This is The Biggest Brand KIller [Video]

The best example of how dangerous inconsistency can be to the health of your brand? Just look at New Coke.

One of the most iconic brands in the world, Coca-Cola has been faithfully true to their brand story ever since their inception in 1887… well, almost.

In 1975, Pepsi launched the “Pepsi Challenge” blind taste-test campaign that asked people if they preferred Pepsi or Coca-Cola. After a time, customers started moving over to Pepsi when they realised that they preferred how it tasted. To combat this, Coca-Cola created New Coke after they user-tested 200,000 people who overwhelmingly said that New Coke tasted better than Pepsi. So why was this new, rigorously tested drink so angrily rejected that Coca-Cola was subjected to protests and 8,000 angry phone calls?

What New Coke was missing was the years of deeply entrenched memories and emotional connection that has been a core pillar of the brand since 1887. Coke had been so consistent with their brand up to this point that any change was almost seen as blasphemous.

Neuromarketers have since replicated the “Pepsi Challenge” and have even run a taste-test of their own. In the blind test, the result came up as expected. Pepsi tastes better than Coca-Cola. In their own test, researchers told the participants what they were drinking. However, unbeknownst to the taste-testers, both drinks were identical. The result? Coca-Cola won out with an overwhelming majority of 75%.

Coca-Cola has a brand story so compelling that the parts of the brain most commonly associated with emotional memories, working memory and subjective pleasurable experiences lit up on the FMRI when participants thought they were drinking Coca-Cola.

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