Crystal Pepsi was well received when it entered market since it had high sales. However, the brand sales went down drastically within a short time of its introduction. The failure of the Crystal Pepsi was due to various reasons. First, was flavour miscommunication. The marketing statement placed in the can of the product was clear cola. Ideally, this made that customers would expect the product to taste like a cola. Unfortunately, it did not taste a cola. Besides, the packaging in the can had a red flag that informed the customers that the product had a citrus taste. As a fact, this message brought a lot of confusion to the customers (Sandie all).
In addition, the failure can also be linked to the taste of the product. The marketing statement clearly showed customers that this product would have a taste of citrus of cola flavour soft drink. However, the taste of the product did not have either of the two but it tasted just like the ordinary Pepsi. Customers complained that the product did not taste good. Initially, many customers went for the brand thinking that they will find it tasting like Cola or Citrus howver this was not the case. Upon knowing that the brand did not taste as per their expectations, they decide not to buy the product anymore something that contributed to its failure (Sandie all).
In conclusion, it is true that the marketing message of a product has a lot of strength in influencing the customers to buy the product. However, its good for the company that is advertising the product to give the customers the correct message about the product in order to enhance sales of the product. The case of Crystal Pepsi did not present the customers with the correct message and that is why the sales went up then came down all over sudden (Blythe 243).
Work Cited
Blythe, Jim. Marketing. London: SAGE Publications, 2006. Print.
Sandie, Glass. What were they thinking? When the fizz went flat for Crystal Pepsi. Fastcompany.com, 2012. Retrieved from http://www.fastcompany.com/1805208/what-were-they-thinking-when-fizz-went-flat- crystal-pepsi. Print
