Advertisements - Brands to have stayed connected in India - Coca-Cola

Advertisements - Brands to have stayed connected in India

Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink produced by The Coca-Cola Company, an American multinational beverage corporation, and is often referred to simply as Coke. It was first produced in 1890's and is now sold in more than 200 countries.

Coca-Cola was the leading soft drink brand in India until 1977 when it left rather than reveal its formula to the government and reduce its equity stake as required under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) which governed the operations of foreign companies in India. Post liberalization, after a 16-year absence, Coca-Cola returned to India in 1993, cementing its presence with a deal that gave Coca-Cola ownership of the nation's top soft-drink brands and bottling network.

The post-liberalization period in India saw the comeback of Coke but Pepsi had already beaten Coca-Cola to the punch. Pepsi’s head-start gave Coke a disadvantage in the mind of the consumer. Pepsi’s appeal focused on youth and when Coke entered India in 1993 and approached the market selling an American way of life, it failed to resonate as expected.

Coke’s acquisition of local popular Indian brands including Thums Up, Limca, Maaza, Citra and Gold Spot provided not only physical manufacturing, bottling, and distribution assets but also strong consumer preference. Recognizing that a single global strategy or single global campaign wouldn’t work, locally relevant executions became an increasingly important element of supporting Coke’s global brand strategy.

This led to numerous advertising campaigns targeted to broaden the brand positioning and development. In 1999, they launched the Jo chaho ho Jaye, CocaCola Enjoy campaign. Aamir Khan and Aishwarya Rai were the new brand ambassadors for Coke. In 2000, CocaCola cashed in on Hrithik Roshan's overnight stardom by signing him as one of the company's brand ambassador. All 3 had a huge fan following and were successful in creating a recall.

In 2001, after almost a decade of lagging rival Pepsi in the region, Coke India re-examined its approach in an attempt to gain leadership in the Indian market and capitalize on significant growth potential, particularly in rural markets. The foundation of the new strategy grounded brand positioning and marketing communications in consumer insights, acknowledging that urban versus rural India were two distinct markets on a variety of important dimensions. This launched the 2 India campaign -

Life ho to aisi (life as it should be) campaign targeted at the urban market


and Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola campaign targeted at the rural market.


In an effort to make the price point of Coke within reach of this high-potential market, Coca-Cola launched the Accessibility Campaign, introducing a new 200ml bottle, smaller than the traditional 300ml bottle found in urban markets, and concurrently cutting the price in half, to Rs. 5. This pricing strategy closed the gap between Coke and basic refreshments like lemonade and tea, making soft drinks truly accessible for the first time.
Literally translated to "Coke means refreshment", the phrase directly addressed both the primary need of this segment for cold refreshment while at the same time positioning Coke as a "Thanda" or generic cold beverage just like tea, lassi, or lemonade. As a result of the Thanda campaign, Coca-Cola won Advertiser of the Year and Campaign of the Year in 2003.

The allegations of higher pesticides content in Coke than the specified limits had hit the company hard after it had managed to successfully establish the brand in the country. With sales continuing to experience a precipitous drop, Coca-Cola tried hard to restore the positive image. The following advertisement was one of them under the Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola campaign.

In 2010, a new advertising campaign Open Happiness was launched following the Jashan Manale campaign with Hrithik. The brand was linked to happiness and there were a series of advertisements under it with Coke Khule to baat chale and Brrrrrr campaign. Imran Khan was the new face of CocaCola replacing Hrithik Roshan.

During the Diwali celebrations in India, CocaCola launched the Celebrate Diwali @ home with friends and family! campaign in 2010 and Do Diye campaign in 2011. The catchy jingle was an instant hit on both the occasions.



The current campaign Umeedon wali dhoop, sunshine wali aasha is a part of CocaCola's worldwide initiative to spread the message - There are reasons to believe in a better world. This continues to project Coke as a reason to spread happiness. Hope to see more such initiatives from them in the coming years.