Coca-Cola is busy spreading "Happiness" around the world as an Olympics sponsor, while Pepsi is counting on new cultural relevance through its music-based "Live for Now" campaign and by sponsoring the next Super Bowl halftime show.

But back at the home offices in Atlanta and in Purchase, N.Y., executives of each company are dealing with real-world strains including the increasing opposition of nutrition activists (including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg), more competition, consumers' fading interest in soft drinks — and with each other. And those factors are contributing to important new dynamics for PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi and Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent.

In Atlanta, Coca-Cola has just reorganized its C-suite and expanded the responsibilities of two senior executives, Steve Cahillane and Ahmet Bozer, creating an early horse race to succeed Kent in a few years. The move also is part of a consolidation of executive authority beneath Kent, who has been widely praised for his leadership of the company, boosting profits and swiping market share from PepsiCo since he became CEO in 2008.Continue reading...

PepsiCo executives were assailed for having let Diet Coke usurp their flagship brand to take second place, behind Coca-Cola, in U.S. soft drink sales in 2011. How they marketed — or, rather, didn't market — Pepsi was flagged by some observers as part of the problem.

Well, the company got the message. And among the many recent indicators of that — including Pepsi's major sponsorship of The X Factor, its endorsement relationship with Nicki Minaj, and the shaking up of its upper management under CEO Indra Nooyi — may be that, when Super Bowl XLVII reaches halftime on February 3 at the Superdome in New Orleans, Pepsi today confirmed reports that it's taking over as sponsor of the iconic halftime show.

"Pepsi's deep-rooted heritage with the Super Bowl and with music truly makes this relationship a natural fit," Adam Harter, PepsiCo Beverages' VP of consumer engagement, said in a press release. "As the most-watched and highly anticipated entertainment event of the year, the Super Bowl Halftime Show is right at the heart of sports and music."Continue reading...

PepsiCo today announced a multi-year relationship with the Pittsburgh Steelers to be the NFL team's exclusive "non-alcoholic beverage, salty snacks and sports fuel provider."

The deal marks the Steelers' first such partnership, and gives PepsiCo the rights to exclusive selling, dispensing and serving at Heinz Field; fixed stadium signage; venue and team sponsor assets; integration into the team's mobile, TV and digital assets; and local media and retail promotional opportunities.

The stadium conversion will be complete by the start of the Steelers' 2012 season. PepsiCo is also introducing a limited-edition commemorative Pepsi MAX can in honor of the Steelers' 80th anniversary, available throughout Pennsylvania beginning in the fall. That's not PepsiCo's only limited-edition commemorative can.

PepsiCo is preparing to roll out “a new malt-flavored version of its Mountain Dew soda” that will appear in select 7-Eleven and Kroger stores, according to CSPnet.com.

The gold-tinted premium version of Mountain Dew just received trademark approval to be called Mountain Dew Johnson City Gold and will appear in refrigerator cases in late August in a few Midwestern cities as well as Denver and Charlotte, N.C.Continue reading...

Honest Tea has moved steadily toward the mainstream of the U.S. beverage business in recent years, as Coca-Cola has invested more and more in the brand. But since it was purchased outright by Coke last year, the Bethesda, Md.-based organic-tea and -juice startup has moved at the even faster pace that would be expected of a tiny company now backed by the immense marketing and distribution resources of the world's biggest soft-drink concern.

So it's not surprising that Honest Tea has launched its first integrated advertising campaign (and a new tagline: "Refreshingly Honest") and, what's more, that it includes the brand's first foray into TV advertising — as you can watch below:Continue reading...

Some media couldn't wait to jump all over the almost non-existent attendance this week at the "Million Gulp March" near City Hall in New York against Mayor Bloomberg's proposed soda ban.

Organized by a gaggle of libertarians, Ron Paul supporters and ad hoc protesters, the protest at New York's City Hall on Monday drew only about 50 people, according to local reports, while organizers had predicted attendance of about 500 — never mind the "million" moniker in its name.

"Before, the government was instituted to protect the rights of everyone and prevent crime, and now it's cracking down the rights of everyone," Zach Huff, a spokesman for Ron Paul 2012 organizer NYC Liberty HQ, told CBS News. "It's astonishing we have a mayor who is pro-choice when it comes to what a woman can do with her body but isn't pro-choice with simple choices, like soda-container sizes."

Bloomberg retorted, "If you want to kill yourself, I guess you have the right to do it. We’re trying to do something about it."Continue reading...

It's 7-Eleven Day, so slurp it up! Highlighting the obvious tie-in between its brand name and event marketing manna from heaven, 7-Eleven stores long ago picked July 11 (7/11) at the height of North America's summer to throw a party and drive customers to the Slurpee machine.

To celebrate the convenience store chain's 85th year in business, 7-Eleven is giving away free 7.11 (of course) ounce Slurpee drinks between 11 AM and 7 PM local time (not, alas, 7 AM-11 PM) on 7/11/12. Last year, 7-Eleven handed out 5 million Slurpee drinks on 7-Eleven Day. This year, how many do you think they expect to distribute? Why, 7 million, of course.Continue reading...

Will Starbucks customers give a cold shoulder to the company's new iline of green coffee Refreshers drinks? Hopefully they'll get a better reception than the VIA instant beverage mix that was panned when it launched in 2010, and which resurfaces with a new twist here.

The fruit-flavored iced coffee beverages, produced with unroasted green arabica beans, are rolling out in the U.S. and Canada on July 10th, with a global rollout to follow.

According to the Huffington Post, "The drink line will be offered in three formats: handcrafted (made by baristas), ready to drink and VIA. VIA is Starbucks' newest drink format, brought to market three years ago, and is best described as a microground product that dissolves when emptied into water."

The Refreshers sub-brand page states that all three are made with green coffee extract as their base for a "boost of natural energy" and are made with either "real fruit" or "real fruit juice":Continue reading...

Japan may be considered a "Western" country, but its tastes, not to mention culture, often strain comparisons with the rest of the West. But nowadays Pepsi is making some moves with new products in Japan that look like they're right out of its playbook for the rest of the world.

Pepsi Extra, for instance, is an addition to Pepsi's Nex range in Japan that is packed in 200ml cans and reformulated to feature added caffeine and increased sweetness, according to Beverage Daily. Packaged in a smaller and slimmer can than regular Pepsi, Extra is a clear play for energy-drink positioning.Continue reading...