Coca-Cola, or simply Coke, is considered the world’s most popular beverage. Found in over 200 countries, the Coca-Cola logo, like the product itself, is one of the most recognized logos and brands in the world. Needless to say, Coke is a global cultural icon thanks to the marketing efforts that have emotionally engaged people with the brand.

Coke’s success in dominating market share can be attributed to a consistent and strategic branding effort. This effort has given the brand vintage appeal, associated the product with the biggest commercial holidays and global events (Christmas, Olympics, etc), sponsored pop culture sensations like American Idol, and conditioned consumers to crave Coke by pairing it with complementary foods. Much like pairing milk with chocolate chip cookies in the “Got Milk” campaign, American epicurean staples like hamburgers and french fries cannot be consumed without Coke.

And although the Pepsi Challenge blind taste test proved that people generally prefer the sweeter taste of Pepsi over Coke, Malcolm Gladwell – author of the 2005 bestseller “Blink” – contests that the Challenge was a “sip test”. Had subjects actually been given the entire can to consume, they would’ve preferred Coke since people tend to like sweeter things in small doses. This, according to Gladwell, is why Pepsi prevailed in the Challenge, but why Coke ultimately continued to lead the market.

Furthermore, in these blind taste tests, subjects who picked Pepsi over Coke will actually choose Coke in a taste test where the brands are revealed before sampling. Martin Lindstrom, author of “Buy-ology”, argues that all the positive emotional connections the subjects had with Coke – its history, logo, color, design, fragrance, childhood memories of Coke, Coke’s TV and print ads over the years – beat back their rational and natural preference for the taste of Pepsi. Because emotions are the way in which our brains encode things of value, a brand that engages us emotionally will win every single time.

Coke’s presence during life’s most memorable events – or the marketing efforts that strategically placed Coke around life’s most memorable events – is what makes us desire it. Coke thus prevails even despite studies that prove its deteriorative effects on teeth, DNA damage, and hyperactivity in children. And contrary to the relatively recent anti-obesity efforts, people will still opt for a Coke over water, even when water is free. But in some countries, Coke is just available in more abundance than water.

And unlike its competitors, Coke has maintained a consistent and familiar logo design. In attempt to refresh its brand, Pepsi has launched a multi-million dollar re-branding campaign that debuts a revised logo.

The new logo was introduced noticeably by a massive Out-of-Home media investment – billboards, station dominations, etc. Although the change was designed to make the logo more “dynamic and alive”, consumers inherently desire consistency, which offers a sense of stability and control. This is the 11^th time in Pepsi’s 110-year history that the logo was changed. In contrast, the Coca-cola logo has remained consistent throughout its product history, with only minor changes to the bottle itself.

In short, the Coke brand is timeless, whereas Pepsi’s logo revision comes across more as a campaign idea than an enduring brand expression. All of Coke’s marketing dollars have been invested to ensure the brand stays woven into our daily lives and continues to be culturally relevant. So needless to say, strategic and consistent marketing has transformed a simple consumer product like Coke into a global cultural icon.