Like most established F&B brands, Coca-Cola and Pepsi have a long history of using data to understand and predict consumer tastes. Even now, in 2021, both companies tend to operate on the cutting-edge, eager to adopt new, experimental technologies before anyone else.

When it comes to the managing and monetization of enterprise data, both organizations have impressive track records. From optimizing supply chain operations to developing personalized customer experiences, there are few areas of these businesses where data and analytics are not being leveraged. However, as consumer tastes now change faster than ever before, one especially interesting way both companies are using data is to drive new product development. 

Data-Driven Product Development

While in the past, data scientists may have relied on focus groups to develop new beverages, both Coca-Cola and Pepsi have developed new, imaginative ways of collecting and analyzing this data in real-time. 

Launched in 2008, Coca-Cola’s Freestyle fountain drink dispenser allowed customers to combine beverages and flavors from the company’s entire portfolio from the interactive touch-screen display. Using this data, Coca-Cola could pinpoint popular flavor combinations and, based on that information, essentially, crowdsource new product ideas. For example, Cherry Sprite was inspired by the data pulled from Freestyle dispensers. 

Since 2018, Coca-Cola has incorporated artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and real-time analytics into the equation. Today’s customers can pre-order drinks using their mobile apps which allows Coca-Cola’s data scientists to track long-term consumer behavior in incredible detail. 

And that’s not all. As customers register for the app via a social media account, Coca-Cola is also able to track everything the customer does on social media. Using these insights, the beverage company can develop, amongst other things, personalized marketing campaigns and customer experiences. 

By 2014, Pepsico had also launched its own “smart” soda fountain, the Spire. Though there is no accompanying app, users can use the machine to experiment with new flavor combinations as well as watch videos, play games and virtually gift a PepsiCo product to a social network contact on its user-friendly interface. 

In addition, the company also uses a number of AI-powered food analytics tools, such as Tastewise and Trendscop, to predict what people want out of a new beverage before they do. 

According to its website, Tastewise uses “real-time data from billions of social, recipe, and foodservice data points to get actionable insights on how to develop, market, and grow outstanding food brands.” Among other consumer touchpoints, it analyzes billions of menu items, recipe interactions, and social posts to help companies ideate and validate new products.

Trendscope, on the other hand, is an industry agnostic social prediction tool. According to the solution’s website, it helps Pepsico analyze over 500m conversations from across multiple social media platforms, news sites, blogs, forums and reviews.

For example, during the pandemic, the Trendscope system identified a surge in people talking about immunity and wellness. In response, Pepsi launched a new “immunity support” version of its Propel Water.