Before Coca-Cola
launched 'New Coke' they had invested US$4,000,000 in market research
and undertook 200,000 blind taste tests. In all these blind (unbranded)
taste tests the New Coke outperformed both Pepsi and existing Coke.
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These blind
taste tests were the basis of the launch of 'New Coke' in 1985.
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The launch
created a public outcry, with Coke receiving over 40,000 letters
of complaint and over 6,000 calls a day to the company's '0800'
phone number. After only 87 days the company responded to the public's
demands and re-introduced the original Coke formula.
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How had
the Coca-Cola management got it so wrong?
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• They had focused on the
product, not the brand.
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They had neglected the emotional value of 'Coke' to the American
public.
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They asked the wrong questions, so their research provided irrelevant
information. |
As one Coca-Cola
official said at the time "we betrayed a national trust".
Why? Because they never thought to ask American consumers how they
would feel
about a change to Coke, whether or not they would want a 'New Coke'. |
This is a classic example of
one of the biggest challenges in market research: knowing what you
need to know to make a good decision. |
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