Just like the idea of the new COKE, Coca-Cola lost an estimated $30 million in unsold concentrate and spent $4 million on research/marketing for New Coke, totaling around $34 million (over $90M adjusted for inflation) in direct financial hits, but the real cost was public backlash and brand damage that led to the quick return of Coca-Cola Classic, ultimately reinforcing consumer loyalty, according to The New York Times, this Day in Business History, and titandigital.com.
Coke ended up winning the 80s cola wars versus Pepsi as a result of New Coke. Sergio Zyman, who was the head of marketing at Coke, documented this in a whole lot of examples during this time. It is a total untruth that Coke was somehow beaten during this period. Rather, in a potentially unseen win, Coke came out on top.
As a result of the Pepsi Challenge, Coke thought they needed to make their recipe more closely resemble the lower carbonation and increased sweetness of Pepsi. That was New Coke. However, all the launch of New Coke did was drive their majority back to the original, and Coke has been on top ever since.
Just like the idea of the new COKE, Coca-Cola lost an estimated $30 million in unsold concentrate and spent $4 million on research/marketing for New Coke, totaling around $34 million (over $90M adjusted for inflation) in direct financial hits, but the real cost was public backlash and brand damage that led to the quick return of Coca-Cola Classic, ultimately reinforcing consumer loyalty, according to The New York Times, this Day in Business History, and titandigital.com.
Coke ended up winning the 80s cola wars versus Pepsi as a result of New Coke. Sergio Zyman, who was the head of marketing at Coke, documented this in a whole lot of examples during this time. It is a total untruth that Coke was somehow beaten during this period. Rather, in a potentially unseen win, Coke came out on top.
As a result of the Pepsi Challenge, Coke thought they needed to make their recipe more closely resemble the lower carbonation and increased sweetness of Pepsi. That was New Coke. However, all the launch of New Coke did was drive their majority back to the original, and Coke has been on top ever since.