Good Week/Bad Week in Branding

Good Week: Pepsi – Still #2 in market share behind arch-rival Coke, Pepsi’s stock rose this week on the news that sales and earnings surpassed forecasts… while Coke’s stock dropped two percentage points. Growth in the company’s snack-food business (it owns Frito-Lay among others) helped boost profits at a time when sugary drinks are slowly fizzling in popularity.

Bad Week: Beer Lovers – Anheuser-Busch InBev’s $103 Billion acquisition of UK-based SABMiller brings the world’s two largest brewers together, providing beer drinkers around the globe with an even greater illusion of choice among pilsners, lagers, IPAs, etc. all coming from the same source. #hoppingmad

Bleak Week: Cosi – Once an early innovator in its space, the Boston-based fast-casual restaurant chain has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company plans to pursue a sale… which is exactly what customers waiting on Cosi’s notoriously long lines were doing. From a full belly to belly-up in a decade’s time.