Comments on: New Coke 25 years later: was it all just a brilliant conspiracy?

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By: Dennis Van Staalduinen

Dennis Van Staalduinen — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:55:42 +0000

Great point, and an excellent example.

Sorry if I sounded a bit too much like I was bashing customer research – absolutely not! A big part of my practice at Brandvelope is about teaching / convincing / browbeating my clients to *really* listen to the voice of their customers. And as you said, that’s all about good research which boils down to “asking the right questions”.

By: Dennis Van Staalduinen

Dennis Van Staalduinen — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:50:30 +0000

You’re absolutely right. Anyone can dig a hole. The trick is getting out with grace… the great Tylenol cyanide scare is an example of this. An event like that would kill many brands, but they reacted quickly and effectively to pull product off the shelves, address concerns in a meaningful way, and win confidence back.

By: Brian Seel

Brian Seel — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:13:13 +0000

If you read Sergio Zyman’s thoughts on New Coke in his first book, “The End of Marketing as We Know It”, he references one focus group, where one respondent asked, “Are they going to take away my Coca-Cola? They better not take away my f*&# Coca-Cola”.

Being a market researcher, maybe I am biased, but it seems like a good market researcher, permitted by marketing to ask the right questions (like what happens if we take this formula you like, but put it in a Coke can), who is listened to by marketing can help avoid situations like this one.

It may only be one comment from one respondent, or that one nugget in a series of groups that gives you the answer, but a professional researcher can give you that kind of insight.

By: Nancy Bernard

Nancy Bernard — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:27:36 +0000

The smart move was saying, “oops” and taking it back. This is what Bill Clinton didn’t do, and it cost him. This is what G W Bush didn’t do, and it cost him. This is what all kinds of people do every day, and it costs them. The US Dept of Commerce says that companies that make mistakes, admit them, and correct them, earn more brand loyalty than companies that never make mistakes. It seems people trust an honest mistake more than perfect performance. So, if Coke II wasn’t a deliberate strategy, it at least proves that point.

By: Jim @smashadv

Jim @smashadv — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 03:24:33 +0000

Wow. Great post Dennis. I remember The New well. But I never considered it this way. Growing up in the South, everything’s a Coke.
Guy 1: “You want a Coke?”
Guy 2: “Yeah”
Guy 1: “What flavor?”
So The New looked really stupid to us. I never considered the bounce that Coke (Classic) received when that formula returned. But now I do.
Genius.