A New Classic
77 days. Not a very long time for a product to be on the market, is it? But for Coca-Cola, that’s all it took.
In the mid-80’s, Coke wasn’t happy with the direction their company was going. They were losing money to Pepsi, and they wanted to cater to a younger audience. Their solution? New product, new branding. Enter New Coke.
New Coke failed. Miserably. It’s famous for it. Even with promotions by Bill Cosby and the 80’s super fad Max Headroom, the new formula for Coke just wasn’t doing it for customers. And without customers, it couldn’t keep up in the market.
So 77 days. Sure, in the short run the whole New Coke thing didn’t work out. But long term? Sales have been increasing ever since. Once people got their original beloved Coca-Cola back, they just couldn’t get enough of it. So Coke re-rebranded. Enter Coca-Cola Classic.
And Coca-Cola Classic has been around ever since. Yeah, Coke has added other drinks to their line-up with their own sub-branding. But Classic has been their mainstay for 25 years, with no end in sight.
Yes, rebranding can be scary. Yes, it takes guts. But we’ve got your back. We’ll keep you from going into a 77-day death spiral. We won’t give you New Coke. We’ll give you Coca-Cola Classic.
Tags: Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Classic, Coke, market, New Coke, rebranding