Week 5 Case Analysis

Week Five Case Analysis:

MRKT 5000 Online Course

Kelli Carson

Pepsi Sales Bubble with Limited-Edition Soft Drinks

Case Summary:

Pepsi and its partner in the Japanese beverage market, Suntory, are using limited edition soft drinks to boost market share and increase sales gaining edge on its competition, Coca-Cola. Because the Japanese market is challenging, introducing a new product is very difficult. Consumers in the Japanese market would rather hunt limited-edition products made specifically for certain seasons, regions, or reasons. Others have been successful with this type of marketing their so Pepsi decided to launch its new strategy marketing limited-edition soft drinks. With its first launch the company sold out within weeks demonstrating its effectiveness. Various brand of the limited-edition beverages were launched including Pepsi Blue, Pepsi Red, Carnival, and Ice Cucumber, all were successful in the company’s new marketing strategy. Pepsi’s strategy is to create a unique flavor that will be approved by the mass and not to reintroduce it to the market, keeping the limited-edition precisely “limited.” Not only is this strategy effective in the Japanese market, it is as well in the U.S. The appeal to consumers is the value as a collector’s item, due to their novelty, rather than a beverage that is to be guzzled down. “Given the competitive environment, the pressure from retailers to make new products perform, the speed with which consumer tastes change, and the cost of launching a new soft drink, Pepsi and Suntory are being careful not to overuse their limited-edition strategy,” introducing no more than four a year. This plan will influence consumers to buy quickly before all products are gone.

Key Marketing Issues

• Positioning/repositioning – Pepsi needs its brand to appeal to its correct target audience.

• Styling- presenting a new can that is aesthetically appealing to the focused market

• Design- creating a can that is not...