Coke and Pepsi Learn to Compete in India

Case 1-3 Coke and Pepsi Learn to Compete in India

1. When Coke was first present in India, it was a different government. That government didn't agree with company independence and demanded that Coca-Cola share 40% of its revenue as well as the recipe for their secret sauce. This could not have been foreseen. So Coca-Cola withdrew from the country. The next time they entered the country it was under a new political office. The political problems this time where brought on by a environmental organization. They claimed that the companies sodas where contaminated. Both companies went quiet. They also had issues with smaller areas claiming they had used up all there water. They realized this could not have been foreseen and that they should have reacted differently they should have spoken up and defended themselves. They also should have worked with the smaller areas from the beginning on how to use the water efficiently.

2. Pepsi entered first, it seemed this made it harder for Coca-Cola to enter. They did but they had to fight harder. While Pepsi was forced to fight for dominance, local companies wanted to align themselves with Coca-Cola. It just goes to show that the competitors realized with Pepsi the foreign companies where going to be able to compete in the market place. So when they saw Coca-Cola entering the market they thought it was best from the get go to join forces with them. I don't think anyone can know if the situation was reverse and Coca-Cola entered first if the locals would have aligned with Pepsi.

3. They both used different strategies to focus their advertising to different groups. They used different slogans Pepsi used Keep it Cool and Coca-Cola used Gaana which means to sing. Pepsi focused on advertising while sponsoring cricket and football(soccer). Focusing on 15-25 year age group. Coca-Cola focused on the local idioms. They were focusing on 18-24 year olds in major metropolitan areas. They both had aggressive pricing policies. There is a very small time that India's population drinks sodas. The theory was that if they reduce the cost it would expand the buyers as well as the rate of consumption. They also started collectable bottles as well as returnable bottles. They entered into agreements with local bottlers to use their facilities for distribution as well as agreements with local communities to build distribution plants.

4.Coca-Cola's and Pepsi glocalizaiton in this case lead them to start making bottled water, in India it had a higher market than carbonated sodas. Pepsi introduced local limited edition drinks. Coca-Cola brought their prices down so everyone in India could afford their products. They also worked with local governments to be granted permission to use their ground water.

5.They should have immediatly confronted the issue let people know they were studying the issue and then let the people know there water was actually