Archive for the ‘Custom Diet Coke’ Category
Coca-cola’s Big Mistake: New Coke 20 Years Later.
Coca-cola’s Big Mistake: New Coke 20 Years Later.
On the night of April 22, 1985, somewhere near Purchase, NY, Roger Enrico, president of Pepsi-Cola USA, was smiling. And who could blame him? He was about to declare victory in the longest running war in cola history – a knock-down, dragout affair between two companies the likes of which the world had never seen before. Little did Enrico know that what was starting out as a victory over big red rival Coca-Cola was about to snowball into a summer-long soap opera epic. He probably had butterflies in his stomach much the same as Coca-Cola CEO Roberto Goizueta and president Don Keough but for very different reasons.
When morning dawned on April 23rd, it was an average Tuesday in every way possible. But the world was about to learn that the fate of their favorite cola, with the most well-known trademark on Earth, was destined for the most drastic change in its nearly 100 year history. And no one was ready.
For several years prior, Pepsi-Cola had been slowly closing the marketshare gap between the two cola giants and as the Pepsi Taste Challenge had indicated, people seemingly wanted a slightly sweeter cola with less bite than Coke had. No matter how much The Coca-Cola Co. spent on advertising, no matter what they did… the gap with their biggest rival was closing fast – something drastic had to be done.
According to a New York Times report, Coca-Cola came upon the new formula while developing Diet Coke, which was introduced in 1982. With Coca-Cola executives mindful of their slipping market share, they began their own taste tests using Coca-Cola and several new variations. In testing a number of taste formulas, the company found one that stood out. When it was put in a Coke can and compared side by side with the old formula in blind taste tests, the new product was chosen by consumers 62 percent to 39 percent.
Over the Christmas holidays in 1984, top Coke executives including Goizueta, Keough, Brian Dyson and Ike Herbert decided unanimously to change the Coke formula just shy of its 99th anniversary.
While the new formula was being finalized, a set of commercials for the brand re-launch were being filmed with actors unaware they were pitching a new formula.
The brand re-launch was kept top secret – even Coca-Cola bottlers and the majority of Coke employees weren’t told of the impending reformulation until the day before the infamous New York press conference. For bottlers who knew all too well the lagging sales numbers, the reformulation was welcome news. Goizueta and Keough received a standing ovation from bottlers as Goizueta proclaimed to them in a private gathering, “Now we’re back in the ballgame.” The euphoric feeling was short-lived.
Ironically, the meeting with bottlers on April 22 was held in the Woodruff Arts Center, named after Coca-Cola ‘boss’ Robert Woodruff, who had dedicated most of his life to the company and promoting the original formula. Woodruff passed away only a month before the reformulation announcement.
The Press Conference Heard Around the World
April 23, 1985 is one of those days in history that Coke drinkers remember well. It ranks up there with other world events where you always remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard the news. If Goizueta had taken a moment to open up the morning paper that day before heading to Lincoln Center to make his earth-shattering announcement, he might have been fuming. Since word had leaked out several days before the formula change press conference, Roger Enrico took out a full page ad in major newspapers across the United States the day of the Coke press conference, declaring that the Cola Wars were over – Pepsi had won. To celebrate their victory, Enrico declared that Friday, April 26, 1985 would be a company-wide holiday for Pepsi employees.
It’s hard to say what Goizueta thought of his rival’s cocky newspaper announcement – he probably
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My Room – Looks Like I’ve Got My Work Cut Out For Me
A few nice custom diet coke images I found:
My Room – Looks Like I’ve Got My Work Cut Out For Me
Image by raider3_anime
(Observation 2010.4.14: For some reason or other, this photo gets a LOT of hits since I posted it over 6 months ago. Heh… Still working on the room. I still lots of stuff stacked up. At least I know where most of my stuff is.)
4 years ago I had this under control, with a lot of loose stuff put in boxes. This time, everything’s going to be gone through — Including the boxes.
I think I’d better rent a dumpster. Whatever I can’t sell, donate or give away gets tossed. I will not, however, give up my DVDs (Anime or otherwise), or my VHS tapes (at least until I dump them to digital video format.)
(Don’t worry, it ain’t going to be like this for very long. ^_^;)
I wonder if I can qualify for federal funding to assist with cleanup? Where’s my bailout, huh?
Choose the look you love…
Image by Zoe Favole
Revisando viejos temas….
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