What are the pros and cons of adding this product to the “big three” strategic cola brands, effectively creating a “big four” in some markets? other sweeteners may be used.) In 2005, Coke Zero was rolled out. This also con-tains artificial sweeteners but is claimed to be closer in taste to Coke (Diet Coke hasa somewhat different flavor). By 2017, Coke Zero was reformulated and renamedCoca-Cola Zero Sugar. While the actual mix of sweeteners varies from one marketto another, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, like Diet Coke, is sweetened with only artificialsweeteners.This brings us to the Coca-Cola Life launch. With three cola products on the market,Coca-Cola felt there was room for a product that delivered full taste and few calories,while still being all-natural with no artificial sweeteners. In Argentina and other SouthAmerican countries, stevia (an all-natural sugar substitute derived from plants) wasalready popular, and Coca-Cola rolled out the new Coca-Cola Life product. This doescontain some sugar as well as stevia, but it contains only about 60 percent of thecalories of Coca-Cola (about 27 calories per 100 mL).The product was first sold in Argentina in June 2013 and then Chile in November2013, positioned as a drink for healthy lifestyles. The original Argentinian ad, showinga young couple raising a child, was an award-winning commercial and can be seen at:www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPb1t3jU3sI. Coca-Cola Life packaging was mostly green(later labels added a touch of red, the Coca-Cola company color). (Green is used veryprominently in the advertisement as well.)Coca-Cola chose to roll out Coca-Cola Life slowly into the global market. In 2014,it entered Sweden and the U.K., as well as the United States (but in relatively limiteddistribution). By 2015, it was in France, Australia, and several other markets. By 2018,it was in about 40 markets worldwide.Coca-Cola Life has had mixed success in its first five years of existence. It wasdropped in Australia after about two years, due to low sales, and replaced with a simi-lar product, Coca-Cola with Stevia, which contains more stevia and less sugar thanCoke Life. Similarly, in the U.K., after the 2014 launch resulted in low sales, the prod-uct was reformulated and the new version contained even less sugar. Nevertheless,due to continued slow sales coupled with an uptick in Coca-Cola Zero Sugar sales inthe U.K., Coke Life was discontinued there in 2017. Interestingly, blind taste tests inthe U.K. found that people preferred Life to other Coca-Cola products. Case: Coca-Cola Life¹⁹Founded in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1886 and still headquartered in Atlanta, the Coca-ColaCompany needs no introduction. Coca-Cola products are literally found in every coun-try in the world except Cuba and North Korea. Coca-Cola sells over 500 brands ofsparkling and nonsparkling beverages worldwide and accounts for about 1.9 billionservings per day. Among its hundreds of brands are four of the global top five softdrinks: Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Fanta, and Sprite. Other top-selling brands includeMinute Maid, Honest Tea, Dasani, Powerade, and many more.Of the hundreds of Coca-Cola brands, a great number are sold only in a few coun-tries. Sokenbicha, for example, is a Japanese tea product sold only in Japan and inselected U.S. markets. Maaza, a calcium-enriched mango drink, is found in India,Bangladesh, the Netherlands, and Maldives. Over the years, a number of Coca-Colaproducts arrived on the shelves, only to disappear a few months later. These includeCoke Blak (a coffee-flavored cola), Coke Vanilla, Coca-Cola with Lemon or with Lime,and many others. Some of these might have been launched for tactical reasons: toshake up consumer preferences, encourage loyal Pepsi drinkers to try a new flavor,grab shelf space, and so on. But three cola brands have, for years, been positioned asthe "big three" in most countries: Coke, Diet Coke (called Coke Light in some markets),and Coke Zero Sugar. Unlike some of the smaller brands listed above, these three areconsidered strategic brands, globally important and managed centrally by corporateheadquarters.A quick look at international Web sites provides evidence of the strategic impor-tance of these brands. Go to any Coca-Cola global Web page (try suffixes like .fr, .it,.de, or .in for France, Italy, Germany, and India, respectively), and the three brands areusually prominently displayed somewhere on the page.Since 2013, there has been an attempt to add a fourth global brand, Coke Life.Originally developed by Coke researchers in Argentina and Chile, this drink usesstevia as an all-natural sweetener, uses much less sugar than regular Coke, and has noartificial sweeteners. The product was initially launched in Argentina and Chile andslowly rolled out to the global market.A little background on this launch is required. Although Coke remains a profit-able brand for the Coca-Cola company, soft drink sales have been on the decline forsome time. The company has responded in several ways: investing in nonsparklingbeverages such as bottled water, tea, and fruit juice and making package sizechanges to their soft drink lines to align better with customer preferences. Butanother response has been to consider the trend toward calorie counting. As farback as 1982, Coke launched Diet Coke, a sugar-free version originally sweetenedwith aspartame and now using NutraSweet. (In other countries, aspartame and/or

Question

What are the pros and cons of adding this product to the “big three” strategic cola brands, effectively creating a “big four” in some markets? other sweeteners may be used.) In 2005, Coke Zero was rolled out. This also con-tains artificial sweeteners but is claimed to be closer in taste to Coke (Diet Coke hasa somewhat different flavor). By 2017, Coke Zero was reformulated and renamedCoca-Cola Zero Sugar. While the actual mix of sweeteners varies from one marketto another, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, like Diet Coke, is sweetened with only artificialsweeteners.This brings us to the Coca-Cola Life launch. With three cola products on the market,Coca-Cola felt there was room for a product that delivered full taste and few calories,while still being all-natural with no artificial sweeteners. In Argentina and other SouthAmerican countries, stevia (an all-natural sugar substitute derived from plants) wasalready popular, and Coca-Cola rolled out the new Coca-Cola Life product. This doescontain some sugar as well as stevia, but it contains only about 60 percent of thecalories of Coca-Cola (about 27 calories per 100 mL).The product was first sold in Argentina in June 2013 and then Chile in November2013, positioned as a drink for healthy lifestyles. The original Argentinian ad, showinga young couple raising a child, was an award-winning commercial and can be seen at:www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPb1t3jU3sI. Coca-Cola Life packaging was mostly green(later labels added a touch of red, the Coca-Cola company color). (Green is used veryprominently in the advertisement as well.)Coca-Cola chose to roll out Coca-Cola Life slowly into the global market. In 2014,it entered Sweden and the U.K., as well as the United States (but in relatively limiteddistribution). By 2015, it was in France, Australia, and several other markets. By 2018,it was in about 40 markets worldwide.Coca-Cola Life has had mixed success in its first five years of existence. It wasdropped in Australia after about two years, due to low sales, and replaced with a simi-lar product, Coca-Cola with Stevia, which contains more stevia and less sugar thanCoke Life. Similarly, in the U.K., after the 2014 launch resulted in low sales, the prod-uct was reformulated and the new version contained even less sugar. Nevertheless,due to continued slow sales coupled with an uptick in Coca-Cola Zero Sugar sales inthe U.K., Coke Life was discontinued there in 2017. Interestingly, blind taste tests inthe U.K. found that people preferred Life to other Coca-Cola products. Case: Coca-Cola Life¹⁹Founded in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1886 and still headquartered in Atlanta, the Coca-ColaCompany needs no introduction. Coca-Cola products are literally found in every coun-try in the world except Cuba and North Korea. Coca-Cola sells over 500 brands ofsparkling and nonsparkling beverages worldwide and accounts for about 1.9 billionservings per day. Among its hundreds of brands are four of the global top five softdrinks: Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Fanta, and Sprite. Other top-selling brands includeMinute Maid, Honest Tea, Dasani, Powerade, and many more.Of the hundreds of Coca-Cola brands, a great number are sold only in a few coun-tries. Sokenbicha, for example, is a Japanese tea product sold only in Japan and inselected U.S. markets. Maaza, a calcium-enriched mango drink, is found in India,Bangladesh, the Netherlands, and Maldives. Over the years, a number of Coca-Colaproducts arrived on the shelves, only to disappear a few months later. These includeCoke Blak (a coffee-flavored cola), Coke Vanilla, Coca-Cola with Lemon or with Lime,and many others. Some of these might have been launched for tactical reasons: toshake up consumer preferences, encourage loyal Pepsi drinkers to try a new flavor,grab shelf space, and so on. But three cola brands have, for years, been positioned asthe &#34;big three&#34; in most countries: Coke, Diet Coke (called Coke Light in some markets),and Coke Zero Sugar. Unlike some of the smaller brands listed above, these three areconsidered strategic brands, globally important and managed centrally by corporateheadquarters.A quick look at international Web sites provides evidence of the strategic impor-tance of these brands. Go to any Coca-Cola global Web page (try suffixes like .fr, .it,.de, or .in for France, Italy, Germany, and India, respectively), and the three brands areusually prominently displayed somewhere on the page.Since 2013, there has been an attempt to add a fourth global brand, Coke Life.Originally developed by Coke researchers in Argentina and Chile, this drink usesstevia as an all-natural sweetener, uses much less sugar than regular Coke, and has noartificial sweeteners. The product was initially launched in Argentina and Chile andslowly rolled out to the global market.A little background on this launch is required. Although Coke remains a profit-able brand for the Coca-Cola company, soft drink sales have been on the decline forsome time. The company has responded in several ways: investing in nonsparklingbeverages such as bottled water, tea, and fruit juice and making package sizechanges to their soft drink lines to align better with customer preferences. Butanother response has been to consider the trend toward calorie counting. As farback as 1982, Coke launched Diet Coke, a sugar-free version originally sweetenedwith aspartame and now using NutraSweet. (In other countries, aspartame and/or

Accepted Answer

The process of developing a long-term strategy and objectives for becoming a company that customers…