Marketing: Short-term vs Long-term

Marketing is essential in every business. It is the process of defining current and potential customers, and promoting the product accordingly to increase sales. Coca-Cola and Pepsi are the two biggest companies in the beverage industry, and their fierce competition depends greatly on their marketing strategies.

In 2008, for the Beijing Olympic Games, Coca-Cola decided to become official sponsors, taking in consideration the huge potential of the Chinese market. Coca-Cola saw this as the perfect opportunity to strongly compete in a market in which Pepsi was the clear leader.

However, during the Games, a survey concluded that 60% of the people thought that Pepsi was the official sponsor, showing that Coca-Cola’s marketing strategy had clearly failed. Additionally, respondents considered Pepsi a superior brand. Furthermore, only 10% of the respondents said that they were more likely to buy a product only for being an official Olympic sponsor.

Coca-Cola’s main error was focusing their strategy in a short-term, one-time dose of marketing, such as the Olympics campaign. On the other hand, Pepsi had designed a long-term brand-building marketing strategy in which they had managed to conquer most of the Chinese market, even years before the Games.

Pepsi's long-term strategy defeated Coca-Cola's short-term strategy in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

Further reading: Beijing Olympic sponsorship analysis