Actuality Of Healthy Sodas Making In Modern World - Essay Example

It is hard to imagine that a day will come when Diet Coke and Pepsi would be good for your health. But this day might be coming after all, according to business reviews, marketing researches and advertising campaigns. Coca Cola and PepsiCo are planning to launch a new brand of vitamin fortified soft drinks. Company representatives have confirmed and it is now clear that vitamins will go into the new and improved coke. If you are not a fan of coke, or any kind of soda, this marketing move will hardly change that because if you ask me, nothing can be healthier and more refreshing than a fresh fruit and a glass of cold water. It is hard to interpret this new move of soda giants. It could be a step in the right direction, or another corporate lie aiming at health-oriented people who would think they are making the right choice by consuming chemical-infused sodas that might not be so healthy for them in the long term perspective. According to a recent publication in The New York Times, a new advertising battle is brewing between soft beverage giants Coca Cola and PepsiCo (Martin, 1). After the cola wars, the diet cola wars and the mid-calorie cola wars, a vitamin cola war is ahead. Diet sodas will be dueling to entice consumers with the promise of a little healthy extra in their glass. Coca Cola plans to introduce a new brand of diet Coke with vitamins and minerals. The company is preparing for a spring or mid-summer launch of the Diet Coke Plus. PepsiCo is also ready to shoot. Their new Diet Pepsi Max will be infused with ginseng and more caffeine than the well-known, regular Diet Pepsi. The company is also preparing a vitamin counter-attack - Tava, which is expected to hit the shelves in June. Both diet sodas respond to a growing market niche. The health and wellness industry boom created a new category of "functional beverages". They promise a wide range of benefits for the consumers - they claim to invigorate, energize, stimulate, refresh and beautify, among everything else. Right now this immensely growing market segment is dominated by small players such as Red Bull, Mountain Dew, Vitamin Water and green tea drinks, while Coke and Pepsi are staying behind the healthy scene. The author of the article claims that the $ 68 billion soda business has dropped for the first time in 2005 (Martin, 1). A steady downfall was estimated even in diet Coke consumption. As sales of full-sugar soda decline, PepsiCo and Coca Cola are racing to add low-calories and non-carbonated drinks to their product mix. In contrast, sales of mineral water, energy drinks and green tea drinks are growing in double-digits. Confused by the fact that Coca-Cola Classic may not continue to make life taste good for a long time, Coca Cola marketing teams are exploring different opportunities in response to the poor performance of soda drinks. An increased interest in soft drinks with vitamins added has emerged. The beginning of this brand new trend was put by the "Gatorade concept" which aimed to increase the popularity of health drinks with both energizing and rejuvenating qualities among sport-oriented consumers. As drinks like "Gatorade" became widely spread, so did the soda giants' marketing plans towards a growing niche of specific target groups with specific wants and needs. In fact, healthy soda seems not to be an entirely new idea. According to the New York Times article, "7UP Plus", which appeared in 2004, was a low-calorie soda fortified with minerals and vitamins. It was claimed to be "100% natural". The product contained high-fructose corn syrup though and after public pressure the company was forced to change the label to: "100 percent natural flavor" (Martin, 1). When large and popular companies, such as Coca Cola and PepsiCo explore new market opportunities and invade new market niches, they face the need to build up new public images of their "healthy" brands. These companies must decide whether to use their already affirmed brands for assistance, or to invest in search for new corporate identities. If the necessity for new identity is not taken seriously, companies like Coca Cola who have been selling carbonated drinks for over a century now, risk not be taken seriously by consumers. "Healthy soda" sounds like an oxymoron, according to New York Times (Martin, 1). Coca Cola and Pepsi have already successfully introduced their own brands of water - "Dasani" and "Aquafina", which proves that with enough advertising support soda giants still have a great chance to gain new brand identities and to become well known among health-oriented consumers. The main miss in the article is that The Coca-Cola Company has already developed a healthy drink for the needs of poor people in developing countries. The drink is called "Vitango" and it tastes like an ordinary orange drink. This is a very good marketing move towards improving the company's positive image of a health-oriented producer worldwide. The company claims that "Vitango" contains crucial vitamins and minerals that are usually lacking in the diets of poor people in developing countries. It is a dry mix of fine particles and becomes liquid, when water is added. This product is said to be designed in order to help prevent widely spread sicknesses in Africa and South America, such as blood problems and blindness, but also other common sicknesses in developing countries. It aims to increase the levels of zinc and iron in the consumers' blood. Children in developing countries usually do not receive enough iron and zinc in their diets. This leads to increased risks of various infections and growth problems. The lack of zinc is also a widespread problem among young women in developing countries. It can cause serious problems during childbirth. I would guess, without seeing the ingredients, the nutrition table and even without having a sip, that these new "healthy" drinks are only designed to give the impression of "healthfulness". The question is whether or not they will live up to the claim. Works Cited: Martin, Andrew. "Makers of Sodas Try a New Pitch: They're Healthy". The New York Times, Business (March 7, 2007). March 8, 2007. . Read More