New Coke – A Failure In Market Research

Coca-Cola is a brand which became a household name all over the world.  It is not hard to find a Coca-Cola beverage in a remote location in different parts of the world.  This outreach was achieved over decades by brilliant marketing, brand positioning and word of mouth publicity.  However, the public relations (PR) disaster which Coke had to endure due to the release of New Coke will be a case study at many business schools about market research gone wrong.

Coca-Cola vs Pepsi

Pepsi was a new beverage manufacturer which came out with its own version of the cola and quickly ate into the market share which used to be controlled by Coca-Cola.  Pepsi was sweeter than Coca-Cola and they were positioning themselves as the next gen beverage for the youth in the ’70s and the ’80s. The management at Coca-Cola decided to reinvent Coke by making a sweeter cola concentrate and introducing it into the market.

Market Research

The research was done on focus groups and surveys were taken, where participants were subjected to a blind taste test and were asked to choose from Pepsi, the original Coca-Cola and the New Coke.  As many as 2,00,000 participants were asked to take the taste test. A majority of them chose the New Coke. This led to the conclusion Coca-Cola had its hands on a successful product which would finally let it take back its market share from Pepsi.  After the initial survey, it was found 10 % to 13 % of the participants were disgruntled and responded they might stop drinking Coke altogether. The remaining participants had not been clearly informed about the decision the New Coke would replace the original Coke and this affected the results of the research.  The research focussed only on the physical properties and failed to take into consideration the attachment and cultural acceptance of the original Coke by the American society. Many Americans favoured tradition over novelty. Once Coca-Cola officially announced they would stop the production of the original Coke and would begin selling only the New Coke, it turned their market base into angry consumers.

Return of the Classic Coke

People began to organize protests at the grassroot level, demanding the Classic Coke be brought back.  The Company hotline received over 1,500 calls a day with people complaining about the new product. The press got onto it as well, with articles ridiculing the new flavour being widely published.  The Company had to finally take note and made an official statement a little over three months after launching the New Coke. It said the New Coke would be discontinued and the Company would go back to the original formula.  The original Coke was then rebranded as Coca-Cola Classic. The American public took to this news positively and it reflected on their sales as well.

This goes on to show market research is not just about investing millions but also about taking into consideration the quantitative as well as qualitative feedback and coming up with a solid execution plan.

Bonus tidbit

Coca-Cola decided to do a little bit of marketing and made a limited batch of New Coke for a promotional campaign on the Netflix TV show Stranger Things Season 3, which is set in the year 1985.

Read more about : Best Coca-Cola Marketing Campaigns