Brand Analysis:
Dr Pepper

Dr Pepper was invented in 1885 in Waco, Texas. When Charles Alderton—a pharmacist at the Old Corner Drug Store—decided to mix 23 different fruit-flavored syrups together with carbonated soda, a new drink was born (Stingley, 2022). Dr Pepper was produced under the label “Waco” up until the official Dr Pepper company opened in 1922. Dr Pepper’s newest slogan is “The One You Deserve” which correlates with Keurig Dr Pepper’s mission statement:

“From carbonated soft drinks to premium waters and everything in between, Keurig Dr Pepper offers a diverse portfolio of ready-to-drink beverages to satisfy every need, anytime and anywhere“ (Keurig Dr Pepper, 2022).

This quote shows that Dr Pepper’s parent company believes that consumers deserve to have the drink that they want, and Dr Pepper’s blended 23 flavors and multiple spin-off drinks (Cherry, Diet, Zero Sugar, Cherry Vanilla, and Cream Soda) support this ideal of diverse drink options. Their company vision is to continue being a leading beverage distribution business for all of the Americas.

Dr Pepper’s current market is non-alcoholic carbonated beverage purchasers. They are competing for consumer’s attention alongside other global-ranked soft drink distributors, such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. The carbonated soda market is not as big as it seems since most of the competing brands are owned by beverage distribution groups that are producing at least twenty different branded beverages at one time. In 2022, the soda market is expected to grow by 8.3%—making the global competition greater between these large conglomerate companies (ReportLinker, 2022). However, there is only a small increase in the market as current trends are turning towards more healthy beverage options and people are beginning to lose interest with the options available in the current market. Therefore, the market is shifting towards new flavors rather than original favorites to catch the consumers’ eyes. Alongside these changing trends comes the rise of a new, younger generation of consumers—Millennials and Generation Z—that are not as health-focused in order to pull the market closer to a balanced state (Mintel, 2022). According to M. Ridder on Statista, Keurig Dr Pepper made $11,618 million in sales during 2020 compared to Coca-Cola’s $33,014 million, placing them on the lower spectrum of competing companies. Overall, the carbonated beverage market value is estimated to continue rising over the next several years, so the market looks promising for Dr Pepper’s future plans.

Next, Dr Pepper’s 4 market segmentation types can be shown through analysis of their consumers’ demographics, psychographics, geographics, and usage behavior. Beginning with demographics, a survey of brand consumers showed that 84.2% of Dr Pepper purchasers were Caucasian with the Hispanic/Latino demographic coming in second with 7.2%. All other demographic categories remained at less than 6% consumers; therefore, it can be concluded that Dr Pepper is predominant purchased by white consumers (PR Newswire, 2021). Most of these consumers are of Gen X, Millennial, and Generation Z (Mintel, 2022). Psychographic-wise, this brand appears to be targeting people who like football and love to stand out as unique while still being a part of the crowd (Dr Pepper, 2022). The Dr Pepper website uses key words such as “Pepper Perks,” “Pepper Pack,” and “I’m a Pepper” to drive engagement and inclusivity. In the case of geographics, Dr Pepper is distributed in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia (Bellis, 2019). However, most of their market research seems to be focused towards their two main demographics closest to the main distribution sites: Latino and Caucasian people in the Americas. Therefore, we can conclude—based on this information and the fact that their website fan competitions are only open to U.S. residents—that this is their largest consumer-based area. In terms of usage behavior, Dr Pepper is widely distributed in cans and plastic bottles to many stores such as gas stations, convenience stores, and large-chain grocery stores. Therefore, consumers are expected to be taking these beverages home with them to enjoy in front of the football game or on-the-go to give them that energy boost. There is no specific place—such as a sports game concession stand or a bar—that this beverage can be found so it is meant to be enjoyed under any circumstance. Dr Pepper’s demographic, geographic and psychographic behavior can be used to define the target audience since they are targeting a more specific market while the usage data is too widespread to narrow down.

The most important target market among the market segmentation is Caucasian people in the Americas between the ages of eighteen to fifty as these are the largest carbonated beverage drinkers. These are both female and male consumers, with the younger generations being more evenly gender-distributed while the Generation X consumers are mostly men. For now, Dr Pepper should focus more on the Generation Z and Millennial target audience (approximately ages eighteen to thirty-five) of both women and men since the older generation has begun to follow more of a healthier beverage consumption trend. These consumers are busy, lower to middle-class, working people. They are social people as most beverage consumption happens either while traveling or at group events. In terms of demographics, the majority of this group is Caucasian. These people most likely have either graduated high school, college or are currently students at a university. These current fans most likely enjoy watching football more than playing it as they do not have the time to commit to another activity. Overall, this audience enjoys sports, especially football, and free stuff. They tend to be on-the-go and are often at social events such as game day watch parties.

A current brand persona would be an individual who is a Caucasian female and in their early twenties (PR Newswire, 2021). They are a full-time college student with a part-time job. Their goal is to do well in their classes and make enough money to pay their rent (Dr Pepper, 2022). They value their friendships and being able to turn their assignments in on time. They often use the caffeine and sugar in Dr Pepper to stay awake while working on assignments. Most of their information comes from social media and they cannot afford to splurge on a ton of food that they enjoy each month. They are also a cat owner (it’s an emotional support animal).

Most of the brand persona came from demographic and psychographic information gathered in the above paragraphs. The majority of consumers are Caucasian, and one section of the target audiences includes women in Generation Z. The Dr Pepper website has an annual tuition and merch giveaway, which is very helpful for a struggling college student. In the case of this being a beverage that is distributed to more lower and middle-class priced locations and the women being a student, they cannot afford items that are too expensive. Additionally, a typical Gen Z spends a lot of time on social media. Dr Pepper has the largest social media presence with a Facebook following of 13 million likes—larger than their Instagram and Twitter following (Facebook). Therefore, they may have liked the Facebook page already since their interests tend to be mostly brand-focused. In terms of the cat, any stressed-out college student needs a comfort animal to calm them down. Also, the student probably has developed some type of anxiety over the amount of caffeine that they consume to stay awake on study nights.

A positioning statement for Dr Pepper would be “for the college student that needs an energy boost, Dr Pepper is a bold, flavorful beverage that has your back.” It is ideal for on-the-run times and also study breaks with its twist-top and conveniently sized bottle that can fit in your bag. When focusing on positioning, the biggest gap in the market is that Dr Pepper has more flavor and diversity in choices, especially in diet drinks, than Pepsi or A&W Root Beer.

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References

Bellis, Mary. (2019 July 7). The Early History of Dr Pepper. ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-dr-pepper-4070939.

Dr Pepper. (2022). Dr Pepper. https://www.drpepper.com/s/.

Facebook. (2022). Dr Pepper. Facebook. https://m.facebook.com/DrPepper/.

Mintel. (2022). US Carbonated Soft Drinks Market Report 2022. Mintel. https://store.mintel.com/report/us-carbonated-soft-drinks-market-report.

PR Newswire. (2021 March 9). Numerator Releases New Insight Into Spend, Psychographics And Media Consumption By Ethnicity. Associated Press News. https://apnews.com/press-release/pr-newswire/lifestyle-social-affairs-media-demographics-skin-care-f85b97e8b3f84fdfa6ff4f09cd0d7890.

ReportLinker. (2022 June). Soft Drink and Ice Global Market Report 2022. ReportLinker. https://www.reportlinker.com/p06284474/Soft-Drink-And-Ice-Global-Market-Report.html?utm_source=GNW.

Ridder, M. (2022 Mar 24). Global Beverage Market: Leading Companies 2020, Based on Sales. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/307963/leading-beverage-companies-worldwide-based-on-net-sales/.

Stingley, Jim. (2022). Dr Pepper Museum, Waco History. https://wacohistory.org/items/show/36.