Mar 10 2011
Coca-Cola Zero vs. Pepsi Max
Yesterday, as I was watching a show on TV, a commercial came on during the break comparing the continuously competitive soft drinks in the market, Coca-Cola and Pepsi. This commercial featured Coca-Cola’s, Coke Zero drink and Pepsi’s, Pepsi Max drink. Immediately, the commercial got me thinking about the importance of brand positioning.
Since both drinks promise zero calories but still great taste, both companies needed to create a strong positioning statement and advertisement tagline in order to be #1 in their segment and category. Below are Coca-Cola Zero’s advertising taglines.
Coca-Cola Zero’s Taglines:
1) “Coca-Cola Zero, the flavour nobody expected.”
2) “The same taste as always, zero sugar.”
To be honest, when I first saw the names of both products, I thought that Coca-Cola Zero had a better name as it made it more clear that the drink was healthier with zero calories whereas Pepsi Max sounded like it had more or the maximum calories and was a little more unclear to me. However, my opinion changed when I heard Pepsi Max’s taglines below. I thought Pepsi did a good job entering the market by trying to say they are better than a zero and ultimately taking a stab at Coca-Cola.
Pepsi Max’s Tagline:
1) “Maximum Taste. Zero Calories.”
2) “Too much taste to be called a zero.”
Overall, this product competition between these two very similar drinks will always continue to go on. It’s just a matter of each company currently updating their positioning statements and advertising taglines to have an edge over the other. Which company do you think is doing a better job of this?
I really like Diet Pepsi. The only Coke I can tolerate would be Diet Coke… even then it’s still not good. my vote is for pepsi http://coolometer.org