Pepsi not advertising at SuperBowl this year

Pepsi will end it's 23 year streak of advertising during the SuperBowl and instead conserve it's funds so it can put more strength into it's online efforts.

See the whole article here.

How expensive is it to advertise during the biggest football game of the year?
Last year it cost an average of 3 million dollars for a 30 second spot.

That's a lot of Pepsi to sell to cover that bill!

There is no reason to 'doubt' Pepsi's reasons for pulling out of SuperBowl this year, but one has to wonder if they are just being polite. In other words, are they selling 6 or 8 million Pepsi's per ad? Have they finally decided that they are not getting enough bang for the buck?

It's incredibly hard to gauge. If they were offering an entirely new product/brand, then you could count sales for 10 days following SuperBowl and estimate a majority came from the ad. But to spend 3 million dollars for 30 seconds to show off an already globally-recognized product...how do you know if the marketing is WORKING?!

Last year, FedEx sat out the SuperBowl...and they plan to do so again this year.
Maybe Corporate America is finding that the price tag is just too high, and not worth it.

I once worked for a company that participated in a big trade show each year.
We got very little business from the show itself...but it was a 'status symbol' to be there.

So if you were NOT there, it looked bad. People would talk. Rumours would start.

Maybe Pepsi (and many others) has been hanging in just so no one speculates that they can't afford to be there?

By sticking their neck and their press release out NOW to announce the parting of ways...and to use an excuse that will draw attention and get people looking for new marketing...Pepsi has squashed any rumours. Personally, I say let Coke spend the millions of millions just to say they were there. It's a very costly venture.

(and watch them fight it out on www.Squidoo.com/CokevsPepsi!)

We all know that marketing endeavors are only valuable if you can measure them.
If you don't know how many Pepsis your 30 second spot sells, then 3 million dollars is 2.9 million dollars too many!

Social Butterfly talks up ColaLife

Now and again I talk up Simon Berry's ColaLife project.
It's simple and brilliant at the same time!

ColaLife is a non-profit organization that strives to get CocaCola to leverage it's distribution strength to bring aid to the malnourished Third World nations in Africa.

In other words, if they can bring Coca Cola into Africa, then they should be able to easily bring water and medicine as well.

While I pride myself on keeping the world updated on Simon's work, I found a GREAT article about ColaLife in a recent Social Butterfly post here. (Be sure to click on the video. It's very cute, despite the grave message).

Social marketing is being used to get the public on board with products. But it's just as powerful a tool for sharing valuable 'non profit' ideas...like saving lives!

Alexandra's blog is fabulous, and the ColaLife article is concise and thorough at the same time!
Be sure to check it out...and then read further into ColaLife's efforts and see if and where you can help!


And for something less "political", don't forget our friends at Coke versus Pepsi!

Coke versus Costco - Greed is not so Good!

It's all over the news. Well, the 'Soda' news.
Costco isn't getting the pricing it wants from Coca Cola, so they've decided to no longer carry their products.

Well...they'll sell out what they have and THEN stop carrying it. The quote in the Associated Press article reads like this:

The wholesale club operator, based in Issaquah, Wash., is not removing products like Coke and Diet Coke from store shelves, but it does not plan to restock them "until the matter is resolved,".

The Chicago Tribune, Huffington Post and Walletpop reported the story also...but both sides of the argument are being rather tight lipped about it all so there isn't much for them to share.

Which products? Apparently ALL of them: Coke, Cherry Coke (Jay-Z's favorite!), Classic Coke, Black Cherry Vanilla Coke (yes, really!), Diet Coke, Coke Zero and Sprite. And Disani water! and Vitamin Water! And Energy Drinks!

But who is really being the price bully here? Have you ever bought soda in a price club? I have NEVER seen brand-name soda at a reasonable price at ANY price club. I don't care if it's Costco, Sam's, BJ's...they all have been consistently higher in price than the grocery chain stores.

How big a discount does the #1 soda distributor have to give a retailer? Soda is like soap...people are going to keep buying it no matter WHAT it costs. This is not to say that it's reasonable to 'price gouge'...but my point is that if the national Grocery Chains can sell soda at a given price, then the wholesale stores should be able to sell 'competitively' as well.

These 'price clubs' have made a career of asking the public to pay a membership fee so that they can buy products in bulk. Sure, you get a good price on Mayonaise...it's because you're buying a 2-gallon jug of it! Less plastic, less glass, less paper labels...lower price.

But maybe Joe Blow doesn't WANT to buy 300 cans of Coca Cola in order to get a good price. He wants to go where he buys his chopped meat and chicken and buy everything for dinner in 1 place. If Costco can't make money selling Coca Cola then they should stick to selling no-name brands at a profit.

Costco is a huge chain, but will Coca Cola suffer dramatically from the loss?
I'm inclined to say 'no'.

Sure, you want every sale you can get...but this might open Coca Cola up to finding some markets they have NOT yet exploited...and tell Costco to get back in line with everyone else and pay what everyone else is paying.

And do you think Costco can find enough no-name substitutes for the brands they are discontinuing? How many people are going to say "Oh look! It's Cola Zero! Sure, it's not COKE Zero, but I'll drink it! And LOOK! They have Dish-ani! Sure, it's not Disani..but I'm sure it's similar!"

Almost none.

Much of the feedback I've seen has been based around "glad to see Costco telling Coke to shove it." As a business man and a Costco customer I say "tough noogies, Costco."

In the land of Mr. Pibb

I flew from Newark, New Jersey to Phoenix, Arizona earlier this week.
When the airline stewardess (I can't remember the Politically Correct term, so I'm going with the ol' standard...) came by with the Soda Cart, I noticed that someone 2 rows up had gotten a can of Pibb Xtra.

Pibb Xtra? That's the revised name for Mr. Pibb!
I like Mr. Pibb!
(I like Dr. Pepper better, I think, but I haven't had a Mr. Pibb in some time.)

So I had one.

Ever notice that these young ladies give you a cup FILLED with ice, and then pour in whatever soda will fit? BLEAUGHGH. I had to use the back of my fork to pull out all of the ice and pour IN more soda. Of course, after 3 pours I was left with WARM soda...but at least it wasn't FLAT watered down cold soda....

That afternoon, after a very good client visit, we went to lunch.
The Soda Fountain had a few standards (Coke, Lipton Iced Tea...)...and Pibb Xtra!
YEAH! I'll have another Pibb!
Can't get them in New Jersey!

I'm still calling it Mr. Pibb, by the way.
There didn't seem to be anything 'extra' about Pibb Xtra.
Extra colors on the can, maybe.
Maybe it costs extra these days...but what doesn't?

(Actually, according to Wikipedia:

In 2001, a new flavor called Pibb Xtra has 23 flavors and was introduced with added cinnamon flavor, replacing the original flavor in many parts of the US.)

Ok, all definitions aside, this time it was already cold and it had NO ice in the cup.
MUUUUUCH better!

So now I've got a few Mr. Pibbs in me and I realize...as much as I want to like this soda I really DO like Dr. Pepper better.
In fact, the public in general seems to like Dr. Pepper better...some are even Bootlegging it!

Sorry, Pibb. You're a nice guy and all but a Doctor trumps a Mister every time.
An no one needs an Extra Mister.

Strange Little Sodas Kept Alive

I found a GREAT article in Fortune magazine that I wanted to share/summarize for you.
It talked about 5 'niche' sodas that have not lived up to their owner's expectations, but will not die due to their cult following.

Which 5 sodas?

1) Moxie - in the 1900's this cola outsold Coke and Pepsi! Now, it's a cult favorite in the NorthEast and a virtual unknown elsewhere in the States.

2) Mr. Pibb - forget the 'MILF' articles I've written about Mr. Pibb, the bigger story is that the Coke-owned answer to "Dr. Pepper' sold 57 million cases last year. Of course, Dr. Pepper sold 586 million. And it has it's own museum.

3) Slice - strongly endorsed by Roger Enrico when he ran PepsiCo, it never achieved the 10% of market that he envisioned.

4) TAB - Owned by Coke, this diet beverage never surpassed competitor Diet Coke. But last year 3 million cases were bought..some dieters SOMEWHERE are drinking it!

5) Fanta - In the U.S., Coke sold 175 million cases of this tasty little beverage. That's about 7 times more than it's 2000 sales.

You can read the Fortune article in it's entirety here.


5 more sodas that deserve to be showcased on Coke vs. Pepsi!

Soda Prices Going Up when New Taxes Kick In?

And now for something political...

I'm doin' the Google Search for a clever soda-term today, and in my travels I come across a few (recent) articles that debate and discuss the idea of a surcharge/tax on Soda!

Some claim it will help in the fight against obesity.
Others see it as just another way to fill the political coffers.
Others see it as an infrigement of their rights and freedoms!
(Ok, settle down there Thomas Jefferson...)

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom likens soda to Tobacco, and wants to tax the retailers who sell it! The American Beverage Association seems to share my view on politics and food. They released a statement that read in part, "If our goal is to address obesity, then educating consumers about the importance of balancing calories consumed from all foods and beverages with the calories expended through physical activity is what matters - not demonizing any one particular food."

CollegeNET Forum further discusses the act here.

A New York Times online article discusses taxing soda in an effort to fight obesity and other health-issues here. It's a very thorough article, and the author does a nice job of showing both sides of the equation.

It opens with an interesting quote. It's attributed to Adam Smith, the economist, and dates back to “The Wealth of Nations,” (1776) where he wrote: “Sugar, rum and tobacco are commodities which are nowhere necessaries of life, which are become objects of almost universal consumption, and which are therefore extremely proper subjects of taxation.”

Thanks, Adam. I like Rum AND Soda. In fact, I think it's called a "Captain and Coke" if I'm not mistaken....

Again, I am opposed hurting people who CAN manage their weight by making them pay (no pun intended) for the follies of those who cannot. But maybe that's just me? I'm not so sure. In fact, I found an interesting on-line article in the Delaware Libertarian where the author does a very nice job of showing the flaw in people's thinking when it comes to accepting such a tax. Very clever article here.


Lastly, when you want information quickly and not with all the New York Times stuffiness, there is always USA Today! Here is there on-line article on the subject of taxing sodas. Sorry, no pie charts in this article!

Remember, when it comes to taxes, you are essentially giving money to the government to do with what they will. It's important that no matter how you vote on such a topic, that you 100% understand the issue from all sides. It's equally important that your Senator/Representative is voting with your best interests in mind...regardless of what you weight, what you earn and what you drink.

MILF + Soda is NOT a good mix!

Several months ago I wrote a blog entry called This MILF likes Mr. Pibb. I thought I was doing a nice thing...giving a stranger some free traffic to her blog...and I have to admit I was interested to see if the 'MILF" term was going to bring additional traffic to MY blog.

Today I was studying some stats and wondered if it was worth trying the MILF tag again in the title. So I visited our friends at Google and searched "MILF" + "Soda".

In my heart I HONESTLY believed that I would find pages of articles, blogs and photos of MILFs discussing or showing off their favorite sodas. I mean, after all, many women believe they are a MILF...some are even told so. And MANY of them drink soda! So since Google can find almost ANYthing (and quickly!) I thought this was going to be a home run and my work would be done in minutes.

Boy was I wrong!

All I got was a handful of links of women doing some pretty graphic stuff with soda cans and soda bottles.

YIKES!!

I like beautiful women as much as the next (straight) guy...but if you can get an entire soda can (or bottle!) up there then we have nothing to talk about. Really. But thanks for sharing...!

Pretty funny "MILF + Soda" quote = When you go to Yahoo Answers you see that someone posts the question "Would you consider yourself as a MILF" and one of the answers was "I think I'm an attractive mother. Women who think they are MILFs usually give their babies soda in a bottle."

Good one, Rachel...whoever and wherever you are!!!

(BTW - I had a female friend who told me, in the same conversation, that a) she has low self esteem about her looks and b) she had been called a MILF a few times before. So you know what? She is either lying about 'a' or she is lying about 'b' because never the twain should meet!)

By the way...I know many of you refer to Soda as 'pop'.
(Don't believe me? Check the poll results here.)

When you search "MILF + Pop" the results aren't any better (as you might have guessed!). In fact, the first 10 items on Google are all about a video that Lexi Stone made. No, there is no soda involved and no you should not let your children watch it!!!!!!

So here is what I have learned today:
1 - using "MILF" in your blog title may raise your hit count...but not so much in a Soda blog
2 - giving a MILF free press often goes un-appreciated
3 - tyring to find MILF articles that do not include soda or a penis insertion is near impossible

That's all for today!