Undertook a Business Research project in the second year of my undergraduate degree on the topic- Comparative Analysis between Pepsi and Coca Cola on the basis of various physical and chemical aspects.

1. Project Report
On
“Business Research”
By
Aditya Purohit
(BBA 2nd Year)
106/10 civil lines,
Ajmer 305001
Website: www.dezyneecole.com
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2. CONTENTS
 Objective of the study
 Product Category Hierarchy
 Introduction to soft drink Industry
 Introduction to the Coca Cola Company
 Introduction to the PepsiCo Company
 Comparison Chart on the basis of Ingredients
 Comparison Chart on the basis of Economy
 Marketing / Advertisement Strategies adopted by
the Coca-Cola Company and Pepsico Company
 Celebrities in India Promoting the brands of the
companies
 Conclusion
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3. Objective of the Study
Comparative Analysis between Pepsi and
Coca-Cola on the basis of different
aspects.
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4. PRODUCT CATEGORY
HIERARCHY
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Beverages
Water Flavored
Non-
Alcoholic
Milk
Hot
Beverages
Juices Soft Drinks
Pepsi Cola Coca Cola
Alcoholic
Wine Beer
Distilled
Spirits

5. INTRODUCTION TO SOFT DRINK
INDUSTRY:
In the modern urban culture, consumption of soft drinks
particularly among younger generation has become very
popular. Soft drinks in various flavors and tastes are
widely consumed by urban population at various
occasions like dinner parties, marriages, social get -
togethers, birthday celebrations etc. Children of all
ages and groups are especially attracted by the mere
mention of the word soft drinks. With the growing
popularity of soft drinks, the technology of its
production, p r e s e r v a t i o n , t r a n s p o r t a t i o n a n d
ma r k e t i n g i n t h e r e c e n t y e a r s h a s witnessed
phenomenal changes.
The so-called competition for this product in the
market is from different other brands. Mass media,
par t icular ly the emergence of television, has
contributed to a large extent of the ever growing
demand for soft drinks. The attractive jingles and sport
make the large audience remember this product at all times.
I t is expected that wi th the sor t of mass
adver t ising, reaching almost the entire country and
offering various varieties, annual demand for the product is
expected to rise sharply in the times to come.
In any marketing situation, the behavioral / environmental
variables relating to consumers, compet i t ion and
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6. Envi ronment is constant ly inf lux. The
competitors in a given industry may be making many
tactical maneuvers in market all the time. They may
introduce or initiate an aggressive promotion
campaign or announce a price reduction. The marketing
man of the firm has to meet this entire maneuver and take
care of competitive position of his firm and his brand in
the market. The only route open to him for achieving this
is the manipulation of his marketing tactics. In today’s
highly competitive market place, two players have
dominated the industry; The New York based Pepsi
Company Inc. and the Atlanta based Coca- Cola
Company. Through the globe, these major players have
been battling it out for a bigger chunk of the ever –
growing sof t dr ink market . Now this bat t le has
been evolved up to India too with the arrival of these two
giants. Sof t dr ink indust ry is on amazing
growth; ul t imately these are only one person who
will determine their fortunes; The Indian consumer. The
real War to quench his thirst has just begun.
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7. The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational
beverage corporation and manufacturer, retailer and marketer of
nonalcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, which is
headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The company is best known
for its flagship product Coca-Cola, invented in 1886 by
pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in Columbus, Georgia. The
Coca-Cola formula and brand was bought in 1889 by Asa
Griggs Candler, who incorporated The Coca-Cola Company in
1892. Besides its namesake Coca-Cola beverage, Coca-Cola
currently offers more than 500 brands in over 200 countries or
territories and serves over 1.7 billion servings each day. The
company operates a franchised distribution system dating from
1889 where The Coca-Cola Company only produces syrup
concentrate which is then sold to various bottlers throughout the
world who hold an exclusive territory. The Coca-Cola Company
owns its anchor bottler in North America, Coca-Cola
Refreshments.
Its stock is listed on the NYSE and is part of DJIA, S&P
500 index, the Russell 1000 Index and the Russell 1000 Growth
Stock Index. Its current chairman and chief executive is Muhtar
Kent.
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8. PepsiCo Inc. is an American multinational food and beverage
corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United
States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and
distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other
products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of
the Pepsi-Cola Company and Frito-Lay, Inc. PepsiCo has since
expanded from its namesake product Pepsi to a broader range of
food and beverage brands, the largest of which include an
acquisition of Tropicana in 1998 and a merger with Quaker
Oats in 2001—which added the Gatorade brand to its portfolio.
As of January 2012, 22 of PepsiCo's product lines generated
retail sales of more than $1 billion each, and the company's
products were distributed across more than 200 countries,
resulting in annual net revenues of $43.3 billion. Based on net
revenue, PepsiCo is the second largest food & beverage business
in the world. Within North America, PepsiCo is ranked (by net
revenue) as the largest food and beverage business.
Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi has been the chief executive of
PepsiCo since 2006, and the company employed approximately
297,000 people worldwide as of 2011. The company's beverage
distribution and bottling is conducted by PepsiCo as well as by
licensed bottlers in certain regions. PepsiCo is a SIC
2080 (beverage) company.
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9. Comparison Chart between
Coca-Cola and Pepsi
Ingredients Coca-Cola Pepsi
Sodium 50mg 15mg
Founded 1886 1898
Originally Brewed From Coca leaves and Kola Nuts Pepsin
Syrup Coloring E-150D E-150D
Caffeine 34 mg/serving 37.5 mg/serving
Taste Sweet Sweet
Sugar Content 39mg 41mg
Carbonation content 80.9% Less
Calories 160 150
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10. PEPSI VS. COKE
PEPSI Coca-Cola
$28 BILLION TURNOVER $16 BILLION
32% INT. SALES AS % 70%`
OF TOTAL SALES
RS. 5OO Cr. TOTAL INVESTMENT RS. 250 Cr.
IN INDIA
RS. 300 CRORES PROPOSED RS. 2,400C
INVESTMENTS
2400 NO. OF EMPLOYEES (in ths.) 140
13 NO. OF OWNED NIL
BOTTLING PLANTS
18 NO. OF FRANCHISES 53
4000 NO. OF FOUNTAIN 1500
N.A. TOTAL INVESTMENT Rs 125 CR
BY BOTTLERS
6 NEW PLANTS PLANNED N.A.
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11. Marketing/Advertisement
Strategies
Brand Identity
The first step in understanding Image Advertising is to understand the image
being created, i.e. Brand Image. Brand Image is consumers’ perception of the
brand in question. This perception might actually be different from what the
brand actually embodies – the Brand Identity. Advertising bridges the gap
between Brand Image and Brand Image.
Kapferer's Prism
There are a number of tools available to explore the identity of a brand. One
such tool is Kapferer’s Prism. As shown in the diagram above, there are many
facets to a brand. Kapferer identifies six key characteristics that together
define the brand:
11

12.  Physique – the physical attributes of the brand
 Personality – the personification of the brand
 Relationship – the relationship between the consumer and the brand
 Culture – the core values of the brand
 Reflection – the way consumers want to be perceived when using the brand
 Self-Image – the image that consumers have of themselves when associated
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with the brand.
A combination of these characteristics can be used to identify what the brand
ultimately stands for. These exercises were performed on a few brands each
from the stables of both PepsiCo and Coca Cola; diagram 2 depicts the
results of these exercises.
Brand Proposition
Identity to Image – Evolution of Strategies
A closer look at the brand identities of each of the brands helps assess how
successful their advertising campaigns have been in creating a brand image in
tune with it, while being sensitive to the value system of the target audience.

13. PepsiCo’s Campaign
The analysis of Pepsi, 7 UP and Mountain Dew from the portfolio of
PepsiCo puts forth some interesting aspects about the evolution of these
brands. Pepsi was one of the first products to Indian markets after the
economic reforms of 1991.
Pepsi
Pepsi began with the Yehi hai Right Choice Baby campaign, which has been
one of the most memorable campaigns of the brand, featuring celebrity
endorsers such as Shah Rukh Khan among others. The focus, as is clearly
evident, is on the product with the youth as its target segment. Yeh Dil
Mange More and Yeh Pyaas Hai Badi were some of the later campaigns.
Yeh Dil Mange More campaign was again a great success, having balanced
the emotional as well as the functional appeal of the product. Featuring
Sachin Tendulkar and many other leading stars at that point of time, this was
also one of the longest campaigns carried out by Pepsi. The company
however failed to maintain the trend and leverage it. Instead of moving on to
a complete emotional appeal platform, the company decided on a product
based promotion campaign. Though there is still some amount of emotional
appeal to its campaigns, the principal focus is on the product - it being a
preferred thirst quencher.
7 UP
In its early days, 7 UP inherited the global Fido-Dido campaign for
promotion in India as well. However, with changing times and a contextual
difference in India, a much more focused campaign was required. This led to
the Keep It Coolcampaign, which was targeted primarily at the youth and the
teenager segment. Hence the appeal was at a more subtle, emotional level,
which was meant to convey a potential lifestyle statement. The recent
campaign of Bheja Fryessentially leverages on the same emotional appeal
where the Keep It Cool campaign has been somewhat tweaked to have a local
appeal.
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Mountain Dew

14. Mountain Dew is the latest entrant in the product portfolio. This product too
has the appeal of being the drink of a daredevil or the No Fear personality.
The campaigns launched include Do the Dew and Dar Ke Aagey Jeet Hai.
The initial campaign was unclear in terms of its appeal and the target
segment, as a result of which the brand suffered some jolts in the beginning.
However, the latest campaign captures the No Fear or the Macho Man image.
In this sense, the brand directly competes with Thums Up from the Coca
Cola Stable
Coca Cola’s Campaign
The Coca Cola campaign in India, however, has been different from that of
Pepsi, even though they both share similar product traits. Coca Cola had a
presence in India before 1977, but was subsequently forced to exit the Indian
market. When the company returned to India post liberalization, it came up
with an innovative communication and advertising strategy. Coca Cola has
essentially been following the principle of differentiation.
Coca Cola
Jo Chaaho Ho Jaaye, Coca Cola Enjoy was one of the company’s first
campaigns in India. It was remarkably well executed, and appealed both at a
product level as well as at an emotional level. These ads featured celebrities
such as Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai. The target segment for Coca Cola
in its initial days was the youth segment and this campaign clearly connected
well with the segment. However, the next advertising campaign of Thanda
Matlab Coca Cola was launched with an objective to have a mass appeal.
The campaign leveraged the product platform rather than the emotional
platform that it had established earlier.
It is however, important to note here that Coca Cola made some exceptions
for India. The company has similar marketing strategies across geographies
and usually doesn’t depend on celebrity endorsements. But given the great
fan-following, and in adapting to the Indian context, the company had to
initially deviate from its set charter. However with the current campaign
of Open Happiness, Coca Cola seems to have achieved both an emotional as
well as a mass appeal. There is a very natural connect with the target segment,
that of celebrating every day, and sharing small moments of joy with our
loved ones, irrespective of any barriers.
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15. Sprite
Sprite - the other brand from the Coca Cola stable – began its journey with
the campaign titled All Taste No Gyaan. This appealed greatly to the youth
who don’t like to be preached and relish their sense of ownership and
decision making. Sprite has never depended on celebrity endorsements as a
way to gain brand recognition or consumer recall. The ads are designed to be
very witty, and generally connect very well with the target audience by
capturing every day moments. Seedhi Baat No Bakwaas - its next campaign
– instantly connected with the target audience by coming across as a brand
that was different from the other, one that focused on the individuality of the
consumer. The emotional appeal is much stronger and shows a clear sign of
maturity of the campaign.
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16. REASONS TO REMEMBER THE
ADVERTISEMENTS
24%
25%
24% people remember the advertisement because of CREATIVITY.
25% people remember the advertisement because of BRAND AMBASSADOR
11% people remember the advertisement because of THEIR IDEA OF
DELIVERING THE MESSAGE.
25%people remember the advertisement because of FREQUENCY OF ADD.15%
people remember the advertisement because of LOGICAL REASON.
According to the University of Rennes, DANONE R&D Institute.
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11%
25%
15%
CREATIVITY
BRAND
AMBASSADOR
IDEA OF
DELIVERING THE
MESSAGE
FREQUENCY OF
ADD
LOGICAL
REASON

17. CELEBRITIES PLAYING PART IN TO THE
SALES PROMOTION OF THE PRODUCT IN
INDIA:
CELEBRITIES OF PEPSI:
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AMITABH BACHHAN
SHAHRUKH KHAN
PREETY ZINTA
SACHIN TENDULKAR
SAIF ALI KHAN
SAURAV GANGULY
RAHUL DRAVID
MOHD. KAIF
ZAHEER KHAN
HARBHAJAN SINGH
YUVRAJ SINGH
CELEBRITIES OF COKE:
SALMAN KHAN
AISHWARYA RAI
AMIR KHAN
AKSHAY KUMAR

18. CONCLUSION
Pepsi is the market leader in terms of soft drinks in India,
but comes second to Coca-Cola which consists of Coca-
Cola and park brands.
Howe v e r i n Go r a k h p u r i t i s t h e ma r k e t
l e a d e r . P e p s i ’ s ma i n t a r g e t i s obviously to be
the market leader and leave its nearest competitor,
Coca-Co l a , f a r b e h i n d . To a c h i e v e
t h i s P e p s i s e ems t o be r e l y i n g on ma s s
advertising. They spend about 50-60 crore rupees
annually on marketing
act ivi t ies. The consumer is bombarded wi th
Pepsi adver t isements, sign, logo’s etc., everywhere.
Pepsi’s core market is the young –adult and Pepsi is
taking great measures to
c h a n g e t h e p e r c e p t i o n o f t h e s e y o u n g
a d u l t s . P e p s i wan t s t h a t t h e s e consumers
should associate al l colas as Pepsi , the brand
Pepsi and cola should be synonymous with each other.
This they are trying to do by getting the heroes of these
consumers to endorse their product e.g. Sachin
Tendulkar and also by advertising for and by youngsters.
Pepsi dr inks are avai lable in almost the whole
of India, this shows the importance paid to
distribution. Brand loyalists are very few in the market.
Thus the drink should be easily available, so that
consumers cannot shift their preferences.
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