New Coke: One Of The Biggest Marketing Failures Of All Time

In April 1985, The Coca-Cola company took a huge business risk by changing the 99 year-old formula, turning the beloved Coca-Cola into New Coke. Met with fierce opposition, New Coke has been deemed one of the biggest marketing blunders in history.

As a result of New Coke, consumers began purchases large amounts of the original formula and hoarding it for later consumption. Consumers were afraid that their beloved cola soft drink was gone forever and that they needed to ration what was left. New Coke was also met with protests by thousands across the country. The Coca-Cola customer call center was flooded with more than 1,500 New Coke complaints a day. The Coca-Cola company clearly misunderstood how consumers would receive the reformulated coke.




After a few short months, Coca-Cola restored Coca-Cola Classic in July 1985. Coca-Cola Classic was sold alongside New Coke. Consumers rejoiced at the reappearance of their original coke, and rallied behind the new Coca-Cola Classic Red, White, and You Campaign. New Coke eventually was renamed Coke II and then was discontinued.

All the research and data Coca-Cola collected indicated that New Coke would be a success and was something consumers wanted. The new formula was preferred in taste tests of more than 200,000 consumers. The company had also been losing its lead over its competitors for the past 15 years. And the cola category itself was becoming lethargic. Coca-Cola saw New Coke as a way to re-energize the brand and the entire cola category of soft drinks for modern consumers. How could Coca-Cola not seen this disaster coming?

Data doesn't tell the full story. Coca-Cola's marketing blunder is due to a lack of user empathy. Coca-Cola failed to conduct research to understand the consumer's affinity and loyalty toward the classic brand.  The company's research focused on consumer's reactions to product features instead of the concept. The research also didn't consider the power brand loyalty can play in new product adoption. Companies need to understand the whole consumer in order to create valuable products.

The reappearance of classic Coke helped Coca-Cola reconnect with consumers and shift the company's focus on understanding its users. To prove that it learned its lesson, The Coca-Cola Company described this blunder as an example of the companies commitment to creating value for its consumers even though it's idea was wrong. Truthfully this sounds like the company is just trying to say they didn't completely fail, when in fact they did.

This event clearly was a wake up call to Coca-Cola. The company has kept its original formula and has turned itself into a global brand, whose lifestyle and values is easily communicated across cultures. There is value in understanding the consumers perspective. It just might save a company from becoming one of the biggest marketing failures of all time.