Clash of The Colas

The wars between Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola have been constant throughout the years. Especially now due to Pepsi's new campaign, "Summer Time is Pepsi Time."

As mentioned in Advertising Age, "It's the third effort from the company in the past year to attack a Coca-Cola brand."

Late last summer, Pepsi attacked Coca-Cola's Coke Zero with the Pepsi Max and this past March Pepsi's Sierra Mist took on Coke's Sprite.

However both companies benefit from the "Cola Wars."

Massimo d'Amore, CEO-PepsiCo Beverages America, exclaims that consumers love cola wars and that both companies SBU markets grow due to the battles. "Since we launched the Max campaign, Max is growing triple digits and Coke Zero is still growing, so everybody wins when we get into the cola wars."

However as a comeback, Diet Coke beat Pepsi as the country's No. 2 soda in 2010 which was just behind the full-calorie brand Coca-Cola. In response to this, PepsiCo said it will increase ad spending behind its beverage brand by 30%.

This is certainly a sign of a lot of work laid out for the newly restructured marketing teams of PepsiCo headquarters to tackle.

Both companies are alike in both financial, structural and taste (with Pepsi being just a little more sweeter than Coke).

Justin Dove from Investment U Research reports that some people theorize that both brand's labels have more to do with consumer's preferences than the actual soda. He further mentions how this is shown  from each company's stock.

"Both Pepsi and Coke are favorites of super investor Warren Buffett. That's because both stocks have had strong growth and both are cash cows when it come to dividends."

- Justin Dove

Below are some other financial key findings Dove found:

1. Coke has increased annual dividends for 49 years running, Pepsi also has a streak of increasing their annual dividend for 39 straight years.
2. Coke's stock price has grown in value by over 50 percent since the beginning of 2009. Pepsi's stock has grown by about 40 percent in the same time.
3. In terms of market share, Coke owns the top two spots in the cola industry - Coke and Diet Coke - with Pepsi's flagship cola coming in at third.

As a competitive advantage for Pepsi, Coke lacks in diversification. Pepsi is tapped into the snack food market with brands such as Frito-Lay and Quaker while Coke relies on it's beverage diversification with Dasani bottled water, PowerAde and Minut Maid juices.

So at the end which one is better? The answer is neither.

In the end, it's all about preference.  If you prefer your drink to be a little more sweeter with each sip, go with a Pepsi. But if you want to enjoy the whole can, then I'd recommend a Coke.

Both companies symbolize the bi-polar opposites and like The Joker and Batman, both complement each other well.