As I was reading through other fellow classmates’ blogs, I came across Angus Chak’s blog “PepsiCo Advances past Coke?” In his blog, he talked about how PepsiCo has advanced substantially further than Coke in terms of sustainable marketing. Even though both companies have employed sustainable marketing practices, Coke seems to fall a step behind PepsiCo in terms of coming up with more environmentally friendly products.
Here, I would like to add few points to his post. In terms of sustainable marketing, both companies have committed on improving their socially and environmentally responsible practices. Because we all know “go green” is the ultimate social trend, employing sustainable marketing will not only benefit customers, but also the companies as companies’ visions resonate with customers’ and societal values.
According to “Sustainability Faceoff: Coca-Cola vs. PepsiCo” by Ariel Schwartz, Coke has made an impressive step toward sustainability in its “Commitment 2020” plan, which include: a carbon footprint reduction of 15% (from a 2007 baseline), minimizing water use, recovering 100% of packaging, and increasing recycling. As far as water usage is concerned, Coke plans to improve water efficiency by 20% by 2012 compared to a 2004 baseline. PepsiCo also commits to cut water use by 20% by 2015 compared to 2006 levels. But let’s first not look at which company wins on water saving. I think the more important point to make here is that: both companies want to improve on water sustainably not only because their businesses depend on it, but also because they want to establish positive brand images. By using resources wisely and promoting sustainable brand images, Coke and PepsiCo can not only cut cost, but also improve their sales through sustainable marketing.
At the end, doesn’t matter who wins on their battle of “sustainable marketing”, it is always a good thing that the two companies keep their battle of being “Greener”. Even though Coke is a step behind on sustainable marketing, it has kept investing heavily on research that addresses sustainable issues, such as its effort to make new bottles from aluminum which can be recycled indefinitely. The battle between PepsiCo and Coke has helped both companies to produce products that are not only pleasing but also beneficial to the customers and society in the long run. We as consumers therefore can always benefit from such competitions.
Link to the article:
http://www.fastcompany.com/1646746/sustainability-faceoff-coca-cola-vs-pepsico