Soft Drink Mania!

Compared to Europe’s soft drink market, which is a whopping 53% of the total market, the U.S. market share of 29% sound small. That is, until you walk the isles of your local market.

While Coca-Cola Corporation still has the largest market share of any company, there are a ton of other, smaller companies adding their drinks to the punch bowl.

I inquired a while back to ask about the barriers to entry in the soft drink industry because while traveling I noticed that the choices amazing in other countries compared to what we get here in the states.  But I must admit, today  as I stand in my local market trying to figure out what to drink, I’m overwhelmed by the choices.

The other noticeable change is how soft drinks are being marketed. The traditional bottles that we are used to seeing are no longer the standard.  Today, new sleek, beautiful bottles are showing up on market shelves, making the choice harder to make; “Let’s see, should I go for the bottle that makes me look like a classy, sophisticated person or the one that makes says, I am into yoga and health, humm”.

Product taglines are becoming more creative too. Take a look at this discussion around the product names in the article, “Tagline For New Soft Drink”. They have product lines like, “A sip of history”, and A sip of the exotic”. I know this process of tagline identification isn’t new to marketers, but I’m sure that number of new type of drinks has made the job a lot more interesting.

The one thing that I noticed though is that a lot of the drinks taste the same. Now, I know it’s possible that this may have more to do with my unsophisticated palate than anything else, but when I travel, everything taste different. I would love for someone to come up with a drink that is totally new and unique. Tea and energy drinks have been done to the max!

I still enjoy the drinks that I encounter when I travel. As for here in the U.S., I have learned to venture into different ethnic markets to find products that will satisfy my craving for something truly unique.