LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY

Strategy Management

Comparative Advertising as a Positioning Strategy

Submitted to: Submitted by :Arun Kumar Saini Jaspreet Kaur Roll no : RT1903 A25

Regd no : 10907007

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTFirst of all we would like to thank the Lovely University and take the opportunity to do this project as a part of the M.B.A.

Many people have influenced the shape and content of this project, and many supported me through it. I express my sincere gratitude to Lect. Miss Jaspreet kaur

She has been an inspiration and role model for us. Her guidance and active support has made it possible to complete the assignment.

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INDEX1. Advertising

2. History of Coca Cola & Pepsico

3. Market Share in India

4. Segmentation of Market

5. Product Mix

6. Positioning & Promotion

7. Ad War Between Coca Cola and Pepsico

8. Political Environment and its effects

9. SWOT Analysis of Pepsico and Coca Cola

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ADVERTISMENTAdvertising is the promotion of a company’s products and services carried out primarily to drive sales of the products and services but also to build a brand identity and communicate changes or new product /services to the customers. Advertising has become an essential element of the corporate world and hence the companies allot a considerable amount of revenues as their advertising budget. There are several reasons for advertising some of which are as follows:

Increasing the sales of the product/service

Creating and maintaining a brand identity or brand image.

Communicating a change in the existing product line.

Introduction of a new product or service.

Increasing the buzz-value of the brand or the company.

Thus, several reasons for advertising and similarly there exist various media which can be effectively used for advertising. Based on these criteria there can be several branches of advertising. Mentioned below are the various categories or types of advertising: 

Print Advertising – Newspaper, Magazines, Brochures, Fliers

The print media have always been a popular advertising medium. Advertising products via newspapers or magazines is a common practice. In addition to this, the print media also offers options like promotional brochures and fliers for advertising purposes. Often the newspapers and the magazines sell the advertising space according to the area occupied by the advertisement, the position of the advertisement (front page/middle page), as well as the readership of the publications. For instance an advertisement in a relatively new and less popular newspaper would cost far less than placing an advertisement in a popular newspaper with a high readership. The price of print ads also depend on the supplement in which they appear, for example an advertisement in the glossy supplement costs way higher than that in the newspaper supplement which uses a mediocre quality paper.

Outdoor Advertising – Billboards, Kiosks, Tradeshows and Events:

Outdoor advertising is also a very popular form of advertising, which makes use of several tools and techniques to attract the customers outdoors. The most common examples of outdoor advertising are billboards, kiosks, and also several events and tradeshows organized by the

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company. The billboard advertising is very popular however has to be really terse and catchy in order to grab the attention of the passersby. The kiosks not only provide an easy outlet for the company products but also make for an effective advertising tool to promote the company’s products. Organizing several events or sponsoring those makes for an excellent advertising opportunity. The company can organize trade fairs, or even exhibitions for advertising their products. If not this, the company can organize several events that are closely associated with their field. For instance a company that manufactures sports utilities can sponsor a sports tournament to advertise its products.

Broadcast advertising – Television, Radio and the Internet 

Broadcast advertising is a very popular advertising medium that constitutes of several branches like television, radio or the Internet. Television advertisements have been very popular ever since they have been introduced. The cost of television advertising often depends on the duration of the advertisement, the time of broadcast (prime time/peak time), and of course the popularity of the television channel on which the advertisement is going to be broadcasted. The radio might have lost its charm owing to the new age media however the radio remains to be the choice of small-scale advertisers. The radio jingles have been very popular advertising media and have a large impact on the audience, which is evident in the fact that many people still remember and enjoy the popular radio jingles. 

Covert Advertising – Advertising in Movies 

Covert advertising is a unique kind of advertising in which a product or a particular brand is incorporated in some entertainment and media channels like movies, television shows or even sports. There is no commercial in the entertainment but the brand or the product is subtly (or sometimes evidently) showcased in the entertainment show. Some of the famous examples for this sort of advertising have to be the appearance of brand Nokia which is displayed on Tom Cruise’s phone in the movie Minority Report, or the use of Cadillac cars in the movie Matrix Reloaded. 

Surrogate Advertising – Advertising Indirectly

Surrogate advertising is prominently seen in cases where advertising a particular product is banned by law. Advertisement for products like cigarettes or alcohol which are injurious to heath are prohibited by law in several countries and hence these companies have to come up with several other products that might have the same brand name and indirectly remind people of the

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cigarettes or beer bottles of the same brand. Common examples include Fosters and Kingfisher beer brands, which are often seen to promote their brand with the help of surrogate advertising.  

Public Service Advertising – Advertising for Social Causes

Public service advertising is a technique that makes use of advertising as an effective communication medium to convey socially relevant messaged about important matters and social welfare causes like AIDS, energy conservation, political integrity, deforestation, illiteracy, poverty and so on. David Oglivy who is considered to be one of the pioneers of advertising and marketing concepts had reportedly encouraged the use of advertising field for a social cause. Oglivy once said, "Advertising justifies its existence when used in the public interest - it is much too powerful a tool to use solely for commercial purposes.”

Today public service advertising has been increasingly used in a non-commercial fashion in several countries across the world in order to promote various social causes. In USA, the radio and television stations are granted on the basis of a fixed amount of Public service advertisements aired by the channel. 

Celebrity Advertising

Although the audience is getting smarter and smarter and the modern day consumer getting immune to the exaggerated claims made in a majority of advertisements, there exist a section of advertisers that still bank upon celebrities and their popularity for advertising their products. Using celebrities for advertising involves signing up celebrities for advertising campaigns, which consist of all sorts of advertising including, television ads or even print advertisements.

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HISTORY OF COCA COLA

Coca-Cola started out as an insignificant one-man business and over the last one hundred and ten years has grown into one of the largest companies in the world. Dr. John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist, invented Coca-Cola. He concocted the formula in a three-legged brass kettle in his backyard on May 8, 1886. He mixed a combination of lime, cinnamon, coca leaves, and the seeds of a Brazilian shrub to make the fabulous beverage.

Coca-Cola debuted in Atlanta's largest pharmacy, Jacob's Pharmacy, as a five-cent noncarbonated beverage. Later on, the carbonated water was added to the syrup to make the beverage that we know today as Coca-Cola. In the mid-1970, more than half Coca-Colas old was outside of the U.S. Coca-Cola products outsell closest competitor by more than two to one. One in every two cola and one in every three soft drinks is a Coca-Cola product. The best-known trademark in the world is sold in about one hundred and forty countries to 5.8 billion people in eighty different languages. This is why Coca-Cola is the largest soft drink company in the world.

THE RE-LAUNCH OF COCA COLA IN INDIA

Coca Cola came back to India after 16 years when it was launched on October 24, 1993, at Agra. The Godrej group, Great Eastern Shipping and the Britannia Industries Ltd, led by Rajan Pillai, initially wooed Coca-Cola. In March 1991, it signed an MOU with BIL and the Chandrasekhar government accepted this proposal.

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But relationship between the two companies turned sour over the export- oriented clause and finally on June 23, 1993, Coca- Cola got the permission to enter the country with a 100 per cent unit in India. On September 22, 1993, the company bought out the Parle brands.

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HISTORY OF PEPSICO

Born in the Carolinas in 1898, Pepsi-Cola has a long and rich history. The drink is the invention of Caleb Bradham (left), a pharmacist and drugstore owner in New Bern, North Carolina.

The summer of 1898, as usual, was hot and humid in New Bern, North Carolina. So a young armacist named Caleb Bradham began experimenting with combinations of spices, juices, and syrups trying to create a refreshing new drink to serve his customers. He succeeded beyond all expectations because he invented the beverage known around the world as Pepsi-Cola.

Caleb Bradham knew that to keep people returning to his pharmacy, he would have to turn it into a gathering place. He did so by concocting his own special beverage, a soft drink. His creation, a unique mixture of kola nut extract, vanilla and rare oils, became so popular his customers named it "Brad's Drink." Caleb decided to rename it "Pepsi-Cola," and advertised his new soft drink.

People responded, and sales of Pepsi-Cola started to grow, convincing him that he should form a company to market the new beverage. In 1902, he launched the Pepsi-Cola Company in the back room of his pharmacy, and applied to the U.S. Patent Office for a trademark.

At first, he mixed the syrup himself and sold it exclusively through soda fountains. But soon Caleb recognized that a greater opportunity existed to bottle Pepsi so that people could drink it anywhere. The business began to grow, and on June 16, 1903, "Pepsi-Cola" was officially registered with the U.S. Patent Office. That year, Caleb sold 7,968 gallons of syrup, using the theme line "Exhilarating, Invigorating, Aids Digestion."

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He also began awarding franchises to bottle Pepsi to independent investors, whose number grew from just two in 1905, in the cities of Charlotte and Durham, North Carolina, to 15 the following year, and 40 by 1907. By the end of 1910, there were Pepsi-Cola franchises in 24 states. Pepsi-Cola's first bottling line resulted from some less-than-sophisticated engineering in the back room of Caleb's pharmacy.

Building a strong franchise system was one of Caleb's greatest achievements. Local Pepsi-Cola bottlers, entrepreneurial in spirit and dedicated to the product's success, provided a sturdy foundation. They were the cornerstones of the Pepsi-Cola enterprise. By 1907, the new company was selling more than 100,000 gallons of syrup per year. Growth was phenomenal, and in 1909 Caleb erected a headquarters so spectacular that the town of New Bern pictured it on a postcard. Famous racing car driver Barney Oldfield endorsed Pepsi in newspaper ads as "A bully drink...refreshing, invigorating, a fine bracer before a race."

The previous year, Pepsi had been one of the first companies in the United States to switch from horse-drawn transport to motor vehicles, and Caleb's business expertise captured widespread attention. He was even mentioned as a possible candidate for Governor. A 1913 editorial in the Greensboro Patriot praised him for his "keen and energetic business sense."

Pepsi-Cola enjoyed 17 unbroken years of success. Caleb now promoted Pepsi sales with the slogan, "Drink Pepsi-Cola. It will satisfy you." Then came World War I, and the cost of doing business increased drastically. Sugar prices see sawed between record highs and disastrous lows, and so did the price of producing Pepsi-Cola.

After seventeen years of success, Caleb Bradham lost Pepsi Cola. He had gambled on the fluctuations of sugar prices during WORLD WAR I, believing that sugar prices would continue to rise but they fell instead leaving Caleb Bradham with an overpriced sugar inventory. Pepsi Cola went bankrupt in 1923.In 1931, the Loft Candy Company Loft president, Charles G. Guth who reformulated the popular soft drink, bought Pepsi Cola.

In 1940, history was made when the first advertising jingle was broadcast nationally. The jingle was "Nickel Nickel" an advertisement for Pepsi Cola that referred to the price of Pepsi and the quantity for that price. "Nickel Nickel" became a hit record and was recorded into fifty-five languages. In 1965 Pepsi-cola Company and Frito-Lay, Inc. merged which results in the formation of today know PepsiCo, Inc.

MARKET SHARE IN INDIA10

These two soft drink companies (Coca cola & Pepsi) acquire the major share of the soft drink Industry and always remain in the war to get the majority of market share with each other. These companies always be pioneer in using various innovative technology and method to become the market leader.

These companies present the world new innovative ways of doing the marketing and how take advantage of various opportunities and how to use your strength in a better way. In India currently colas (carbonated soft drinks) products comprises 61% and non-cola segment constitutes 36% of the total soft drink market whereas 2% is covered under other various drinks like apple juice, cold coffee, cold tea etc.

SEGMENTATION OF MARKET

A market segment consists of a group of customers who share a similar set of needs and wants. Rather than creating the segment the marketer’s task is to identify them and decide which one to target. Leading soft drink companies Coca-Cola and Pepsi follow the similar segmentation strategy for target marketing.

MASS MARKETING

However in some of its popular product both the companies follow the mass marketing strategy. In this type of segmentation, companies target the whole market and not any particular segment of the population.

TARGETED MARKETING

Although the targeted group of the company is the whole population, they want to earn more revenue from a segment than their other revenue generator sources. For this, they recognize following bases for segmentation

GEOGRAPHICAL REGION

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Both companies treat hot countries such as Asia, Middle East and African differently in comparison to cold countries. As in tropical countries, consumption of soft drinks is 70% in summer and 30% in winter season while in EUROPEAN countries its consumption is almost uniform.

So soft drink companies prefer different marketing strategies in Asian and European countries. In countries like India and Pakistan, these companies invest huge resources in the season of summers, and their target area is domestic users, restaurants, school and college canteens and even rural chaupals. While in winter season their target is mainly party users and high-income group consumers.

DEMOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION

AGE

India is considered to be a young country i.e. average age of Indian population is less 38 years. Thus targeting young generation can be a beneficial marketing strategy for soft drink companies. In fact this is the case, all the major brands like Pepsi, coca cola, and thumps up, mainly target younger generation in India.

In Europe, as average population is older than Asian countries, coca cola targeted the older generation of the population. Similarly in USA, Pepsi targeted then ration X (younger generation) as they comprises majority of the population and they positioned Pepsi in the mind of youth that Pepsi is for the youth.

GENDER

Gender based segmentation is very important. As taste of male and female is different. Let’s take the example of coca cola, thumps up is promoted as masculine soft drinks while coca cola and Fanta are having light taste and mainly targeted for loving birds, ladies, and children. Same example is available in Pepsi, mirinda’ orange flavor is popular among ladies, girls, and children.

PRODUCT MIX

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A product is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a want or need, including physical goods, services, experiences, events, persons, places, properties, organizations, information, and ideas. If we take the example of soft drink industry, then these companies not only sell soft drinks in physical forms, but brands. A brand comprises of everything from beverages to experiences.

PRODUCT PORTFOLIO

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Both the cola majors have a variety of products available in their kitty. They have a wide range of product line. They keep coming on with new products to attract the customers and to have a major share of the market. So the product portfolio of these companies is as follows:

COCA COLA

The Coca-Cola Company has more than 2800 products in over 200 countries. From Inca Kola, a sparkling beverage found in North and South America, and Samurai, energy drink available in Asia; to Vita, an African juice drink, and BonAqua, water found on four continents, their product variety spans the globe…

POSITIONING AND PROMOTION

Positioning is the act of designing the company offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market.

COKE AND PEPSI POSITIONING

Coke had introduced in the market before the Pepsi. So taking the first move advantage Coke is able to place itself as the all American choice. Firstly the Pepsi in America try to position its product for the society as whole and for the purpose of refreshment, which can be clearly visible from their advertisement slogans like

“Any whether is Pepsi whether”

“The light refreshment “

“Be sociable, have a Pepsi “

This positioning strategy they followed up to 1960 and after analyzing that it is very difficult to capture whole population as whole. So Pepsi after 1960 started targeted marketing. Pepsi targeted the youth section and position there product as a necessity for youth and Pepsi advertisement slogan after 1960 try to position Pepsi as the brand for youth which are clearly visible from there advertisement as follow

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“Now it’s Pepsi for those who thing young”

“Come alive, you’re in Pepsi generation “

“You’re got a lot to live and Pepsi’

“Yeh hai youngistaan meri jaan” (in India)

“Taste the once that’s forever young”

In the 1960s and early 1970s, PepsiCo was a much more aggressive and innovate company than coke. In this period Pepsi outflank coke to survive. In early 1975s Pepsi introduced the Pepsi challenge marketing campaign where PepsiCo set up a blind tasting between Pepsi-cola and Coca-cola.

In this Pepsi started direct road show taste competition in which two glass of soft drink one is Pepsi and another is Coke is given to person not known by him which glass contain which soft drink and after tasting both the glasses they ask which soft drink is having better taste. In this competition Pepsi said 80% of people like Pepsi taste over Coke.

PepsiCo took this a great advantage of the campaign with television commercial reporting the test results to the public. So through this competition Pepsi is able to position itself in the mind of customer that Pepsi have better the taste than coke. Coca cola follows Push Strategy to advertise and sell their product in the market.

Coca cola usually giving higher discount to the retailer fills their selves space with their product and when the consumer see only coca cola in the market they are forced to buy their product only. In India both Coca-cola and PepsiCo have shown the door to older celebrity endorser’s and are betting big on emerging stars.

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PepsiCo was parted ways with Shah Rukh Khan, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Mahender Singh Dhoni, Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Shreeshant and Virender Sehwag to strengthen its ”youngistaan” brigade.

PepsiCo signed Asin (of Ghajini fame) to take war to orange flavor category. PepsiCo had tied up with Chennai super kings for its 7up brand, which is the most preferred drink there. PepsiCo has also signed on Telegu movie actor Ram Charanteja as part of its youngistaan campaign to endorse Pepsi in Andhra Pradesh.

Coca cola try to positions themselves as the happiness bringing drink and drink for every community as visible from above advertisement. As this is well judged by their advertisement and their slogans. There are different advertisement, which depicts that’s coca cola, is the need for party or coca cola brings more joy and taste to the party.

Coca cola has roped in Gautam Gambir as brand ambassador for the company new “coca cola open happiness” campaign ahead of IPL seasons. While the single ad campaign works wonders, giving the difference in consumption patterns in the south, the coca cola majors had customized their advertisement for the four southern states.

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Coca cola, on the other hand identified the southern market as a great testing ground for its new brands, so much so that both its pulpy orange drink, minute maid and Fanta apple were first launched, marketed and advertised them before a pan India roll-out and a national campaign

COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

Looking the changing environment the coca cola and PepsiCo calibrated their communication strategy in a very innovative way. “Imagery” works for carbonated soft drinks, while “functionality” works for other category. For instance, to entrench the “imagery” that Pepsi is the brand for youthfulness and irreverence; the company introduced the youngistaan commercial with the attitude, self-belief and can-do spirit. In contrast, Tropicana commercial needs to tell consumers “it’s 100 percent juice”.

POSITIONING OF PRODUCT LINE EXTENSION

(COKE AND PEPSI)

Pepsi and coke have range of product in their basket, which are targeted to different market

Segment and their positioning are done in that way.

THUMS UP (COCA COLA) & MOUNTAIN DEW (PEPSICO)

Thums up of coca cola and mountain dew of Pepsi are targeted to the adventurous and energetic people that are interested in adventure and love taking risk to succeed. The advertisement of both the soft drink positions them in mind of consumer as the strong soft drink. Thums up campaign, however, has been led by Akshay Kumar with his gravity defying stunts in the forefront. Similarly mountain dew giving advertisement like “darr ke aga jeet hai” position it as strong soft drink in mind of consumer.

GATORADE (PEPSICO)

Gatorade of PepsiCo has mainly targeted sport-loving persons. So it is launched as the sports drink and it is also very much successful. Its promotion is largely restricted to the sporting\ arena as to position it as sports drink.

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TROPICANA & MINUTE MAID

Tropicana of PepsiCo and Minute Maid of Coca cola are specially targeted to health conscious customers and want health drink having natural energy in it. These drinks come under the category of juices so these drink basically launched to transfer the consumer, which drink juices to Tropicana and Minute maid.

MIRINDA (PEPSICO) & FANTA (COCA COLA)

These drinks are specially launched for the lady sector of the population and these drinks are positioned in that way only. In the advertisement also they take lady personality for the promotion of this product so that the products make a space in lady sector.

TAB (COCA COLA)

Tab of coca cola initially flopped as diet cola because consumer could not tell the difference between tab with one calorie and diet Pepsi, which then had 100, as coke was not able to position it correctly in mind of the customer. Then coke figured out that it could position the tab or dramatized the difference by surrounding the bathing beauty with 100 empty tab bottles.

Armed with that insight, coke flooded the try screen with ads and backed them up in stores with display, signs and samples and after that it was a tremendous success. So until you are not able to correctly position your product in consumer mind it is impossible to get the success.

RELIGION BASED POSITIONING

Positioning helps in creating a space in the mind of the consumer. If you are able to position your product in the right space you will get the rocking results. There is the interesting case regarding positioning that how a local soft drink company through appropriate positioning able to beat the international soft drink companies (Coke and Pepsi).

Mecca cola is local soft drink company of Saudi Arabia. When coke and Pepsi enter in the market of Saudi Arabia they starts gaining the major share of the market and the share of Mecca cola starts declining. So it is becoming very difficult for the Mecca cola to survive against the international brand.

So to maintain its market Mecca cola starts positioning itself as the Muslim soft drink and coke, Pepsi as the American soft drink. After that putted emphasis that America is enemy of Muslim so

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coca and Pepsi is their enemy too. Mecca cola also starts giving some percentage of profit to organization which is fighting for the rights of Muslim.

So in this way Mecca cola is been able to position itself as the soft drink of Muslim and after that the market share of Mecca cola increased in dramatic way and Pepsi and coke are out of the Saudi Arabia market. This practical example shows that if you are able to position yourself in the important space of consumer mind you will dominate the market.

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COKE AND PEPSICO AD WAR

A battle is hotting up in India between the two international Cola giants, Coke and Pepsi, to corner a bigger share of the nearly Rs.6500 crore market. “Share my dream,” said Coca-Cola to the Indian consumer in 1993. Older Coke lovers welcomed the world's best-known brand back with misty eyes.

The younger lot just shrugged. Among soft drinks, Coke was stronger than Pepsi among the older people (evidently nostalgia was at work) while Pepsi obviously scored above Coke with ‘Generation next'. Coke was the official drink for the Wills World Cup but Pepsi blew officialdom to bits with its cheeky 'Nothing official about it'.

After losing the world cup rights to Coke, Pepsi launched an aggressive campaign signing up leading Indian cricketers. In 1998, Coke's teen strategy finally moved into place. It signed on Saurav Ganguly and Srinath and came up with the peppy 'Eat crickets, sleep cricket, drink only Coca-Cola'. A near winner was 'Peetikya Coca-Cola?' The aim was to fix the brand's message in consumer mind space.

Just as Coke ads were finally telling stories the way Indian consumers like it, aided by Aamir-appeal, Hrithik-mania and Aditi-gaze, comes a damp squib about four friends growing up with Coke, too desperate and too dull. The stakes are high and the two Cola giants are slugging it out for every bit of this market share, even if it means bitter tactics at times. Between Coke and Pepsi they have signed on nine players of the Indian cricket team and Bollywood seems to be the next hot spot they want to cool.

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For now, it's Shah Rukh, Manisha Koirala, Rani Mukherjee, Kajol, Preity Zinta and Superstar Amitabh Bachchan in the blue (Pepsi) corner and Karisma Kapoor, Rambha and Amir, Hrithik, Aditi Gowatrikar and Aishwarya, in the red (Coke). The battle continues with Aamir Khan and Aishwariya Rai both wooed away from Pepsi by tempting offers from Coke. However this is just the beginning and things are likely to get even hotter.

THUMPS UP VERSUS PEPSI

The latest Coke’s strategy is to engage Pepsi in war with Thumps up and playing safe with Coca-Cola. The latest ads of thumps up which features Salman Khan tries to make fun of Pepsi and it’s sweeter taste. Pepsi also has retaliated by its latest ad of Lehar Soda, which features a look alike of Salman Khan

PRICING STRATEGY

Price is not just a number tag. Price comes in many forms and performs many functions. It is one of the factors that affect the sales in a drastic ways.

PEPSI PRICING STRATEGY IN 1936

Pepsi gained popularity following the introduction in 1936 of a 12-ounce bottle. Initially priced at 10 cents, sales were slow, but when the price was slashed to five cent, sales increased substantially. Pepsi encouraged price-watching consumers to switch referring the coca cola standard of six ounces a bottle for the price of five cents (a nickel), instead of the 12-ounces Pepsi sold at the same price.

In 1936 alone 500 million bottles of Pepsi were consumed. For 1936 to 1939, Pepsi profit doubled and there is also a dramatic increase in sales of Pepsi. This case of Pepsi presents the live example how the pricing makes difference in marketing process of a firm.

PRICING MIX (COCA COLA AND PEPSI)

There is the time (2002-2003) when Coca cola and Pepsi tried to appeal to the masses through a 200ml bottle priced at Rs.5. It brought down the average price of its product to Rs.5 thereby bridging the gap between soft drink and other local option like tea, milk, and sugarcane juice or

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lemon water and it also make the price point of the soft drink within the reach of high potential rural market.

Coca cola and Pepsi in the market place now start with the basic introductory pack, which is a 200 ml returnable glass bottle priced at Rs.8 and is available across low income and rural areas. The next pack size is 300 ml at Rs.10 and is focused on those willing to pay more within the immediate consumption arena.

Coca cola and Pepsi recently introduced an on-the-go pack as research showed it that the next pack of 600ml (mobile) was too much to consume on the go. The new on-the-go consumption pack is called the “express pack” and doing well in channels such as travel, malls so on, where people want a single serve and it is priced at Rs.20. Can packing (250 ml) of Coca cola and Pepsi is priced at Rs.15. The company also introduced the party pack of 2 liter of the consumption in the party and is priced at Rs.55.

The average price of this packing is cheap than other packing as to increase the consumption of soft drink in the market. PepsiCo India priced So Be Adrenaline Rush (premium product) at Rs.75 for the can of 245ml. So Be Adrenaline Rush is a maximum energy supplement aimed at helping consumers perform at their peak by energizing their body and mind and charging up energy an alertness levels.

As this is a premium and launched drink with energy booster so it is priced at higher price as compare to other drink. PepsiCo also introduced their sport drink in 500 ml packing for Rs.35. As this drink is specially introduced for the specifically sports segment so it is costlier as compare to other drinks.

It also introduced its Nimbooz in packing of 200ml at Rs.10. Tropicana of PepsiCo comes in packing 200ml at Rs.15 and in packing 1liter at Rs.65. Coca cola also introduced its pulpy orange drink (Juice), Minute Maid, in India at Rs20 in the 500ml.

POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT AND ITS EFFECT

Political and legal environment are some important factors that influences the marketing strategy of soft drink companies. Take the example of India, in India coca-cola came in early 1970 after the janta party came into 1977 they oppose the strategy adopted by coca cola.

The janta party banned the coca cola operation in India because of the not entering 100% stake of the foreign company in India of the not essential product based company. This hurtled the company operation in India. Soft Drink Company Pepsi co began its operation with LEHAR and opted the market strategy according to political and legal scenario of the country.

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The case of Coke and Pepsi in India is a lesson that all marketers can observe, analyze and learn from, since it involves so many marketing aspects that are essential for all marketers to take into consideration. Both companies had many difficulties, especially Coca-Cola, and it's useful to observe how it dealt with the different aspects, stating from the political environment of the Indian market and the trade barriers it faced, going through the market entry and penetration strategies considered and the flexible marketing mix used and how it was placed to increase consumption and market share, ending with the change in the environment and market due to boycott campaigns for different reasons.

Until the early 1990s, India was considered unfriendly to foreign investors, especially in consumer goods sector. If an item could be obtained within the country, imports of similar items were forbidden. Due to this environment; Coca-Cola had withdrawn from the Indian market in 1977. Coke's refusal to give the formula and withdraw from the market wasn't a clever decision, because as a big company, coke must expect to face many challenges. It should have believed in it marketing capabilities and its ability to position its brand as a unique one,

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SWOT ANALYSIS OF PEPSI AND COKE

STRENGTHS

Pepsi and Coke has been a complex part of world culture for a very long time. The products image is loaded with over-romanticizing and fun, this is an image many people have taken deeply to heart. Pepsi and Coke are the extremely recognizable brand, which is the greatest strength of them. Additionally there Bottling system is one of their greatest strengths.

This allows them to the conduct business on a global scale while at the same time maintain a local approach. The bottling companies are locally owned and operated by independent business people who are authorized to sell product of these cola giant. PepsiCo and Coca cola are having the largest distribution network in the world, which is also there one of the greatest strength.

WEAKNESSES

Weaknesses for any business need to be both minimized and monitored in order to effectively achieve productivity and efficiency in their business activities. Although the international sales are increases but there is getting saturation evident through the stability in cola drink in USA market and moreover all over the world the customer preference for cola drink is shifting towards the healthy drink is taking place. Being addictive of cola drink is also a health problem, because drinking of carbonated soft drink daily has an effect on your body also.

OPPORTUNITIES

Brand recognition is the significant factor affecting Pepsi and Coke competitive position. Pepsi and Coke brand is known well throughout 94% of world today. As in developing countries the per head consumption of cola drink is very less which evident from taking example of India. In India per head consumption is only 6 bottles as compare to 700 bottles in USA and in Indian market only 5% of the beverages come under packaging. So looking at these data we can that for these two giant a lot of potential is there in developing market which is now also untapped.

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THREATS

Currently, the threat of new viable competitors in the carbonated soft drink industry is not very substantial. The threat of Substitute, however, is a very real threat. The soft drink industry is very strong, but consumers are not necessarily married to it. Possible substitutes that continuously put pressure on both Pepsi and Coke include tea, coffee, juice, milk and hot chocolate.

Even through the Coca cola and Pepsi control nearly 40% of the entire beverage market, the changing health consciousness of the market could have a serious affect. Of course, both have already diversified into these markets, but still these Substitute will remain threat to them. Consumer buying power is also represents a key threat to the Pepsi and Coke.

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REFRENCEShttp://www.pepsico.com/

http://www.coca-colaindia.com/

http://www.americanartarchives.com/pepsi.htm

http://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/22088.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/business/media/19adco.html

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/174604

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