When Was Coke Classic Come Back to Shelves
'OLD' COKE COMING BACK AFTER OUTCRY BY FAITHFUL
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July 11, 1985
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In one of the most stunning about-faces in the history of marketing, the Coca-Cola Company yielded to thousands of irate consumers yesterday and said it would bring back the original Coke formula that it scrapped three months ago.
The product will be sold under the brand name Coca-Cola Classic, the company said, emphasizing that it would continue to market the new, sweeter soft drink that it introduced with great fanfare last April.
''It's a multimillion-dollar reversal,'' said James G. Shennan, president of S&O Consultants Inc., a San Francisco marketing and design firm. ''I am very surprised.''
Listening to Consumers
Explaining the move, Thomas Gray, a spokesman for Coca-Cola, said: ''Over 40 million consumers every day in the United States enjoy Coca-Cola but thousands of dedicated Coca-Cola consumers have told us they still want the original taste as an option. We have listened and we are taking action to satisfy their request.''
Indeed, the abandonment of the original formula had unleashed a groundswell of protest from Americans who contended, among other things, that the soft-drink company was depriving them of a national institution.
Marketing experts suggested that Coca-Cola's original studies, which were based on taste tests, had failed to take into account the nation's loyalty to the 99-year-old drink. But they also said that while Coca-Cola might have briefly earned itself a reputation as insensitive to consumer sentiments, it had done much to redeem itself with its quick and dramatic response.
Some analysts suggested that the company may have been contemplating a reintroduction all along, despite the pledge of Coca-Cola's chairman, Roberto C. Goizueta, last April that the old formula would be placed in a vault at the Trust Company of Georgia, never to be used again.
Returning to Shelves Soon
''They may be bringing it back somewhat earlier than originally planned,'' said Hugh Zurkuhlen, an analyst at Salomon Brothers, ''but I wouldn't be surprised if they hadn't considered bringing the old formula back once the new product was launched.''
However long in planning the reintroduction may have been, the product will be reaching store shelves at the peak point during the sales year.
Coca-Cola Classic, which is to be formally introduced at a news conference at 1 P.M. today at company headquarters in Atlanta, will be available in some markets within weeks, according to Mr. Gray.
The company lost no time in getting television commercials for the product on the air either: Spots were broadcast last night, featuring Donald R. Keough, president of Coca-Cola, thanking consumers who tried new Coke and promising the loyalists the return of the original formula.
The company also picked up an extraordinary amount of free air time. Reports on the original formula's return were prominently featured in news reports by all three television networks.
With the reintroduction, there will be six soft drinks carrying the Coke name: Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola, Caffeine-Free Diet Coke, Cherry Coke and Cola-Cola Classic.
Until four years ago, the company had reserved the brand name for only one product, selling its other soft drinks under a variety of other names, including Tab and Sprite.
New Coke Being Retained
But Mr. Gray said that ''new'' Coke would remain the company's flagship brand.
Bottlers and retailers welcomed Coca-Cola Classic, but said it would create production and space problems.
A spokesman for Pepsico Inc., the nation's No. 2 soft-drink manufacturer, was triumphant.
''We now have the opportunity to compete with one product that lost to Pepsi in millions of taste tests and against one product that the public hates,'' said Ken Ross, the Pepsico spokesman.
The new Coke was introduced with the support of a $4 million research project and an advertising campaign that analysts estimate cost Coca-Cola at least $10 million. While sales figures are not yet available, analysts say they appear to have been spotty so far.
Sales Poor in South
''New Coke has not been selling particularly well, particularly in the South, where there was a visceral reaction to what Coke did when it scrapped the old formula,'' said Emanuel Goldman, an analyst at Montgomery Securities Inc. in San Francisco.
Indeed, today's announcement seemed to represent a clear admission that a long-studied and carefully orchestrated marketing move had gone awry.
Coca-Cola, generally viewed as one of the nation's most conservatively run companies, spent two years conducting consumer tests before it introduced the new formula. Mr. Goizueta told reporters at the time that Robert W. Woodruff, the driving force behind the growth of the company, had personally approved the switch shortly before his death earlier this year.
With its sweeter, less fizzy taste, the new Coke was intended primarily to regain market share lost in recent years to Pepsi-Cola. According to Beverage Digest, a widely followed industry newsletter, Coke held a 21.7 percent market share compared with 18.8 percent for Pepsi at the end of 1984.
Taste Tests
But while Coca-Cola's taste tests, involving more than 190,000 consumers, showed that a majority preferred the taste of the new Coke to the old formula, analysts said the company apparently did not research, or count on, consumers' reaction to withdrawing the old product.
''There was some research they should have done that they didn't do,'' Mr. Goldman said. ''This will provide material for quite a few case studies at major business schools in years to come.''
In Seattle, one man filed suit to make Coca-Cola provide the old Coke to consumers. Nationwide, people stockpiled the old-formula soft-drink before it ran out. Atlantans, who had been drinking the old Coke longer than anyone else, particularly mourned its passing.
In New York yesterday, consumers expressed relief that the original Coke would be back.
At the Shopwell grocery store on West 43d Street, Jennifer Phillips, a graphic designer, said: ''I prefer the old Coke. I think they ought to eliminate the new Coke altogether.''
Jay Pizarro, assistant manager at the store, said, ''I assure you that if they bring back the old Coke the sales will zoom again.'' Mr. Pizarro said the new Coke had not been selling as well as the old.
Problems for Retailers
But the introduction of Coca-Cola Classic presents problems for retailers and bottlers.
''With the arrival of Coke Classic, the company will have six Coke products in our stores, and that will probably create a space problem,'' said Felicia del Campo, a spokesman for Safeway Stores, the nation's largest food retailer. ''But we will stock them all as long as customers want them.''
Charles Millard, chairman of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New York, voiced a similar sentiment. ''This will create some problems in terms of more product and more packages,'' he said, ''but if that is what the consumer wants, that is what we will give him.''
Coca-Cola issued a three-paragraph statement acknowledging the return of the old formula after analysts, including Jesse Meyers, publisher of Beverage Digest, said the company intended to do so.
Mr. Meyers, who in April reported the arrival of the new Coke several days in advance of its introduction, said yesterday that the decision to reintroduce the old formula represented two things:
''One, the market is getting incredibly diversified, and Coke sees the opportunity to add another segment.'' He continued, ''Secondly, the diehard, very vocal Coca-Cola drinker wants his old friend back. This became a cultural offense to some people and Coke is now saying, 'Hey, we're listening to you.' ''
When Was Coke Classic Come Back to Shelves
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/1985/07/11/business/old-coke-coming-back-after-outcry-by-faithful.html
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