Coke had a problem and they weren't quite sure what to do about it. It's easy for us to look back in hindsight now and know the correct plan of action for them, but I'm sure glad that it wasn't me that had to make that decision for them at that time. We know they made a bad decision, but given the set of facts that they had to look at, how many of us can say that we wouldn't have made the same mistake they made?
Those of you who are old enough to remember the mid-seventies will probably remember when this event took place, but you may not know the whole story. Coca-Cola was the king of cola, but second place Pepsi was fighting hard to take as much of that market share as they could; and that's when they decided to offer what they called "The Pepsi Challenge." They would set up a table in a place where there was a lot of foot traffic and invite random people to a "blind folded taste test." They would then give the volunteer a sip of either Coke or Pepsi, and then they would let them taste the other. Then that person would tell them which taste they preferred, and consistently people were picking Pepsi over Coke by a substantial margin. Coca-Cola didn't really believe those results, so they start giving the same "sip" tests, and sure enough, the majority of the people tested preferred the taste of Pepsi. That's when Coke made the big blunder...they changed their formula and introduced "New Coke." Pepsi tastes a little sweeter and is not quite as strong as Coke. So basically what Coca-Cola did was change their formula so it would taste like Pepsi. The backlash over that decision came from all parts of the globe.
By now, the people at Coke were extremely puzzled, not knowing really what to do. They thought they were giving the people what they wanted, but there was one small fact that they were overlooking. That's when one man at coke had an idea...he would offer that challenge again, but this time, instead of the volunteers taking a sip, they would drink an entire bottle. This time the results were entirely different and the world was re-introduced to "Coke Classic." They learned the hard way that there's a vast difference in taking a "sip" of Coke and drinking a whole bottle, and the consumers couldn't really tell what they liked best until they had the whole thing.
Is there a lesson in that story? I think there is. Hopefully none of us would make a decision whether or not we wanted to marry a young man or woman after only a single date. Anything taken out of context of the entire picture fails to give an accurate reading of what you're actually looking at. You can't take any random scripture from the Bible and choose to base your life on what it says without looking at the entire context in which it was written. My job requires a lot of travel, and I've learned that if I'm staying in a particular hotel for the first time, I don't make my reservations for the next trip to that city until I've checked out and can make my judgment on the entire stay. If you're moving to a new city and you're looking for a church home, it's probably a good idea to visit each potential church several times before making your decision. On my first trip to a Thai restaurant, I tried the coconut soup and made an ugly face after the first sip, but before I was done with that bowl, I was practically drinking it. The first time you meet someone new, you can't tell if you and that person will become good friends or not...it takes time.
So if I decide to sing for you, don't turn me off after just two or three lines. You need to listen to the whole song...then turn me off.
Preston
No comments:
Post a Comment