Page 25 - All About History - Issue 33-15

Trade

4 FAMOUS…
How not to… react to competition
In1985,Coca-Colawasincreasingly recentgrowthofPepsithathad ENTREPRENEURS
waryofcompetitionfromrivals. takenontheoldtimerCoca-Cola
Despitesolidsales,itsresponsewas atitsowngameandwasclosing
toceaseproductiononitscurrent thesalesgap.Thedriveforanew
brandandrelease‘NewCoke’. flavourseemedlikealogicalidea,
Designed to usher the company especially as Pepsi began to corner
intoanewage,thereleaseflopped the youth market, but the firm had
asthepublicbecameoutragedat underestimated the strong and
thedemiseoftheoriginalflavour. even emotional attachment the US
Bowing to popular demand, New population had to the original brand.
Cokewasscrappedandtheoriginal Today,thecompanysellsnearly1.8
flavourreinstated.Thedisastrous billion beverages worldwide every
decision was motivated by the single day. If it ain’t broke… JOHNDROCKEFELLER
1839-1937,USA
The founder of Standard Oil,
Rockefeller became one of
theworld’srichestmenand
revolutionised the petroleum
industry in the USA.

ASAGRIGGS
CANDLER

Advertiseyourproduct Take on commercial partners 1851-1929, USA
Born on a farm, Candler turned his
$3.5 billion was spent by Coca-Cola on advertising in As well as other companies, consider getting local hand to business and purchased
032012alone.Inthecompany’searlydays,itputahuge 04 government on your side. Coca-Cola managed to get the Coca-Cola formula, building it
emphasisonpatrioticimagery,whichwasaragingsuccess both independent businesses and local governments to help into an empire.
and keytogettingtheAmericanaudienceonitsside.Italways getthecompanyoffitskneesandspreadoutaroundtheUSA.
helpstogetenvironmentalconcernssortedearlyon.Coca-Cola Getting a major name, whether it be in sports, entertainment or
benefitedfromapublic-financedrecyclingprogramme. music, to sign up to the brand is always a plus.

MADAM CJ WALKER
1867-1919, USA
Walker was the first African-
American woman to become a
self-made millionaire due to her
successful beauty industry.

Get trendy Go global CATERINAFAKE
Free samples are a good way to get the public on your Onceyourcountryhasbeenconquered,thenextstepisto
05side,asisthemysteryofasecretformula.Bewaryof 06takeontheworld.Bynowyoushouldhaveenoughfunds 1969/70-PRESENT, USA
‘selling out’, but, especially at the start of your beverage’s career, to spread out your web of contacts and infrastructure. Your rivals The US businesswoman
co-founded the photo hosting
emblazon the product on everything from calendars to clocks. should have also been eliminated, so there will be nothing to stop
service Flickr and is now in
By throwingeverythingyoucanatmarketing,yourempirecan the juggernaut. Either that or you might overreach and go bankrupt. varioustop100mostinfluential
begin to grow. Even Coca-Cola stumbled from time to time. Remember New Coke? people lists.
© Ed Crooks
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