itions) are the keyfactors for Eastern Europe. Both companies hope that their western images andbrand products will help to boost their sales. Coca-Cola has a universalmessage and campaign since it feels that Eastern Europe is part of the worldand should not be treated differently. Currently, it is difficult to say whois winning the cola wars since the data from the relatively new marketresearch firms focusses on major cities. Pepsi had a commanding 4 to 1 leadin 1992 in the former Soviet Union. Without this area, Coca-Cola has a 17%share versus Pepsi's 12% share in the soft drink industry. While bothcompanies have been in Eastern Europe for many years, the main task now is todevelop the market. Coca-Cola and Pepsi are in a dogfight, but both will endup as winners. In the end, the ultimate winner will be the Eastern Europeanswho will have access to some of the world's best soft drinks. Coke and Pepsiin Mexico: The Mexican government recently freed the Mexican soft drinkmarket from nearly 40 years of price controls in return for a commitment frombottling companies to invest nearly $4.5 billion and create nearly 55,000jobs over the next 7 years. Naturally, Mexico has become another battlegroundin the international cola wars. In Mexico, Coca-Cola and Pepsi command 50%and 21% of the market respectively. The cola war is especially hot herebecause the per capita consumption of Coca-Cola and Pepsi exceeds that of theUnited States (Murphy, 6). Mexico is the only soft-drink market in the worldthat can make this claim. The face off in Mexico is between Gemex, thelargest Pepsi bottler outside the United States, and Femsa, the beer and softdrink company that owns the largest Coca-Cola franchise in the world. Femsa,however, may be at a disadvantage. Despite being part of the conglomerateGrupo Vista, Femsa lacks financial punch because it plays only a small partin the conglomerate's overall interests. The challenge in Mexico is to winmarket share thr...
