In the 21st century, this situation seems to have begun to change, in April 2004, Forbes magazine selected the "nation's most valuable company brands", PepsiCo with 56.1 billion dollars in the top ten, for the first time, beyond the value of the brand has been proud of the Coca-Cola. Pepsi, which once requested Coca-Cola to buy its own company, is undoubtedly "a gentleman's revenge, ten years is not too late", played a beautiful battle.
In fact, in addition to brand awareness and reputation, brand value in a sense also reflects the potential of a company's future development, as well as the public and the market's confidence in the company. Corresponding to the net operating income of the past three years, PepsiCo, which has more products, has also been ahead of Coca-Cola, and the average growth rate of about 5% is also much higher than the latter; from 2001 to the present, PepsiCo's stock price has increased by 20%, while the rival's stock price has not changed significantly. In addition to being widely known as the producer of Coke, PepsiCo, which owns Frito-Lay, is also the world's largest producer of snack foods such as potato chips. In fiscal year 2003, PepsiCo's sales revenue increased by 8% to $27 billion, and its operating profit increased by 10% to $5.8 billion, which puts it successfully among the world's top four food and beverage companies. The company's current balanced development of carbonated beverages, non-carbonated beverages, and casual foods shows potential for long-term sustainable growth, while Coca-Cola has only been more successful in the carbonated beverage market.
The man who has led PepsiCo to success in its market conquests is PepsiCo chairman and CEO, 55-year-old Steve Raymond. Steve Reinemund, 55, chairman and CEO of PepsiCo. The CEO, who took office in May 2001, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1970 and served in the U.S. Navy for five years before earning an MBA from the University of Virginia. 1984 Reinemund joined PepsiCo's Pizza Hut, and two years later, he became the CEO of the branch. 1992 Reinemund was transferred to Pepsi's most important food production department, Frito-Lay, and through a series of promotional and management measures, he was able to create a new marketplace for PepsiCo's products. In 1992, Raymond was transferred to Frito-Lay, PepsiCo's most important food production division, and through a series of promotional and management measures, PepsiCo captured 60% of the potato chip market in the U.S. His tenure was also the fastest-growing phase of PepsiCo's casual food products, with nine of the 10 best-selling casual food brands in supermarkets being owned by Frito-Lay International, contributing as much as 40% of the company's profits. 1999, Raymond was promoted to president and COO of PepsiCo.
In fact, looking back at PepsiCo's growth over the past few years, the external market environment has not been a smooth ride. In addition to the weak global economy, government health and wellness officials and the general public are increasingly concerned about unscientific diets, and anti-obesity fighters are accusing McDonald's, PepsiCo, and other producers of calorie-only foods and high-sugar beverages, Pepsi is facing a huge challenge as a big player that produces the vast majority of its products in the form of carbonated beverages, as well as high-calorie foods such as potato chips.
Over the years, Coca-Cola has claimed to be "as good as it tastes" while Pepsi has promoted "aspire to be", with the former emphasizing "classic timelessness" and the latter highlighting "passion and dreams". The former emphasizes "classic timelessness" while the latter highlights "passion and dreams". Pepsi has always been firmly loved by young people pursuing independence with its brand positioning full of personality and passion, but nowadays, in addition to personality and taste, people also want to have health. Raymond is very conscious of this change in the market, and instead of running away from the market's accusations about the health of Pepsi foods, he is taking a proactive stance to push Pepsi in a healthier direction. This is an opportunity for us to grow our business," he said. "There are many examples in many industries where the pursuit of healthier products and lifestyles has proven to be commercially effective. Consumers want to buy healthier, better-tasting convenience foods, so it's up to Pepsi, and the food industry as a whole, to change to accommodate them."
Since 2001, Raymond has worked to re-launch more than 50 percent of the company's food and beverage offerings as "for your health. He has advocated that Frito-Lay Foods' R&D department put more effort into researching healthy snacks by removing harmful trans fats from cookies and chips, replacing fatty oils with vegetable oils in the manufacturing process, and adding healthy, nutritious ingredients such as broccoli, carrots, and tomatoes. This May Pepsi also launched a new line of products under the Stereo Crisp (Doritos) and Tostitos brands, which will be produced using soy protein and are also more crisp in flavor.
On the beverage side, Pepsi is heavily promoting a modified version of Coke, the low-sugar Pepsi Light (Diet Pepsi), and to improve the low-sugar taste of this Coke, researchers have added vanilla and lemon flavors. More recently, Pepsi is on the verge of launching a new product, Pepsi Edge, which has half the calories of regular Pepsi but tastes just like regular Pepsi. Katie Lacey, PepsiCo's vice president of beverage marketing for North America, said that PepsiCo's Pepsi Edge is the first PepsiCo product to be launched. Lacey (Katie Lacey) said: "Some consumers don't like the taste of Diet Coke and are ready to give up all Coke products, and Pepsi Edge is customized for these consumers. With it, these consumers can drink low-calorie Coke while still enjoying the taste of regular Coke."
The Tropicana juice company, which Pepsi acquired back in 1998, was even more conducive to Raymond's promotion of health, and the Dole brand, which is made from all-natural ingredients such as fresh oranges, apples, and grapes, is popular with those who seek to live a healthy lifestyle, and the brand is also well known in China. Less than a year after Raymond became CEO, he led the acquisition of Quaker Qats, whose premier line of sports drinks, Gatorade, has a mineral content that fits well with the concept of healthy beverages.
In addition to product and R & D efforts, Raymond also used other ways to prove to the community that Pepsi's advocacy of health concepts, such as the production of television programs to promote the "Let's Get America Moving" Pepsi sports lifestyle, and invited some of the so-called father of aerobics Kenneth Cooper and advocate of eating low-fat foods, Dr. Kenneth Cooper. Dr. Kenneth Cooper, the father of aerobics, and Dr. Dean Ornish, a low-fat food advocate. The company's researchers are guided by well-known experts such as Dr. Kenneth Cooper and Dr. Dean Ornish.
After all these efforts, Raymond and PepsiCo managed to turn the crisis and challenges into new opportunities, making Pepsi's image fresher and healthier. The market has also responded positively to Pepsi's adjustments: sales of the Frito-Lay line of food products rose 30% in the third quarter of 2003 and grew nearly 10% for the year, and sales of its natural foods line of products have exceeded $100 million. The U.S. "Fortune" magazine and the British "Financial Times" were named "the most respected company in the beverage industry in the United States" and "the world's most respected food and beverage companies" at the top.
Buy and Sell, Focus on the Core
In the course of its development, PepsiCo has always paid great attention to the linkage effect of multi-branding, and has made extensive use of M&A strategies to maximize this effect.
Historically, PepsiCo purchased Frito-Lay in 1965, which owned Lays, Doritos, and Cheetos brands, including natural potato chips, shrimp fries, corn rings, wafers, and rice crackers. Since 1977, PepsiCo has acquired Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC, thus surpassing McDonald's as the world's number one fast food company. 1998, PepsiCo purchased Pure Connor Beverages, which owns 100% of Dole's juice series, and now, thanks to PepsiCo's strong sales network, Pure Connor has become the world's number one branded fruit juice. Today, thanks to Pepsi's strong distribution network, Pure Connor is the world's largest operator and producer of branded juices in 63 countries. These brands are well synergized under the PepsiCo umbrella.