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From: lauren@vortex.UUCP (Lauren Weinstein)
Newsgroups: net.followup
Subject: Re: The New COKE
Message-ID: <670@vortex.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 26-May-85 15:26:39 EDT
Article-I.D.: vortex.670
Posted: Sun May 26 15:26:39 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 29-May-85 01:28:06 EDT
References: <515@x.UUCP>
Organization: Vortex Technology, Los Angeles
Lines: 29

In a recent "Wall Street Journal" article regarding the COKE change,
there were some interesting statements:

1) In totally blind taste tests, even dedicated drinkers of one
   brand or another were extremely inaccurate at identifying the
   type of cola from taste.  In tests including Pepsi and Old/New Coke,
   the results bobbled right around chance, with only a vanishingly
   few people even correctly identifying what they had claimed was
   their "favorite."

2) The COKE change was largely based on tests that indicated that the
   real cola addicts, the ones who guzzle lots of them, prefer the
   sweeter taste.  By moving their taste in that direction, the tests
   indicated that COKE would pick up an additional market share of
   this group.  The increase to be expected would supposedly more
   than offset (by far) the lost revenues from "occasional" COKE
   drinkers (not the addicts) who would switch away from the New COKE.

Therefore, it appears to have been simple economics at work.  COKE probably
realized that occasional drinkers of COKE would drop the product, but
is operating on the assumption (apparently well grounded in tests) that
the REAL cola guzzles would buy more COKE if it tasted more closely
to what they liked--and that increased revenues would result.

As for myself, I prefer the Old COKE, but since I'm only an occasional
cola drinker I fell into the "out in the cold" section of the survey,
apparently.

--Lauren--