The Five Competitive Forces
Degree of Rivalry
As it was mentioned already above the key players in the Irish soft drink market are Coca-Cola, Britvic Plc., PepsiCo, and Groupe DANONE. The game is concentrated on these four key players which hold a total market volume of 57.5%. This indicates that market shares among players in the industry are not equally distributed. The market is quite fragmented and that the market giants are operating along with other smaller companies which account for total market volume of 42.5%. As mentioned already above the industry growth rate in recent years was relatively slow, due to this fact the level of the rivalry increased (Marketline, 2013). In general sluggish growth rate makes very difficult for new players to compete with the already existing firms in the industry.
According to Marketline (2013) most of the competitors in Irish soft drink market operates only in the beverages market and this makes their businesses fairly similar. This indicates that the occurrence of market fluctuations will boost the rivalry, because it affects each competitor in a similar way (Marketline, 2013). Another element that makes the rivalry to grow is low-priced switching costs for customers. This basically means that among competitors the prices in the industry do not fluctuate greatly. For most of the companies that operates in the Irish soft drink market the fixed costs are a majority of overall total cost. This means that the ease of exit will depend on the company’s business model. In other words it is harder to exit for companies that own a manufactory, warehouses, trucks etc. while it is easier to get out of business for those companies which tend to outsource everything. According to Marketline (2013) p...
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...dent.ie/irish-news/how-our-spending-habits-have-changed-26824868.html [20 April 2014].
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18. Safefood 2009 DRINKS: Consumer knowledge and practice in relation to drinks for children and young people [online]. August 2009, p1-25. Available from: https://www.safefood.eu/SafeFood/media/SafeFoodLibrary/Documents/Publications/Research%20Reports/9650_Drinks_Interior-Cover.pdf [Accessed: 18/04/2014].
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Coke continuously out-stands Pepsi, even though they share a very similar taste and colour, however Coke should not be the drink that receives all the love and attention for what it offers. Despite their similar soda colour, the drinks actually contain some different ingredients, which produce a different taste, and affect the body differently. Furthermore, the way the companies markets their drinks makes a huge contribution to how successful their products will become. The major element for success however stems from their impact on society and how the companies utilize their social power to evolve. The two major soda companies are constantly head to head with one another, yet it is what they do that sets them apart.
The soft drink industry in the United States is a highly profitably, but competitive market. In 2000 alone, consumers on average drank 53 gallons of soft drinks per person a year. There are three major companies that hold the majority of sales in the carbonated soft drink industry in the United States. They are the Coca Cola Company with 44.1% market share, followed by The Pepsi-Cola Company with 31.4% market share, and Dr. Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. with 14.7% market share. Each company respectively has numerous brands that it sales. These top brands account for almost 73% of soft drink sales in the United States. Dr. Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. owns two of the top ten brands sold. Colas are the dominant flavor in the U.S carbonated soft drink industry; however, popularity for flavored soft drinks has grown in recent years. The changing demographics of the U.S population have been an important factor in the growing popularity of these flavored soft drinks. The possible impact of this factor will be addressed later in the case.
CASE 1-3: Coke and Pepsi Learn To Compete in India The political environment in India proved critical in that their government was unfavorable to foreign investors. They prohibited the import of soft drinks since they felt it could be gotten anywhere. They also prohibited the foreign brand name and wanted the name Lehar Pepsi and Coca-Cola India, an indigenous name. These effects couldn’t have be anticipated prior to entering the market because the trade policies, rules and regulations of India were difficult and unpredictable.
The beer market has turned itself into an oligopoly in the past 100 years. Where there once were hundreds of brewers across America, there now are just a few major players in the industry. But what is an oligopoly? As defined by Ayers & Collinge in the textbook Microeconomics, “an oligopoly is characterized by multiple firms, one or more of which will produce a significant portion of industry output”(microeconomics). Oligopolies exist where a few large firms producing a homogeneous or differentiated product dominate a market. There must be few enough firms so that they are mutually interdependent, which means they must consider rival’s reactions in response to decisions about prices, output, and advertising. The causes of the beer oligopoly are as followed: 1. Economies of scale exist, which indicate that a few large firms would be more efficient that many small ones. 2. A high degree of capital investment required. 3. Other barriers to entry may exist like patents, control of raw materials, large advertising budgets, and traditional brand loyalty.
Control of market share is the key issue in this case study. The situation is both Coke and Pepsi are trying to gain market share in this beverage market, which is valued at over $30 billion a year. Just how is this done in such a competitive market is the underlying issue. The facts are that each company is coming up with new products and ideas in order to increase their market share.
The several factors that make it very difficult for the competition to enter the soft drink market include:
Diageo has long been the front-runner in the premium drinks business. Its brands include Guinness, Smirnoff, Bailey's, Johnnie Walker, and Cuervo complimented by broad range of local and specialty brands from around the world. In 2002, Diageo held a 15% (United States-Spirits, 2002) market share and was by far the leading manufacturer of spirits in the United States followed by Pernod, and Fortune Brands, Inc. The market is expected to have 9.8% (Huddleston, 2005) growth in the next three to four years, so new entrants may find the going hard unless they have capital to sustain themselves.
Coke and Pepsi have been raging war for over a century now, turning their sodas into a multi-billion-dollar industry. Coke has been able to drive more earnings for its bottom line, and while Coke’s net income has been trending downward in recent years, it manages to stay ahead thanks to superior margins. Pepsi, on the other hand, has produced consistent net profit margins of around 10%, while Coke margins have been in the 15-18% range for the past several years (O’Brien). Every company has a Market Cap, which is basically a fancy way of saying how much the company is worth, and Coca-Cola’s market cap is a whopping $180 billion. Pepsi’s Market Cap is $150 billion, which may not seem like a big difference, but $30 billion is a lot of cheddar. Therefore, Coca-Cola owns 51% of the soft drink market, whereas Pepsi only owns 22% of it. Coke claims to own a total of 35 different brands, including Fanta, Sprite, Powerade, Vitaminwater, and many others. Pepsi owns 22 different brands, including 7up, Gatorade, and Mountain Dew “Coke (Coca-Cola) vs Pepsi - Soda
The beverage industry is highly competitive and presents many alternative products to satisfy a need from within. The principal areas of competition are in pricing, packaging, product innovation, the development of new products and flavours as well as promotional and marketing strategies. Companies can be grouped into two categories: global operations such as PepsiCo, Coca-Cola Company, Monster Beverage Corp. and Red Bull and regional operations such as Ro...
The CSD (carbonated soft drink) industry is one that is very competitive. A few firms dominate this industry, most notably Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola. This is due to substantial barriers to entry. Cadbury-Schweppes, producer of products such as 7up and Dr. Pepper is the third leading company in this industry. Due to the dominance of Coca Cola and Pepsi, Cadbury-Schweppes faces the daunting task of having to fight for market share and survive in this fiercely competitive industry. Using economic analysis for support, Cadbury-Schweppes will need to use its strengths in the non-cola categories to compete in this CSD industry.
Competitive Environment i. Market Share Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are the two largest players in the industry, with 43% and 31% of the market share, respectively. ii. Implications Key success factors in the industry are a strong brand presence, maintaining customer loyalty, exploring new markets and distribution channels, as well as offering a diversified product line.
[7] ¬Holdway, R., Walker, D. and Hilton, M. (2002) Eco-design and successful packaging, Design Management Journal. (pp. 45 – 53)
This competitive advantage has been rendered sustainable as other players have found it difficult to catch up with the company's competitive strategy. In spite of this clear advantage, it was noted that the company faces some challenges being the world leader in soft drink distribution. The canning and bottling of the product which is done in many countries have now fallen into the hands of independent companies, thus it becomes hard for a given company to control the quality of the packaging
PepsiCo is one of the most recognized names in the snack and beverage industry, with brands like Frito-lay, Gatorade, Tropicana, and Quaker, however, it is best known for its flagship soft drink brand - Pepsi and its rivalry with Coca-Cola. To begin, PepsiCo first caught my Interest in the way it manages its business and markets its products. PepsiCo being a relatively young company compared to its rival Coke, has proven to be a formidable opponent going “head to head” with one of the biggest companies in the world (Coca-Cola). Now, when I notice PepsiCo’s growth, the first thing that came to my mind was that it is thanks to its great marketing campaigns, that Pepsi has grown to become the globally recognized brand that it is today. I also admire PepsiCo because I think the there is a high level of entrepreneurship in the way they acquired smaller brands like Gatorade thereby eliminating their competition before they become competition.
As the world 's largest manufacturer and distributor of non-alcoholic beverages, Coca-Cola is certainly no stranger to global marketing. Established in the US, Coca-Cola initiated its global expansion in 1919 and now markets to more than 200 countries worldwide. It is one of the most recognizable brands on the planet and also owns a large portfolio of other soft drink brands including Schweppes, Oasis, 5 alive, Kea Oar, Fanta, Lilt, Dr Pepper, Sprite and PowerAde. Despite this, Coca-Cola often struggles to maintain its market share over its main rival PepsiCo in some overseas markets, particularly Asian countries.