BRAND MANAGEMENT THUMS UP

-Presented byRajesh Phulore - 46 Abhijit Patil - 20

HISTORY
Thums Up was launched by Parle Agro Pvt. Ltd to fill the void left by the government ban on American soft drinks giant Coca-Cola in the 1970s. The thums-up logo was adopted early on, but the brand was positioned differently then.

Thums Up was earlier positioned as a refreshing cola, with slogans such as Thums Up Makes it Great and Happy Days are here Again. It was post-1996 that the brand moved towards a more individualistic, masculine positioning, says Kashmira Chadha, director of marketing at Coca-Cola. Things changed post liberalization, when Thums Up faced stiff competition from Pepsi and Coke. After a tough fight, the Chauhan brothers, owners of Parle Agro, finally sold Thums Up to Coca-Cola for a meagre US$ 60 million (considering the market share it had).

FLAGSHIP

Though Thums Up enjoyed a market share of around 30% at the time, Coca-Cola focused all its energy on promoting the Coke brand. Any outsider will not be able to fathom the equity that the brand Thums Up enjoys among its target group. Coca-Cola did not understand it either. It was busy fighting Pepsi with its brand Coke, says Arvind Sharma, chairman, Leo Burnett India Pvt. Ltd, the creative agency that has handled the Thums Up account since the 1990s.

While Coca-Cola refutes the suggestion that it tried to kill Thums Up in India, people in the industry think otherwise. They tried to divert Thums Up loyalists to Coca-Cola in a concerted way, says a person who used to work with Parle Agro.

STATUS IN INDIA

By the time Coca-Cola and Pepsi came to India, a whole generation had grown up drinking Thums Up. Their connect with the brand was not easy to break. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola also realized that about half its sales were on account of Thums Up; killing the brand at a time when competition with Pepsi was intense would mean losing that much in sales. .The Coca-Cola Company by this time had about 60.5% share of the Indian soft-drink market but much to its dismay found out that if it took out Thums Up, it would remain with only 28.72% of the market (according to a report by NGO Finance&Trade in India)

STATUS IN INDIA
Market share is a much disputed subject in the cola industryyet some insiders, who claim to be in the know, say that Thums Up accounted for 50 million of the 550 million cases sold in the carbonated drinks segment in 2007, and the brand is the largest selling cola in India, with a share larger than that of Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

THE MAKE OVER

Around 1995, Coca-Cola began focusing on the brand its positioning changed, to a more masculine brand. The strategy was rooted in the simple insight that India is a market where most of the soft drink consumption is outdoors, and a majority of consumers are male. Using the strong taste of Thums Up, they repositioned the brand by marrying the taste to their target group. In the recent past, the 31-year-old brand has held on to its market share. For a brand as iconic as Thums Up, one does not need to innovate; it is consistency that won the consumers over and it is, therefore, consistency that we offer them, says Chadha.

REPOSITIONING
Hence it once again dusted out the Thums Up brand and re-launched it targeting the 30 to 45 year olds. The brand was re-positioned as a manly drink, drawing on its strong taste qualities. Known to be a strong drink with more power packed into it than other colas, it was a favorite in rum-based cocktails, as in rum and Thums Up. Thums Up kick-started an aggressive campaign directly attacking Pepsis TV ads, focusing on the strength of the drink hoping that the depiction of an adult drink would appeal to young consumers.

CONTD..
Grow up to Thums Up was a successful campaign. The brands market share and equity soared. The brand was unshakeable and Coca-Colas declaration that Thums Up was Indias premier cola brand in terms of market share did not surprise many. Other campaigns from Thums Up build on its strength and its perception as a macho drink. Ads showing the Thums Up man, riding through the desert in search of a cantina that sells Thums Up rather than drink another cola, stuck in the minds of many Indians and caught the imagination of youngsters who want to be seen as men.