Communication: Presentations, Stories, Great Questions: The 50 Worst Inventions

Time released "The Fifty Worst Inventions", and it is a tremendous list. The second worst invention New Coke is the focus today.

When I mention New Coke what memories pop into your head?

New taste that was preferable to Pepsi.
Big marketing campaign
People were stockpiling the "old" Coke.
After a short time New Coke was thrown out and old Coke returned.

The Background

In the early 80's Coke sales were flat, and Pepsi was gaining.
The "Pepsi Challenge" showed most cola drinkers preferred Pepsi's taste
Coke's market share had gone from 60% down to 24% in 1983
The company reformulated the taste of Coke - Corn Syrup was added and Artificial sweeteners were taken out. The resulting taste was preferred over both "old" Coke and Pepsi.
Leadership rolled out the new flavor on April 23, 1985
Leadership reintroduced the old flavor on July 11, 1985
""There is a twist to this story which will please every humanist and will probably keep Harvard professors puzzled for years," said Keough at a press conference. "The simple fact is that all the time and money and skill poured into consumer research on the new Coca-Cola could not measure or reveal the deep and abiding emotional attachment to original Coca-Cola felt by so many people."

How Do I Use This?

Use this when you need to teach a leadership lesson. I could see you starting with this story if you are trying to teach the importance of listening, humility, and/or change.
As soon as you say "New Coke" your audience will really perk up and their memories of this event will flood their mind. It will be important to acknowledge this and give them a bit of time to "see" these memories before you try and teach something.
When you move into the leadership or management lessons make sure that you really understand the details of the story. You could get sidetracked quickly by the feelings of the event. I have included some reference material at the end of the post.
Don't linger long on the story - take about 90 seconds to tell the story, 30 seconds for people to relive the moment and then start teaching about how leadership handled the furor.

Reference Material