Yet Coke reasserted its dominance by yanking New Coke and bringing back the old formula.
New Coke was a monumental failure, and the firm went back to the old.
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Far more prosaically, Coca-Cola does not shy away from the failed introduction of New Coke in 1985.
For proof, think back to 1985 and the controversy over New Coke.
Pepsi did briefly pull ahead then because of Coca-Cola's ill-fated New Coke.
Coca-Cola customers did not need the FTC to point out that New Coke was a mistake, or to force the company to alter course.
Daft, an Australian who ran Asian operations in the Goizueta era, brought back Brian Dyson, one of the architects of the disastrous introduction of New Coke.
"New Coke" marked the first formula change in 99 years, and a public firestorm forced the company to restock shelves with the original coke, rebranded Coca-Cola classic, three months later.
Back then, Perry had an endorsement gig in which he downed an entire case of Coke (yes, it was New Coke, ultimately one of the biggest marketing flops ever).
They promised updated versions to fix flaws, but did not apologize for what some are calling the biggest failure of a new product launch since "New Coke" 30 years ago.
And for companies hoping to stretch limited ad dollars, this takes the guesswork out of forecasting which messages will resonate with buyers and which will fall flatter than New Coke.
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Coca-Cola Co. introduced a reformulated beverage called New Coke.
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He is well-known for buying shares in high-quality companies when they are temporarily down on their luck (Coca-Cola in the 1980s after the New Coke debacle and General Electric during the financial crisis in 2008).
Without the new licenses, Coke grew 3% in North America and 5% globally in the fourth quarter.
Since most people who pay at the pump don't go into the building, the digital sales system at the pump creates a whole segment of new customers for Coke.
New products like Vanilla Coke and Minute Maid Light Lemonade are a huge help.
Coke launched new television ads this week to counter consumer concerns about obesity and moves by officials to restrict soda sales.
The last few Super Bowls, as an example, featured a new version of the Coke versus Pepsi challenge where they squared off about who could do a better job in raising funds for charity.
Armed with hourly data from its 5, 300 U.S. cash registers and close ties to its own roster of independent suppliers, 7-Eleven can come up with new products faster than Coke--and market-test them in the real world, instead of with polls and focus groups.
Coke's announcement of its new approach will probably spur other firms to follow suit, and Coke has said that it wants its model to become the standard for the industry.
Now, in their distorted and militant view, a can of Coke is the new AR-15.
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After much consumer and product research at a new laboratory in Shanghai, Coke came up with a drink that combines the ingredients of plain old orange juice including some juice and real pulp, accounting for about one-fifth of the liquid with calcium, vitamins and lots of water.
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Coke is doing quite well in emerging markets, where new middle class shoppers are getting a first taste of Coke brands like its namesake cola, Minute Maid and Fanta.
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Not so, says Mr Daft: innovation will also extend to new ways of marketing and growing the Coke brand.
Coke obviously knows how to develop new products and market them effectively.
The companies have tapped Coke exec Don Short as the new company's CEO, but say they haven't picked the rest of its executives.
The biggest is that the need to keep launching new brands will shift money and management time away from Coke, still and for years to come the biggest profit generator.
As leader of the opposition in Norfolk, a lot of people will be watching Mr Coke to see if he can make his new councillors rise to the challenge.
The new ads-inside entail far more than plopping a can of Coke into the foreground.
All these activities are geared to one objective: to expand Red Bull's presence amid a deluge of new energy drinks being introduced by upstarts and beverage behemoths like Pepsi and Coke.
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