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Assignment no…….4
A second failure along with the much-maligned Crystal Pepsi. The flavor of Pepsi Blue was
described by Pepsi only as "berry" and described by drinkers as like blueberries or
raspberries, or similar to cotton candy with a berry-like aftertaste and much more sugary and
syrupy than regular cola.
It was tinted using Blue a highly controversial coloring agent banned in numerous countries at
the time. The move to make a brightly-colored version of the flagship Pepsi brand was
spurred by 2001's introduction of Mountain Dew Code Red, which had bumped PepsiCo's
Mountain Dew division sales up 6%.
Although heavily promoted by PepsiCo ,including advertisements by the pop singer Britney
Spears and the bands Set and Papa Roach, as well as in the movies The Italian Job and
Garfield: The Movie, it is widely seen as a commercial flop as sales remained low.
Even with the failure of Pepsi Blue, PepsiCo still managed to post double-digit growth. Also,
multiple groups claim to be "bringing back" Pepsi Blue, but are so far unsuccessful. Pepsi has
since denied any plans to bring back Pepsi Blue.
Pepsi Blue was promoted after New York Mets games during the summer of 2002, where the
color blue was one of the symbolic colors of the ball club.
Other promotions included handing out free bottles from a Pepsi Blue themed VW New
Beetle at popular shopping centers around the country. Jolt makes a similar beverage called
Jolt Blue CX2; a blue raspberry soda in a battery shaped metal can with a flavor often
describe as like that of cotton candy.
It was introduced in India during the 2003 Cricket World Cup, where the Indian team had a
blue colored kit.
Pepsi Blue is still available in Kuala Lumpur and other parts of mainland Malaysia, it is
mainly sold in 7 Eleven and Quik'n'Easy.
Jim Murphy( 06 Mar 2006 11:39 PST )article of a DJ analyst-"Not so long gone, but
apparently gone nonetheless, at least in the U.S., is Pepsi Blue, the "cola berry fusion" introduced
by PepsiCo in the summer of 2002 with high-apple-pie-in-the-sky hopes. In August 2002, the
company wrote in a press release: "Pepsi Blue is the latest of a series of successful soft drink
innovations from Pepsi Cola North America ... Nine months in the making. Pepsi Blue was
teenagers' choice of more than 100 cola fusion concepts tested." Not no more it isn't. For
months, every now and then, I've been rooting around in news archives and on the Internet to see
if PepsiCo had thrown in the towel on Pepsi Blue. Ruthie and I tried it when it first came out, and
dreadful doesn't begin to describe it. I'm not too tuned in to the thinking of teenager, but I also
don't believe that Pepsi Blue's resemblance to Windex helped sales either. There also was
unconfirmed gossip circulating on the 'Net that ingestion of Pepsi Blue caused evident
eliminatory changes best left to professional gastroenterology journals to chronicle. A
couple of weeks ago, after having been remiss for two or three months in my quest to find
out whether Pepsi Blue was still on the market, I performed some Google searches. I found
one person's blog (Web log) that said the company had withdrawn Pepsi Blue from U.S. shelves
in November of 2003. As proof that the company had discontinued the blue beverage, another
blog directed me to Pepsi Blue's Web site at pepsiblue.com. There, instead of Pepsi Blue, I was
greeted by an animated tall glass of regular Pepsi being embraced by an uncoiled fry from a bowl
of curly fries beneath the asinine new ad slogan for regular and diet Pepsi, "It's the cola." Isn't
that just typical of corporate America? Pepsi spends millions on advertising to tout Pepsi Blue,
and alleges that teenagers chose it from 100-plus other fusion colas, then never bothers to let us
know it bombed. It might not be a material disclosure anyhow. I recall a beverage analyst telling
me when the stuff came out, and I had written disparagingly of its prospects, that even failed colas
can make money for such giants as PepsiCo and the Coca-Cola Co. That's mostly because, he
said, millions and millions of people will be curious enough to try the new colas when they come
out, and that, in it, will furnish a profitable jolt to the company's business. Do you remember
Crystal Pepsi? ..."
Findings-
Failure in India may cause some reasons like for people color of the drink matters and
color of pepsi blue was somewhat similar to kerosene.
The packaging of the soft drink also matter.
Recommendation –
Pepsi blue availability should have been more color is a sensitive issue to people, don’t
change drastically.
Broadcast media like TV is the best medium of advertisement people don't find occasion
to buy soft drink, another factors like-the color of the soft drink and the packaging is
needed before the launch of the soft drink.
Launch again at the time period of cricket world cup 2011 in Indian market.
LML (NV)-
The Company also revamped the NV series which began to shore up the volumes. During
1991,
LML was facing its worst financial crises and the company was referred to BIFR. It
was Vespa NV that brought the company back to black. By 1998, LML was the
second largest scooter manufacturer in India with a market share of over 28 %.
But the JV between LML and Piaggio did not last long. In 1999 the JV was called off
with LML buying Piaggio's stake. LML decided to go alone with the scooters. It
dropped the brand name Vespa and continued selling LML NV and LML Select
brands.
But during these times, the entire two wheeler industry was redefined. Scooters
made way to Motorcycles. Sensing this shift, LML ventured into motorcycles. In
2003, LML launched its first bike in India branded as Freedom.
LML was falling into severe financial crisis. A labor unrest at the Kanpur plant
proved to be the last nail. In 2006, LML closed down the operation of its Kanpur
plant. And it was the end of Vespa Scooters.
LML was not able to upgrade the scooters since the JV with Piaggio was called off. It
was also reeling under severe financial crisis. These coupled with the shift in focus to
motorcycles paved the way for the death of this stylish scooter. LML still
manufactures and exports Vespa to US where it sells as Stella and also to UK.
LML could not emulate the success of TVS in launching indigenous technology and
surviving the aftermath of a failed technical collaboration. The company also could
not replicate the success of Bajaj which reaped rewards by entering the Motorcycle
segment. The failure of LML Vespa is a bitter lesson to all Indian business that
depends on foreign partners for technology. The problems with most JV's happen
with the issue of control.
Vespa is an interesting brand firstly because it was a brand which was once
bestselling and now dead and secondly because of its unique history in India.
Vespa first came to India in 1960 with collaboration with Bajaj Auto. The technical
collaboration ended in 1971 and Bajaj and Vespa parted ways. Vespa at that time was
Considered an iconic scooter brand globally and the brand was owned by Piaggio.
Piaggio then joined hands with the Kanpur based Lohia Machines Ltd (LML) in 1983
and started to roll out the Vespa range of Scooters. By that time Bajaj was ruling the
market with the iconic Chetek. Vespa came to India with a more powerful 150 cc
scooters but could not meet with success in the Indian market. But launch of LML
Select in 1993 was an instant success.
When scooters were considered a work- machine, it was Vespa which redefined the
market. Vespa was stylish and contemporary. It was elegant, youthful and more
balanced compared to the sturdy Chetek. While Chetek was the price warrior, Vespa
was always the premium scooter. Vespa was commanding the premium for the looks
since the technology that drove both Chetek and Vespa was the same. But like
Chetek, Vespa was also myopic. It failed to see the sweeping changes that were
happening to the two wheeler market.
Some other reasons for other Indian companies to being Learn from past time
mistakes……
While Indian partners want technology, seldom do Indian entrepreneurs want to
lose control over their companies. During the license raj, foreign partners used to
succumb to this because there was no other way to enter the Indian market. But post -
liberalization, Indian market is a level playing ground. Indian business either has to shore
up their investment in R&D or may have to negotiate hard with the JV partner on power-
sharing.
Question 3-Renovate the product using your creativity and innovation being a product
and brand manager??