New Coke: A Lesson in Metrics vs. Emotion
Feb 23, 2026•11 min
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Episode description
In this episode, we explore the ill-fated launch of New Coke in 1985, a story of how an obsession with data led Coca-Cola to alienate its loyal customer base. We uncover how the company's focus on taste test metrics ignored the deep emotional connection consumers had with the original product, resulting in one of the biggest marketing blunders in history.
Chapters
00:00 New Coke: The Backstory
03:02 Data vs. Customer Loyalty
05:31 The New Coke Debacle
11:58 Lessons Learned
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