Mountain Dew Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Mountain Dew - Essay Example It has gained the position of No. 1 competitor of Coke, which stands for kinship and a brand that nation cares for. Come year 2000 and Pepsi Co, along with BBDO, its advertising agency for decades are facing a challenge to change it advertising strategy to suit the market needs. Close rivals in CSD and non CSD segment are increasing their advertising bumdgets, which Pepsi Co. is reluctant to. Extreme sports and alternative sports have been over used and left with less fizz to be continued as an advertising strategy. The decision becomes even more crucial in light of decreasing sales of Pepsi and Diet Pepsi, partly due to increase in prices of 5% across market segment and partly due to the increasing awareness of the consumer base of what marketing strategies are and why brands are popular. On the other side, functional drinks market is fast picking up with brands like Redbull creating a niche for itself. The board of senior members of Pepsi Co and BBDO are brooding over the decision of selecting and producing adverts which will convey that idea of Mountain Dew standing for an Exhilarating experience without overexposing extreme sports. SWOT Before analyzing the situation in deep it is important to keep in mind what Mountain dew as a brand and as a product stands for. Following is the SWOT for Mountain Dew which will be considered while making the final decisions Strengths ïÆ'Ëœ Mountain Dew is a product offered by Pepsi Co., a company with very strong market presence and very high brand value ïÆ'Ëœ Brand can be identified with terms like ‘advernturous’, ‘exciting’ ,‘cool’, ‘Daring’, ‘Courageous’ due to which it has a niche in the market segment of 18 – 29 year olds... s The teen KPIs are encouraging & an opportunity to create a better brand awareness exists It’s a product in flavored drink segment which is growing unlike the CSD cola market Threats Other companies have used the Extreme sports as a communication medium and increasing their budgets for advertising and communication Introduction of functional and non CSD drinks which today’s consumer is drifting to provide its health benefits and current ethos Other copy cat flavored drinks More stress on the managerial judgment for selecting the best communication strategy rather than relying on hard data. Though it has worked in part, this decision might or might not lead to desired results and is risky. Issues 1) Eight years of exploiting the theme of Extreme sports has left it with no juice. Other companies have started to exploit it, even those who are not in the beverages industry like GE, Mars and FedEX. Mountain due is also in need of broadening its consumer base from 18 - 29 ye ars olds to overlap with 20 – 39 year olds. It needs a more generic appeal and hence use of extreme sports is questionable 2) Pepsi Co. since ages have believed in keeping the content right rather than flooding the media with its ads. They believe in game of content rather than volume. This means Mountain Dew has a limited budget to spend on its media communications as compared to nearest competitors who are ramping up their spends on the same. 3) When Mountain Dew was bought in 1964 by Pepsi Co. it had its own niche of ‘flavored’ soft drink. Today not only has it lost its niche, but also is facing competition from non CSD drinks like Getorage and functional highly caffeinated and sugary drinks like Redbull. It is hence crucial to take this brand to a next level by broadening the target market