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Coca-Cola Inks Deal with MLB, Becomes Official Soft Drink

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Competition between beverage giants The Coca-Cola Company (KO - Free Report) and PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP - Free Report) has recently taken a new turn. Major League Baseball or MLB and Coca-Cola have reached a multi-year partnership to make them the “Official Soft Drink Of MLB”, replacing PepsiCo.

PepsiCo had been the league’s choice until this year. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola had sponsorship deals with 18 of the 30 teams in the big leagues.

With this deal, Coca-Cola aims at using digital apps and social media to promote the brand in a new manner. The deal enables Coca-Cola to connect with fans through the various digital platforms operated by MLB that includes MLB.com, the club web sites, MLB.com At Bat and Ballpark mobile apps.

Focus on Innovation and Marketing to Drive Growth

Coca-Cola has a formidable portfolio of globally recognized brands offering an ever-growing choice of quality beverages including low and no-calorie options. In addition to brand innovation and extension, Coca Cola focuses on breakthroughs in equipment, packaging and routes-to-market.

Sales of the company’s carbonated beverages are suffering due to increasing health consciousness among consumers. To counter the tepid sales growth trend, Coca-Cola has increased marketing investments and is driving package and product innovation to boost its carbonated beverage business.

The company is also making significant efforts to invest in newer revenue platforms to boost long-term sales and profits. On Mar 28, the beverage giant and its largest Latin American bottler Coca-Cola Femsa SAB (KOF - Free Report) finally closed the proposed acquisition of AdeS soy-based beverage business from consumer products giant Unilever Plc (UL - Free Report) .

AdeS, a mix of fruit juice and soy, is a leading soy-based beverage brand in Latin America. The company has a presence in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Chile and Colombia. With this addition, Coca-Cola will make its debut in the soy-based beverage category.

The AdeS takeover will boost Coca-Cola’s beverage portfolio in Latin America and will enable it to increase the number of nutritious and delicious products offered to its consumers. (read more: Coca-Cola Diversifies with Unilever's AdeS Acquisition)

Zacks Rank

Coca-Cola carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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