Pepsi, Coke and .. The Green Revolution

Friday, March 12, 2010

Posted by Radhika

Today, in the 21^st Century, it isn’t enough to be a market leader in one aspect, infact it only states the beginning. To remain and sustain as the market leader one needs to diversify, innovate and market in a way that it produces the right appeal. To measure organizational success in more tangible terms John Elkington, contingent to the need of the hour, coined a phrase called Triple Bottom Line (TBL). The Triple Bottom Line seeks to measure sustenance of an organization in three aspects – Economic, Social and Ecological. With industries like automobile, real estate, furnishings already picking up the concept it was time for the beverage companies to take the plunge. So it did.

Coca Cola and Pepsi have been in cut-throat competition since the last two years to gain some ecological brownie points to cash in on the mass appeal. 

Coca Cola made its first real impact when it made an eco-friendly shift to wind power that lit up 30 billboards across important intersections, including Times Square. To Coca-Cola’s delight certain neighboring billboards also joined the movement so that their Social Sustenance rose! The Vancouver Olympics 2010 sees Coca Cola turning green with the brand using bottles, furniture, and other products all with recycled materials and reusable energy. Additionally, Coca-Cola also intends to spend $3 million to perform ‘green’ upgrades to its headquarters in Atlanta so that energy is saved by 23%, and water consumption by 15%.

Similarly, Pepsi is also aggressively seeking to gain environmental dominance with PepsiCo’s intention to purchase 1 billion kilowatt-hours of renewable energy credits gradually. (Each credit acts as a subsidy that helps produce one megawatt hour of renewable electricity!). Pepsi also introduced “green” machines that use carbon dioxide (CO2) instead of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 282,000 metric tons/year, equivalent to removing 52,000 on –road cars in a year! The Pepsi Refresh Project, in addition, is riding high with its community and online impact.

While Corporates seek to know if they are ‘green’er than the other, ‘Green’ation is a fast moving trend that promises good potential for Sustainable Development. With the private companies encroaching every industry, TBL looks to shift focus solely from Economic Sustenance. Further to valid concerns on Saving the Planet, Global Warming, Saving Energy, the Sustainability Report does well to put the onus on companies that impact our lives and environment in such a big way. 

Sounds refreshing?

(You can also read this article at: http://marketingtransformationforum.com/marketing-trends/coke-pepsi-going-green-with-billboards-and-dispensers)