Charles Goose was born in the slums of new york. Charles is optimistic and clever. He mixed juice with gelatin to make a kind of rubber candy that can be deformed and bounced. In a year, Charles developed a small factory with only one sugar jar and nine workers into a factory with more than 100 people. 1929 On Christmas Day, when he was delivering goods to a candy store, he met a beautiful girl with a white hat and a tall figure. Charles is in love. He introduced himself to a girl named Sophie Cassie and took him to the slum where he once lived. Sophie's home is not there. She found a secluded place, took out many hand-made small cloth bags and divided the candy in the paper bags into smaller packages.
He was particularly moved when he learned that Sophie had inherited her mother's wishes and came here to give candy to poor children. He begged to stay with her until dark, and then secretly put the candy in front of people who needed it. That night, Charles fell in love with Sophie deeply, and he was sure that he had a mysterious connection with Sophie.
However, Charles learned sadly that Sophia was engaged to Jones, the son of Han Puno, president of Coca-Cola Company. Charles knows that although Jones is far superior to him in financial resources and educational background, he is naturally charming and has had a divorce experience. Charles thinks Sophie will never be happy after marrying him.
Charles has never been timid in doing things. After three months of acquaintance, he confessed to Sophie directly. He took out several small cloth bags embroidered with blue and red patterns and said, "I have been collecting them since I knew they were gifts from good people, and I have been imagining what kind of person she is." Sometimes, I think she is the old lady opposite, so I take the initiative to mow her grass. Sometimes I think she should be a lovely nun, so I run to collect pumpkins for her. I have helped many people, so I have been helped by many people until today. Now that I know who she is, please give me a chance to make you happy with all my loyalty and life time.
Sophie was very moved by the passionate courtship. She wanted to break off the engagement, so she confessed to her father. It was 1927, and the United States entered the Great Depression. Hundreds of enterprises and factories went bankrupt, and countless people committed suicide because of unemployment. Facing her daughter's pleading, Cathy said, "If you break off the engagement, they will interrupt our cooperation, 500 people will lose their jobs and my father will go bankrupt."
Sophie was in great pain and Charles was lost. He wants to give Sophie happiness, but if Sophie lives in pain all day because of their marriage, it goes against his original intention. 1927 In the spring, two lovers were forced to break up.
Just as Charles watched with great sadness that Sophie was about to become someone else's bride, a friend told him that a beverage company named Pepsi was declared bankrupt, and the boss offered $5,000 to sell the factory and formula cheaply. Charles had a brainwave. If he wants to win Sophie, he must win Sophie's father Kathy.
At that time, Pepsi had a history of more than 20 years, and it could not survive under the background of the Great Depression. After obtaining the right to operate, Charles intends to first change its formula to meet the needs of ordinary people. Charles saw that Coca-Cola was so popular that he bought this drink and tasted it again and again. In order to prevent the formula from leaking out, Coca-Cola did not apply for a patent, because the law stipulates that the formula must be published when applying for a patent, and the exclusive use period of the patent is only 20 years. After the time limit, the formula will become public technology, allowing the public to use it freely.
For this reason, the founder of Coca-Cola has always chosen technology secrecy. Sophie became Charles' motivation. Finally, after countless attempts, Charles finally created a taste comparable to Coca-Cola.
As soon as this drink was invented, Charles applied for a patent. In addition, Charles also collected a large number of second-hand beer bottles through various channels. 1929 In the spring, Charles sold the first drinks in these bottles at a low price. At that time, the price of Coca-Cola was 1 USD and 1 liter, while Charles introduced a bottle of 2.5 liters for 5 cents. The absolute price advantage and similar taste make Pepsi popular with low-income people as soon as it goes on the market.
Charles originally sold it only through his candy chain. Within three months, many retail stores sold this cheap and delicious drink. Like a dream, Humphrey and Jones of Coca-Cola woke up and suddenly found a strong competitor in the market. They didn't know who the boss was.
But Jones soon knew who he was, because Sophie proposed to break off his engagement, and he wanted to marry someone who produced the same drink as him. Jones was very angry. He thinks Charles must have stolen their technology. Sophie and Kathy must have helped him, because Kathy has been canning his drinks. In a rage, he vowed to send Sophie, Kathy and Charles to prison.
But he soon discovered that Charles had registered the patent, and if he was to be accused of plagiarism, he would publish his own formula to compare it, so that he would automatically reveal the secret. Jones suffered a loss, but was unable to fight back, so he vowed to destroy Pepsi at all costs.
However, Charles worked step by step. 193 1 year, in order to build his own brand, he asked someone to design a unique package. At that time, Coca-Cola's packaging bottle was an arc-shaped bottle with a big top and a small bottom, similar to a female body. Charles made a rough packaging bottle that was the exact opposite of it, with twice the capacity of Coca-Cola. In addition, he also imitated the red and blue patterns on Sophie's candy bag and designed a unique round logo. The upper part of the logo is blue, representing Sophie, and the lower part is red, representing himself. There is a wavy line, which is both like the shape of water and like a smile, which means that his company will always take the service route of smiling.
193 1 year, Jones sued Charles in new york High Court. In August of the same year, the court ruled that Pepsi won the case. Since then, the trademarks of Pepsi and Coca-Cola are only one word apart. Just this month, Charles married his beloved Sophie. However, just as the newlyweds were sweet-talking, the defeated Humphrey and Jones went back to organize a new round of more brutal competition.
Jones's first step is to lower the price. He has huge financial resources and signed contracts with all consignment retailers, stipulating that the commission for selling a gallon of Coca-Cola will be increased by two cents, but merchants who enjoy this preferential condition are not allowed to sell other carbonated drinks.
This is equivalent to excluding Pepsi from all retail stores. In addition, once the price of Coca-Cola is reduced, the price of Pepsi will have no advantage. In addition, they can't give retailers more benefits. Finally, except Charles' own candy chain, other enterprises refused to let Pepsi enter.
At the same time, as the shadow of World War II approached, Charles foresaw that the price of sugar would rise sharply. Considering that sugar is the main raw material for producing candy and drinks, he invested a lot of money to hoard sugar. However, this judgment is a major mistake. In the mid-1930s, due to the government's intervention and the expansion of sugarcane planting, the price of white sugar fell instead of rising, and Charles's hoarded money could not be realized. However, because of the long-term accumulation of sugar, it has also depreciated, which has caused great difficulties in capital turnover.
1936, Charles had two children, but at this time his two companies were in turmoil. That Christmas, he couldn't even satisfy Sophie's wish to distribute candy in the slums, because he had no money to add raw materials, and he had to sell one company to save another. One day after the New Year, Charles found Sophie missing. He was about to call the police when suddenly he got a call from Jones: "Little brother, you can sell me the company, and Sophie will tie me in. I could have married her in a big way, but now I can only play with her as a commodity. Think about it, whose fault is this? " Charles was very shocked, and then Sophie cried on the phone. She explained that she wanted to ask Jones for help, but Jones was not a generous person at all. Charles personally rushed to Atlanta to meet his wife and made her swear that no matter what kind of trouble she encountered, she would never go to Jones again.
By the end of 1936, Charles finally met an investor named Mike, who was willing to buy a 5 1% stake in PepsiCo, which meant changing the legal representative of the company. Mike is a man with a great sense of advertising. At the beginning of his tenure, he put advertisements all over the country. At the same time, Pepsi resumed filling with second-hand wine bottles, and more clearly played the theme of "providing drinks for the lower class". In this way, they won rapid sales growth.
When Jones realized that Mike was a rare talent, at 194 1, Jones paid a lot of money to dig Charles' corner. At that time, Coca-Cola occupied half of the bottled beverage market, while Pepsi only shared the remaining half with many other beverages. As far as income is concerned, Jones' commitment of 5% shares exceeds his 5 1% in PepsiCo. This is a great temptation for Mike.
Charles was in a panic. If Mike defected, not only would he have a strong opponent, but his 5 1% equity could also affect the development of the company, making Pepsi a subsidiary of Coca-Cola in disguise. So he asked Mike not to turn to Jones for his friend's sake. But businessmen only care about profits. Mike thinks that the personal feud between Charles and Jones has seriously hindered the development of Pepsi. There is only one way to save the company, and that is to let Charles leave completely.
In order not to compromise with Jones, Charles endured humiliation. 194 1 On the eve of the war, after keeping a small part of the shares, he left his own Pepsi and devoted himself to selling gummy candy.
With the outbreak of World War II, Mike's life began to become difficult. At this time, Mike thought of Charles again, but after driving Charles away, Jones' goal has been achieved. At this time, Mike has no meaning to him.
After World War II, Charles regained his vitality in the candy business. He approached Mike to negotiate and buy back most of his shares. Mike was humiliated by Jones and wanted to join hands with Charles again. Pepsi gained a solid market position. Until Charles and Jones died in 1960' s, Coca-Cola could only watch Pepsi grow from an unknown person in the past to a beverage empire that was equally divided with itself. Sophie did charity until her death.
Until now, the struggle between the two companies has never stopped.
Thinking:
1. What inspiration does Charles's strategy of entering the beverage industry have for entrepreneurship?
2. What are the characteristics of Coca-Cola's competitive means to counter Pepsi?
Today, the competition between Coca-Cola and Pepsi has never stopped. How to understand the cooperation between Coca-Cola and McDonald's, Pepsi and KFC?