To break the market leader status of Coke's Thums Up...Pepsi is adopting a new taste... Looks like they are test marketing it in AP as of now... but if they feel its works well they may extend it to PAN India.. But just imagine.. you will get a new taste of Thums Up in AP and different taste in rest of the country isn't that a little funny. Time will tell now where does this leads Pepsi too in the longs run..For us, we may never find the sweet syrup of Pepsi after some time... Good for me...i dint liked that a sweet taste of it...
Article in ET as on March 2003
IMITATION doesn’t seem to be a form of flattery for the $15.4-billion global cola brand Pepsi, as it looks to match the macho appeal of marketleader Thums Up by taking a fizzier avatar.
The attraction of the enormous Indian market has forced quite a few iconic brands to tweak their global strategies, McDonald’s being a prominent example. In an acknowledgement of India’s growing consumer power, PepsiCo India has tweaked the taste of its flagship drink in Andhra Pradesh to match the strong taste of Thums Up. The state is among the top three soft drink markets in the country.
A PepsiCo spokesman said the base formulation of the drink hasn’t been changed while increasing the amount of carbon dioxide to make it fizzier. “Our research has shown that consumers in AP are evolving, and like fizzier taste. We constantly evolve our products to suit consumer preferences,” the spokesman said.
The spokesman declined to give specifics of the tweaked formulation and the percentage of carbonation and sugar content that had been altered. PepsiCo is not planning to launch the fizzier drink in more markets anytime soon, he said.
Not everyone thinks this is a great idea. “I don’t think changing the carbonation is going to help PepsiCo. In fact, the company may run the risk of alienating its existing customers,” said Ramesh Chauhan, who created Thums Up over 30 years ago.
Industry experts share Mr Chauhan’s scepticism. “A cola brand’s character is its ingredients—carbonation, sugar and the concentrate. Ideally, Pepsi should have introduced a different variant or brand to counter competition,” said a cola industry veteran, requesting anonymity.
This is the latest in a series of attempts by PepsiCo India, which is under pressure from its New York-based parent, to break Thums Up’s leadership position in India’s Rs 7,500-crore soft drink market. TARGET ANDHRA
AP buyers fond of Thums Up’s strong taste, which goes well with local spicy food
Base formulation of Pepsi hasn’t been changed, only CO2 content has gone up Fizzier Pepsi only in AP for now
THUMS Up, owned by Coca-Cola Company that also owns the world’s largest-selling cola Coke, has close to 16.4% share in the country’s aerated drinks market, compared with Pepsi’s share of around 13%, according to AC Nielsen data.
The fizzier Pepsi has already been launched in AP, a traditional stronghold of Thums Up, which has a dominant 80%-plus share.
Industry observers see this as yet another attempt by PepsiCo to break Thums Up’s hold in the AP market. A few years ago, PepsiCo had acquired its franchisee bottler CK Jaipuria’s bottling operations in Hyderabad to sharpen focus on sales and distribution in the region. The rest of the bottling operations in AP, however, remain with the Jaipuria family.
PepsiCo recently signed on local actor Ram Charan Teja to endorse its mainstay cola brand in AP to improve its local connect in the state. The company said it plans to roll out an aggressive marketing campaign in the region, which would feature Ram Charan and Deepika Padukone, as part of its ‘Youngistan’ communication. Thums Up is endorsed by Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu.
Consumers in AP are fond of Thums Up’s strong carbonation taste since it goes well with the local spicy cuisine. Coca-Cola’s strong sales and distribution network in the state also contribute to the drink’s popularity.
PepsiCo, which trails Coca-Cola in terms of overall market share in India, is watching the development closely. It expects the fizzier drink to deliver growth in India, a key emerging market for the company, said an industry analyst who did not wish to be named.
The soft drink category in India has been witnessing double-digit growth rates over the past few quarters.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
7up Nimbooz Pani a new height of marketing, lets see where it leads the brand in future...
PepsiCo has drawn up an intensive consumer activation campaign to market Nimbooz. The 360 degree marketing communication plan will build awareness through multi-city launches and road shows, 3D activation, leveraging Out-of-Home (OOH) media, radio, press and outdoors. The on-ground initiatives will be supported by a TV commercial that reflects Nimbooz’s ‘Ekdum Asli Indian’ proposition. The film has been created by BBDO India.
Pepsico has been swift and well-integrated to make Nimbooz available across India though its strong distributor muscle. But its yet to be seen how far 7up Nimbooz succeed, even after much hype developing around it.
The new has no fuss no artificial flavor and contains natural lemon juice and is placed as a healthy option which tastes like fresh homemade "Nimbu Pani" which has been generic to Indians.
Last year rival Coke also launched a new variant of Mirinda, "Mirinda Apple" which was a big failure and now is almost withdrawn from market. Thus, time will only tell if Nimooz does some thing big and justifies the adspends and able to have a positive impact on the bottom line of Pepsico.
Nimbooz has no direct competitor and nearest competitor is Limca, even being a fuzz drink. Hence, Coke is out with a new TVC for Limca since some time, as its flank strategy. How far its able to protect itself and what the next move would be is yet to be seen.
But i would like to focus on the new benchmark of 360 Degree Advertising which 7up Nimbooz has achieved.
The full front page advertorial of 7up's nembooz in HT gave a revamp to the benefits of Lemom and then tried to seek more positive mind share of targeted readers.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
From ATL to BTL.. the spends on promotion mix is changing..
The conventional or the mass media advertising methods have been aggressively used in the past, but the current industry is undergoing a major shift. Now most of the companies are keen to spend more on BTL activities with a special focus on Experiential Marketing and on ground activities. This trend is common among almost all the products and services which are used by mass markets.
Definitely these changes arise with changing times, lifestyles and shifting patters in which consumers consume media. With increase in metro population, outward culture and more time spent outside home, mass media is loosing its luster when compared with mediums which directly communicate with the consumers.
For example the global sportswear giant Nike Inc, creating brand recall in India is not about having well-packaged, 30-second commercials or million-dollar brand ambassador. Instead, the company is going all out for on-the ground activities with nearly 70% of its marketing budget being deployed towards below-the-line advertising and experiential marketing.
The $18.6-billion company has associated itself with sports like athletics, football, cricket and tennis in India and the response, according to the company, has been tremendous. “When we first started our ‘run’ clubs, we had 35 people. Within six weeks, the number grew to 200,” Nike India marketing director Sanjay Gangopadhyay said. As part of its association with the Mumbai School Sports Association (MSSA), Nike India sponsors 11 tournaments in various sports.
The company is also placing its bet on the growing popularity of football among sports enthusiasts. It has entered into a seven-year deal with the All India Football Federation to be the official kit sponsor to supply apparel, footwear and equipment to football teams. Its football website is the most-visited site for the sport in India.
The case is same for many other companies too...Now its to be seen that where does this change leads the new era of advertising.
Definitely these changes arise with changing times, lifestyles and shifting patters in which consumers consume media. With increase in metro population, outward culture and more time spent outside home, mass media is loosing its luster when compared with mediums which directly communicate with the consumers.
For example the global sportswear giant Nike Inc, creating brand recall in India is not about having well-packaged, 30-second commercials or million-dollar brand ambassador. Instead, the company is going all out for on-the ground activities with nearly 70% of its marketing budget being deployed towards below-the-line advertising and experiential marketing.
The $18.6-billion company has associated itself with sports like athletics, football, cricket and tennis in India and the response, according to the company, has been tremendous. “When we first started our ‘run’ clubs, we had 35 people. Within six weeks, the number grew to 200,” Nike India marketing director Sanjay Gangopadhyay said. As part of its association with the Mumbai School Sports Association (MSSA), Nike India sponsors 11 tournaments in various sports.
The company is also placing its bet on the growing popularity of football among sports enthusiasts. It has entered into a seven-year deal with the All India Football Federation to be the official kit sponsor to supply apparel, footwear and equipment to football teams. Its football website is the most-visited site for the sport in India.
The case is same for many other companies too...Now its to be seen that where does this change leads the new era of advertising.
Monday, March 9, 2009
“reverse mentoring” the Indian Version @ Airtel
From ET "Business of Brands" dated 9th march 09.....
WHEN Amit Singh joined Bharti Airtel a year ago, he didn’t even dream he would make it to the corner room of the billiondollar telco in such a short span.
Well, the 28-year-old is not yet the CEO, but he mostly spends his time in the president’s cabin. These days, the avid Formula One fan mentors Bharti Airtel president Sanjay Kapoor on all things trendy such as gizmos, fashion, sports, even eating out.
Singh is one among the new stars in an ambitious mentoring campaign that the company is putting together for its top executives, taking a leaf out of legendary CEO Jack Welch’s “reverse mentoring” strategy.
At India’s largest mobile telephony operator, the thinking goes like this: If Bharti has to tap into India’s 560 million youth by graduating from plain-vanilla voice and SMS to lifestyle services, firsthand insights are invaluable. “We understand that revenues will come from music, entertainment and banking on the mobile. Most of our leadership team is in their 40s and early 50s and have all been assigned young mentors to help them understand what future customers want,” says Kapoor.
And learning together is a fun way to do business, says Saurabh Sharma, another youngster, and mentor to Airtel’s executive director (ED) for Eastern & Western Operations K Srinivas. “I am learning to play the guitar and now Srinivas too is looking at joining a music school at Gurgaon,” he says. More than the guitar, Sharma has taught his mentor to try out social networking, blogging, online file sharing and downloading music from the internet.
‘Reverse mentoring’ as a concept came into the limelight when Jack Welch, then-chairman of GE, got about 500 of his top managers to work with youngsters and become internet savvy. Bharti’s ED Srinivas is of the view that mentors have a role to play even when the management is internet savvy. “Since the younger generation knows so much more of the internet, the reverse mentoring process has given me the drive and the motivation to keep up with the latest developments in the virtual world,” he explains.
Experts say that while the concept can be introduced across all industries, it works best for sectors where technology plays a vital role, but is not the main focus of the company.
Anjana Nair, a management executive with Bharti, mentors executive director (north) Sayed Safawi and feels the concept can bring different generations closer. “He wanted to know aspirations and feeling of youngsters in Bharti, including me. I also explained why the youth are on Facebook, Orkut and LinkedIn,” says she.
Well, the impact is there on the ground to see. Mr Kapoor, well updated on F1 these days, checks his employees’ perceptions and reactions to various new initiatives of the company on blogs and online forums. “I did not know that there are several blogs and online forums run by Bharti employees. The management as well as Bharti’s marketing team seconds their research with opinions on the blogs and the web,” he says.
Going further, Bharti plans to make this strategy an integral part of its corporate culture where all circle CEOs and functional heads across different states will be assigned local mentors from within the same centres. Slowly, this will be extended to other segments where the company operates, such as retail and financial services.
YOUNG MASTERS
‘Reverse mentoring’ is a strategy invented by legendary GE chairman Jack Welch, who got 500 of his top managers to work with youngsters and become internet savvy
Bharti Airtel has assigned young mentors to most of its leadership team members—in their 40s and 50s—to help them understand what future customers want
WHEN Amit Singh joined Bharti Airtel a year ago, he didn’t even dream he would make it to the corner room of the billiondollar telco in such a short span.
Well, the 28-year-old is not yet the CEO, but he mostly spends his time in the president’s cabin. These days, the avid Formula One fan mentors Bharti Airtel president Sanjay Kapoor on all things trendy such as gizmos, fashion, sports, even eating out.
Singh is one among the new stars in an ambitious mentoring campaign that the company is putting together for its top executives, taking a leaf out of legendary CEO Jack Welch’s “reverse mentoring” strategy.
At India’s largest mobile telephony operator, the thinking goes like this: If Bharti has to tap into India’s 560 million youth by graduating from plain-vanilla voice and SMS to lifestyle services, firsthand insights are invaluable. “We understand that revenues will come from music, entertainment and banking on the mobile. Most of our leadership team is in their 40s and early 50s and have all been assigned young mentors to help them understand what future customers want,” says Kapoor.
And learning together is a fun way to do business, says Saurabh Sharma, another youngster, and mentor to Airtel’s executive director (ED) for Eastern & Western Operations K Srinivas. “I am learning to play the guitar and now Srinivas too is looking at joining a music school at Gurgaon,” he says. More than the guitar, Sharma has taught his mentor to try out social networking, blogging, online file sharing and downloading music from the internet.
‘Reverse mentoring’ as a concept came into the limelight when Jack Welch, then-chairman of GE, got about 500 of his top managers to work with youngsters and become internet savvy. Bharti’s ED Srinivas is of the view that mentors have a role to play even when the management is internet savvy. “Since the younger generation knows so much more of the internet, the reverse mentoring process has given me the drive and the motivation to keep up with the latest developments in the virtual world,” he explains.
Experts say that while the concept can be introduced across all industries, it works best for sectors where technology plays a vital role, but is not the main focus of the company.
Anjana Nair, a management executive with Bharti, mentors executive director (north) Sayed Safawi and feels the concept can bring different generations closer. “He wanted to know aspirations and feeling of youngsters in Bharti, including me. I also explained why the youth are on Facebook, Orkut and LinkedIn,” says she.
Well, the impact is there on the ground to see. Mr Kapoor, well updated on F1 these days, checks his employees’ perceptions and reactions to various new initiatives of the company on blogs and online forums. “I did not know that there are several blogs and online forums run by Bharti employees. The management as well as Bharti’s marketing team seconds their research with opinions on the blogs and the web,” he says.
Going further, Bharti plans to make this strategy an integral part of its corporate culture where all circle CEOs and functional heads across different states will be assigned local mentors from within the same centres. Slowly, this will be extended to other segments where the company operates, such as retail and financial services.
YOUNG MASTERS
‘Reverse mentoring’ is a strategy invented by legendary GE chairman Jack Welch, who got 500 of his top managers to work with youngsters and become internet savvy
Bharti Airtel has assigned young mentors to most of its leadership team members—in their 40s and 50s—to help them understand what future customers want
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