Bennett Pope, Chapter 5, question 5

While discussing branding, Charles Wheelan said something that made me the concept click. "Coca-Cola is not soda; it's coke." I instantly thought about how true this statement is. Coke doesn't taste all that different than Pepsi, but if a restaurant only carries Pepsi products, I will actually change my drink order because I think Coke is better. I have been, in a way, brainwashed to believe that Coca-Cola makes better soda than any other brand.

Herein lies the brilliance of Branding. If large brands like Coca-Cola and Pepsi can make equally cheap sugar water and sell it for the same price, then they need to convince the population that their product is superior to the other. Coca-Cola has done that more successfully in my life because I religiously believe Coke to be superior to Pepsi. Coke doesn't have to be any better than Pepsi, they just have to make me think it is.