Read This!

This is how Coke did the big picture thing in the late 1970s early 1980s. By then it was clear that population growth had stabilized. So, where was increased revenue going to come from? The small picture would focus on getting more marketshare from Pepsi.

But Roberto Goizueta, on of the Titan CEOs in history, not only of Coke, had realized by then that Coke and Pepsi were more or less equals whose main aim was to defend their seesawing #1 and #2 positions. Keeping third parties and newcomers firmly out of contention for the two prime spots.

So, Goizueta performed on of the most daring out of the box, big picture thinking in business history. Hy did exactly what I described in the previous post. He asked what is the genus, the group that carbonated soft drinks belong to? Well, beverages including coffee, tea and also alchoholic beverages. And what had all these in common? Water. Tap water. That was the BIG big picture.

Goizueta decided that Coke would take market share from tap water. (and if Pepsi came along, so much the better!). Total carbonated soft drinks consumption in the US was 22.7 gallon per capita in 1970. Total beverage consumption was 114.5 gallon and tap water 68 gallons. It was from the 86 gallons of tap water that Coke (and Pepsi’s) growth would come from! He formulated the most audacious vision ever: “ I want to see the day that every tap in the world, tuned on fizzes with Coke.” (!)

And the numbers followed. By 2004 per capita tap water consumption in the US had dropped from 68 gallons to 29.1! While other beverages per capita gallons remained more or less the same, carbonated soft drink consumption upped their share of beverages from 12.4% in 1970 to 28.7% in 2004, off setting the plateau in population growth!