Description: Vending machines stocked with sodas are ubiquitous here, tucked away, it seems, in every nook and cranny of the country. They are found along Omotesando, the tree-lined shopping avenue known as the Champs-Élysées of Tokyo, and their glow lights up the back streets of hot spring towns like Hakone. They are even atop Mount Fuji, Japan’s 12,000-foot, snow-capped mountain.

Source: NYTimes.com

Date: May 31, 2013

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/01/business/global/in-japan-a-hard-to-budge-obstacle-looms-over-the-fight-with-deflation.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&ref=business&adxnnlx=1370102413-7MO+diHB3EKRu9vAj8d7CQ

Questions for Discussions:

• Why is it so difficult to make money in the soda business in Japan?
• How does the level of competition explain the deflationary problem?
• How can marketing managers respond to these conditions?