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T
he Indian cola industry saw a major change in the early 1990s with the re-entry
of Coca-Cola into the market. The MNCs had been eyeing the Indian market
ever since the economy was liberalized and the fabled 200 million middle class
customers proved to be a great attraction. However, in the early 1990s, the Indian cola
market was dominated by Indian brands like Thums Up. When Coca-Cola entered the
Indian market in 1993, the production of soft drink bottles were about 3000 million.
By the turn of the new millennium, the production had doubled but Coca-Cola was still
not seeing profits in India. Further, its aggressive pricing strategies have come under flak
from various marketing pundits. The company adopted a number of innovative branding
strategies for gaining penetration into the Indian market. Would these branding
strategies enable Coca-Cola to achieve its objectives?
* Associate Dean, The Icfai Business School, Pune, India. E-mail: kmukerjee@ibsindia.org
34
© 2008 The Icfai University Press. All Rights Reserved.
The Icfai Journal of Brand Management, Vol. V, No. 1, 2008
appealed immensely to the teenagers. The 1990s saw the usage of the line ‘Always
Coca-Cola’ – perhaps a reflection of the economic recession when people aspired for
stability. The new millennium saw a very simplistic approach through ‘Coca-Cola –
Enjoy’ which summed up the candid approach people were taking towards life in times
when globalization was the norm and people’s work lives and personal lives had become
seamless. The culmination of this approach is evident in the line ‘The Coke side of life’
which was created in 2006. The slogans used by Coca-Cola since inception have been
presented in Exhibit 1.
Coca-Cola in India
Coca-Cola was present in India till the late 1970s when a Government Order forced it
to leave the Indian market. However, after economic liberalization in the early 1990s,
it re-entered the Indian market in 1993. The entry into India was made more emphatic
when Coca-Cola acquired the leading Indian soft drink brands – Thums Up, Limca,
Gold Spot, etc. Also, by buying out the bottlers, Coca-Cola ensured that they exercised
total control over the Indian soft drink market.
Coca-Cola India invested over $1 bn in building new production facilities, waste
water treatment plants, developing marketing and distribution systems, etc.
The company directly employed over 6,000 people while its operations created indirect
employment for more than 1,25,000 people. To ensure enough production and ready
availability of its products, Coca-Cola had 25 wholly owned bottling operations in
addition to 24 franchisee owned bottling operations. To supplement their efforts,
a number of contract packers were used. For effective distribution, apart from the
10-tonne trucks, open-bay three wheelers were used which could easily navigate the
narrow lanes that are a part of India’s cities and small towns. Using these strategies,
Coca-Cola ensured high penetration of its products—even in the rural areas.
Coca-Cola India has used very modern plants for its operations. Its bottling plant at
Kaladera (in Rajasthan) was awarded the Golden Peacock Environment Management
Award in 2005 for its world-class environment practices. Previously, its other bottling
plants at Baddi (in Himachal Pradesh), Ameenpur (in Andhra Pradesh) and Dasna
(in Uttar Pradesh) had been bestowed with the award. To ensure good corporate
governance, Coca-Cola India set up the Indian Advisory Board comprising eminent
personalities. The board is chaired by Naresh Chandra, the former Indian ambassador
to the US. Personalities such as Deepak Parekh, S M Datta, Sunil Munjal, Amjad Ali
Khan are presently members of the board.
Case Study 35
Also, Coca-Cola was aware that the Indian youth respected traditional Indian values even
if they wore western clothes and listened to western pop music. Taking these aspects into
consideration, it created an advertisement showing an Indian college-goer coming home
for the Diwali holidays. The young man was clad in trendy clothes (blue jeans and
T-shirt) and even sported an ear-stud to signify his contemporary style. He was shown
touching the feet of his grandparents while the Diwali fireworks lit up in the background.
This brand communication helped in creating a personality of Coca-Cola that the Indian
youth could relate with and it resulted in a suitable positioning for the brand.
Coca-Cola also realized that the Indian youth were obsessed with Hindi movie stars
and cricketers. Therefore, if these stars could be roped in for the advertisements the
connection of the target segment with the brand could be enhanced.
Brand Associations
In 2000, Coca-Cola chose the leading Hindi movie stars and also some of the best
cricketers to enable proper brand associations. The intent was to ensure that the
celebrities who would endorse the brand would help to have a rub-off effect of their
personas on the Coca-Cola brand. Since a large number of Indian youth aspired to
emulate these celebrities, the association would result in creating the right identity
for the brand.
Coca-Cola signed up Hrithik Roshan (the heartthrob of the nation during the period
2000-02 owing to the stupendous success of his films like ‘Kaho Na Pyar Hai’) for the
campaign that used the tagline ‘Jo chao ho jaye’ (meaning whatever you wish may turn
true). This value proposition must have made sense to the youth since they fantasize
about becoming hugely successful and popular. The unbridled attitude of the youth was
reflected through the actor and the brand. One advertisement was created to
commemorate Diwali which is the festival that heralds hope and instils a sense of joy
into the Indian youth. The connection with the target segment was immediate owing
to the fireworks in the background and the message ‘Happy Diwali’.
Coca-Cola also enabled proper brand associations by signing up cricketers like
Virendra Sehwag and Sunil Gavaskar. They created a situation wherein the batting
legend Sunil Gavaskar was shown giving tips to the upcoming batsman Virendra Sehwag
but both had their eyes on the bottle of Coke. Given the high adulation for cricketers
in India, and the religion-like fervor evoked by cricket, the brand Coca-Cola became
associated with the most popular sport. Again, the carefree approach of the youth was
captured through the caption ‘life ho to aisi’ (meaning life should be like that).
Coca-Cola had realized that to really get into the hearts of the youth in India, the
attitudes and habits of the youth needed to be captured through the advertisements.
Therefore, it needed to show the youth doing things that were a part of their daily
routine. With the advent of the internet, a large number of the youth from middle-class
and upper-class families in India had got hooked to chatting on the internet through
chat sites. It gave an opportunity to bond with like minded young people from around
Case Study 37
The character played by Aamir Khan was representative of the aspirations of the lower
middle classes who were heavily influenced by the film heroes and dreamed of aping
these characters in real life. Also, the use of the local lingo instead of chaste language
enabled the masses to relate with the brand easily.
Case Study 39
The website myenjoyzone.com was upgraded in September 2003 and offered more
features like a virtual walkthrough of Coke City. Further, a number of interactive
contests were on offering in various blocks that made up Coke City. The winners of
contests could get Coke merchandize and also interact with celebrities through the site.
Future Outlook
The rural market penetration was attempted using the 200 ml bottle priced at Rs. 5.
But this move came in for heavy criticism by industry observers and the results may not
have been as per expectations since Coca-Cola was forced to increase prices soon
afterwards. Also, schools have been waging a battle against fast food and aerated drinks
and several prestigious schools have gone to the extent of banning such products from
their campuses. To counter the outcry against the drinking of colas, Coca-Cola has
quoted studies published in the Indian Journal of Clinical Practice to stress that studies
conducted found no link between carbonated soft drink consumption and risk of
esophageal adenocarcinoma (the paper is available at http://www.coca-colaindia.com/
faqs/pdf/Coca_Cola_Dilemma.pdf). However, it remains to be seen whether these moves
will be enough for Coca-Cola to ensure a better image for the brand.
The branding initiatives of Coca-Cola have been built around well-planned
strategies. In 2007, the Coca-Cola brand adopted a more egalitarian approach by
attempting to portray the brand as the choice of people from all parts of India. The
harmonious integration of all communities is evident on any long-distance train and
therefore, the advertisement showed people from various communities, of diverse age
groups, choosing Coke as their drink. The caption ‘sabka thanda ek’ (meaning the choice
of chilled drink for all is the same) exemplifies the egalitarian approach. The storyboard
is shown in Exhibit 8. Is this the right approach for Coke with regard to its brand
building in India? According to reports, Coca-Cola wants India to be among its top
three markets in the long term. Will the branding strategies adopted by Coca-Cola
enable it to achieve this objective?
Case Study 41
Exhibit 1
Slogans for Coca-Cola—1886-Present
(Contd...)
Exhibit 2
TVC Storyboards
Coca-Cola Agency
Aamir Khan and Aishwarya ... with the password, “Coke Both Aishwarya and Aamir
Rai chat on the Internet using ho jaaye”. They decide to use arrive at the joint ...
code names. They decide to Coke bottles to identify one
meet at a popular hang-out ... another.
... only to find everyone there They go over to the Coke That’s when both recognize
holding a bottle of Coke. counter and simultaneously their anonymous chat friend.
order a Coke using the line, Super: “Jo chaho ho jaaye,
“Coke ho jaaye”. Coca-Cola Enjoy!”.
Source: TVAdlndx.com
Case Study 43
Exhibit 3
TVC Storyboards
Coca-Cola Agency
Three girls explore possibility ... a farmer tending his fields. “Yeh gane de khet tamatar
of quenching their thirst. They Astonished, he blabbers in kitho?”.
approach ... Punjabi ...
“Woh, actually pyas lagi thi”, is “A ji, pyas di ki gal hai. Jado ... barsat kare de ... hukum karo
the answer. momiyan a gayi hain kheta ji”. The girl coyly asks for
wich, bin badal ... ‘thanda pani’.
“Thanda!” he shrieks ... and starts ... peene de bahane aaye, yara Wuenching her thirst, she
drawing water from the well. da tushan dekh lo”, sings the firstatiously compliments,
“Thanda peene de bahane aayi, rustic farmer. The bucket come “Tussi great ho”.
kudi, thanda ... up with bottles of Coke.
“O ji yaran da tushan”, he
replies accepting her flattery.
Source: TVAdlndx.com
Coca-Cola Agency
Two village belles ask for a ... pump. On hearing the dhaba He confronts the shopkeeper,
thanda at a road-side dhaba owner charging Rs. 6 who in turn, gets very miffed.
even as a traveller is shown for the chota Coke, he To drive for Rs. 5 only the
washing his hands at a promptly comes to the rescue babu ...
tubwell ... of the girls.
... lets loose a flurry of ... related questions he blurts Correcting himself, he lifts one
questions, (fingers kitne hain, out five even when asked for finger. The babu nods and asks
pandav kitne the, etc.). Caught the number of fathers he has. him to return Re. 1.
in this barrage of five ...
The as he get ready to resume ... and sings out, “Arre thande
his journey, the good ka tadka lagai diya re,
samaritan puts on his harmonia bajaike”. In the
sunglasses, gives a knowing backdrop of the song, MVO:
nod to the girls ... “Paanch matlab chhota Coke”.
Source: TVAdlndx.com
Case Study 45
Exhibit 5
Coca-Cola
Looking at girls on their way Turning back, one of the girls As the guy starts getting
to college, a bunch of college tells the boy who had whistled: embarrassed, the girl explains
guys tease them: “Aai-hai, umar “Jaaiye, yeh bhi koi seeti hai? him, “Jab ladki se sunni ho
hai sola, kamar Coca-Cola” Jaise pressure cooker mein daal karari si gaali, toh aise bajate
and start whistling. chadi ho. Phus”. hain mawali” and teaches him
the way to whistle.
Making the guy more Turning her friends the girl ... to hide their faces, our girls
humiliated, the girl further tells them, “aur doston, jisne continues, “haan agar aapko
explains, “aur agar shauk ho bhi yeh ghoonga seeti bajayi, nahin banna hai rude, toh
sandle chhapwane ka, toh kuch hawalat mein ghoosa-laat. Poori thanda seeti bajaiyega, dude”
is tarah bajane ka” and shows raat”. As the guys find place ... and whistles using a Coke
him another way to whistle. bottle.
Source:: agencyfaqs.com
Exhibit 7
Coca-Cola
Agency: NA
The film opens on Aamir Khan ... vishwaas kyon hai. Kyon main The star takes us inside a Coca-
saying, “picchle dinon kai logon ne abtak unke saath hoon. Kya mujhe Cola factory and tells us that the
mujhse poocha hai ki itne saare fikar nahin ki main aap se kya soft drink and the ingredients
vivaadon ke bawjood mujhe Coca- peene ko keh raha hoon. Fikar hai, used in it undergo more than 400
Cola pe ... bilkul hai ...”. quality tests.
Aamir even emphasises on the ... hot carbon treatment se shudh Aamir concludes the ad by saying,
quality of sugar used in Coca- kiya jaata hai”. The actor says one “Coca-Cola poori tarah surakshit
Cola as he says, “yahan tak ki can see all this by visiting any hai. Ek dum safe. Toh jab bhi man
cheeni jo Coca-Cola mein use hoti Coca-Cola factory anytime. kare befikar hoke peejiye aur enjoy
hai, uey vishesh ... keejiye”.
Source: TVAdlndx.com
Case Study 47
Exhibit 8
TVC Storyboards
In a running train, the waiter After the train passes through He looks around for the
walks in with a bottle of Coke a dark tunnel, he sees that the culprit when he hears a burp.
on a tray. bottle is empty.
Soon, everybody on the train Suddenly, the waiter burps too Voiceover: “Dikhte hain hum
starts burping as the waiter as everyone starts smiling. alag-alag par andar se hain hum
looks on. same same ...
... Aaja aaja khud se baahar ... ... Sab ka thanda ek, Coca-
Cola”.
Source: TVAdlndx.com
Reference # 25J-2008-03-03-01