Hello Pepsi, Goodbye Coke: The End of the Cola War

Demography is all about change, and change is all about opportunity. Changing demography has an uncanny way of unseating incumbents; incumbent politicians, incumbent ideas, and incumbent products. Let’s examine an incumbent product that is soon to be a victim of changing demography.

Coca-Cola has been the number-one-selling soft drink for generations—“The Real Thing” (whatever that is). What is Classic Coke anyway? It is a caramel-colored, flavored, carbonated water with enough corn syrup to float a boat. But so what, it sells. Coke enjoys the biggest market share of the soft drink market, with sales in the tens of billions of dollars. Coke’s claim to fame was brilliant and effective marketing. ...

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