Wal-Mart's creation of a new sportsdrink is a laughable bluff. The sportsdrink market is already saturated and Gatorade is the perennial leader anyway. Wal-Mart is not going to invest the time and money in such an endeavor.
Coke should have called Wally's bluff and threatened to take their product out of their stores. Wal-Mart would have lost some business because everyone and their momma who shop there ends up buying Coke and Coke products anyway.
But I guess it's more comfortable breaking out the kneepads to Wal-Mart instead of competing head-on.
I don't know about that. They are seeking permission to open their own bank. If they can get into banking they surely can start up a soft drink manufacturing company.
Maybe Coke didn't get bluffed but are making Walmart wear the black hat for something they wanted...
Coke probably can't afford to lose the Wal-mart market.
Wal-mart can promote the competitors, Coke has no other recourse.
Not really. Sports drinks are pretty much like any other. What matters is advertising and distribution. Wal-Mart could easily produce its own drink and stock and advertise it instead of Powerade. It would sell millions, and Coke would lose a significant percentage of Powerade sales.
The only question is whether both are braced for an all-out war, where Wal-Mart makes its own drink and Coke pulls out completely, all of its products. It would cost both of them millions.
Old Roy is the best selling dog food brand in America. I have two dogs and two teenagers. This household spends more money annually on sports drinks (mainly PowerAde) than we do on dog food.
Oh, yes they would. If you had millions of people walking through your stores daily, who already buy thousands of Wal-Mart branded products, why not?! They have knocked off hundreds, if not thousands of products already.