I know that this will probably just turn into some pepsi vs. coke thread but, who do you think has better marketing skills when it comes right down to it? Or you could just put what you think that they have done good or bad in the past.

To me, i think Pepsi does a good job with Mountain Dew..sometimes. They definitly recognize the video gamers/athletes appeal to it, even though sometimes maybe they go a little overboard on it.

For Coke, theres not really anything that i see that they have done bad, except maybe for Vault Red Blitz, it just seems like they could have done more to promote it, but i could be wrong.

pepsi's seem to be more memorable than coke's (like at the superbowl, etc), however, coke's products seem to be faring better overall (meaning, coke's market share has slid slower than pepsi's)... though i'm not sure why that is.

i'd agree that pepsi has done a great job of marketing mountain dew... it's one of their few sodas that's actually gaining market share. and coke has done a good job with coke zero, diet coke and vault lately.

it's possible that pepsi's market share has slid faster because pepsi has aimed its products at "youth"... and youths can be fickle... and, also, have moved in larger numbers to sports drinks (like redbull, etc).

older consumers are probably more loyal... and that might explain why coke products are faring a little better.

Coke has tried for 40 years to simply come up with a MD replica. The natural marketing advantages of Coke would, one would think, cause such a product to get a reasonable market share. It has consistantly failed to do so.

IMHO, KO has not had a good jingle since "Always". It has tied Sprite to the thug NBA. It really needs to perk up.

IMO...Coca Cola has not stepped out of the "box" creatively in
a long time. Not that Pepsi has been that much better.

IMO...Sprite is an awesome soda pop. It use to have a nice mass appeal
across most age groups. Now,it's not marked IMO at a broad enough
audience of consumers. If it were me I would have had a "Sprite is
Fine Lemon Lime Soda". Period, short simple and tells the exact attributes
of Sprite. Appealing to the NBA Thug crowd is like yelling fire in
an empty theatre.

agreed i love Sprite, and always notice the NBA ads right on the bottle.

The Sprite/NBA connection is not as strong as it used to be, though. The latest ad campaign (the one introduced with the new look) has nothing to do with the NBA.. and personally, I think it's downright creepy/weird.

Powerade is the one with the relationship with the NBA. They have NBA players on the new bottles (expire MAY08)

thats true, but i dont think Powerade ever came on as strong.

Originally Posted by fusion

The Sprite/NBA connection is not as strong as it used to be, though. The latest ad campaign (the one introduced with the new look) has nothing to do with the NBA.. and personally, I think it's downright creepy/weird.

agreed. i think i even had to turn the channel once, because those ads were so bizarre and scary. i just didn't want to have to deal with it...

i know what you mean, those are horrible, what do they think thats jsut going to make someboy stand up and say "i think i want a Sprite now"