Coke and Pepsi Case Study

930 Words4 Pages
==> Problem Coke and Pepsi first started out in the American market, but soon realized the importance of going global. To expand into a more global market, Coke and Pepsi were both faced with market strategy concerns. American companies must heavily research their intended global audience to ensure they understand the culture of their target global audience. Before jumping into the Indian market, Coke and Pepsi needed to not only align their marketing strategy with the global culture, but also ensure that it’s the right time to create their presence in the India market. Coke did not consider market timing as a deciding factor in re-entering the Indian market, and as a result Coke had to deal with several penalties. Coke made a quick decision to re-enter the Indian market and bought out a local company called Parle, a bottling company (Pathak, 2007). This rash decision created some unanticipated future problems for Coke. Although Coke may have beat Pepsi in the American market, they did not do their homework when it came to their India global market strategy. ==> Alternative Solution #1 In 1958, Coke initially entered the Indian market place. In 1977 a new government took over in India and made it difficult for foreign companies to do business. One of the stipulations for Coke to remain in India was to give the government its special Coke recipe. The new government also limited foreign ownership to 40% (Cateora, 2007). Not wanting to comply with these requests, Coke pulled out of the Indian market (Gupta, 2012). Especially after already operating once in India and knowing that the government’s expectations were demanding, Coke should have conducted some extensive research before jumping back into such a risky market. Coke should have acted more cautiously with their planning and execution of their corporate and business strategies. If Coke had
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