Branding Changes Respond to Consumer Attitudes

You may have noticed fewer “diet” soft drinks on store shelves in the last few years. Apparently “younger people just don’t like the word ‘diet'” according to the CMO at PepsiCo. Responding to this, Pepsi, Coke, and other soft drink makers have switched product names to emphasize “Zero” or “Zero Sugar.” You can read more in “‘Diet’ soda is disappearing from store shelves.”

The changes in brand names are a reaction to changes in consumer attitudes and behavior. This provides a nice example of the marketing strategy process planning model at work — context (social cultural factors) and customers lead to changes in marketing strategy. This might be a good example to add to your lecture on consumer behavior (Chapter 5) or branding and product names (Chapter 8).