Coca-Cola Co. Wins Battle For Throats, Minds Beverage Leader Has A Bubbly Year While Pepsi, 7up Seem To Go Flat

Coke Classic, Dr Pepper, Mountain Dew and Sprite each gained a bigger chunk of the U.S. carbonated soft-drink market last year, while Pepsi, 7Up and several diet brands lost ground, two reports released Tuesday said.

The overall victory in the carbonated soft-drink wars went to Coca-Cola Co., whose dominance of the industry widened to 41.9 percent of the U.S. market in 1995, up from 40.7 percent in 1994, according to Beverage Digest.

“Coke had a very good year,” said Gary Hemphill, a vice president at Beverage Marketing Corp., whose own report included similar figures. He credited packaging, distribution and advertising successes for Coke’s gains.

No. 2 PepsiCo, meanwhile, gained only one-tenth of a percentage point, to 31 percent of the market, while its cola fell two-tenths to 15.5 percent, Beverage Digest said in its report, which was prepared with industry analyst John Maxwell.

Overall volume for the carbonated soft-drink industry gained 3 percent in 1995 to top 9 billion cases - including a 5 percent jump for Coke Classic - compared with an industry gain of 4.4 percent in 1994, Beverage Digest said.

“The growth came from the traditional, tried-and-true products rather than anything new,” Hemphill said.

Coca-Cola’s gain reflected jumps in market share for first-place Coke Classic and seventh-place Sprite, as well as Coca-Cola’s acquisition of Barq’s. Sprite’s volume soared by 10.6 percent.

“Coke has put a powerful effort behind Sprite in the last few years with huge success,” said John Sicher, publisher of Beverage Digest. That effort, including tongue-in-cheek spots mocking traditional soft-drink ads, was especially focused on Generation Xers, that is, consumers in their 20s.

In contrast, Sprite’s lemon-lime rival, eighth-place 7Up, which suffered a series of marketing missteps in the 1980s, continued a long decline, falling to 2.8 percent of the market last year. That’s down from 4 percent a decade ago.

Cadbury Schweppes, which acquired Dallas-based Dr Pepper/7Up last year, is trying to turn around that slide for what was once the No. 3 brand, with a new package design, ad campaign and slogan.

Pepsi’s rising star continued to be sixth-place Mountain Dew, which jumped to 5.6 percent of the market. Its ads featuring a group of adventure-oriented hip young “Mountain Dew Dudes,” who have “Been There, Done That,” have helped to win over a Generation X audience and to nearly double Mountain Dew’s market share from 3 percent in 1985. The Beverage Marketing Corp. analysis even had Mountain Dew topping Diet Pepsi in 1995.

None of the top diet brands gained share last year, continuing a slide since 1991. Third-place Diet Coke share was unchanged in 1995 at 8.8 percent of the market - compared with 9.1 percent in 1990 - and fifth-place Diet Pepsi slipped slightly last year. The caffeine-free diet versions of Coke and Pepsi also slipped.

A new sweetener that is awaiting federal regulatory approval is expected to jump-start the category.