The Marketing vs. R&D Dilemma in the Romanian Soft Drinks Industry and Implications on Consumer Health

The management literature and practice have flagged many times the barriers between research and development (R&D) and marketing activities. Although representing “different cultures”, it is believed that if both functions collaborate well, then both technological and marketing powers would increase exponentially. Most of the Romanian soft drinks companies have a limited understanding of the new approach of integrating them, based on the strategic marketing as the key component, essential for the product development phase. This study presents several cases of how soft drinks bottlers use alimentary additives which, if consumed in high quantities, could represent a threat to consumer health and also how some marketing disruptive techniques could artificially maximize the new products value and also hinder consumers understanding, knowledge and freedom of choice. Finally this paper proves that the relation between R&D and marketing in the food & drinks industry could be key to assuring the right balance between scientific research and value communication in order to improve consumers’ health on the long term.