💀 New Coke’s epic failure: shaking up Coca-Cola’s century of success 🥤
Coca-Cola ignited an uproar by launching New Coke in 1985, teaching valuable lessons about ignoring loyal customers and tinkering with a beloved classic
Coca-Cola isn’t a firm usually associated with business failure, but today we’re looking at one of their rare missteps: the introduction of New Coke in 1985. The key ingredients behind this epic marketing fail? Ignoring loyal customers, compromising a legendary product, and completely misreading consumer tastes. New Coke proved that even the most successful companies can make disastrous moves.
Seeds of disruption: Coca-Cola’s origin story
Coca-Cola was created in 1886 by a pharmacist who made a syrup drink containing kola nut (for caffeine) and coca leaf (a cocaine source). That's right, Coca-Cola used to contain cocaine!
After a change of ownership (and recipe), Coca-Cola experienced rapid expansion and became a global phenomenon - it is available in every country today apart from North Korea, Cuba and Russia.
By the early 1980s, Coca-Cola had enjoyed dominion over the soft drink market for nearly a century. But rival Pepsi was gaining ground with its “Pepsi Challenge” taste tests and celebrity-fuelled marketing blitz.
Seeking to energise the brand with a renewed focus on taste, Coca-Cola developed a new formula that edged out both Pepsi and Coke in blind taste tests. Confident they had a winner, executives rushed to replace the classic Coca-Cola with New Coke in 1985.
An epic backlash followed as loyal Coke fans across America revolted at their beloved soda being reformulated. Just 79 days after New Coke’s debut, Coca-Cola brought back the original formula as Coca-Cola Classic, sheepishly admitting it had underestimated brand devotion.
So where did Coca-Cola go wrong?
Ignoring the loyal consumer
While research said New Coke tasted better, Coca-Cola overlooked a key fact – no one drinks sodas blindfolded. Drinkers care about brand perceptions and emotional connections built over decades, not just flavour.
By fixating on taste test scores, Coca-Cola ignored generations of Coca-Cola drinkers who cherished shared memories and nostalgia associated with the original Coke taste. The company learned the hard way that brands are built on more than formulas.
Compromising the real thing
Coca-Cola’s marketing centred around being the authentic, all-American soda. By debuting New Coke, the company undermined those claims of authenticity.
If Coke could be so easily changed based on fleeting whims, how “classic” was it really? The brand compromised the ideals that had anchored Coca-Cola for a century.
Pepsi took advantage, stating "By today's action, Coke has admitted that it's not the real thing."
Misreading tastes and culture
New Coke also reflected Coca-Cola misjudging the wider cultural mood. In a time of Cold War tensions and economic instability, consumers longed for the familiar comforts of traditional brands like Coke.
Coca-Cola mistook desire for novelty as a want for revolutionary change. The company quickly realised classic Coke represented a beloved piece of Americana that shouldn’t be tinkered with.
Reviving the iconic formula
While New Coke was a disaster, Coca-Cola’s swift course correction to revive the original brought back customers and reinforced brand loyalty. By admitting and quickly reversing its mistake, Coca-Cola proved it still had its finger on the pulse of consumer tastes.
But the New Coke fiasco taught Coca-Cola to never lose sight of what made it an iconic brand – a lesson that still resonates decades later whenever brands try to reinvent the classics.
TLDR
Coca-Cola’s launch of New Coke backfired by ignoring loyal customers, compromising the classic brand, and misjudging consumer tastes, leading to a rapid (and expensive) reversal.
Further reading/watching/listening
Check out this great Business Movers podcast, including dramatisation, of the New Coke debacle:
Another great podcast discussing the history of Coca-Cola company, including that magical early recipe: