In the recent Millward Brown study released only a few days back – Coke is now officially the number 4 brand in the world. This sudden decline from grace prompted coke to seek new business direction for the future.

Globally the shift is on. Coke had put a major bet on gaining majority of their revenue from carbonated soft drinks. Not any more. They are broadening their portfolio under the guidance of their new CEO – who was always a big champion of diversifying into other drinks, rather than relying heavily on carbonated drinks only. Pepsi was a lot more prudent on this which is reflected in what Toffael Rashid had to say “Globally, carbonated soft drinks are the new tobacco”. Thats why Pepsi, years ago, has invested on chips, fruit juices, breakfast cereals – from which majority of their revenue comes, not from carbonated soft drinks.

Its not time for the local players to follow suit. Mojo is making noise, RC Cola is capturing the rural, price sensitive market, Mecca Cola and Zamzam cola is opening up new niches. But they need to be prepared for the future. And the future is bleak for carbonated soft drinks – even in Bangladesh. Maybe not now, but definitely if the tell-tale signs have any meaning, in a very short time this category is going to decline rapidly. Therefore they need to immediately braoden their product portfolio by adding other forms of drinks – and not put all their financial resources on Cola drinks. Its not gonna pay off