What They Should Have Done Instead

Brand dilution is an interesting phenomenon. The trick is to take a well-regarded name and extend it to other products without cheapening it.

Whether wise or not, it is obviously PepsiCo's current position that the Mountain Dew name is not in danger of dilution. At one time or another, the following Mountain Dew drinks have been available (and many of these are current/recent):

• Mountain Dew
• Caffeine-Free Mountain Dew
• Diet Mountain Dew
• Caffeine-Free Diet Mountain Dew
• Mountain Dew Red
• Diet Mountain Dew Red
• Mountain Dew Blue Shock
• Mountain Dew Code Red
• Diet Mountain Dew Code Red
• Mountain Dew LiveWire
• Mountain Dew Pitch Black
• Mountain Dew Baja Blast
• Darth Dew
• Mountain Dew Pitch Black II
• Mountain Dew AMP
• Mountain Dew Energy
• Mountain Dew MDX
• Sugar-Free Mountain Dew MDX
• Mountain Dew Sport
• Diet Mountain Dew Sport

(Thanks to the Wikipedia Mountain Dew article for this list.)

So PepsiCo has had 20 different Mountain Dew drinks in the history of the brand, and by my count more than half that many are simultaneously available today. Clearly, PepsiCo has no problem putting the Mountain Dew name on many different dissimilar drinks.

So you're a PepsiCo product development manager, and you've got this flavor in hand that you want to deploy. Rather than lay the ultimate egg—substantially alter the strong #2 in the portfolio, our beloved and departed Diet Mountain Dew—why not introduce another Mountain Dew variety with the new flavor? Diet Mountain Dew Plus, anyone? Diet Mountain Dew Extreme? How about Mountain Dew One, to complement Pepsi One?

I could have tried the new product, thrown all but the first drink of it away, gone back in the store, grabbed my 19-year standby, and smiled on down the road. And I should point out that I would have tried it. As much as I loved my Diet Dew, I did step out and get something else once in a while. I had a couple of Pepsi Ones when it came out. Diet Mountain Dew Code Red wasn't bad for an occasional change.

Of course, I can't grab those products now. In the first place, neither of them has anywhere near the day-in, day-out drinkability of Diet Mountain Dew. More importantly, they're PepsiCo products, and PepsiCo doesn't get any more of my money until they rectify their lamebrained decision to yank my drink and replace it with a disgusting impostor.

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Copyright ©2006 Bo Williams. All rights reserved.
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