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The Real Lesson of New Coke

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The Real Lesson of New Coke: The Value of Focus Groups for Predicting the Effects of Social Influence By Robert M. Schindler n April 1985, the management of Coca-Cola Co. announced its decision to change the flavor of the cotnpany 's flagship brand. The events that followed from this decision, as well as the faetors which led up to it, have been reviewed, discussed, and extensively analyzed in the popular press, the trade press, and in marketing textbooks. Two books and at least two marketing cases have been written on the events surrounding the flavor change decision. Also, a well-known, but somewhat older Harvard Business School marketing case deals with some of the key events which led up to the decision. Despite the extent of this …show more content…

The Attempt to Reformulate Coca-Cola T 22 he 87-year old rivalry between CocaCola, the traditional market leader, and Pepsi Cola, the perennial runner up, took an unexpected turn in the mid1970s. Pepsi 's consumer research discovered in blind taste tests that a majority of consumers preferred the taste of Pepsi over thai of Coke. In fact, even a majority of loyal Coke drinkers reported preferring Pepsi in the tests. Decetnber1992 silver graphics replacing the traditional red and white look. Clearly. Coke had decided to make sure that consumers would be aware that Coca-Cola 's flavor was being changed. The initial reactions of most consumers appeared to be positive. Many bottlers reported that sales of new Coke were greater than expected and. during the first few weeks after the new Coke introduction, the company 's weekly survey of 900 respondents showed consumers preferring new Coke over old Coke by a margin of 53% to 47%. However, during this period, there was also intense media coverage of those consumers who did not like the new Coke and were angry about the change. In a number of cities, old Coke loyalists sponsored protest rallies and boycotts and received widespread media attention. By June, it was becoming apparent to Coke 's management that consumer dissatisfaction with the reformulation was increasing. The stream of angry letters and phone calls was becoming a flood, and weekly

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