Sales & Marketing------Strategies( THE COLA WAR)

Dear Friends,

 I guess we discussed enough about Sales and Marketing last time. You should be able to say by now that the photo opposite is wrong, if the intention behind posting it was only for Sales &Marketing! Nah, I just got carried over as these guys really look cute in those superhero costumes.

The Error in the Picture
              The thing that is wrong with the photograph is that a couple of more of Marketing's sub-ordinates are not here. And one among them whom you just can't ignore, leaving sales aside,as he is really really indispensable. Monsieur "Strategy" is the one I refer to. 
In our profession,ladies and gentleman, costing is okay but she is no ogre. What is important is how and with what strategy, the approach is made. This is much more important  than the price in Selling of High-Value Equipment.

     In certain  Sales blogs,you often come across Lao's "The Art of War"but as I have said before, I prefer to read Clausewitz's book "On War"which reflects on history's famous wars to underscore the points in his book. Great rivalries today see the market leader take themselves up as the competition. The best defense is not to lack the courage to attack yourself says Clausewitz. If Coke had launched an own variant with a 'youth' target, Pepsi would have had no niche to operate.

[Karl Von Clausewitz was a 
General in the Prussian Army who wrote the  book in 1852 after retirement].

Clausewitz tells us at length about how the strengths of the enemy can often be converted to weaknesses.One of the best examples of this (says Ries and Trout)is how Pepsi Cola of New York socked one to Atlanta's Coca-Cola. In 1915,Coke was sold at a price of 10c for an unique capacity of its bottle which was 6 1/2 oz. Coke had no real competitors, which led to complacence.


Pepsi took advantage of this and started selling Pepsi for the same 10c but in 12 oz bottles. In a famous jingle which harped on "Twice as much for a nickel too' and " twelve full ounces, that's the lot". 

Coke's 6 1/2 oz bottle

(For those interested, the actual jingle went like this
Pepsi-Cola hits the spot,
Twelve full ounces; that's a lot
Twice as much for a nickel too;
Pepsi Cola is the drink for you" )
Coke was caught napping. 
If they fiddled with the price, their nickel vending machines would become a
 huge liability.If they increased the capacity, they had to scrap their more than a billion 6 1/2 oz bottles.Not knowing what to do Coke dithered, and Pepsi coolly became the No 2 , passing R.C.Cola. The uniqueness and the brilliance of this ploy was that Pepsi did it at an advertising budget of $600,000 while Coke spent $15 million in advertising .All this happened in 1939.
           Having two market leaders in a leadership fight brings in many positive changes in the society. Both Coke and Pepsi has had their moments of fame in India, sponsoring so many cultural and sports events, that these flourished. In the US,where Pepsi first targeted themselves,at the unconventional groups and youth, Pepsi also struck the first blow for civil rights when they became the first Cola manufacturers to use African American models in their ads.

 The 6 1/2 oz fiasco gave Pepsi the chance it was looking for. In 1932, just before the Great Depression,Pepsi became the no 2 brand in the US leaving behind other aspirants like RC Cola and Dr.Pepper. 
Now, I hope that you got your money's worth, because I surely got my finger's worth, pecking and typing.
So till next time, 
Its love from
Bilbo
Your friendly neighborhood Hobbit
Bag's End (Middle Earth)