Building Brand Architecture: Coca Cola vs. Pepsi
Introduction
This report builds and examines the brand architecture of two brands –Coca Cola and Pepsi- in the
beverage market. The reason behind choosing these two brands is that both are soda drinks, they
compete in very similar markets but yet have very different brand personalities. Pepsi has been a
market leader in Pakistan for years until Coca Cola entered Pakistani market. Both brands are among
the most valuable brands in the beverage industry all-round the global market, and this report will
bring out the stark differences in the brand architectures of these brands. The goal is to observe how
consumers can have vastly different perceptions of and relationships with very similar products owing
to the differences in brand architectures.
Brand Architecture
The first step is to develop brand pyramids for both brands.

Brand Architecture for Coca Cola
Brand Core/Essence: Joy, Relationship
Brand Personality: Legend, Leader, Reliable
Emotional Benefits: Love, Happiness, Celebration, Sharing
and Caring, Leading
Product Benefits: Top Class, Classic, Refreshment, Energy, Fun
Product Attirbutes: Soft Drink, Unique and Balanced Flavor,
Fizziness, Iconic Bottle Shape, Variety,

Brand Architecture for Pepsi
Brand Core/Essence: Urban Lifestyle, Modernism
Brand Personality: Fun, Friendly, Youthful, Free-spirit
Emotional Benefits: Love, Happiness, Celebration, Enjoyment
Product Benefits: Thirst Quenching, Refreshment, Energy, Fun
Product Attirbutes: Soft Drink, Unique Flavor, Fizziness, Color
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Brand Comparison
Coca-Cola Co. and Pepsi Co, Inc. are very similar businesses in terms of industry, ideal consumers, and
flagship products. Both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are global leaders in the beverage industry, offering
consumers hundreds of beverage brands. In addition, both companies offer ancillary products such
as consumer packaged goods.
Both brands compete in very similar markets and both brands put a high value on product quality.
However, the differences in the brand personalities appeal to very different target audiences in the
same market. Pepsi Co is a company known for a highly diversified product portfolio, both within the
beverage industry and in other industries such as the consumer-packaged goods industry. In contrast,
Coca-Cola only focuses on a diversified product portfolio within the beverage industry and has few
products outside of that industry. This means PepsiCo's products in the snack food category account
for more than 50% of its business revenue, while a majority of Coca-Cola's revenue comes directly
from the 100-plus beverage products it owns. Coca Cola prides itself for being the soft drink which
brings friends and families under one roof. On the other hand, Pepsi attracts the audience who love
music, are fun-loving free spirits.
In Pakistan, Coca Cola targets the top end and middle-class of the market, and its customers are not
usually price sensitive. Pepsi’s customers are generally more likely to be price sensitive. Due to
differences in pricing, Coca Cola’s products are high margin products. On the other hand, Pepsi relies
more the sales volume. Thus, both brands serve the company’s goal of revenue share through two
different drivers.
Brand Value
Coca-Cola heads the brand valuation game, ranking number 6 compared to 29 for Pepsi on Forbes
World's Most Valuable brands in 2019. Coca-Cola also enjoys a higher market capitalization on the
stock exchange, with $204.87 billion value versus $159 billion for PepsiCo.
According to Interbrand 2019 ranking, Coca Cola was ranked as 6 with brand value of 63,365 $m
whereas Pepsi’s ranking was 24 and it had a brand value of 20,488 $m. These rankings do not resemble
the Brand asset valuator in that they do provide a dollar value, and rather rate brands on various other
parameters such as innovation, customer reviews etc.
Sources Consulted
https://www.interbrand.com/best-brands/best-global-brands/2019/ranking/cocacola/
https://www.interbrand.com/best-brands/best-global-brands/2019/ranking/pepsi/
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/081415/comparing-cocacola-and-pepsis-businessmodels.asp
https://www.cms-connected.com/News-Archive/February-2019/Coke-vs-Pepsi-Who-Wins-on-Social
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