Mountain Dew Case
IV. Situational Analysis
A. Environment
1. Economic Conditions and Trends After the relatively mild 1990-91 recession ended in March 1991, the country hit a belated unemployment rate peak of 7.8% in mid-1992. Job growth was initially muted by large layoffs among defense related industries. However, payroll gains accelerated in 1992 and experienced robust growth through the year 2000. As the Dot Com bubble occurred in the mid and late 1990s, assorted predictions that eventually the bubble would burst emerged frequently. Because of the October 27, 1997 mini-crash in the wake of the Asian crisis, the predictions about a future burst increased, causing an uncertain climate on economy during the first months of 1998, while the Federal Reserve raised interest rates six times between June 1999 and May 2000 in an effort to cool the economy to a soft landing. The actual burst of the stock market bubble occurred in the form of the NASDAQ crash in March 2000. Growth in gross domestic product slowed considerably in the third quarter of 2000 to the lowest rate since a contraction in the first quarter of 1991.
2. Cultural and Social Values and Trends From pharmacy novelties, soda fountains soon became a central part of American culture and transformed into community gathering places where people would meet and socialize over a delicious effervescent beverage. The soda shops were often classy places, anchored by a grandiose fountain made of marble, gilded with metal piping and spigots, and ornamented with figurines, gas lights, and mirrors. The soda shops often drew single sex crowds, with ones located in the shopping district drawing all females, and those situated in the business district all males. At these all-male hang outs guys would sip a bubbly beverage and chew the fat. For example, Hudnut’s, a popular soda fountain in New York City attracted a luminous crowd. Located on “Newspaper Row,” the fountain was a male-hang out frequented by journalists and editors who
A. Environment
1. Economic Conditions and Trends After the relatively mild 1990-91 recession ended in March 1991, the country hit a belated unemployment rate peak of 7.8% in mid-1992. Job growth was initially muted by large layoffs among defense related industries. However, payroll gains accelerated in 1992 and experienced robust growth through the year 2000. As the Dot Com bubble occurred in the mid and late 1990s, assorted predictions that eventually the bubble would burst emerged frequently. Because of the October 27, 1997 mini-crash in the wake of the Asian crisis, the predictions about a future burst increased, causing an uncertain climate on economy during the first months of 1998, while the Federal Reserve raised interest rates six times between June 1999 and May 2000 in an effort to cool the economy to a soft landing. The actual burst of the stock market bubble occurred in the form of the NASDAQ crash in March 2000. Growth in gross domestic product slowed considerably in the third quarter of 2000 to the lowest rate since a contraction in the first quarter of 1991.
2. Cultural and Social Values and Trends From pharmacy novelties, soda fountains soon became a central part of American culture and transformed into community gathering places where people would meet and socialize over a delicious effervescent beverage. The soda shops were often classy places, anchored by a grandiose fountain made of marble, gilded with metal piping and spigots, and ornamented with figurines, gas lights, and mirrors. The soda shops often drew single sex crowds, with ones located in the shopping district drawing all females, and those situated in the business district all males. At these all-male hang outs guys would sip a bubbly beverage and chew the fat. For example, Hudnut’s, a popular soda fountain in New York City attracted a luminous crowd. Located on “Newspaper Row,” the fountain was a male-hang out frequented by journalists and editors who