients were a small amount of cocaine and caffeine. Just like in Pepsi, the other ingredients are phosphoric acid, sugar, carbonated water and other natural flavors.
On branding, Coke has had minor changes in front its logo since its inception, and therefore the logo has not varied much. The step has helped Coke to create a brand that stays in the minds of its customers. For, it changed its logo and had even designed new slogans and logos (Long, 2013). Pepsi keeps on changing its logos and slogans, and therefore it may have various slogans and logos. The trend is a marketing strategy the company is using because each time the customer see a new logo, they may be afraid since they may think that the entire drink has changed.
Coke and Pepsi have different commercial ads. In Coke, the company uses the Cola Santa and the Cola bear (Yglesias, 2013). The company tries to make the business ads related to culture and environment as it seeks to create an excellent image to the public. In contrast, Pepsi uses a lot of famous figures or superstars like Faith Hill, Einstein, Sisqo, Dinger, and Kiss. The technique of using the renowned personage or superstars in their commercial ads is employed by Pepsi in America as well as Asia.
Conclusion
Despite the fact that the two brands of beverage exhibit some similarities regarding branding, physical look and methods of advertisement, there are also a few differences between the two companies. Coke is known for the red color branding while Pepsi uses blue for the same purposes. Many people believe that Pepsi is sweater because of the artificial sweeteners added during processing. On the same note, carbonization is apparently lower in Pepsi as compared to Coke.
References
Lemley, M. A., " McKenna, M. P. (2011). Is Pepsi a substitute for coke-Market definition in antitrust and IP. Geo. Jl, 100, 2055.
Long, D. (2013). Resolving Trademark Duality in the Twenty-First Century: Making Trademarks Internet-Ready.
McKelvey, S. M. (2006). Coca-Cola vs. PepsiCo-A" Super" Battleground for the Cola Wars?. Sports Marketing Quarterly, 15(2), 114.
Nestle, M. (2015). Soda politics: Taking on big soda (and winning). Oxford University Press, USA.
Yglesias, M. (2013). Sweet Sorrow. Coke won the cola wars because great taste takes more than a single sip. Slate.com. Publikováno, 9(8).
Yoffie, D. B., " Wang, Y. (2012). Cola wars continue Coke and Pepsi in the twenty-first century.
