#Brandmanagement ???

This morning my mother and I went to Publix to do some grocery shopping and she saw somewhere on their ad that they have a special in the deli department: buy any half or whole sub and get a free medium fountain drink. 

So today's whole sub deal was Publix brand deli Italian. 

We decided to get that on the five grain bread with oil on the bread (no vinegar because she didn't want it - we were going to share this). On the entire roll we had tomato and lettuce, and I asked for pickles and yellow (banana) peppers on half of it (for me). 

Once we were done shopping, I went back to the deli and got the drink - Coke Zero Sugar, medium, no ice, because we were going to share this too. 

When we got home, we put all our groceries away, we ate our lunch. She took one sip of the Coke and said "This is Coke?" because she didn't know that's what I got. I said "Coke Zero" and she said "there's nothing better than a Coke" and smiled. 

Guess we know what brand she likes, besides insisting we use Heinz 57 as our ketchup...

This let to a conversation on who owns Coke, as I said "Maybe you like it better because it's kosher and that's what you're used to?", to which she said "Pepsi is kosher". I said "It hasn't always been". We then wondered what type of backers own each brand, as she thinks Pepsi is tied to some Saudi companies. 

(Please understand we don't mean any disrespect to either brand or any country. Just curious as to the investors of each company)

As she's more used to Coke being around and kosher, maybe they've got a better backing from the ultimate Rebs, where I have done a quick Google search and have found Pepsi does have limited ties to Saudi Arabia, but not a complete investment backing. They also have had kosher certification and also have had it taken away. Meanwhile, Coke has always been kosher, since 1935 and especially on Passover (the yellow caps), and their certification has never been taken away.

This led to my quoting the scene from Mommie Dearest where Joan Crawford is meeting with the PepsiCo board, and she's trying to get her way with how to run the company. She says "Don't fuck with me fellas. This ain't my first time at the rodeo". 

From there, I said to my mother "how sad is it that I can randomly quote movie lines? Especially old ones?" and she said "pretty random but I liked that movie". I said "I think we have the DVD somewhere if you want to watch it", and she asked if I were serious, and I said "I need to find it, but yes". I also said "it's more random that when they keep saying we are getting bad storms, I quote the scene in All About Eve where Bette Davis says "Fasten your seatbelt. It's going to be a bumpy night". 

My mother rolled her eyes at that one and said she didn't really like that movie, however, I "majored in film, so it's expected" that I quote or know trivia about movies. I said "it's the only thing I know since my English Lit classes didn't teach me the classics like The Catcher in the Rye or Of Mice and Men. I sure as hell read The Great Gatsby half a dozen times". Why? "Because it wasn't in the cards curriculum at BHS for them. Neither was it at Newbury".

I squirreled our conversation and now I've squirreled this post.

My mother asked if Pepsi doesn't have major shares in the Middle East, "is it John Kerry's wife?". I said "no, she's a Heinz", and my mother says "oh, that's right". Again, more reason we use that brand of condiment in our house. LOL. 

As I am writing all of this and getting side tracked, now that I think of it, I feel like various Coke products have always been around in both my grandparents houses. Not that we drank a lot of cola in Newton (my father's parents house, but he did have a fondness for Coke). I spent more time in New London (with my mother's parents house where we had access to colas. I don't remember Pepsi being around that much) so we had more options of liquid hydration. 

HNE - if you are reading this, can you verify the cola products in your house? Were there any? Why do I remember your brother only ordering Cokes when we went out and that's majority of what we had in our house? (even Ben P... do you remember any of this from when we were little? You'd have had more years of memories than I)

So maybe it is an American / religious thing. Considering both brands are world wide, are there more Coke products in the Middle East than there are Pepsi brands? 

According to a June 14, 2024 Visual Capitalist article, "At 130 years old, Coke also is the most consumed soda in the world, with an estimated 1.9 billion servings across 200 countries. As a result, Coca-Cola is one of the world’s most valuable brands.

While Coke has maintained 17-20% market share since 1995, Pepsi has seen a drop from 15.0% in 1995 to 8.3% in 2023."

However, there's a February 2021 Green Seed article that states something a little different:
"Unsurprisingly, when you look at the global charts and figures regarding global carbonated soft drinks for most years, whether you are looking at the UK, the US, or globally, it is almost always Coca Cola and their classic coke that is the most popular.

Within the diet carbonated drinks market, Diet Coke, also from Coca-Cola is the most popular.

We say almost always because it is not always the case.

For example, there is a long-standing myth that Scotland is the only country in the world where Coca-Cola is not the best-selling carbonated soft drink.

Interestingly, while it is true that Irn-Bru, every year, without fail, outsells Coca-Cola, it is not the only country where it happens.

In Cuba and North Korea, there are US trade embargoes in place, which means Coca-Cola is not actually sold there, and therefore, local soft drinks tend to dominate the market in its absence."

That makes sense that one brand might not be a popular item due to limitations on where it can be sold. Much like Pepsi not being fully Saudi, because it's not allowed in that country due to Halal reasons. 

Green Seed also goes on to say "The most powerful companies, those who have the biggest share of the global carbonated soft drinks market, and the non-carbonated soft drinks market are the Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo Inc. The Dr Pepper Snapple or Keurig Dr Pepper group.

Interestingly, though, according to Wall Street, the shares of Pepsico Inc. gained 19.45% from 2019 to 2020 and 49.20% over the last five years, while Coca-Cola Company experienced a gain of 15.75% and 22.13% in the same periods.

From May 2020, Pepsi-Co enjoyed a market cap of around $188.6b, whereas Coca-Cola Company was $185.8b.

As you can see, it’s difficult to really say which of these brands controls more of the soft drinks market, without looking at specific lines of beverages." 

I guess it depends on seasons and marketing, for the shares and money to go up. One article I read stated Coca-Cola reaches more American households due to its advertising, especially during big sports games, than its competitors. Although you do see the crunchy PepsiCo snacks like Doritos and Fritos advertised. Maybe Pepsi lost a lot of funding when Michael Jackson lit his hair on fire in 1984?

 I don't know, but it would be interesting to see if anyone has any more research to add to this. Brady.. can you add anything?? 

Until we get it sorted, stay carbonated.

Cheers;