PepsiCo is on the aggressive in India, putting in the extra effort (and dollars) to try and keep archrival Coke from having nearly any association with the country’s most popular (and longest) sporting event, the 50-day Indian Premier League T20 tournament—where best cricket teams in the country go up against one another—which kicks off April 3.

"This could be the revival of the cola war," said Basabdutta Chowdhury, CEO of media-buying group Platinum Media, according to the Economic Times. "Though IPL coincides with peak season time for beverages, the investments are huge and will have to be backed by a robust marketing plan.”

If this is the restart of such a war, Pepsi may be kicking things off with a shock-and-awe offense. Pepsi agreed last fall to shell out around $72 million for the naming rights to the tourney for the next five years—double the amount that the previous five-year sponsor had paid. Now, it's aiming to snatch up as much of the advertising as it can so that Coke’s logo won’t get too much attention during the event. Continue reading...

Coca-Cola has spent plenty of bucks on making iconic ads in the past, but its latest 60-second spot is coming from a low-priced source—a fan of the brand—while the company just revealed a trio of new cans designed by global creative director Marc Jacobs. The details on the latest moves in the cola wars:Continue reading...

"Has Coca Cola ceased to be a mere brand and evolved into a historically important cultural artifact?" That question was tweeted by Duncan Jones, David Bowie's son who is better known these days as an award-winning filmmaker. Jones included a link to a BBC story on this week's historic return of the Coke brand to Myanmar, making its first delivery in more than 60 years.

"The Coca-Cola Company has been a part of the community fabric in countries around the world for decades," stated Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company. "In every nation and city where we do business, our employees strive to create economic value and build sustainable communities. We are privileged to once again have the opportunity to play a role in building a better future with the people of Myanmar."

In addition to referencing the Coca-Cola brand's position as the #1 brand in Interbrand's 2011 Best Global Brands report, the BBC notes that there are now "only two countries where Coca-Cola is not officially bought or sold - Cuba and North Korea ... due to trade embargoes with the US."

PepsiCo, meanwhile, last month signed its own distribution agreement to distribute Pepsi and its other beverage brands in the former Burma, with CEO Indra Nooyi commenting, "Over time, we believe we can build a strong business in Myanmar and play a positive role in the country's continued development."

Whatever that future holds, Nooyi announced other news today that impacts her company's continued development and her own succession plans: the resignation of PepsiCo president John Compton.

He's being replaced by Geneva-based PepsiCo Europe CEO Zein Abdalla, who is relocating to company HQ in Purchase, NY, and in turn handing over his office and title to Enderson Guimaraes, the current President of PepsiCo's Global Nutrition Group.

Bolivia was recently rumored to be dispensing with Coca-Cola after this year’s Summer Solstice on Dec. 21 — which wouldn't have been quite the global boost the soda maker was hoping its sponsorship of the Olympics would bring it.

“The twenty-first of December 2012 is the end of selfishness, of division,” Bolivia’s Minister of External Affairs, David Choquehuanca, said according to Forbes. “The twenty-first of December has to be the end of Coca-Cola and the beginning of mocochinche (a local peach-flavored soft drink). The planets will line up after 26,000 years. It is the end of capitalism and the beginning of communitarianism.”

The news that Coca-Cola's days might be numbered in a country that had McDonald's evicted in 2002, according to Care2.com, didn't seem entirely beyond the realm of whackiness. But the rumors of any Bolivian marching orders were not only incorrect but "taken out of context," and Coca-Cola execs in the market can rest assured. "Foreign Minister Choquehuanca's statements about Coca-Cola were taken out of context and there is nothing official," Bolivia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Consuelo Ponce told Dow Jones.

A Coca-Cola spokesperson provided the following statement to brandchannel:

"The Coca-Cola Company has been a part of the community in Bolivia, generating jobs, generating income for thousands of customers, suppliers and workers, and refreshing people since 1941. Additionally, we support education and other initiatives that create positive social impact in the community. Like the Bolivian economy, our business has been growing steadily and we have plans to continue our investments and growth in the coming years."

That's good news for the nation of 11 million consumers, where “consumption of Coca-Cola products has tripled in Bolivia since 2001 and has increased notably in all Latin American countries.” And it's not like Bolivia needs any more bad press with anything that remotely sounds like "coke."

Last night was a big one for the Pepsi brand, in the midst of an attempted comeback from its relegation to the No. 3 spot in U.S. carbonated-soft-drink sales behind Coke and Diet Coke. February 5 will be another big day.

The X Factor announced its first U.S. winner, Melanie Amaro. Pepsi has been the primary sponsor of the first season of the Fox singing talent show created by Simon Cowell. Week by week, the brand has stepped up its marketing involvement in and identification with the show. Now Amaro, as winner, gets a Pepsi TV commercial in addition to a $5-million recording contract from the show.

And that ad is scheduled to debut on one the biggest branding platforms on the planet: Super Bowl Sunday. Which is the other story: Pepsi is returning to the Big Game on NBC on February 5 after a one-year absence.

Pepsi announced this week that it would be airing one more brand spot during Super Bowl XLVI in addition to the X Factor ad.Continue reading...

After nine years of Coke and only Coke being sold on the University of Delaware campus, students will start finding a different cola in their vending machines upon returning from winter break: Pepsi.

Coke lost out on the UD contract when Pepsi signed a deal for an undisclosed sum, according to the Wilmington News Journal.

While it isn’t clear how much money is changing hands, the News Journal notes that a school similar in size to UD, Colorado State University, signed a $5.2 million, 10-year deal with Coke earlier this year.

In times like these, everybody is looking for a few extra bucks. "It wasn't that there was anything the matter with Coke," David Singleton, vice president for facilities and auxiliary services, told the paper. "It was a business decision."

“It strikes you as funny because you say 'soft drinks' is located pretty far from what higher education is about," said Alex Molnar, a research professor at University of Colorado-Boulder and publication director of the National Education Policy Center. "So why are we even talking about this? Well, because it's a revenue stream."Continue reading...

Don’t know if you’ve heard, but America is — er, how to say this nicely? — fat. The terms “overweight” and “obese” have been beaten into consumer consciousness so much that soda companies, long the target of ire of the health-conscious, have been trying to find a lower-calorie option that consumers across the girth of a nation can enjoy.

PepsiCo claims to have the answer. Since July, it has been testing out a low-sugar, mid-calorie soda, Pepsi NEXT, in Wisconsin and Iowa and the consumer response "exceeded … expectations," according to AP. Now, the company plans to start selling its newest brand nationally early next spring, AP reports. 

With 60% fewer calories than regular Pepsi, Pepsi NEXT weighs in at 40 calories per 8-oz serving and 60 calories per 12-oz serving. Pepsi-Cola North America described the beverage as a health-conscious alternative in its press release announcing the July test: 

"Pepsi NEXT was created for consumers who seek the rich taste of full-calorie cola but have decreased their consumption in order to reduce the sugar in their diet. While sugar-reduction is a priority for this segment, they have not adopted the flavor profile of a zero calorie cola. Pepsi NEXT delivers in the sweet-spot for these consumers with its real cola flavor and 60 percent less sugar."

"As part of our continued commitment to innovate our carbonated soft-drinks portfolio, we developed Pepsi NEXT, a great tasting, full-flavor cola with 60 percent less sugar," said Massimo d'Amore, CEO, PepsiCo Beverages America. "In thorough consumer research, Pepsi NEXT resonated very well with consumers who are seeking a new, reduced sugar alternative to their loved cola."

The word from Beverage Digest is that the company will sell NEXT, which competes with Coke Zero, in a few different sizes and plans to eventually sell it outside of the U.S., but a PepsiCo spokesperson wouldn’t confirm either of those statements.Continue reading...

When the New Jersey Nets move to Brooklyn at the start of the 2012 season, the team will have a new arena (the Barclays Center), a new name (Brooklyn Nets perhaps?), and a new soda. Their current arena serves Pepsi, but the one in Brooklyn will serve Coke.

According to the New York Post, Coca-Cola has made a deal with the arena to be the exclusive soft-drink provider there. This is actually the second beverage company to make such a deal with the arena, the Post notes: Back in 2007, a similar deal was made with Seattle-based Jones Soda. “Nets fans and Brooklynites lobbied for Coke products” after the seven-year, $1.7 million Jones deal was announced, so the arena broke that contract and came to a settlement with the company, the Post reports.

Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark said that one of the reasons Coke was selected is “because of its longstanding historical ties to Brooklyn, where it once was the official soda of the Dodgers at Ebbets Field,” the Post reports. Continue reading...