Cola wars seem to have a winner for now with Diet Coke overtaking Pepsi-Cola and becoming the No. 2 carbonated soft drink in the US following Coca-Cola in the first place. This is the first time that Diet Coke has overtaken Pepsi-Cola allowing Coca-Cola Co. to occupy the first two top rankings putting to rest the decades old rivalry with PepsiCo Inc.

• The Decade Old Rivalry

PepsiCo Inc. has been witnessing a slip in its market share and is trying to retool its marketing strategies. Coca-Cola Co. have been competing with PepsiCo Inc, for the past decade for winning over market shares since Coca- Cola had been recording marked decreases in overall sales.

In 2009, Pepsi-Cola had only a small lead over Diet Coke and both brands had only over 10 percent of market share of carbonated drinks. In 2009, Coke won the cola wars with 17 percent market shares according to result published in the trade journal, Beverage Digest. But seems that Diet Coke has moved forward and won the cola wars this time over. The market-share data published in Beverage Digest confirms that Diet Coke has indeed taken over.

• Cola War Particulars

Pepsi-Cola's market share fell about 0.5 percent last month while Diet Coke slipped only 0.1 percent in US convenience stores, supermarkets and other retail outlets. Comprehensive data on food service that includes restaurant fountain sales indicate that Coca-Cola has a larger market.

PepsiCo made its first big marketing error when it did not market its

cola for Super Bowl and other TV spots. This seems to have worked out the negatives for the company but PepsiCo launched its Refresh Project at the same time. The Refresh Project is a charitable giving program that is completely on-line. The Refresh Project actually spent almost $20 million in donations with the caption of 'refreshing ideas that change the world'. It remains to be seen if this novel idea would translate into increase in cola sales. As for now, it seems that the program has not made any great positive impact on cola sales for PepsiCo. Even as industry analysts continue their speculations, PepsiCo claims that the Refresh Project has improved its corporate profile with more than 87 million votes having been cast for various of their charitable projects. They believe that this would help in increasing revenue in the long run.

Coca-Cola on the other hand has ramped up its TV marketing and is focusing on core brands. It has been advertising its products in the past five Super Bowls and past five Academy Awards have seen Diet Coke being pitched in.

• Cola Plans

PepsiCo plans to continue with its Refresh Project along with other traditional advertising and marketing and boost its products Pepsi-Cola and Diet Pepsi. PepsiCo has promoted its Pepsi Max during the Super Bowl against the Coke Zero of Diet Cola. PepsiCo is going all out to woo its customers back and is leaving no stone unturned to do so. It has plans to promote Pepsi-Cola on 'X Factor' a music reality show by Simon Cowell in competition against Coca-Cola that sponsors the 'American Idol'.

Diet Coke wins cola war of 2010 without any doubt. The winner of the cola wars in the coming years would have to put in a lot more effort to retain or claim the position.

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