PEPSI EDGE AND COKE C2 good or not?? Please help with my marketing assignment

[plainsong]

What marketing book? Is it the blue Kotler Bible?

Neither company has bothered with any of the 4 P's here, so I can't fullfill my heirarchy of needs by demonstrating consumer buyer behavior by choosing between the two.

In short, neither are sold here.

 

[episiarch]

I haven't tried Pepsi Edge yet, but I thought C2 was revoltingly sweet. It was as if they put in an entire diet drink's worth of artificial sweetening, and then added corn syrup on top of that to cover up the taste. Blech.

I speak, by the way, as a guy who routinely mixes diet and regular half-and-half when I'm at a movie theater or fast-food joint with a dispense-your-own soft drink machine. That way it's neither too sweet nor too diet-y, though it doesn't taste all that good either. Yet I find that flavor infinitely preferable to C2.

 

[D-EJ915]

I've only had C2, but it sucks. It tastes too much like diet for me, and too much like regular for my sister. Hence, nobody likes it, we have an 18-pack with only two drunk here.

 

[acs236]

The problem is that neither are significantly better than their diet counterparts and are significantly worse than the non-diet versions.

 

[Elec]

acs: That's a very succinct way of saying what I beat around the bush at

People who drink regular do it because they either like the taste, don't care about the calories, or both. People who drink diet do it because they either don't care about the taste (all tastes the same to me!), do care about the calories (or lack thereof), or both. Those in the first group likely won't drink C2 or Edge because they don't taste as good and the reduced calories are not an issue. Those in the second group won't because it doesn't taste much better and/or has more calories.

 

[HD-5000]

Blech. For me its either go all out with the sugary goodness or feel no guilt with a nice diet.

Usually I choose diet because I find that the good (no calories=less blubber around the midsection for me) outweighs the bad (inferior flavor).

C2 leans more towards the fattening goodness in terms of nutrition but doesn't have as sweet a flavor as the original. Anyone trying to cut calories and lose weight shouldn't even be considering any sugar-based drink, in my experience.

 

[Jeff Guidry]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer In a word: YUCK!

Good word.

 

[acs236]

That's the problem. When I first heard about these (were they not available in some form in Europe years ago?) I was excited because I was hoping it to be simply a less sweet cola -- Coke with less sugar. But they stick in artificial sweeteners to maintain the same level of sweetness. I wonder what simply a less-sweet coke would taste like. I love coke, but sometimes it's a bit too sweet for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elec acs: That's a very succinct way of saying what I beat around the bush at People who drink regular do it because they either like the taste, don't care about the calories, or both. People who drink diet do it because they either don't care about the taste (all tastes the same to me!), do care about the calories (or lack thereof), or both. Those in the first group likely won't drink C2 or Edge because they don't taste as good and the reduced calories are not an issue. Those in the second group won't because it doesn't taste much better and/or has more calories.

 

[sbulack]

What I wanted was Coke with less sugar. That part is good. Then they stuck in the (very unwanted) artificial sweeteners. BAAAD!!! I was looking for an alternative to regular Coke, but I didn't find it.

 

[CingKrab]

I don't know if this is really a fair poll, because C2 and Pepsi Edge are kinda different. C2 uses a blend of 3 artificial sweeteners (sucralose, aspartame, and ace-k I think), while Pepsi Edge uses just sucralose. After tasting both, I hated C2 'cause it had a really unpleasant aftertaste, while I thought Pepsi Edge tasted more or less the same as Pepsi. The sucralose only thing was a good move by Pepsi I believe. Now if only they'll put out diet Coke/Pepsi that's sweetened with sucralose alone, I would switch to diet. However, I think that would cannibalize the sales of normal Coke/Pepsi pretty badly, so probably never gonna happen.

 

[Elec]

Diet RC is all sucralose/Splenda, and it ain't bad. Diet Rite is as well, though I personally find Diet RC to have a better cola flavor. I think Diet Dad's Root Beer may be sucralose as well. There are a few out there, if you're willing to look at labels.

 

[CingKrab]

Hmm I haven't seen Diet Rite in Vancouver, although I heard there's people running across the border to buy cases and then selling them here. I know that Jones' has sucralose only sodas, but it's kinda expensive for me, especially for daily drinking.

 

[spwal]

apparantly this assignment has been extended through this coming wednesdays class.

apparently alot of lackluster feelings towards the lauch coming from this sample data. Not suprisingly, fairly in line with the other sample polls available on the net

So those who would like to leave more comment much much appreciated.

those who havent voted, get out and vote!

Thanks

Sean

 

[Stephonovich]

OK, because I'm bored, I'll comment again...

Basically, I'm in the market segment that doesn't care much about health. I have a high enough metabolism (c'mon, I'm a 16 year old guy... I can suck down 4000 calories a day and not gain a pound) that I'll gladly take the much superior (IMO) taste of normal pop over Diet, or any other in between.

I think eventually, Pepsi Edge and C2 will take off. Pepsi tried with Pepsi One, which was a flop, but they're doing much more aggressive marketing this time, and plus, both Coke and Pepsi have products, which helps. I think there is a market for this stuff, especially people on the Atkins diet and the like. They want more taste than Diet, but not the sugar (and ergo, carbs).

 

[Earwax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CingKrab I don't know if this is really a fair poll, because C2 and Pepsi Edge are kinda different. C2 uses a blend of 3 artificial sweeteners (sucralose, aspartame, and ace-k I think), while Pepsi Edge uses just sucralose. After tasting both, I hated C2 'cause it had a really unpleasant aftertaste, while I thought Pepsi Edge tasted more or less the same as Pepsi. The sucralose only thing was a good move by Pepsi I believe. Now if only they'll put out diet Coke/Pepsi that's sweetened with sucralose alone, I would switch to diet. However, I think that would cannibalize the sales of normal Coke/Pepsi pretty badly, so probably never gonna happen.

You're right. Because of this thread I bought a 2 liter of Pepsi Edge and it's OK. So change my poll vote from "Bad" to C2 bites and Edge is OK. I still won't go out of my way to buy it because I generally prefer Mt.Dew & 7up to colas, but I'd take Edge over any version of Coke.