Marketing Strategy "Pepsi in China"

Pepsi, with a global business turnover of $29.292 billion, ranked 92 among the Fortune 500 and first among all beverage makers in 1997. The major product of the company--Pepsi Cola -- is enjoying an increasing popularity among young consumers all over the world.
The progress Pepsi has made in China is even more impressive. According to the latest report the China Light Industry Association, Pepsi's sales volume increased by 25% in 1999, far exceeding its rivals in terms of growth rate.
Pepsi was among the first soda pop producers to enter the Chinese market. Since its foundation of the first bottling plant in China in 992, Pepsi has set up 15 such factories in the country. In order to further expand its business activities and improve its production capacity in the Chinese market, it even built a concentrate juice factory in Guanzhou. In addition to all these, Pepsi has also invested a fortune since 1998 in its "new-generation spirit" ad campaign increasing its market share in China -- Zhang Guorong and Liu Dehua, pop stars who enjoy unparalleled fame in Asia, have endorsed Pepsi products, while other stars like Guo Fucheng, Wang Fei, Ricky Martin, and Janet Jackson have sung jingles for Pepsi in TV commercials and advertisements.
Thanks to these sweeping campaigns, Pepsi has been gaining an increasingly larger share of the "soda pop pie" in China. Coca Cola, which used to have the lion's share in the Guanzhou market, has witnessed a gradual slide in its sales recently. In contrast, Pepsi has been gaining ground year after year in Guanzhou (See Table One and Table Two) and came to win profits in 1999. …