Interesting marketing info from Coca-Cola

[kork13]

I think I'll take this opportunity to mention that if you're ever in Atlanta, an afternoon at the Coke museum is DEFINITELY worth it. I visited there a couple months ago, and it's really cool to see everything that goes into the process, and even more so, the history of it all. Plus, at the end you get to taste-test literally DOZENS of different flavors of Coke's products from around the world. Very cool, even if you prefer Pepsi, or just don't really drink sodas (like myself).

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by kork13

at the end you get to taste-test literally DOZENS of different flavors of Coke's products from around the world. Very cool, even if you prefer Pepsi, or just don't really drink sodas (like myself).

They have a smaller version of this at Epcot in Disney World. I think there are 8 products you can try. Beware of Beverly. It is horrid. Some of the others are quite tasty, though. I wish they were sold in the US.

[kork13]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

They have a smaller version of this at Epcot in Disney World. I think there are 8 products you can try. Beware of Beverly. It is horrid. Some of the others are quite tasty, though. I wish they were sold in the US.

Yes!! Beverly (from Italy) was horrendous!!! I've never met a person who likes it, or even who doesn't hate it. Not sure how it sells over in Italy... I tried just about all of them (not easy to do... that's ALOT of soda, even just trying little 1oz samples of them), and that's the one that I regret even considering.... blech...

[jIM_Ohio]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

I remember the Pepsi Challenge. Took it a couple of times myself. The two products taste totally different so I always picked Coke just to mess them up. I heard a lot of reports of them serving the Pepsi fresh and cold and the Coke room temp and flat.

It's odd that you describe Coke as bland. I think Coke is definitely the more syrupy sweet one of the two. Pepsi is lighter and "cleaner" tasting IMO. Coke is heavier or fuller. I would definitely say Coke is the sweeter one.

Coke is a good industrial strength cleaner.

If you have rings in your toilet bowl, pour a 1/4 can of coke in it, let it set for an hour or so and flush. Toilet is ready for company now.

The trucks coke ships the soda in have their engines cleaned with coke.

No thanks, I will drink pepsi. LOL.

[woodie96]

I worked as assistant manager for national auto parts chain. I found it funny that when we had to change signage each week. Lots of the starburst signs said "Now only 2.99". The sticker on the shelf aready had 2.99 on it, but it was amazing to see how many people would pick up the starburst item, because they "assumed" the item was on sale.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by woodie96

I worked as assistant manager for national auto parts chain. I found it funny that when we had to change signage each week. Lots of the starburst signs said "Now only 2.99". The sticker on the shelf aready had 2.99 on it, but it was amazing to see how many people would pick up the starburst item, because they "assumed" the item was on sale.

A while back, I posted some results from a marketing study. I don't remember the exact details but here is the basic idea:

They priced an item at $2.50. Very few sales.
They changed the sign to 2 for $5.00 and sales increased a lot.

They did a couple of similar experiments where the way the item was advertised drove sales much more than the actual price. Doing things to make people think they are getting a bargain increased sales much more than actually lowering the price.

[kork13]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

A while back, I posted some results from a marketing study. I don't remember the exact details but here is the basic idea:

They priced an item at $2.50. Very few sales.
They changed the sign to 2 for $5.00 and sales increased a lot.

They did a couple of similar experiments where the way the item was advertised drove sales much more than the actual price. Doing things to make people think they are getting a bargain increased sales much more than actually lowering the price.

i saw one (maybe the same, who knows) that saw similar results by "restricting" purchases... "Limit of 4 per customer" signs saw dramatically more purchases, even though most people only bought 2-3 of the item anyway.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by kork13

i saw one (maybe the same, who knows) that saw similar results by "restricting" purchases... "Limit of 4 per customer" signs saw dramatically more purchases, even though most people only bought 2-3 of the item anyway.

Yes, that was part of the same study.

[neguy11]

This Christmas, I saw bottles of coke at Walmart but they were in the shape of a ball ornament. They were pretty cool looking, about $1 and I would guess maybe 13 ounces? I would have bought one but all they had was Coke, no diet Coke.

I can honestly say the promotions work for me. Since Pepsi Stuff is ending, I'm switching back to Diet Coke to collect the rewards point. I loved Pepsi Stuff though, because I used them to download TV shows off Amazon to my Tivo.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by neguy11

This Christmas, I saw bottles of coke at Walmart but they were in the shape of a ball ornament. They were pretty cool looking, about $1 and I would guess maybe 13 ounces? I would have bought one but all they had was Coke, no diet Coke.

I saw those and thought they were really novel. I'm sorry I didn't buy one. I told my daughter about them and was upset that I hadn't brought her one. I don't think they have them anymore.

[poundwise]

Originally Posted by neguy11

I loved Pepsi Stuff...

I'm pretty much a Coca-Cola person but I definitely recognize that the Pepsi Stuff promo was much better than the My Coke Rewards program. We've done both and everything, from the site to what you can get with points, was better through Pepsi. I think Coke needs to take some of the package design money and invest in a decent web design firm. (Either that or partner up with someone like Pepsi did with Amazon.)

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by poundwise

I think Coke needs to take some of the package design money and invest in a decent web design firm.

I agree. That site is horrible. It is the absolute slowest website I visit for anything. I have no idea what they do wrong but it takes forever to do anything on the site. Just logging in can take a couple of minutes.

[vole]

Originally Posted by kork13

My favorite of packaging getting smaller is when I see, for example, ice cream that says on the tub, "Still 1/2 gallon!". Sure enough, all around it are tubs that look about the same size, but then checking it, it's been shorted by a fair few ounces of the good stuff, though still the same price as the "true 1/2 gallon" one... lol gotta love competition, right?

Just read that many products, including peanut butter, have redesigned the jar to have an indentation on the bottom. Jar looks the same but holds less. A couple of years ago Nescafe coffee had the same shaped jar but was a couple of ounces smaller and was selling at the standard price. Just by accident I noticed the "price increase."

-Dave

[rob62521]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

I remember that well. The change they made wasn't a secret at all. The original Coke was sweetened with sugar. After the New Coke debacle, they went back to the "original" formula except it was now sweetened with high fructose corn syrup.

And I think it tastes different! We have a guy here in town who has a Coca Cola Museum and he has brought in Classic Coke made with cane sugar. What a difference in taste! I don't drink a lot of soda any more, but I enjoyed the bottle I bought and drank last week.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by rob62521

And I think it tastes different! We have a guy here in town who has a Coca Cola Museum and he has brought in Classic Coke made with cane sugar. What a difference in taste!

Coke is also still made with sugar in some other parts of the world. I do some work for various shipping companies. When I board a ship, the captain usually offers me a drink, and it is often a can of Coke from another country. I've noticed a couple of times when I was reading the can that it listed sugar in the ingredients, not HFCS.

[vole]

Originally Posted by rob62521

And I think it tastes different! We have a guy here in town who has a Coca Cola Museum and he has brought in Classic Coke made with cane sugar. What a difference in taste! I don't drink a lot of soda any more, but I enjoyed the bottle I bought and drank last week.

During the Jewish holiday of Passover, Coca Cola makes a batch of soda using cane sugar. NPR had this story:

Passover Produces a Real Coke Classic : NPR

People stock up when it's available.

-Dave

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by vole

During the Jewish holiday of Passover, Coca Cola makes a batch of soda using cane sugar.

True. Pepsi does it, too. Jews observing the holiday can't consume corn products.

We buy it sometimes. What we usually do is splurge and buy the all natural soda at Whole Foods for that week. It is a special treat because we won't spend that kind of money for soda the rest of the year.