PepsiCo's Poor Product Decision's!

[DakotaDave]

Ok; am I the only one preturbed about the "New" products that PepsiCo has been bringing out? The reason I bring this up is; I asked a question if Pepsi Holiday Spice would be out this year? This is the answer I got from PepsiPimp: "It looks as if we will be pushing Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash this year"!....WHAT?!?!? You expect this to be a BIG seller?!?! First of all if you intended this to be a "Holiday" flavor; you should've labeled it as so. Second..Its been done before! Mixing a lemon-lime pop with another fruit flavor has been done a BILLION times. BRING BACK HOLIDAY SPICE!!!!!

Now on with the other mistake; JAZZ! Why did they only bring it out in DIET? Everybody that know me (family and friends) knows that Im a PEPSI FREAK, know that I DON'T DRINK DIET! When they came to me and asked if I knew that Pepsi had two new flavors? Then I have to tell them "Yes, but its Diet Pepsi". You dont know how many arguments with people that it was Diet Pepsi. Then I have to bring up the website and show them that DIET PEPSI is very small in the middle of the label.
This was Pepsi's plan, so that people dont recognize that its Diet...Until they drink it, or stare at it! Its not even emphysized in the commericial that it's a diet cola. As I said in another thread; the flavors are good, but with it being diet they are bland and have a bad after-taste! I know they think they are doing the HEALTHY thing, but HEALTHY DOESNT SELL...especially with us die-hard fans!

[ 10-03-2006, 03:37 PM: Message edited by: DakotaDave ]

[mjb1124]

First off, "healthy" does sell, whether you like it or not. You may be right in that diet sodas don't appeal to a lot of diehard soda fans, but believe me, there's definitely a market for them. I don't think the Jazz flavors have much of an aftertaste either, but that's just me.

And I can understand that you might miss Holiday Spice, but let's face it, Cranberry Splash will probably appeal more to the masses.

[greg]

Hate to burst your bubble Dave but I think Pepsi's marketing department knows what it is doing. I know down here in S Fl. the Pepsi Holiday Spice was still in the stores February 1st. Perhaps it didn't move that well in other places as well.
Furthermore, I think the Sierra Mist with Cranberry is a great idea. Very seasonal to say the least. I'm sure it will make a great alcholic and non alcoholic mixer.
Pepsi Jazz is an attempt to gain wide spread acceptance of diet sodas without using the "diet" moniker. Studies show that men, more than women stay away from diet sodas due to the name alone. Pepsi Jazz is supposed to be an alternative to the "diet" drink.

[Mr Zabe]

IMO
Good,well designed,well flavored soda pops will sell whether they be diet or sugar! There is a healthy (major) market for diet soft drinks. Take Diet Doctor Pepper; now that is perhaps one of the all time best diet soft drinks.

My point is that just because your individual tastes are for sugar soft drinks does not negate the mega demand for the diet catagory.

By the way,I only drink sugar soda pops after years of drinking only diet soda pops. I do understand not enjoying diet soda pops. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[pepsidew]

I enjoyed pepsi spice but it didn't sell worth a damn - we had to cut the price to a $1 a 12 pack just to get rid of it. Pepsi is doing the right thing getting in and out of flavor extensions like it will do with sierra mist cranberry splash. as for pepsi jazz, it is selling pretty good, which is fueled by the diet soda craze that is out there.

and i agree diet soda is gross - i'd rather drink water

[DakotaDave]

First of all I think Pepsi made to much of "Holiday Spice" thats why they couldnt get rid of it. Most generally people dont Christmas flavored anything after the Holidays. Thats why it was hard to sell (granted I would drink Holiday Spice all the time). Just make enough for the general Holiday Season. Cranberry Splash sounds ho-hum to me, and as I said earlier; if its intended to be a "Holiday" flavor..Label it as such. Who cares about the mixed drink thing; there's Ocean Spray for that!

[ 10-03-2006, 09:30 PM: Message edited by: DakotaDave ]

[Mr Zabe]

Not to be a smart ass but just like myself,we are both "arm chair lovers" of the soda pop industry. Why not state your notion as a question to the industry experts who lurk on this board?

You might be surprised to hear how other regions of the country have sold the various holiday soda pops. Just my two cents. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 10-06-2006, 10:22 PM: Message edited by: Mr Zabe ]

[SURGE]

Jazz is doing well in all the points I ahve talked to- though it has slowed down a bit since intro. Furthermore just like the rest of the board said, Diet is here to stay. Still I think the Mist xtension is at best a so-so idea and at worst a modertly bad choice concidering the stagnation in the brand (and you must remember this is Pepsi's #3 most promoted brand, and has seen even further expansion recently- despite very flat sales). I expect that some of the Jazz lineup will stabilize and create a solid market but needless to say this is- like many recent big 3 spinnioffs- a short term product which will be gone by the end of the the decade at the very latest.

[fusion]

There are almost 300 million people in this country - Pepsi would lose tons of money if they kept products around that only a few people bought.

With the recent product launches, most diet versions have done better than their HFCS counterparts. Near the end, Diet Vanilla Coke was way outselling regular. Coke w/ Lime can't hold a candle to Diet Coke w/ Lime. And I'm sure that Pepsi's counterpart products had similar sales results.

Canada Dry sells a ton of Cranberry Ginger Ale around the holidays around here - they build these massive displays and it's included in them. And in some areas, the CSAB bottler brings out the cranberry just for the holidays (it's year 'round in these parts). I think Cranberry Sierra Mist is a good move.

Apparently, you are the only one who's "preturbed."

[rackitup]

I am with DAKOTADAVE on this 1.