Branding: Slogan Wars Between Coke and Pepsi

PauloGabriel — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:01:35 +0000

The world is divided. Some people enjoy the classic feeling. Others, prefer to be the next generation. Whether you're a Coca-Cola or a Pepsi fan boy, you have witnessed the constant war between these two giants. When you place this war under a microscope, it's possible to see how these companies have tried to change their brand awareness during the years, trying to overcome each other.

When it was first introduced back in 1886, Coke didn't have much opponents in the cola drink market. That until 1898 when Pepsi was released and the rivalry between these two exploded, making the need for brand positioning really urgent for both.

In marketing, positioning has come to mean the process by which marketers try to create an image or identity in the minds of their target market for its product, brand, or organization. It is the 'relative competitive comparison' their product occupies in a given market as perceived by the target market. - Wikipedia

Since both were developed and introcuded by pharmicists, they claimed that both drinks had medicinal properties. Coke's 1900 slogan was "For headache and exhaustion, drink Coca-Cola", while Pepsi's 1903 slogan was "Exhilarating, Invigorating, Aids Digestion". In 1929, Pepsi claimed: "Here's Health!"

Coke has been selling a "refreshing" and "satisfying" image for a longer time than Pepsi. Here's a quick list of slogans that remind us a lot of those we see today:

1904 - Coca-Cola satisfies

1904 - Delicious and Refreshing

1905 - Good all the way down

1906 - Thirst quenching - delicious and refreshing

1907 - Cooling... refreshing... delicious

1909 - Delicious, wholesome, refreshing

1909 - Delicious, wholesome, thirst quenching

1909 - Drink delicious Coca-Cola

In the other hand, Pepsi tried to show that their drink was better for small pockets, having more ounces of drink avaiable in each bottle. Check it out:

1934 - Double Size

1939 - Twice as Much for a Nickel

1943 - Bigger Drink, Better Taste

1949 - Why Take Less When Pepsi's Best?

After that, since Coca-Cola was the top selling cola drink for so long, Pepsi started to change their awereness. Pepsi had to find a way to make people think different of what they were used to. Making Coke look old was solution they found.

1961 - Now It's Pepsi for Those Who Think Young

1963 - Come Alive! You're in the Pepsi Generation

1984 - The Choice of a New Generation

1989 - A Generation Ahead

1993 - Be Young, Have Fun, Drink Pepsi

1997 - Generation Next

Althought its reign was never trembled by Pepsi, Coke replied these slogans reaffirming its untouchable quality and tradition.

1942 - The only thing like Coca-Cola is Coca-Cola itself

1945 - Whenever you hear "Have a Coke," you hear the voice of America

1970 - It's the real thing

1985 - America's Real Choice

1989 - Can't Beat the Feeling

1990 - Can't Beat the Real Thing

1993 - Always Coca-Cola

Another detail that makes clear to us that Coke never felt threaten is the fact that the Coca-Cola logo was hardly ever changed. The times Coke tried some change, the feedback was all negative, and they had to bring back the classic logo. Pepsi has been changing its logo since ever, adjusting themselves to each generation, making their way to become the "young choice".

From our post "Branding is not a Science is it?"

This is pretty much the evolution of the Coca-Cola logo.

And now we'd love to hear from you guys what do you all think about this slogan war. How do you find yourself between these two giants? Which branding do you prefer? Tell us! Cheers! ;)

About the author

Hello, everyone! I'm Paulo Gabriel, designer from Porto Alegre, Brazil, born in 1984. I have worked as a webdesigner since 2006, but websites and blogs have been a hobby for me since 1999. Here in Abduzeedo, I try to bring only the hot stuff for you... and hope that all of you enjoy my posts! For more cool stuff, you may also follow me on Twitter.

Slogan, you really should use one.

fabiano — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:25:18 +0000

When I visit a site for the very first time, at first I just wanna know what does that company do. Making your visitor look for what your site is meant for, what it sells ou what kind of service you pay is a great step to make him go away before you can even blink once.

And that's why you should use slogans, short frases, that explain the main purpose of your site or even instigate the visitor to get to know more about it.

Here we'll show you some slogan use references in sites headers. Strong frases, big fonts, straight to the visitors' eyes and some time with some kind of humor. Isn't it good to find something before you even think of looking for it?

Author: Fabiano Meneghetti | If you want to write an article and have it published here send it via email to abduzeedo[at]abduzeedo.com

superawesome_slogan.png

About the author

I'm from Brazil, co-founder of Zee with Fabio. Nowadays I like to play with Fireworks, Photoshop and improve my skills in CSS. If you wanna request some posts, please feel free to contact me or follow on Twitter.

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Branding: Slogan Wars Between Coke and Pepsi

About the author

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Slogan, you really should use one.

When I visit a site for the very first time, at first I just wanna know what does that company do. Making your visitor look for what your site is meant for, what it sells ou what kind of service you pay is a great step to make him go away before you can even blink once.

About the author

Sponsored Links: