Folks, first some history. In the early eighties, one of Jimmy Carter’s bright young political advisers, Pat Caddell, landed the plum marketing gig of guiding Coca Cola into the future–and he almost ran that venerable brand into the ground
I’m talking about the “New Coke” debacle. Threatened by Pepsi’s growing market share and driven by data that said that the consumer wanted sweeter drinks, Coca Cola scrapped its time-honored soda formula and introduced New Coke.
Presidents Reagan and Clinton both knew this about their Target Markets: the American people could be stretched, but in the end political marketing was the order of the day: Americans’ fundamental needs and beliefs cannot be forgotten.
The outrage was deafening. People couldn’t believe that their soda was being taken away from them. Coca Cola listened and New Coke is now just a distant memory.
How could all of the polls, surveys and consumer data have been wrong?
Well, they didn’t take into account what really mattered to the consumer: choice and continuity. One more thing –and it’s a biggie– Coke was thinking about cola drinkers not Coke drinkers. It forgot its target market.
So I ask, is President Obama the New Coke?
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