The Cola War has been around for decades as Pepsi and Coca-Cola have battled each other to win the hearts, and tastebuds of Americans. While Pepsi and Coca-Cola are the super powers in the world of fizzy soft drinks, another competitor who is active on social media continues to have a niche following, Dr. Pepper.
According to History.com, “For almost a hundred years, Coke had been the undisputed leader in the multibillion dollar global soda industry–stodgy, predictable, but indisputably top dog–while Pepsi had been the upstart №2, forever poking at its big brother with cutting edge advertising.” (History, 2021). Pepsi has always had to rely on different styles of media to try and gain a competitive edge on Coke while Coke has always been able to rely on its popularity that has been around since it was first poured into a glass. Pepsi has upped its game in the social media realm as they have begun to poke fun at Coke once again, this time using social media.
With each of the three major players in cola beginning to focus on health and the demands of consumers who want zero calorie drinks, they have carefully crafted their zero calorie soda of choice. Coke crafting Coke Zero Sugar, Pepsi rolling out Pepsi Zero, and Dr. Pepper pouring Dr. Pepper Zero. This leads us to the discussion of how each brand uses social media, what their goals are, and how they craft their posts to convince consumers that their product is superior.
First off, when looking at each company, all three companies have a presence on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Snapchat and most recently TikTok. Each brand appears to use each social media platform with a centric voice but a different tone from each. Pepsi relies on jabbing at Coke on Twitter as one can see in the example below from Pepsi’s Twitter.
By using the popular meme format above Pepsi is going for laughs from its customers, and perhaps making Coke consumers reconsider drinking Coke Zero Sugar, as Pepsi Zero Sugar is more appealing. It is also interesting to note that the woman represented as Coke Zero Sugar is wearing red (which matches Coke Zero Sugar’s can) while the woman who is represented by Pepsi Zero Sugar is wearing black (which matches Pepsi Zero’s can). This is also highlighting what the next chapter will be in the Cola Wars of Pepsi vs. Coke as the two are shifting their focus to the world of zero calorie soda.
The goals of each social media is different between the brands. Social Insider looked into each brand in August of 2019 and found that while Coke leads the pack in followers and engagements, with Pepsi not far behind, Dr. Pepper is crafting a loyal audience who stands by their brand and feels a personal connection to it as Social Insider adds “Dr. Pepper has the best engagement rates per post on both Instagram and Facebook” (Social Insider, 2019). By following Dr. Pepper on various social media channels fans feel connected as they are invited to participate and interact with Dr. Pepper’s social media accounts. By doing this Dr. Pepper is able to offer something that Pepsi and Coke really don’t and that is a personal attachment to the consumers favorite soda. Dr. Pepper Zero is also using real world scenarios in their ads which appear on YouTube and Twitter to connect with consumers. The example below shows scientists who have been locked in a vault for 10 years while developing Dr. Pepper zero, when the scientists come out a former romantic interest of the woman scientist has “waited” for her, even though the feelings are not mutual. It is a situation that is common in dating and one that many people poke fun at and it also shows the audience that Dr. Pepper is a brand that is just like everyone else.
In order for a company to have a successful social media presence the pros must outweigh the cons. Taking a look at Coca-Cola’s social media it appears that three pros are:
- Followers and engagement numbers lead the pack
- Brand loyalty is strong
- Followers on social media appear to influence sales
While the cons of Coca-Cola’s social media are:
- Not personal enough
- Relying on already established following (not bad but growth appears stagnate)
- No major presence with outside partners (sports teams)
Pepsi lags behind Coca-Cola when it comes to followers on social media but that does not stop them from interacting and sometimes pushing the boundaries on social.
Pros:
- Interacts with rival accounts
- Has a clear tone and voice on all social channels
- Is in touch with current climate/culture
Cons:
- Has made major blunders in ad campaigns in the past
- Uses Twitter well but leaves things to be desired on Facebook
- Is always comparing itself to Coke and opening up opportunities for Coke to gain impressions/followers/engagement from that
Dr. Pepper has the smallest following of any of the companies that have been discussed. While their following is small, it is still strong as their engagement paces the field.
Pros:
- Strong following
- Leads the category in engagement rates
- Quick to respond/has a personal touch on social
Cons:
- Smaller brand with not as much traditional brand loyalty
- The 3rd option in many consumers minds
- No true cola for the cola category, this hampers them as their ability to challenge Coke and Pepsi even on social media
Overall when looking at the Cola Wars on social media, Pepsi takes the cake when it comes to brand mentions on social media. Awario used social listening to determine how many countries that Pepsi had “control” of on social media when it came to mentions. According to Awario “Pepsi wins by 38 countries. The mentions collected by Awario during the 7 weeks of our study came from 190 countries (we set a minimum of 50 Coke/Pepsi mentions for a country to be counted in). While Pepsi won in 114 countries, Coca-Cola conquered only 76 lands” (Awario, 2020). This is include in the map below and goes to show that Pepsi was talked about the most over a 7 week period in 2020, but still was lacking in following to Coca-Cola.
It is interesting to look at this map and see that Pepsi was the winner in mentions in this 7 week period in the top 5 GDP countries in the world (United State, China, Japan, Germany, India).
All in all it appears that the Cola Wars have reached the next frontier as social media will be where the Cola Wars of the future are fought. Dr. Pepper has carved out a special place on social media as they have created a niche category of being extremely relatable and engaging on social media with their fans, whole Pepsi and Coke have stuck to more traditional methods of having high follower and interaction but lower business to consumer engagement. It will be interesting to see how the next chapter of the Cola Wars unfold but one thing is for sure, what these brands say on social media will live forever, and there will be no going back once the user presses post.
