[You may wonder why these drinks taste so awful. Apparently, awful is the point.] Not tasting great might have the potential of helping the product, ... That it has this medicinal quality kind of underlines why you're consuming the product, because it provides energy. |
Consumers have moved up to products that they perceive as being higher quality. |
It is a rapidly changing beverage landscape and it is important for Coke to move quickly to deliver on what the consumer wants. The competition for shelf space is intense. |
It's not that they can't be successful, ... It's just that the bulk of the market in the U.S. tends to be middle- and low-price brands. You really have to tell a compelling story to convince people to pay more. |
It's obviously the summer holiday weekends, Memorial Day, Labor Day and the Fourth of July that tend to be the big three for refreshment. Sales can be greatly impacted. |
The competition for shelf space is intense. |
There are quite a few premium soda brands, but the vast majority are regional or local, (with) fairly limited distribution and availability. And distribution -- getting your product from the plant to the retailer -- is probably the single greatest challenge for beverage companies today. |
There's a lot of innovation around products that fall under the umbrella of 'good for you'. Increasingly that's the direction the consumer is moving. |
They may not be drinking more, but they're drinking better. |
They were the first to recognize that the consumer was moving to noncarbonated products, and they innovated aggressively. |