Top 100 - Wamda.com

BrandZ Top 100 2011: SECTORS/COMMENTARY 78SoftDrinksDiet Coke surpassed Pepsi as theNo. 2 soft drink brand in market share.The shift reflected an ongoing move to diet in the faceof health and obesity concerns. Improving producthealthiness remained a Pepsi core strategy.It happened in a year when the ongoing slide in sodasales slowed, perhaps because consumers needed apleasurable break from the barrage of headlines aboutunemployment and the need for sacrifice.Coca-Cola was more aggressive inappealing to those consumers withtraditional advertising, but both Coke andPepsi relied on innovative social mediathat asserted the strength of their brandsand the emotional bond with customers.Coke’s brand value rose by 10 percent.Pepsi remained flat, but Diet Pepsiimproved 8 percent.In an updated appeal to the “Pepsi Generation,” thebrand launched “Pepsi Refresh,” a social media siteintended to create world-improving partnerships betweenthe brand and its customers. Individuals nominated theirfavorite causes or charities to compete for $20 million inPepsi grant money. More than 60 million votes were cast.Along with sponsoring new digital programs and events,Coca-Cola continued the “My Coke Rewards” programon Facebook and other social media sites. More than17 million people have participated in the four-year-old“Rewards” program, entering numeric codes found onCoke products to qualify for prizes such as movie ticketsand retail gift cards.In a separate online effort to drive interest in its citrusflavoredSprite brand, Coke developed an online sitewhere visitors who enter the code from a Sprite bottlecap could send a message to basketball star LebronJames and also nominate a basketball court near themfor a grant, as “Sprite and LeBron are also refreshing thecountry’s basketball courts.”Pepsi created social network programs for its youthfocusedMountain Dew brand, which increased 7 percentin brand value. Energy drinks generally remained strongas a sub-category. Red Bull, which improved 4 percentCola sparkledTOPBRANDSBrand Value$MBrandContributionBrandMomentumBrand ValueChange1 Coca-Cola 59,866 5 9 10%2 Diet Coke/Coca-ColaLite/Coke Zero13,887 4 7 3%3 Pepsi 10,431 4 6 0%4 Red Bull 9,263 4 5 4%5 Fanta 4,368 2 7 -6%6 Sprite 3,560 2 7 -8%7 Gatorade 2,910 4 5 -1%8 Diet Pepsi 2,500 3 6 8%9 Mountain Dew 2,478 4 6 7%10 Dr Pepper 2,212 4 3 -13%Source: Millward Brown Optimor(including data from BrandZ, Kantar Worldpanel and Bloomberg)SOFT DRINKSUP 5%