Commercials and soft drinks have become a part of everyday life in America. The combination of these pop-culture creations has made resisting the temptation of sugar based carbonated beverages virtually impossible for most. A well known soft drink war between Pepsi and Coca-Cola keeps new, edgy advertising techniques airing during commercial breaks of popular television viewing. Both companies have successfully sold their products despite different selling techniques used when it comes to advertising on television.
Perhaps one of the most significant factors that appear to account or differences is the variation of celebrity endorsements. Celebrity endorsements are a way in which Pepsi attracts their customers. Memorable commercials starring famous personalities such as Faith Hill, Jeff Gordon, Halle Berry, Cindy Crawford, and adorable child star Hallie Eisenburg catch the attention of women and men, both young and old. According to Pepsi. om, “Pepsi was the first consumer product to use a celebrity endorser when Barney Oldfield, auto racing pioneer, appeared in ads in 1909″, and famous faces have appeared in ads ever since. One of Pepsi’s newest commercials titled, “Now and Then” shows op-princess Britney Spears singing the phrase, “Pepsi, for those who think young”.
With a wink of Britney’s eye, the problem of appealing to people both young and old is solved simply by, “showing Britney in the ’60s and the ’00s and giving the generations something to bond over. The sequential segments of this commercial are a brief review of the Pepsi generation. This advertisement begins in the year 1958 and chronologically shows Britney fashionably wearing decadal clothes and singing alternate versions of the Pepsi song in a new year. The commercial ends with Britney dancing n the parking lot of a Pepsi diner in the year 2002 singing the words, “Come feel the joy all around, each generation has found, they’ve got their own kind of sound, it’s time to shout it out… “.
According to Roy B. White in his article titled Why it’s Cool to Troll Through Time, “Ad experts say consumers like the idea of products that weather the times. There’s a certain comfort zone there. ” Pepsi Cola uses this commercial to relate their product to a diverse audience by incorporating an icon in the music industry today, with a variety of generations, and conveying the essage that everyone benefits from the “joy of Pepsi”. In spite of this, Coca-Cola portrays real-to-life scenarios in their television advertising instead of celebrity influence.
According to BBCNews. om, “A company spokesperson for Coca-Cola said it Coca-Cola tended to use more generic and timeless themes rather than individuals or pop groups in its campaigns”. An example of Coca-Cola’s attempt to entice their potential consumers is a commercial aired in the spring of 2001. Six weeks before their high school graduation, five teenagers rest on a subway train after an exciting night at a concert.
A young man observes his sleeping friends while holding a can of Coca-Cola firmly in one hand and narrates, “… It hit me, that was the best night of my life. And I kind of wished we could all stay on that train forever. A soothing woman’s voice then sings in the background, “Life tastes good, Coca-Cola” as the camera directs the viewer’s attention not at the teenagers, but to a moving subway train and the name Coca-Cola in the lower right hand corner of the screen. This commercial relates to men and women of all ages and generates an emotion that everyone has experienced at least one time in their life. Even though a consumer may not have been in the given situation, they will reminisce about a prior event that affected them the same way the boy in the advertisement felt.
Coca-Cola uses this technique as an, “… nvitation to consumers throughout the world to enjoy Coca-Cola and life’s simple pleasures” Professor Jack Solomon describes this procedure by writing in his essay Masters of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising, “… advertisers work on the deepest, most coercive human emotions of all. ” Coca-Cola’s goal is to make their costumers think of their product and this ommercial whenever they are reminded of a sentimental and enjoyable event. The soft drink industry customer base is probably the widest and deepest base in a world that is flooded with some many categories.
According to Beverage Digest the customer base for soft drinks is a whopping 95% of regular users in the United States. Pepsi prefers to segment itself as the beverage choice of the “New Generation”, Generation Next, or just as the “Pepsi Generation”. These terms adopted in Pepsi’s advertising campaigns are referring to the markets that marketers refer to as Generation X. The Generation X consumer is rofiled to be between the ages of 18 to 29. They have high expectations in life and are very mobile and active.
They adopt a lifestyle of living for today and not worrying about long term goals. Those Pepsi’s main emphasis on this segment they also have a focus on the 12 to 18 year old market. Pepsi believes if they can get this market to adopt their product then they could establish a loyal customer for life. Pepsi Cola is situated in an industry that is dominated by two competitors, Coca-Cola and of course themselves. Although Pepsi and Coke basically go after all consumers who urchase soft drink beverages Coca-Cola targets its products at the head of household.
This is evident in many of the ad campaigns such as “Always Coca – Cola” which refers to the traditional beverage heritage of its product. They also reinforce this in the name “Coca-Cola Classic” which is inferring to the older consumer. This name reflects an image of value, reliability, and old time values. Even though Pepsi and Coca-Cola use a diverse marketing strategy to persuade people into purchasing their products, both companies have successfully publicized their drinks. As a result they have become the two leading soft drink brands in the nation.
The competition between Pepsi and Coke will not only prolong the greatly known cola wars, but will also allow new advertising techniques to be aired on television. Pepsi uses excellent marketing strategies, such as celebrity appearances and contemporary product packaging, to sell their product, whereas Coca-Cola’s realistic approach has placed them at the top of the soft drink industry. Although Pepsi is “simply irresistible”, according to the soda loving customers, it is “always Coca-Cola, Yeah”.
