The top dog and underdog I chose from the top ten business rivalries video is Coca-Cola vs. PepsiCo. (Top 10 Business Rivalries Video). The top dog is Coca-Cola, and the underdog is PepsiCo. The brand strategy that Coca-Cola uses is consistent, focuses on the brand over the product, and the marketing message remains relevant (Prezlab, 2024). Pepsi’s brand strategy focuses on gaining traction with the health-conscious Gen Z consumer and utilizing data to bring awareness to the brand’s entire product portfolio (King, 2024).

PepsiCo is gaining market share from Coca-Cola by releasing new beverage offerings during the pandemic. Coca-Cola ended production of many beverages during the pandemic (Doering, 2021). PepsiCo’s decision to release products even during downtime is starting to pay off. PepsiCo has also gained market share from Coca-Cola by acquiring other companies, like Rockstar energy drinks, in 2020 (Doering, 2021). Interestingly, PepsiCo plans to increase prices to deal with increases in shipping costs, materials, and other business costs (Doering, 2021). Typically, reducing prices would be a strategy to gain market share, but Coca-Cola has also announced price increases (Doering, 2021). PepsiCo can gain market share from Coca-Cola if they can lower pricing strategies. The lower the price, the more attractive the product is to a larger portion of the market (SCISpace, n.d.).

I believe that choosing Coca-Cola or PepsiCo comes down to brand name marketing and its unconscious effect. The human brain creates experiences and is affected by the advertising we see. In 2007, brain scans were used to find people with damage to their VMPC, or the portion of the brain that can discern brand appreciation, and they did not change preference even after they knew what they were drinking. In the Coca-Cola vs. PepsiCo taste test, those with healthy brains changed their preference after learning what they were drinking. The VMPC-damaged participants could not unconsciously experience a “warm and fuzzy feeling toward a brand name” (Miodinow, 2012).

I prefer Diet Coke over Diet Pepsi, but I can admit that I enjoy the taste of both. I can only assume that my preference for Diet Coke over Diet Pepsi comes down to the fact that I have lived outside of Atlanta my entire life and have an unrealized subconscious connection to the brand, Coca-Cola, through the company’s proximity, packaging, branding, and advertising.

References

Doering, C. (2021, July 13). PepsiCo says it’s grabbing market share from Coca-Cola, smaller players. Food Dive. https://www.fooddive.com/news/pepsico-says-its-grabbing-market-share-from-coca-cola-smaller-players/603247/

King, D. (2024, April 3). What can we learn from Pepsi’s marketing strategy? Brafton. https://www.brafton.com/blog/content-marketing/pepsi-marketing-strategy/#:~:text=Pepsi’s%20marketing%20strategy%20has%20evolved,Dew%2C%20Gatorade%20and%20even%20Doritos.

Miodinow, L. (2012, May 9). Why people choose coke over Pepsi. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/subliminal/201205/why-people-choose-coke-over-pepsi

Prezlab. (2024, May 15). Coca-Cola: The branding strategy that made A difference. Prezlab. https://prezlab.com/coca-cola-the-branding-strategy-that-made-a-difference/

SCISpace. (n.d.). How do prices affect market share? | 4 answers from research papers. CSISpace. https://typeset.io/questions/how-do-prices-affect-market-share-17a6y6g7ip