Tag Archives: retail

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 | Thursday, February 22, 2024 · 11:41 am

The Latest in Drone Deliveries

Distribution, environment, innovation, retail, services, sustainability, technology

Ready for deliveries via drone? It’s been a lot of talk, and testing since we saw Amazon first demonstrate drones in 2013, but it seems that little has been done to implement drone delivery for the average consumer.

Well, that’s about to change. That is, if you live in the Dallas-Fort Worth right now, you are in luck. Walmart has announced it is expanding its drone delivery program to millions of people in 30 municipalities around the geography.

Why drones? They are a great way to deliver fast service for small packages. Drone delivery lowers carbon emissions, but does add some noise to the environment. For Walmart, it can impact the scale of its delivery fleet in the U.S. – 80,000 trailers, 12,000 drivers, driving 1.1 billion miles each year. Drones weigh 400 times less than cars, run on electric power, and can make a delivery in less than a third of the time.

Delivery time is roughly 30 minutes, but works best in places with open areas such as suburbs. Drones can fly at speeds up to 65 miles per hour and hover several hundred feet above the ground. Customers can watch the progress on an app which includes time and precise delivery location. The drone hovers about 20 feet above the ground, then disengages the package from a long wire system.

The company uses drones from Zipline and Wing (an Alphabet company) and has made hundreds of thousands of deliveries testing the deliveries.

However, the service is not free and not all items are eligible for drone delivery. The delivery fee for this service is $3.99 and the order can weigh up to 10 pounds. Walmart stated that the top-selling item at one of its current hubs isn’t an emergency item – it’s Hamburger Helper (ok, that might be an emergency if it’s dinner time). Products delivered tend to be a last-minute purchase or forgotten ingredient, plus medicine and treats.

Give it a try!

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:  

  1. Poll students: What are their opinions about using drones for supply chain and deliveries? Have they seen or used a drone service?
  2. Show Wing website: https://wing.com/
  3. Show a video using Wing for delivery: https://youtu.be/xfaMJgHX_4E?si=CbTn6buiixf9adJH
  4. For schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area (or other areas using drone delivery), consider assigning a project whereby students order using drone delivery. Have them evaluate the service.
  5. In teams, have students develop a promotional plan for the drone delivery service.
  6. Who is the target market for drone delivery?
  7. What is the key message?

Source:  Birch, K. (16 January 2024). Walmart: Reducing emissions with drone technology. Sustainability magazine; Nassauer, S. (9 January 2024). Walmart expands drone delivery in Dallas as it races Amazon. Wall Street Journal; Shankland, S. (9 January 2024). Walmart expands Dallas drone deliveries to millions more Texans. CNET; other news sources.

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