ANA Marketing Maestros

89 Days Till the DTV Transition...

By: Irina Skaya

With 89 days left till DTV transition, it is important to understand why it’s happening and who will be affected. On February 17, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. all television stations across the U.S. are required to broadcast digitally only, phasing out analog broadcasting. The digital TV transition promises better sound, clearer pictures and most-importantly, multi-cast channels that will allow for more content and better targeted information.  Earlier this morning, the National Association of Broadcasters forewarned the audience at the Multicultural Marketing Conference about who will be affected by the transition and discussed what advertisers can do to smooth out the analog-to-digital process.

Although most of us are DTV-ready or have made plans to purchase new TV sets with a digital turner or a converter box, or subscribe to a pay-TV service, many seniors, low-income families and those who reside in rural areas will need to upgrade . So, how many are approximately affected? Approximately 19.6 million (17%) of US households receive their television signals through a rooftop antenna. Another 34.5 million (31%) have some over the air usage, meaning they may have a family room set connected to cable, but their bedroom set may broadcast over the antenna. And who specifically is affected? Many of the low-income families include Hispanics. In fact, as many as forty-one percent of Hispanic house-holds where Spanish is the primary language, will need to upgrade their TV sets.  This number is especially important to multicultural advertisers whose target audiences  are Hispanics.

What are some marketing efforts being put in place to spread the word about the upcoming digital transition?

From local churches, analog shut-off tests to “Trekkers” and monitors in grocery shops and gas pumps, DTV transition messaging is targeting Hispanics at work, in their homes and where they hang out. The television industry’s plan of $1.1 billion has made the transition process affordable for anyone. Each household regardless of income can apply for up to two coupons that run between $40 and $75. So far 35 million coupons have  been requested from 18 million households. If a household orders coupons, there is a 90 day expiration day, and once it aspires, they cannot get another coupon. With the numerous number of efforts from the broadcasting industry and the government, the percentage of people unprepared for DTV transition is expected to be low.  As advertisers, we can help aid the transition by promoting the transition to our clients via emails, events, and online efforts.

How President-elect Barack Obama became the first African-American president of the U.S.

By: Irina Skaya

Bob Dylan’s song, “The Times They Are A-Changin” is truer today than ever before. As Martinez and Garcia become two of the top twenty most-common surnames, and salsa replaces ketchup as a popular condiment, the most notable change is the victory of the first African-American President-elect Barack Obama. How did the first black president win the 2008 election when so many Americans thought it was merely impossible?

Roland S. Martin, American journalist and CNN contributor spoke to 250 marketers at the Multicultural Marketing Conference about the important role the Latino vote played in the 2008 election.  Not only did this year’s election had a record Hispanic turnout, but Latinos played a key role in swinging the election outcome. In the past, Cuban-Americans who used to make up the majority of Hispanic population in Florida have consistently voted Republican. Today, the Hispanic population is much more diverse, comprised of Puerto Ricans, Central and South Americans—this shift in population and the combination of black and Hispanic voters have directly influenced the 27 electoral votes in the swing state of Florida. 

The credit for Obama’s win doesn’t only go to record turnouts of Hispanic and black voters, but to his flawless presidential campaign. I agree with Martin—his campaign is the epitome of an integrated marketing campaign.  Its structure is already being studied and will continue to be talked about. One interesting thing that Martin pointed out was the many Americans believed Hillary Clinton was going to win the primaries because after all, she had the “money, the resources and the staff,” not to mention the popularity as First Lady. Obama had to start from scratch. However, he recognized the generational shift, targeting the youth demographic. His team was ‘right on the money’ to use social networks to target the youth population that would otherwise not be as politically active. One other thing that Obama did was he did not target the African American population because he had their vote already. He targeted the undecided voters in swing states like Florida. In October, just weeks prior to the election, I was watching television in my hotel room at the Annual Masters of Marketing Conference, and I remember thinking about the frequency of the political ads for Obama.  He spent his ad dollars wisely, on target audience whom he depended on to win.

The practices of advertisers must change and so should television programming. Martin said the ads and programming must reflect the changes in the population. He asked advertisers, “How do you in your shops begin to operate as of January 20th, 12:01 p.m.?" He didn’t answer marketers with a clear-cut answer, but he did leave them with a smart advice, “You might want to change it up a little bit or you’ll be left behind. “

Only the Growth Champions will Survive

By: Michael Palmer

If we are to survive this economic challenge in front of us, marketers take note – we have to start leading our organizations towards the light at the end of the tunnel.  What does it take to be that kind of marketing leader?  How can marketing assume a leadership role when it is still viewed as a cost versus an investment in many organizations?

ANA studies have found that you can categorize marketing into six organizational roles, each with its own view as to their responsibilities within the company. While each group has its own relevance within an organization, there is a performance difference based on the role the marketing team plays.  Growth Champions are 20 percent more likely than their industry peers to exhibit superior revenue growth and profitability.  Why?

Very simple; Growth Champions, who currently represent about 10% of all marketing teams, are more connected to their company’s strategic agenda. A survey of 370 corporate marketers from 100 companies in nine industries revealed a significant disconnect between CEOs’ agendas and marketing teams’ activities. Forty-six percent of marketers in the study named driving growth as a priority while over 85% of CEOs indicated that “sustained and steady top-line growth” was their top priority.  More alarmingly, only 37 percent of the marketing respondents said “driving the CEO agenda” was an essential objective of the marketing team

So what does it take to become a Growth Champion?  An ability to seek commonalities across markets in which your company has a presence, both to find efficiencies and to clearly identify where customized communications or marketing operations are required. Look beyond customer satisfaction to how customers use your brand and what problems they are trying to solve, and then collaborate with sales and product-development teams to develop and deploy products that solve these problems.

Most important, growth champions excel at collaborating across multifunction’s - R&D, finance, sales, and etc. - to more quickly bring products to market. And they have standardized methodologies and metrics that allow them to calculate return on investment (ROI), and to demonstrate their accountability for the entire organization’s results.

What should you do now?  In conjunction with Booze & Co., we have developed a marketing profiler survey.  It will tell you what role your marketing team currently plays within your organization (we would recommend that several of your team take this survey, then compare the results – does your own team agree on the role you are currently serving, it would be interesting to find out).  Once you agree on the role you now serve, should you wish to move up the ladder towards the Growth Champion rung, the ANA School of Marketing has a host of ways to help you and your team.  Let us know how we can build the right program for you.  We understand you are time-starved and budget challenge, no problem we are flexible.

Becoming a Growth Champion – the key to driving relevance into marketing

By: Michael Palmer

Marketers are the Rodney Dangerfield of business – they just don’t get no respect.  Seventy percent of marketers say they are second guessed when they make decisions.  What’s behind this lack of respect?  Two things: too great a focus on getting stuff done, too little ability to demonstrate to management the results of their efforts.

Marketers in general have been focused on getting projects accomplished.  While important, the projects we spend most of our time on are less likely to be strategic in nature.  We worry about brand logos, packaging graphics, commercials and brand awareness when we should be concerned with developing big new ideals that drive both top and bottom line growth.  Spending more time on customer insights – both the collection of the data/information that leads to customer insights and the translation of that insight data into actionable steps that will make our brand revenues growth.  Too often marketers do not translate insight into action.  They do not find ways to imbed their customer knowledge into new strategic initiatives that drive competitive initiatives.  In the end, this is what senior management really wants.  Business is in business to make money.  Marketing should be the engine that drives that growth.  Focusing on tactical elements is important, but it is not what in the end will help management accomplish their goals.

Marketing accountability is confusing and difficult, but not impossible.  There is a way to take hope out of the marketing equation and put accountability in.  Companies like Enterprise

Rent-A-Car won’t do a marketing program they cannot measure.  They therefore find a way to determine the value of a program before they invest.  You can too.

ANA School of Marketing offers those marketers who wish to become “Marketing Growth Champions” the opportunity.  Our marketing curriculum can help an individual elevate their knowledge and performance, our right learning process will help teams become more effective and efficient growth drivers.  Interestingly we have discovered via our research that most companies fall short in two areas – customer centric marketing and integrated marketing – the ANA School of Marketing therefore has comprehensive programs ranging from ½ day speed sessions to full 3-5 day boot camps covering these areas.  Let us know what we can do to help you all achieve “Growth Champion” status.

Marketing Training - Never has there been a better time to train

By Michael Palmer:

If you believe in people, investing in them should be as essential as breathing….

Yet how often do we say – no time; no budget; training has to wait.  Wait for what?

Mark Addicks, General Mills, CMO sends his team to a five day internal marketing boot camp.  This type of investment – taking the team away from their desks for five continuous days - is substantial, both for Mark and his team.   But Mark does not question his decision or this investment, in fact he teaches much of the course himself--a demonstration to the team of how important he feels training is.

And he doesn’t stop there.  First, a monthly program occurs on Wednesdays where outside speakers come to share new insights, trends, concepts, and marketing ideas.  This “Lunch and Learn” program is very different than most; however, it works.  People attend, they listen (not play with blackberries) and they learn.  Why? Because Mark attends, listens, and learns.  He shows the team that he cares about them, and that he wants them to continuously grow, gain new skills, and become more valuable members of the General Mills team.

If you are an ANA member company, marketing training is part of your membership.  ANA members are offered complimentary ½ day marketing training courses. This provides you with a way to overcome both excuses – no time, no budget.  Without cost, and for only a half-a-day time investment, you too, can elevate the marketing skills of your organization.  Call (212 455-8054) or email me (mpalmer@ana.net) and we’ll help you demonstrate to your team that investing in them is a priority for you.

Sailing Through the Economic Tsunami

By: Irina Skaya

‘The Great Depression’
‘Economic tsunami, hurricane, and storm all in one’
‘Financial crisis’

All of the above were heard over and over again at this year’s Annual Masters of Marketing Conference  to describe today’s U.S. economy. Surprisingly, most marketers still remained optimistic when asked about the economic slowdown and what they’re doing to stay ahead.  Many described this conference as a “bonding experience.” Almost every speaker, including E-trade provided marketers with growth strategies and advised them how to sail through this economic hurricane. But during the collapse of major commercial banks and investment brokers, how can companies reassure consumers that their money is safe?  After E-trade almost went bankrupt in 2007, Nick Utton and Ken Zasky said that the company released ads, email messages and made phone calls informing their customers that their money is secure. Their message to marketers was to be honest with their customers, create engaging ads and keep spending.

Banks have a lot going on right now, but the last thing they want is customers closing up accounts or not opening new ones. Customer communication is critical right now to help companies rebuild trust with their customers, and show that relationships are important to these banks.

Most importantly, during a credit crunch like this, a company must have a strong foundation and message to their customers, and great customer service. E-trade provided marketers with the following five guiding principles for a stormy climate:

1. Speed is not negotiable.  With customers receiving instant media alerts, a company must move quickly and decisively to reassure customers that their money is safe.
2. Reassure Everywhere Possible. conversation must be continuous. In response to the media’s message that E-trade may go bankrupt, the company came up with ads that E*Trade is not going anywhere. Their confidence encouraged current customers to maintain their accounts, and new customers to sign up.
3. Be Engaging.
4. Be Seen. Out of sight means out of mind: marketers must spend money. The company’s message needs to be out there in order to create a difference between them and their competitors.   
5. Focus. Focus. Focus. Account quality became as important as volume of accounts.

Here is an ad E-trade that both encourages people to invest and reassures that their money is safe.

One last thing: "Take care of your customers or someone else will." (Nick Utton)

Marketing in 2010 and beyond

Barbara Bacci Mirque

ANA

Despite a sunny day and a beckoning pool, approximately 300 marketers attended the CMO roundtable on Saturday afternoon.   The roundtable features the results of all three phases of Marketing Media Ecosystem 2010 year long research study.  Perhaps these uncertain times caused marketers to want  to learn how to market smarter and more efficiently  in the future.  Now more than ever we are going to have to be smart and effective marketers.   And that was the first question that moderator Richard Costello asked of the panel.  After an overview of the joint study of the ANA, AAAA, IAB and Booz & Co, the panel began.  But first, Richard addressed the elephant in the room.   Were they going to modify their marketing plans for 2009 given the turmoil in the financial markets, and if so how?  The panelists reiterated what the conference speakers have been saying, namely that you can learn a lot marketing in times like this so  don’t hunker down, experiment,  be out  there, persevere and be optimistic.  But also have the facts and figures to document the return of your marketing investments and the impact of marketing on the business so that your budget does not get cut. Steve Sullivan reminded us that part of what we are experiencing is psychological and companies such as Boeing and Caterpillar have order backlogs.

Coke's Tripodi: Pushing a Global Program to the Ends of the Earth

Geoffrey Precourt, WARC
 

The Coca-Cola Co. made a strong statement about a powerful marketing mandate in July 2007, when it hired Joseph V. Tripodi--who was renowned in marketing circles as a change-maker--as svp/chief marketing and commercial officer. Whatever his attributes might have been, no one could have called him "just another beverage guy" who had worked his way up through the ranks.

He arrived from Allstate, where he'd been CMO and he'd held that same position at a disparate group of enterprises that includes The Bank of New York, Seagram Spirits & Wine Group and MasterCard International. Stints in Paris, Hong Kong and Guam during seven years with Mobil Oil brought him a global perspective entirely appropriate for the world's most beloved brand.

Bob Liodice, president ceo of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and Tripodi's host at the organization's 98th annual convention in Orlando, FL, simply stated that Coca -Cola was "in need of a wake-up call" when it summoned Tripodi. And, as the first speaker at the ANA's Saturday-morning session, Tripodi fired off a number of warning shots that brought his audience to full attention.

"You've probably heard that the winds of change are blowing," the Coca-Cola CMO told his ANA audience. "Some of you might have seen it as a soft breeze--not really all that serious. Well, you're wrong. And you better get prepared to change….

"This is my call to action: Don't jump. Don't let the urgent overwhelm the important. Continue to innovate, continue to push the envelope…. When you start to believe your own bullshit, that's the death knoll. Be nimble. Be flexible. Reinvent your business and your brand. Be prepared to fail at times. Be prepared to lead."

Some Tripodi snapshots of the current marketing environment: Investing is out, hiding your money under the mattress is in. Retirement is out; going back to work ("you want fries with that?") is in. Financing is out; cash is king. Risk is out; consistent and reliable is in.

That last observation--the one about trust--is a critical advantage for Coca-Cola, one that can help it ride out even the roughest times. The company has been around since 1866. Every day, it serves 1.5 billion drinks (with 450 different brands) from restaurants, bars, greasy spoons and 10,000 vending machines. Nine hundred thousand employees work in 200 countries. It is the no. 1 sparkling beverage and the world's leader in juice drinks as well as ready-to-drink coffee and tea. The enterprise generates $20 billion of positive cash flow a year.

And, each and every one of those factoids reinforces the perception of trust from a 142-year-old company.

But, as Tripodi advised, change is in the air. And Coca-Cola has radically revamped its advertising from a TV-centric model to a concept of a 360-degree program that extends beyond advertising, but still has to have what the CMO calls a Coke Core Creative Idea at its center.

"It didn't do us any good if someone saw a fabulous commercial one night and, the next morning, found that the local market was all out of Coke." The company had to balance its marketing with shipping and shelf realities. Even more fundamentally, Tripodi said, "we had to move from spray-and-pray to precision marketing." And that meant "alignment of the right message with the right media at the right time."

Tripodi called the Internet the "ultimate democratizer. It's forcing us to change. Siloed countries are out; global tribes are in."

This vision of tribes--of discrete, sharply defined pockets of customers--allows Coke to target youthful drinkers, high-net-worth consumers, urbanite, health enthusiasts, and sustainability activists, no matter where they are. And communicate to each one of them on a consistent basis.

With the global-tribe concept, Tripodi explained, "a young person in New York or Beijing or Shanghai has much more in common with each other than they do with a farmer in upstate New York. "It's not like they're leaving their culture," he continued, "it's just a means of tuning in with another culture in a secondary or tertiary way."

It's not that the global tribalization happens seamlessly: "People tell us the countries that we'll have the most difficulty with are France and Japan. They say, 'Nothing you do in the rest of the world will work for us.' But that's changing. The differences are narrowing. And the youth cultures give us a new window."

The result: a new set of rules for consumer engagement.  "Consumers demand value for their time and attention. They want self-expression. Ease of use. And portability is important to them as well." Mobile devices, in particular, have much grater penetration in the rest of the world than they do in the United Stats. In markets such as China, where urbanization has become particularly pronounced, "the need for a better life and for more convenience is even more important…. In BRIC [Brazil, Russia, India, and China], the number of middle-class people is expected to grow by 700 million in the next seven years. Think of that: That's the size of two United States of Americas in less than a decade. And they're all going to want a better life."

For Coke, the global tribalization and the global growth in affluence, said Tripodi, means, "we have to grow sparkling-beverage leadership, accelerate our still-beverage businesses, speed up our innovation, straighten out system capability (we're only as good as our weakest bottler) and leverage our balanced global portfolio."

For Tripodi and the company's marketing operation, that challenge translates into four executional imperatives:

• Leadership: Control Your Own Destiny or Someone Else Will
• Innovate Everything
• Balance Inspirational and Operational Marketing
• Collaborate or Die

Leadership: Control your own destiny of someone else will

Tripodi became the first--and likely only--ANA speaker to reference the American entomologist E.O. Wilson with the observation that, were the rest of the world to take on the same standard of living as the U.S., we would need four planets to keep up with the need for raw materials.

Coke, in fact, does have projects all over the word. But in the pre-Tripodi days, there was no single uber-brand that would cause for the kind of resource-consolidation suggested by Professor Wilson.

"We had a thousand little footprints from activity all around the world," Tripodi said.  Every place had its own footprint, and owned its brand." Flashing a Godzilla paw on the screen adjacent to the speaker's platform, the Coke CMO said that the dispersed branding efforts were about to be subsumed under one giant footprint.

"We need to deliver one powerful message to engage a number of different audiences all over the world," Tripodi told his ANA confreres. "It's a matter of living positively by coming up with a communications platform that would engage employees, plants, and consumers throughout the world."

Sustainability will be a core global message for Coke and it will extend beyond fundamental environmental concerns to include the way the company uses water, its packaging, and its workplace standards. An important agenda item will be to focus on the benefits of the beverages, on the benefits of an active lifestyle, and the ease of consumption. "We want our entire system to meet our societal commitments and engage a series of programs using our 90,000 employees."

The result, he said, would create the kind of shared value system that will drive leadership and lead to positive brand differentiation. Engagement will follow both internally as employees worldwide begin to take on the initiative and as the effort begins to engage consumers.

To date, under Tripodi's leadership, the "Live Positively" program already has traction in the company's major markets. And its Beijing Olympic branding efforts likewise tapped into the same global distribution system.

Innovate Everything

"Stop chasing the Holy Grail," the Coke CMO told the ANA audience. "Everybody in most businesses is looking for the panacea that will solve all their business challenges. This is nonsense. What makes better sense is to figure out how to leverage your core and to innovate at that core."

As an example of core-informed innovation, Tripodi cited the introduction of Coke Zero: "The category was losing relevance. And we went to our core audience, asked them what they wanted, and gave it to them. In a year, we went from nothing to 500 million cases, selling in 102 countries. And, for the brand, our 2008 volume will be up 29 percent."

Products are just one aspect of Coca-cola innovation. "We've not just looked at the product, but its packaging as well," Tripodi observed. In fact, in the summer of 2008, the company's redesign effort won the first Cannes Grand Prix Design Award at the Cannes International Advertising Festival. With bottles, trucks, and outdoor display sporting a new look, the company's line of 10,000 coolers are next in line for a new look--a climate-friendly dispenser that will not only suit the new product design but also reduce potential direct CO2-equivalent green house gas emissions by approximately 99 percent.

This is an excerpt from the WARC blog following the ANA Annual Conference.  For more, click here.

The WARC's take on Bob's keynote speech

by Geoffrey Precourt, WARC

Bob Liodice, at a Friday morning general-assembly meeting of the 98th-annual Association of National Advertisers' (ANA) annual meeting, suggested that marketing is such an integral part of the American economy that, in fact, it may be a staple of recovery.

"As we look to tomorrow," the ANA president/ceo said, "the most critical role for marketing is as a driver of brand and business growth." It's a business that contributes $5 trillion in economic activity every year-roughly 20 percent of all American growth. And its 21 million jobs account for 15 percent of all U.S. employees.

"Ultimately, the economic-rescue package will be about the stimulation of growth," Liodice continued. "And marketing can help frame the objective, monitor activity, and adjust campaigns to help companies perform consistently and impressively."

Liodice allowed that the challenge is daunting: 73 percent of American marketers see their job more difficult than it was five or 10 yeas ago. (Contributors to the difficulties include the speed of the marketplace, shorter product cycles, and, of course, the tough economic climate.)

As a best-in-class example of success in spite of circumstances, the ANA head cited General Electric, whose CECOR (Calibrate, Explore, Create, Organize, Realize) platform has changed the company from "a portfolio of products to a portfolio of consumers."

The push-to-pull transformation has increased brand value by 25 percent as well as shareholder return. "How respected are they as a strategic growth business," Liodice asked. "Warren Buffet has invested $2 billion in the organization," he answered in response to his own query.

Another top performer: 3M Worldwide. "This is a highly decentralized company," Liodice said, with 50,000 products in 40 operating divisions. But, by conducting an annual global brand-health survey, "they've been able to align every customer function and strengthen the way it drives purchaser loyalty" of such products a Scotch tape, Post-It notes, and Thinsulate. Specifically, he cited a multi-tiered marketing platform that tied female office-stationery buyers with Prada. "The program generated a 100-pecent increase in promotional responses," he observed-"proof that we can grow even in turbulent times."

The single largest driver of growth, he said, are integrated campaigns that use a variety of platforms to achieve a variety of goals. He presented (an) organizational architecture to show how marketing can be a powerful growth driver-even in the most demanding economic climates. The model illustrates how integrated marketing (supported by marketing accountability and a strong marketing organization), drives brand growth, and how brand growth, in turn is an integral component of business growth. When brand growth drives brand value (and market share), business growth increases shareholder value (and sales profits).

Liodice cited a third marketer--the Coca-Cola Co.--as an example of an enterprise that has been able "to crack the code of one of our toughest dilemmas: realizing both short-term growth and long-term objectives." Some 96 percent of marketers feel pressure to meet short-term goals, while only 60 percent feel that they enjoy the comparative luxury of planning out for the long term.

In 2007, Coca-Cola achieved honors and awards for both its short-term promotion program and a longer-term brand-awareness broadcast effort, that was recognized at the Cannes International Advertising Festival:

Such integrated programs work to the marketer's advantage, Liodice reported, when four objectives work in synchronization:

• Achieve strategic consistency
• Find common metrics that apply to all the multi-platform elements
• Eliminate functional silos
• Build cross-disciplinary skills

"Marketing accountability underlies it all," he added. And that's best achieved when in transparent, efficient business environments. "It's as if a marketing membrane surrounds the growth model," he added, "protecting the brand from the outside while advancing it from within."

For more descriptions of the 2008 Annual Conference, check out the posts by Geoffrey Precourt of the World Advertising Research Center here. 

Inspiring Consumers with Coke

By Gregory Comolli, Charles Schwab & Company, Inc.

The second morning of the ANA conference kicked off with Joe Tripodi, CMO of the Coca-Cola Corporation.   Like other speakers this year, Joe began his presentation with a snap shot of the current economic crisis and what impact it will likely have on consumers.  So far, Coke seems to be weathering the storm quite well as Joe reported that Q3 earnings were strong and profits were up 14%.

What can brands do to survive rough patches in the economy?  Joe discussed how the key is to compete for the long-term.  At Coca-Cola, they do this in 3 ways:  advertising, building brands and inspiring consumers.  Rather than focus on one TV spot or one single print ad, at Coke, Joe and his team challenge their agency partners to focus on the ‘core creative idea’ which can be adapted across various media platforms (i.e. TV, radio, online etc.).   When thinking about building brands don’t think so much as ‘one size fits all’ rather think how your brand can become flexible and its ability to customize itself.  Lastly, inspiring consumers is the key to keeping your brand healthy and able to adapt to future events.

Growth is the theme of this year’s ANA conference and Joe presented Coke’s 4 keys to growth: Lead, Innovate, Engage and Collaborate.

·         Lead: Rather than letting others speak for them in the marketplace, Coca-Cola has formulated a singular, unified platform – Live Positively – which they use when telling their corporate story.  Whether that is telling consumers of their sustainability capabilities or inspiring people to lead active lifestyles, Coca-Cola has taken the lead and maintained a unified front when presenting their story to the market.

·         Innovate: Stop chasing the Holy Grail, Joe told the crowd.  Rather, look at your core business and tap into consumer insights to truly innovate your brand.  Coca-Cola has had recent success with their Coke Zero brand.  The sparkling beverage industry had grown somewhat tired of offerings in the marketplace and people were looking for something new.  Coca-Cola responded with Coke Zero which not only helped them increase the bottom line but has also helped them make inroads among the male target which they had seen decline in recent years.