Jennifer McFadden
American Military University
The Soft Drink Market
In Stephen Covey book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” he states that leaders should “begin with the end in mind”. (Covey, 1989) He encourages this frame of thinking to get leaders to work toward the most meaningful things in your organization or your life. In order to effectively do this the mission, values and vision of the company need to be clear and realistic. Coca Cola Company, PepsiCo, and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, are three companies in the soft drink market that have reached an unprecedented level. A majority of their success can be attributed to they’re strategic plan and how it is mapped out.
On 8 May 1886 Coca Cola was created by John S. Pemberton and served at Jacobs’ Pharmacy. This company began by serving only nine drinks a day. The innovation and tactics used to lure customers to this product were developed early on by the distribution of coupons, using slogans such as: “The Great National Drink at the Great National Game” or “It’s the real thing”. Coca Cola’s mission is “to refresh the world, to inspire moments of optimism and happiness, and to create value and make a difference.” (Coca Cola Company, 2015) Coca Cola’s vision is used as a foundation for where they want to go. In order to move in that direction Coca Cola keeps the five P’s in perspective, People, Portfolio, Partners, Planet, Profit, and Productivity. The now CEO of Coca Cola, Muhtar Kent vision for the company is to double sales by the year 2020, is part of the company’s efforts to "get ready for tomorrow today." (Cola, 2015) The 2020 vision will help guide the company toward achieving sustainable, quality growth, with a mission to refresh the world, inspire moments of optimism and happiness, create value and make a difference. Kent’s second initiative, entitled “Talent 2020, is a program to help train employees with potential, which are charged with researching a challenge unrelated to their day-to-day work. (McWilliams, 2011) Pepsi- Cola was created in the late 1890’s by the pharmacist Caleb Bradham in New Bern, North Carolina. It later becomes known as PepsiCo due to the merger with Frito-Lay in 1961. Pepsi became an icon by being the first company to respond to consumer preference with lightweight, recyclable, plastic bottles in the 1970’s. Pepsi-Cola was also one of the first American consumer products to be produced, marketed and sold in the former Soviet Union. In order to appeal to its customers and captivate newer ones, Pepsi-Cola made advertising history by using Micheal Jackson and his brothers for television commercial advertisement. The mission for PepsiCo:
“…is to be the world's premier consumer products company focused on convenient foods and beverages. We seek to produce financial rewards to investors as we provide opportunities for growth and enrichment to our employees, our business partners and the communities in which we operate. And in everything we do, we strive for honesty, fairness and integrity.” (PepsiCo, 2015)
There vison is straightforward, Performance with Purpose, which involves driving the shareholder value, through address social and environmental issues. This vision is also incorporated into the companies’ values, which consist of, sustained growth, empowered people, and responsibility and trust. Dr. Pepper was established in 1885 and became commercially available in the United States in 1904. Dr. Pepper’s introduction to the world was through marketing as a brain tonic and energy drink made by Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas. Waco, the oldest soft drink in the United States, it was later named Dr. Pepper, after Dr. Charles Pepper. They’re approach to the soft drink industry was to captivate the world through flavored cola instead of the conventional cola flavor. To appeal to more to its consumers, Dr. Pepper had to depend on cinema and other unconventional lines of marketing. For example