The Genius Strategy of Coca Cola to beat Pepsi | Business War: PEPSI VS COCA COLA

Summary

1992年，百事可乐推出了透明可乐Crystal Pepsi，一度在美国引起轰动，首年销售额达4.74亿美元，占据了2.4%的市场份额，令可口可乐感到威胁。然而，9个月后，Crystal Pepsi因品质问题和市场定位失误而失败，被撤下货架，成为时代杂志评选的十大失败产品之一。本视频深入剖析了Crystal Pepsi的失败原因，探讨了产品快速上市、市场定位不明确以及可口可乐的营销策略如何共同导致了这一商业教训。

Takeaways

• 🎉 1992年百事推出了Crystal Pepsi，这是一种在美国引起轰动的产品，但最终却成为商业上的失败。
• 🔥 Crystal Pepsi在上市的第一年就取得了4.74亿美元的销售额，占据了美国软饮料市场2.4%的份额，一度让可口可乐感到威胁。
• 💡 Crystal Pepsi的失败被《时代》杂志列为史上十大失败之一，这个案例教会我们如何避免产品失败和竞争对手的营销策略。
• 🍾 Crystal Pepsi的推出是百事利用当时流行的透明饮料趋势，试图在市场上获得优势。
• 🚀 百事为了在超级碗期间推出Crystal Pepsi，将通常需要3年的产品开发和测试过程缩短到了9个月。
• 🌞 Crystal Pepsi在透明瓶中因阳光照射而产生了口味问题，产生了不良的余味，这是其失败的原因之一。
• 🤔 Crystal Pepsi作为一款不协调的产品，未能满足消费者对健康饮料的期望，尽管它看起来像健康饮料，但实际上含有高果糖玉米糖浆。
• 🛒 可口可乐通过推出Tab Clear，一种故意失败的产品，运用了“神风特攻队”策略，成功地混淆了市场，削弱了Crystal Pepsi的市场份额。
• 📉 Crystal Pepsi的失败告诉我们，即使初期销售良好，如果不能持续吸引消费者，产品最终也会失败。
• 📚 从Crystal Pepsi的失败中我们学到的三个重要商业教训：不要在产品推出过程中妥协产品质量，清晰的产品定位至关重要，以及不要害怕大胆尝试和失败。
• 🚀 尽管Crystal Pepsi失败了，但它鼓励我们不要抑制自己的疯狂想法，继续尝试，因为只有勇敢的尝试才能带来改变游戏规则的发明。

Q & A

1992年百事可乐推出了什么产品？

1992年百事可乐推出了Crystal Pepsi，这是一种透明无色的碳酸饮料。

Crystal Pepsi在推出时的市场反响如何？

Crystal Pepsi推出时市场反响非常热烈，一年内销售额达到了4.74亿美元，占据了美国软饮料市场的2.4%，一度让可口可乐感到威胁。

为什么Crystal Pepsi最终失败了？

Crystal Pepsi最终失败的原因有多个，包括瓶装问题导致饮料在阳光照射下味道变化，以及消费者对产品的不一致性感到困惑，认为它既不健康也不具有传统百事可乐的味道。

可口可乐是如何利用营销策略对抗Crystal Pepsi的？

可口可乐推出了Tab Clear，这是一种透明的无糖饮料，其目的是在市场上制造混乱，分散消费者对Crystal Pepsi的注意力，并最终导致其失败。

什么是'Kami Kazi'策略？

Kami Kazi策略源自二战时期日本的神风特攻队战术，即故意牺牲自己以摧毁敌人。在商业竞争中，可口可乐通过推出Tab Clear这种注定失败的产品来打击Crystal Pepsi，分散市场注意力。

Crystal Pepsi的失败给我们带来了哪些商业教训？

Crystal Pepsi的失败教会我们在产品推出过程中不应妥协产品的基本品质，清晰的产品定位至关重要，以及即使面对失败也应勇于尝试新的想法。

为什么百事可乐会急于推出Crystal Pepsi？

百事可乐急于推出Crystal Pepsi是为了利用当时美国的'透明热潮'，并在当年的超级碗赛事期间进行广告宣传，以期获得巨大的市场回报。

超级碗赛事对广告商来说为什么如此重要？

超级碗是美国国家橄榄球联盟的冠军赛，观众人数高达1亿，是广告商获得极高投资回报的黄金机会。

Crystal Pepsi的失败是否意味着透明饮料的概念完全失败？

Crystal Pepsi的失败并不意味着透明饮料概念的完全失败，而是由于产品本身的问题和市场竞争策略导致的。

可口可乐的Tab Clear是如何影响Crystal Pepsi市场的？

Tab Clear作为可口可乐的透明饮料，其市场定位和品牌策略导致了消费者对透明可乐的混淆，分散了Crystal Pepsi的潜在市场，最终影响了其销售。

为什么说即使失败也是值得尝试的？

即使失败，勇敢尝试新事物也能带来宝贵的经验和教训，历史上许多伟大的发明和创新都源于对失败的不断尝试和改进。

Outlines

00:00

🥤 水晶百事可乐的诞生与失败

1992年，百事公司推出了一款革命性的产品——水晶百事可乐，它在美国市场上引起了巨大轰动。这款产品以其清澈透明和与众不同的口感迅速赢得了消费者的喜爱，特别是健康意识强的消费者。水晶百事可乐在上市的第一年就实现了4.74亿美元的销售额，占据了美国软饮料市场的2.4%，一度让可口可乐感到威胁。然而，仅仅9个月后，由于某些原因，这款产品成为了巨大的失败，被迫下架，并被《时代》杂志列为历史上的十大失败之一。这个案例教会我们如何避免产品失败，以及可口可乐是如何利用营销策略击败竞争对手的。

05:01

🏈 百事可乐的快速推出与超级碗广告

百事可乐为了利用当时美国流行的透明趋势，决定在9个月内推出水晶百事可乐，这比通常新产品研发的3年周期快了三倍。他们希望借助超级碗这一全美最大的体育赛事来推广新产品，因为超级碗的广告能够带来极高的投资回报。百事可乐在1992年12月推出了水晶百事可乐，并在1993年的超级碗上进行了广告宣传，广告取得了巨大成功，但产品最终还是失败了。失败的原因包括瓶装问题，因为透明瓶装饮料在阳光照射下会产生异味；以及产品定位问题，水晶百事可乐虽然看起来像健康饮料，但实际上含有高果糖玉米糖浆，并不是真正的健康饮料。

10:02

🔍 可口可乐的市场策略与水晶百事可乐的失败

水晶百事可乐的失败与其市场定位不无关系。消费者对产品的期望与实际体验之间存在不一致，这被称为不一致性。可口可乐利用了所谓的“神风特攻队”策略，推出了自己的透明饮料——Tab Clear，目的是在透明可乐市场上制造混乱。Tab Clear被定位为一种减肥饮料，而水晶百事可乐则被宣传为常规可乐，这种市场定位的混淆导致消费者对透明可乐的认知产生了困惑。此外，Tab Clear的推出分散了市场，使得水晶百事可乐难以生存。最终，由于超级碗广告的影响，虽然一开始销量不错，但由于产品口感问题和市场定位的混乱，水晶百事可乐未能持续吸引消费者，最终在美国市场上失败了。

15:03

📚 水晶百事可乐失败的教训

水晶百事可乐的失败给我们带来了三个重要的商业教训。首先，在产品推出的过程中，不应为了追求速度而牺牲产品的基本质量。其次，清晰的产品定位至关重要，任何可能导致消费者困惑的营销策略都应立即停止并重新评估。最后，不要害怕失败，只有勇敢的尝试才能带来创新的发明。许多传奇人物在尝试新事物时都曾被认为愚蠢，但重要的是他们有坚持尝试的勇气。因此，不要抑制你的疯狂想法，继续尝试，因为世界会在你成功之前称你为傻瓜，一旦你成功了，你就会被称为一夜成名。

Keywords

💡Crystal Pepsi

Crystal Pepsi 是百事公司在1992年推出的一款透明无色的碳酸饮料。它在视频中是作为产品失败案例的核心主题。尽管最初销量达到474百万美元，但最终因为多种原因被市场淘汰，成为商业失败的典型案例。

💡市场定位

市场定位是指企业在市场中确定其产品或服务的特定位置，以吸引目标消费者。在视频中，Crystal Pepsi 的市场定位不明确，它被看作是一种健康饮品，但实际上含有高果糖玉米糖浆，这导致了消费者对它的期望与实际体验之间的不一致。

💡产品失败

产品失败是指产品在市场上未能达到预期的销售目标或未能满足消费者需求。视频中的 Crystal Pepsi 就是一个产品失败的例子，它因为口感问题、市场定位不准确以及竞争对手的策略而未能持续吸引消费者。

💡竞争对手

竞争对手是指在同一个市场中提供类似产品或服务的其他企业。视频中提到了 Coca-Cola 作为 Pepsi 的主要竞争对手，Coca-Cola 通过推出 Tab Clear 来混淆市场，进而影响了 Crystal Pepsi 的销售。

💡Kami Kazi 策略

Kami Kazi 策略源自二战时期日本的神风特攻队战术，商业上指故意推出可能失败的产品以打击竞争对手。视频中 Coca-Cola 使用这一策略推出了 Tab Clear，目的是混淆市场，削弱 Crystal Pepsi 的市场地位。

💡市场趋势

市场趋势是指市场中消费者偏好和需求的变化方向。视频中提到的 'clear craze' 是90年代初美国的一种市场趋势，消费者偏好透明无色的产品，Pepsi 为了迎合这一趋势匆忙推出了 Crystal Pepsi。

💡消费者行为

消费者行为是指消费者在选择、购买、使用产品或服务时的行为模式。视频中分析了消费者对健康饮品的期望与 Crystal Pepsi 实际成分之间的矛盾，以及这种不一致如何影响了消费者的购买决策。

💡营销策略

营销策略是指企业为了推广产品或服务、吸引消费者而采取的一系列行动计划。视频中 Pepsi 在推出 Crystal Pepsi 时采取了快速上市的营销策略，但由于缺乏充分的产品测试和市场研究，这一策略最终导致了产品的失败。

💡产品测试

产品测试是指在产品推向市场前对其进行的一系列评估和验证过程。视频中提到 Pepsi 为了迅速推出 Crystal Pepsi 而缩短了产品测试的时间，这导致了产品在口感和稳定性方面的问题未能及时发现和解决。

💡品牌形象

品牌形象是指消费者对品牌的认知和情感联系。视频中提到，Coca-Cola 在推出 Tab Clear 时使用了 Tab 品牌而非 Coca-Cola，这样做是为了保护 Coca-Cola 的品牌形象，避免新产品的失败影响到整个品牌。

💡创新尝试

创新尝试是指企业在产品开发和市场策略上进行的新颖尝试。视频中提到，尽管 Crystal Pepsi 最终失败了，但 Pepsi 的这次尝试体现了企业在创新上的勇敢，同时也提醒了其他企业在尝试新事物时需要考虑的因素。

Highlights

1992年，百事推出了Crystal Pepsi，一款震惊美国市场的创新产品。

Crystal Pepsi在一年内销售额达到4.74亿美元，占据了2.4%的美国软饮料市场份额。

Crystal Pepsi在9个月内因市场失败被撤下货架，被《时代》杂志列为史上十大失败之一。

Crystal Pepsi的推出和失败提供了如何避免产品失败的重要教训。

Coca-Cola通过营销策略成功地削弱了Pepsi的竞争对手产品。

90年代初，美国市场出现了“透明狂热”，许多品牌推出透明产品以迎合消费者对纯净和诚实的感知。

百事和可口可乐在美国软饮料市场占据主导地位，百事利用透明狂热推出Crystal Pepsi以寻求市场突破。

Crystal Pepsi的快速推出，从研发到市场只用了9个月，远快于通常的3年周期。

Super Bowl是美国最大的年度体育赛事，为广告商提供了巨大的投资回报机会。

Crystal Pepsi的瓶装问题导致饮料在阳光照射下产生异味。

Crystal Pepsi作为不一致的饮品，其市场定位与消费者期望不符。

Coca-Cola通过推出Tab Clear，运用“神风特攻队”策略，混淆市场，削弱Crystal Pepsi的需求。

Tab Clear的推出导致消费者对透明可乐的混淆，影响了Crystal Pepsi的市场表现。

Coca-Cola明智地将透明可乐品牌命名为Tab，避免了对主品牌形象的损害。

Crystal Pepsi的失败教会了我们三个重要的商业教训：不妥协产品质量、清晰的产品定位和勇于尝试。

即使面对失败，也应继续尝试创新，因为只有勇敢的尝试才能带来变革性的发明。

Transcripts

[Music]

hi everybody in 1992 Pepsi launched a

sensational product that blew the mind

of America this product was called

Crystal

Pepsi there's never been a product quite

like it I love it it's refreshing clear

taste just different Crystal Pepsi

really appeals to everyone at all ages

especially the health C consumer Crystal

Pepsi was such a crazy product that

within just one year it recorded a sale

of $474 million it captured 2.4% of the

entire American soft drink market and

most importantly it scared the hell out

of Coca-Cola but you know what within

just 9 months something shocking

happened because of which the same

crystal Pepsi turned out to be a massive

failure it was pulled out from the

shelves of America and Time magazine

named it among the top 10 failures of

all time every leader has what I call an

epic fail the business you know did take

off when we launched Crystal Pepsi I

mean everybody tried red Crystal Pepsi

it was like a gigantic In-N-Out product

but people didn't come back and buy it

again so it didn't have the

sustainability that I was hoping for and

this failure of Pepsi teaches us a very

very important lesson on how to avoid a

terrible product failure and from

Coca-Cola standpoint it teaches us how

to kill a competitor's product using a

marketing strategy so in this case study

let's do a deep dive and try to

understand why did Pepsi release the

crystal Pepsi what went wrong in their

business strategy how did Coca-Cola kill

Pepsi's opportunity and most importantly

what are the business lessons that we

need to learn from this epic failure of

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episode this is a story that dates back

to 199 92 America this is when the

United States was catching up with

something called the clear craze

Coca-Cola launch tab clear a sugar-free

soft drink with a mysterious new flavor

and completely clear unveiling in test

markets the newest weapon in the Cola

Wars Crystal FC to tell you about it

clear craze was a marketing fat from the

late 1980s to early 2000s so any brand

that launched something clear and

transparent was considered to be a cool

product because somehow people equated

clear with transparency and honesty in

case of food if you sold a drink that

was colorful it was perceived as if the

drink had a lot of artificial colors and

preservatives but at the same time

transparent goods were viewed as if they

had no preservatives no artificial

colors and no harmful flavors at all

this is the reason why not just Pepsi

but many Brands were trying to release

products that were transparent products

so beer companies came up with the trend

of Light beer which had fewer calories

Proctor and Gamble changed their soap

color after 100 years from milky to

transparent Nintendo released a

translucent Game Boy and even Apple made

its iMac translucent this is iMac the

whole thing is translucent you can see

into it it's so cool this is how

powerful the clear graze was now when it

comes to the soft drink Market of the

United States Coca-Cola and Pepsi both

were dominating the cola was while

Coca-Cola had a market share of

19.7% Pepsi was trailing with 17.8% %

market share while Diet Coke had 8.7%

market share Diet Pepsi had just 5.7%

market share this was also the time when

the US economy was facing a recession

because of which the soft drink Market

was slowing down this is the reason why

Pepsi decided to find a way to

capitalize on the clear craze of America

so you know what they decided to launch

a brand new product in just 9 months now

usually a new Pepsi product took at

least 3 years to be properly launched

this was because the product first had

to be made then it has to be tested in

the lab for safety then it had to be

tested with a sample audience supply

chain had to be designed marketing

campaigns needed to be designed and then

slowly the product needed to be taken to

the masses with a giant marketing

campaign but with Crystal all of this

was done three times faster why because

they were just 9 months away from the

greatest American sports event of the

year which the Americans called the

Super Bowl the National Football League

proudly presents a small world salute to

25 years of the Super Bowl in the

biggest annual American sports event in

the world the Super Bowl for those who

don't know the Super Bowl is America's

national football league championship

which is 10 times crazier than IPL and

it hits a peak viewership of 100 million

people watching this is the reason why

it was and still is a golden opportunity

for every Advertiser to get

extraordinary Returns on their ad cost

in fact according to Kanto research the

2021 Super Bowl ads delivered an average

return on investment of

360% on every dollar spent on ads this

is a reason why even a 302 ad at Super

Bowl cost $7

million so Pepsi did not want to lose

out on this golden opportunity this is

the reason why they FastTrack the launch

of Crystal Pepsi and after a lot of hard

work finally Crystal Pepsi was launched

in December 1992 and their Super Bowl ad

launch happened in

1993 now as we all know from the intro

the ad was a massive hit and Pepsi sold

$474 Million worth of Crystal Pepsi but

even then it failed miserably so the

question is what exactly went wrong well

the first thing that went wrong with

Crystal was its bottling issue to tell

you about it Pepsi had a food scientist

named surender Kumar and surrender was

the head of Pepsi's research and

development Branch so Pepsi asked him to

make clear Pepsi in clear bottles so

that they could show off the

transparency of the soft drink but you

know what Surendra pointed out an

important problem to tell you about it

if you look at 7 Up and Sprite they are

packaged in a green bottle instead of a

transparent bottle now most people will

tell you that it is done to make the

drink look more interesting and

attractive but the real reason is that

soft drinks contain various ingredients

like flavors sweeteners preservatives

and acids so when they are exposed to

sunlight these components can react for

example UV light can cause some flavors

and preservatives to break down or react

with other ingredients this leads to off

flavors and odors so in the words of

surinder it made the drink smell and

taste like shoe polish so even though

surender raised this flag Pepsi did not

care secondly surrender was told to make

a caffeine and preservative free clear

soda that tastes just like the original

Pepsi but at the same time time they did

not reveal the secret recipe of Pepsi to

surender so somehow Surendra Kumar had

to find a way to mimic the Pepsi recipe

without knowing the recipe at all and

make it clear and transparent but even

then Surendra turned out to be such a

genius that he cracked the problem and

got Pepsi a clear drink that tastes just

like Pepsi and cherry on the cake when

Pepsi tested this product with a few

people those people enjoyed Crystal

Pepsi a lot but you know the problem was

that after exposure to sunlight the

Taste of drink became a little different

and soon enough it started leaving a bad

aftertaste this was the first problem

with Crystal Pepsi secondly Crystal

Pepsi was an in congruent drink now this

is very very interesting so hear me out

in congruent literally means a lack of

consistency as in a mismatch between

what is expected and what is actually

received by the customer and this is

where Coca-Cola also came up with a

genius strategy you see there are

multiple research papers which show that

there is a very deep relationship

between the degree to which consumers

can make sense of a new product and

their evaluation of a product for

example if you look at sports cars

sports cars are traditionally associated

with powerful and ruring engines but if

I give you an option between an electric

sports car which is very quiet and

environmentally friendly and the other

that sounds like

this my question to you is which one

would you buy obviously the Roaring

sports car right this is because our

brain believes that if it is a sports

car it has to freaking Roar now I know

it's not logical but somehow that's how

consumer Behavior Works similarly in

packaging whim is known for its tagline

of carrying the power of 100 lemons and

even its packaging and liquid color

shows as if it is literally made up of

lemons but if you look at the back label

and their website there is no mention of

100 lemons in their ingredients at all

and lastly if you look at detl and

savlon detol burns when applied and

savlon doesn't but but somehow a lot of

people thought that detl is more

effective and not Savon this is because

when you apply detl it burns so it

almost feels as if DET all is working so

this is congruence of people's

perception with the expectation of how

the product looks feels and operates if

this is very clear to you let's

understand Pepsi's

scenario in Pepsi's case the clear C

stood for pureness naturalness and

health but in reality Crystal Pepsi was

anything but healthy while a 12 O can of

regular Pepsi had 150 calories Crystal

Pepsi came in pretty close with 130

calories now even though it was caffeine

free it was filled with high fructose

corn syrup so even though it was clear

it tasted like Pepsi it had the same

calories as Pepsi and it wasn't a health

drink so if you look at this product it

looked like a health drink but did not

taste or operate like a health drink now

some people thought this would work

because consumer behavior is illogical

but this is where Coca-Cola stepped into

the game and Coke went into attack mode

to use something called the Kami Kazi

strategy to kill the demand of Crystal

Pepsi to tell you about it the Kami Kazi

strategy is basically a war tactic that

the Japanese used during the World War

II in this war move they sent Pilots to

crash their bomb loaded aircrafts into

the enemy ships this way they could kill

the Americans by committing

suicide we thought we had the war one

and then when they began the kamikazi

attacks it just it scared the Living

Daylights out of everybody the Japanese

pilot

Dives then coly deliberately aims his

bom Laden zero fighter at the SRO and

crashes into the

ship now in the context of Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola decided to launch a product

that would purposefully fail and while

failing it would also kill Crystal Pepsi

so the question is how did Coca-Cola

apply this Kami Kazi strategy and kill

Crystal pepsy well Coca-Cola launched a

product called tab clear which was their

version of clear soda this product was

meant to cause confusion in the clear

cola market so if you look at the

strategy closely tab clear was

positioned as a die drink whereas

Crystal Pepsi was marketed as a regular

Cola so this introduction of a clear

diet variant by a major competitor like

Goa created lots of confusion among

consumers about what a clear cola was

supposed to be whether it was supposed

to be a regular drink or a die drink

secondly the entry of tab clear

cannibalized the market for Clear colas

so instead of one clear cola option

which was crystal Pepsi consumers now

had two major choices this split the

market and made it difficult for Crystal

Pepsi to survive and the best part was

while Pepsi launched Crystal Pepsi with

the name Pepsi in it Coca-Cola very

cleverly launched its clear cola under

the brand of tab so that Coca-Cola's

brand name would not suffer this is how

Coca-Cola added to the confusion and the

customers became sick of clear drink and

false wellness and when this got

combined with a bad aftertaste crystal

soda became a massive failure in the

United States of America so because of

the Super Bowl ad everybody bought it

once but nobody tried it again so the S

tanked retailers rejected it and Crystal

Pepsi was no longer selling in America

this is how in spite of selling $474

Million worth of products Crystal Pepsi

became an epic failure in the American

market and this failure of Crystal Pepsi

teaches us three very important business

lessons lesson number one in the rise of

FASTT tring the process of your product

launch you should never compromise on

the fundamental qualities of a product

in this case instead of taking 3 years

to build test and improve the product

Pepsi rushed to capitalize on the clear

Trend and compromised on the fundamental

taste and positioning of its product

lesson number two clear product

positioning is by far the most important

step in marketing and even if your

marketing is slightly confusing please

pull back all of your campaigns evaluate

it and then roll it because marketing

must be used to convince people and not

to confuse them and this confusion will

kill your products within no time and

lastly never ever stop yourself from

failing miserably in this case While

most amateurs might consider Pepsi to be

stupid for trying something like Crystal

Pepsi what is important to note is that

only Brave attempts lead to gamechanging

inventions and many legendary people

were called stupid when they tried

something absolutely crazy whether that

is Steve Jobs for making iPad or Elon

Musk for making SpaceX but even then

they had the persistence to try again so

don't hold back your crazy ideas and

keep trying them out because the the

world will definitely call you a fool

until you succeed and when you succeed

you will be called an overnight success

but only you will know that you are an

overnight success but yours in the

making that's all from my S of today

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