The New Cola Wars: Coca-Cola Still Number One
The New Cola Wars: Coca-Cola Still Number One
Coca-Cola has long been a world leader in cola products, with Pepsi being the only competitor coming even remotely close to removing them from their number one spot. However, with increasing globalization comes increasing fear that the success of domestic products may falter. In turn, this results in an increase in domestic producers of similar products in an effort to increase domestic success and limit control of foreign producers. Regardless of these subsequent growths in domestic competitors, Coca-Cola may never truly be outdone.
In the early 2000’s, domestic competitors began to arise in Europe and the Middle East in response to Coca-Cola’s control of the cola market. Mecca Cola was launched in an effort to become the new choice of cola for Muslims worldwide, as well as to provide a substitute for the American cola product. This new company pledged to donate twenty percent of its profits to Muslim and Palestinian charities, and even sponsored the peace march in London that demonstrated against the U.S. involvement in the war against Iraq (Gillespie & Hennessy, 2011). During that peace march, 36,000 bottles of Mecca Cola were given out along with 10,000 T-shirts bearing the Mecca Cola logo and anti-war slogans. They even equipped a vehicle with a twenty-foot high Mecca Cola can pulling a trailer with an advertisement board bearing the slogan “Human beings are all born free and equal… and should think before they drink” (Britt, 2003). However, even with Mecca Cola’s pledge to domestic charities and its anti-war campaign, it was not strong enough to overthrow Coca-Cola’s hold on the market.
Yet another European competitor was born with the creation of Qibla Cola, which launched in Britain in 2002. Like Mecca Cola, Qibla vowed to donate a percentage of its profits to humanitarian efforts worldwide, and was against the U.S. led war in Iraq. Qibla even went as far as to call
Coca-Cola has long been a world leader in cola products, with Pepsi being the only competitor coming even remotely close to removing them from their number one spot. However, with increasing globalization comes increasing fear that the success of domestic products may falter. In turn, this results in an increase in domestic producers of similar products in an effort to increase domestic success and limit control of foreign producers. Regardless of these subsequent growths in domestic competitors, Coca-Cola may never truly be outdone.
In the early 2000’s, domestic competitors began to arise in Europe and the Middle East in response to Coca-Cola’s control of the cola market. Mecca Cola was launched in an effort to become the new choice of cola for Muslims worldwide, as well as to provide a substitute for the American cola product. This new company pledged to donate twenty percent of its profits to Muslim and Palestinian charities, and even sponsored the peace march in London that demonstrated against the U.S. involvement in the war against Iraq (Gillespie & Hennessy, 2011). During that peace march, 36,000 bottles of Mecca Cola were given out along with 10,000 T-shirts bearing the Mecca Cola logo and anti-war slogans. They even equipped a vehicle with a twenty-foot high Mecca Cola can pulling a trailer with an advertisement board bearing the slogan “Human beings are all born free and equal… and should think before they drink” (Britt, 2003). However, even with Mecca Cola’s pledge to domestic charities and its anti-war campaign, it was not strong enough to overthrow Coca-Cola’s hold on the market.
Yet another European competitor was born with the creation of Qibla Cola, which launched in Britain in 2002. Like Mecca Cola, Qibla vowed to donate a percentage of its profits to humanitarian efforts worldwide, and was against the U.S. led war in Iraq. Qibla even went as far as to call
References: Britt, B. (2003, February 4). Mecca Cola Mimics Coke; Sales Support Palestinians. Retrieved March 2, 2014, from AdvertisingAge Web site: http://adage.com/article/news/mecca-cola-mimics-coke-sales-support-palestinians/36901/ Gillespie, K., & Hennessy, D. (2011). Global Marketing. Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning. Positive Publications, LLC. (2012). Ajegroup: Big on Cola. Retrieved March 2, 2014, from Industry Today: http://industrytoday.com/article_view.asp?ArticleID=FDQ_263