Early on, a new category is a ladder of many rungs.Back
in 1969, the Royal Crown company revitalized its fran-
chise system, 350 bottlers strong, and hired the former
president of Rival Pet Foods and a veteran of both
Coke and Pepsi.The products are Coca-
Cola, Pepsi-Cola, and Royal Crown cola, respectively,
but the principles apply to brands everywhere.The law of duality suggests that these mar-
ket shares are unstable."We're out to kill Coke and Pepsi," declared
Mary Wells Lawrence, the agency's head, to the Royal
Crown bottlers.When you take the long view of marketing, you
find the battle usually winds up as a titanic struggle
between two major players--usually the old reliable
brand and the upstart.The company also retained Wells,
Rich, Greene, a high-powered New York advertising
agency. While the future
is unknowable (chapter 17: The Law of
Unpredictability), a betting person would put his or
her money on MCI.MCI has won the battle with
Sprint for second place, so now MCI ought to become
the upstart alternative to old, reliable AT&T.Gradually, the ladder becomes a two-rung affair.In batteries, it's Eveready and Duracell.In photo-
graphic film, it's Kodak and Fuji.In mouthwash, it's Listerine and
Scope.In sneakers, it's Nike and Reebok.In toothpaste,
it's Crest and Colgate.The rest
of the market included either private label or minor
brands.Sprint is probably feeling very comfortable on the
third rung of the ladder.Nine percent doesn't sound
like much, but it translates to $6 billion in annual
sales.