Tag Archives: global marketing

by | Wednesday, April 3, 2024 · 7:15 am

Coca-Cola Introduces New Spiced Flavor Drink

Coca-Cola has been selling its soda for more than 132 years. That’s quite a successful run, but the company knows it cannot rest with regards to product development. New products and flavors are needed in order to keep up with changing consumer tastes.

It’s been three years since Coca-Cola launched a new, permanent flavor. That’s about to change with the launch of “Coca-Cola Spiced” – a new drink with flavors of raspberry and spice that comes in both regular and zero sugar versions.

The company stated that the flavor is its “boldest tasting brand innovation” and provides an “uplifting taste experience unlike any other.” Coca-Cola also stated that the new flavor was developed in only seven weeks (it usually takes 12 months to develop a new product). The flavor is part of a product line of Coca-Cola drinks including classic Coke, Coke Vanilla, and Cherry Vanilla.

Why a new flavor? Consumers are on the look-out for something new to drink, and it’s not always a soda they want. There has been an increase in sales of seltzer water and other flavored drinks. The new, spicy drink is in response to changing American tastes for spicier snacks, and also is a way to get younger drinkers to adopt the brand.

According to Beverage Digest, the growth in flavored waters and juices has grown by roughly 3%, while traditional Coca-Cola sodas have grown only 1%. Using data from its Freestyle drink machines, the company noted that raspberry flavor was selected more than five million times in 2020.

While Coca-Cola has sold a number of short-term creations such as Coca-Cola K-Wave Zero Sugar, Coca-Cola Happy Tears Zero Sugar, Marshmello’s Limited Edition Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, and more, none have been permanent additions.

What is your opinion of the new flavor?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Instructors: Bring the new Coca-Cola drink to class for students to sample.
  2. Have students do a taste test about the flavor. What are their opinions?
  3. Show Coca-Cola’s website: https://www.coca-cola.com/us/en/offerings/coca-cola-spiced
  4. Show video of the new flavor launch: https://youtu.be/TFRwYvOFWa4?si=BLuLHBX2jGSD9kmU
  5. Discuss how to develop a product positioning map. Review key aspects of mapping, including determining the axis labels for positioning.
  6. Review Coca-Cola Spiced. What products are competitors?
  7. Divide students into teams and have team develop a positioning map for Coca-Cola Spiced.
  8. Debrief the exercise.

Source: Durbin, D. (7 February 2024). Coke introduces new raspberry flavored ‘Coca-Cola Spiced’. Associated Press; Shafiq, S. (19 February 2024). ‘Coke with a twist’” What is Coca-Cola Spiced and when can you try it? USA Today; Valinksky, J. (7 February 2024). Coke’s first new permanent flavor in years adds a spicy twist. CNN Business; other news sources.

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by | Saturday, March 30, 2024 · 12:14 am

How Important is Packaging?

There are many different factors that can influence consumers’ product selection. One of the most important is the way a product is packaged and labeled – the way a product is packaged/labeled immediately provides information to the buyer. Some packaging is very complex and busy, while others may be simpler in nature. A recent study conducted by Texas Christian University examined the trend towards minimalist packaging and how design influences consumer perceptions about products at grocery stores.

The results of the study showed that minimalistic packaging (fewer colors, word, and neutral boxes) leads consumers to believe that those products contain fewer ingredients, and thus are more pure. However, the reverse is true when considering generic or store brands. For those products, consumers seem to prefer bold shapes and fancy text, perhaps to convince them that the product is valuable.

 Some of the necessary ingredients to successful labeling and packaging design are:

  • Category or product type
  • Brand
  • Variant
  • Functional benefits
  • Reasons-to-believe
  • Emotional promise or benefit
  • Call-to-action
  • Content details (such as size, weight, etc.)

In addition, the packaging must protect the product and be easy to handle, transport, and store. If any of these factors are lacking, consumers may choose to buy an alternative product.

Remember, the main goal of packaging is to make the product visible to consumers, communicate the brand and benefits, and persuade the consumer to buy it.

What package is most effective?  

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Instructors: Bring several packaged items to class for students to examine.
  2. Have students look in their bags and backpacks and pull out any item that is in a package/wrapper.
  3. What are their impressions of the package? How does it influence the purchase?
  4. Show video about tips for packaging design: https://youtu.be/qenDKgHL3aA?si=c6tu53SKLywX27Iy
  5. Show blog article about best product packaging examples: https://filestage.io/blog/product-packaging/
  6. Have students work in teams and go to a local grocery/convenience store. Have then identify several products in the same category (ex: soups, juices) and examine how the packages attract consumers.
  7. What changes could be made?
  8. In teams, have students select a common product and design new packaging for it.
  9. What are key considerations for the packaging?
  10. To access the original research study done by Texas Christian University: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00222429231192049
  11. Consider assigning a project to replicate the study and examine findings.

Source:  Mitchell, H. (26 January 2024). When consumers prefer simple packaging – and when they don’t. Wall Street Journal.

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by | Wednesday, February 28, 2024 · 7:56 am

Are you ready for Temu?

Remember this year’s Super Bowl ads?

While most ads were for brands that consumers already know and buy, there were FIVE 30-second ads (at a cost of roughly $7 million per 30 seconds, plus another $15 million in coupons and giveaways) from a somewhat new-to-America Chinese company named Temu which promises prices so low that customers can “shop like a billionaire.”

The Super Bowl ads seem to have paid off already as Temu’s app rose to second place among the most downloaded free apps on Apple devices. But what is Temu and why should we care about it?

Basically, Temu is an online discount marketplace that sells low-priced items ranging from clothes, to home products, to technology products. In addition, customers earn store credit for promoting it on social media, or playing games hosted on its website.

A big difference (besides the low prices) is that shipping can take 23 days since products come from outside the U.S. Another problem is the level of customer complaints, possible unfair/unethical labor practices, as well as data privacy concerns about the information it collects. Part of the company’s success is also based on its use of a loophole in import laws which allows it to skip import taxes based on the low price of individual items, not bulk shipment.

Temu is actually the U.S. version of a giant e-commerce Chinese company called Pinduoduo (now renamed PDD Holdings, Inc.) and sells to more than 750 million users/month. Temu launched in the U.S. in fall of 2022 and now has more than 50 million active users, up 300% year-over-year.

Will shop on Temu?  

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Poll students: Who has used Temu? What do they know about it?
  2. Show video about Temu: https://youtu.be/LYU7QEGsBtE?si=Ij7UuDjar4RKUxhs
  3. Show Temu website: https://www.temu.com/
  4. Divide students into teams and have each team compare prices on Temu versus prices on Amazon or at other ecommerce retailers.
  5. What are the main differences?
  6. Have students prepare a positioning map for Temu versus its competitors. What are the risks?
  7. OPTIONAL: Either the professor or students can place an order on Temu to observe the handling and product quality for themselves. A caveat: Be very aware of data that may be collected by the company before deciding to go ahead with buying.

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