A PLAN TO MARKET DR. PEPPER IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
This research presents a plan to market the Dr. Pepper brand soft drink beverage in the People's Republic of China. Dr. Pepper is the second oldest commercial soft drink beverage marketed in the United States. Many persons had been experimenting with a variety of ingredients for almost one- hundred years, in an attempt to develop a satisfactory soft drink, when John Pemberton concocted a blend of kola nut, fruit syrup, and coca leaf extract in Columbus, Georgia in 1867 (Dietz, 1973, p. 15). Pemberton did not market his new formula at the time of its discovery. It was not until 1886, after he had moved to Atlanta, that he presented the product to the public.
Pemberton was a pharmacist, and his assistant at the pharmacy accidentally mixed his formula syrup with carbonated water. Prior to this accidental mixture, Pemberton had mixed his syrup with plain water. The accidental mixture of the syrup and carbonated water, however, became Coca-Cola, and the American soft drink industry was born. Soon thereafter, Dr. Pepper was introduced in Texas, and much later in 1903 Pepsi Cola was introduced in North Carolina (Dietz, 1973, p. 83).
In 1994, Dr. Pepper brand soft drink concentrates, extracts, and fountain syrups are manufactured by Dr. Pepper/Seven-Up Companies, Inc. to bottling companies that produce Dr. Pepper brand soft drink beverages (Glennon, 1994, p. 1538). The firm is the third largest soft drink company in the United States, with an 11 percent market share. Cadbury Schweppes of the United Kingdom owns 7.4 percent of the voting shares in Dr. Pepper/ Seven-Up Companies, Inc. and all of the non voting shares in the company, providing Cadbury Schweppes with an overall 25.9 percent ownership share of the company. The Dr. Pepper/Seven-Up Companies board enacted a "poison pill" provision to deter Cadbury Schweppes from attempting ...