South Africa, March 31 -- Relentless marketing

This is especially so in times of economic downturn, when the natural instinct for corporate bean counters is to cut back on the things they don't really understand - and advertising and marketing are top of the list of those particular things.

That was something I first heard from high-ups in the local operation of Coca-Cola, who explained that the American brand had got where it has because of its relentless marketing - and from taking very seriously indeed any threat to its dominant position. When I asked why they were bothering so much, because Pepsi (Coke's main global competitor) was an also-ran in South Africa, they said, simply: Everything people drink is a competitor to us.

Two ot...