Since 1992 the brand Perrier belong to the famous alimentary group : Nestlé.In fact the brand has been bought by the group after a takeover bid.Nestlé Waters, the part of the group which deals with the blocked up waters, own several brands of waters like Contrex, Vittel, Nestlé Aquarel, San Pellegrino…Nowadays water is more and more rare and everyone know that it is going to disappear. That’s why Nestlé and more particularly Perrier try to develop their image and their presence in the department of the shop.But it is also to protect the environment : since thirty years, Perrier earn the fields which are around the spring and prescribe the farmers to cultivate the ground without using manure.

Furthermore the company try not to throw back harmful gas.

The aim of Perrier is to be present on various market. Now the brand as a good place on the market of the mineral waters. In 2000 the brand launch a new packaging for its product, the bottle of 50cl, made in plastic. Easy to take away everywhere, the little bottle has a large success. In order to increase its market share, the brand launch a new product in 2002 : Perrier fluo.The target for this new product are especially young people. The bottles are very funny with flashy colors. The drink is a mix of Perrier with natural  flavoring. There are  4 flavors :    Peppery mint ( blue )                                   Ginger/cherry ( pink )                                   Lemon/juniper ( yellow )                                   Orange/leeches ( orange ) ( the new one )In 2003, Perrier launch “ Eau de Perrier”,  a water with very thins bubble easier to drink during the meal than the original Perrier.

     In our English course we have to create a market research on the topic that we want. I've decided to make it on the new product launch by Coke, the Blak Coca.  

As decided together with the Marketing Manager of Coca Cola company, I’ve launched a questionnaire on the Internet. This survey deals with the new product launched by Coke in February in France : Blak Coca      ( coffee flavour ). This product is aimed at the junior executives and young people as a replacement for the usual cup of coffee. Unfortunately this product doesn’t work, people don’t buy it and the sales are very low.The Marketing Manager of Coke wants to understand the reasons for this failure.    

The survey main topics were: present consumption habits                                            customer preferences for product                                              consumer perception of the new product                                            customer’s wishes. 

 Results 

- On average the age of  the persons who were questioned is 22 years old. I chose this category of people because they are the kind of person targeted by Coke to sell the new flavour.  

- 100% of  young people are consumers of soda and 80% of them prefer buying Coke rather than another brand of soda. For example, just 5% buy Pepsi most often.  

- 45% of the group drink soda several times a week. 

- 65% have never tasted the new Blak Coca. 

- Among those who have tasted it, just 14% like it against 86% who didn’t. 

- Among those who haven’t tasted it, half declared that they are going to buy it. 

- Most of them said that the size of the can ( 25 cl ) is quite a good size. Some of them said that because they find that the taste is disgusting, others because it is about the same size as a coffee cup, others because it’s original and easy to drink. But some of them believe that the price is too high in comparison with the size. 

- 75% think that Coke is right to launch new tastes regularly. 

- 30% prefer the original taste to the new flavours. The others like to taste new flavours and their propositions for new flavours to launch are very interesting and different :

Conclusion

 The image of Coke isn’t spoiled by the failure of the Blak Coca, but it’s clear that the company has to withdraw it from the sales. Because most of the people who were questioned didn’t even taste it : maybe because they just don’t want to do it,  because Blak Coca is quite well distributed in shops and bars. Most of them didn’t like it and only the half of them are going to buy it. It’s not enough for a new product launch by a big brand like Coke. Furthermore the tastes suggested by those persons were fruit flavours for the most part, not spicy tastes. 

Recommendation 

Coke should continues to sell its new flavour in small can (25cl) because people can taste it easily without the fear to waste the product if they don’t like it. The brand should also offers free samples of the new flavour (organizing tasting sessions for example )  in supermarkets, shopping streets, shopping centres to let people discover the product, its taste, its packaging… Furthermore the brand will quickly know if the consumer likes it or not. It could reduce the cost of production.This money should be re-invested in an advertising campaign because Coke don’t communicate enough on the Blak Coca. It could be one of the reasons for its failure.