Great Ideas for Teaching Marketing
IDEAS AND RESOURCES FOR TEACHING MARKETING
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Pepsi Next Case Study
New Product Process
In February 2012 the Pepsi Next product was launched into the US market. This case study provides students with an interesting insight into PepsiCo’s new product process and some of the challenging decisions that they faced along the way.
ACTIVITY/TASK
Pepsi Next Case Study
Introduction
Pepsi Next was launched by PepsiCo into the US market in February 2012, and has since been rolled out to various international markets (for instance, it was launched in Australia in September 2012).
The new product is described as a mid-calorie cola beverage, having a mix of sugar and artificial sweeteners, designed to deliver a full cola taste with reduced calories. While filling the market gap between full sugar and diet soft drinks, PepsiCo has indicated that its prime target market is lapsed cola drinkers (giving them a reason to return to the product category).
PepsiCo, which owns range of high profile beverage brands in addition to its flagship brand Pepsi, appear to be highly committed to Pepsi Next providing it with strong launch and management support. In fact, according to PepsiCo themselves, this is their most significant product launch for several years.
About PepsiCo
PepsiCo is the second largest food and beverage company in the world, with revenues now in excess of $60 billion. The corporation has 22 brands that achieve retail sales in excess of $1 billion each. As a result of their brand diversification, around half of PepsiCo’s revenue is generated from their food lines, such as Frito-Lay (snack food) and Quaker Oats.
In addition, they have progressively expanded internationally and now access over 80% of the world’s population. Their international (non-US) markets account for almost 50% of their...