Tag: Sprite

  • The heat is on…

    You know its summer when you see the various soft drinks launching their ‘season collection’. Coke, Pepsi, Thums Up, Mirinda and Sprite have all started bombarding the channels with their respective ads. Meanwhile, I was really surprised to know that Sprite is now the #2 soft drink brand in the country after Thums Up, the brand refused to die. This happened in October 2008, and since then Sprite has not only cemented its position (at 15.6%) ahead of pepsi (at 13%), but is also closing in on Thums Up (16.16%) (via Economic Times)

    So, let’s begin with Coke’s TVC. Coke has brought the ‘Open Happiness’ theme (which i’d written about earlier) to India, and has started the campaign with an ad featuring Gautam Gambhir. (because he’s an opener? ok sorry) The ad shows how the game of cricket (with Coke) adds fun and refreshment in our lives and builds community  by sharing our moments of happiness together – in this case, a cricket match. Gautham Gambhir brings to life a regular hangout joint by offering ‘ a dost free with every Coke’. The wife uncharitably commented that a free dosa might get more response!!

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S59gN7bl6As

    I honestly wasn’t impressed with the ‘Open Happiness’ theme anyway- Coke has done much better campaigns before, and this has cemented that opinion. Unless the remaining ads do wonders, I doubt if that opinion will change.  In fact I got thinking about Coke’s Slumdog association, rather dissociation, which i wrote about earlier. If they had allowed that association, the Oscar win would have gone wonderfully with the theme, and the Oscar is a global thing. They could’ve even done a cheering ad at the bottom of the screen whenever SDM got an award. (at least in the repeat telecast). Oh well, why cry over spilt cola.

    On to Pepsi’s latest TVC. With the cricket team in action, and IPL coming up, it looks like Pepsi has (thankfully) decided to shelf R.Kap and D.Pad for a while, and move on to Dhoni and Co. This is continuing the path of “echoing youth sentiment” – the last ad talked about how padhai wasn’t the only way to success, and this one talks of how people use their connections (jaanta hain mera baap kaun hai?) to get ahead in life. The concept, though a bit jaded, might actually work because of the execution (Sehwag’s wig’s contribution must be noted)

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2xS3P_Ejjg

    And now Sprite. I had written sometime back about how Sprite is going about things in a very methodical manner. In plain words, I think they have a strategy, and from the numbers it seems to be working. Clear Hai !! They’ve added the  no nonsense approach to their product benefit of slaking thirst and the renditions have been great so far. As a massive Fido Dido fan (7 up) I can only grudgingly admire. Brilliant. They have released two ads recently, but they really don’t measure up to the earlier work.

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtQr9gwb_-I

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-vVSEDOWmA

    The positioning has gotten a bit diluted, I felt, maybe the later ads will be better. Lets hope someone gives them something to spoof on. And meanwhile, the big news is that King Khan, after Pepsi’s non renewal of his contract, will now say ‘Baki Sab Bakwas’. Yes, he is Sprite’s new brand ambassador!! Coke has the most awesome Bollywood portfolio now – Aamir for Coke, SRK for Sprite, and Akshay for Thums Up.

    Speaking of which, Thums Up has also released its TVC, which features Akshay in a double role.

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVQUcO4GMus

    The typical Akshay-Thums Up ad, all slick action and stunts, centred around “will do anything for a Thums Up”. Wonder if Pepsi will spoof like last time.

    I also saw a couple of Mirinda ads, featuring Asin, very entertaining ones, but with a distinct south Indian flavour, which, am not sure will work across India (especially the market ones, which relies on wordplay a lot)

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65DbA-baZYA

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Esp026fOXlE&NR=1

    The smaller 15 second ones which would work for a national audience don’t reach the same level as the ones above.

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCiZ6ZCiDQ8

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em8_fbMGRKI

    7 Up has been silent so far. I hope they do something good with Fido Dido, which is a lot to ask for, considering the work so far. I couldn’t help but wonder the good use that Fido could’ve been put to in social media. This is the only brand which is instinctively identified with a character, and in a medium in which people like to talk to people and not brands, Fido could’ve served as a wonderful front end for the brand. His coolness wowed one generation, if someone thinks hard enough, he could easily wow many more too. Will he make a comeback with the new Pepsi lemon drink – Nimbooz? I, for one, hope he does.

    With the uninspiring 7Up and even Mirinda, Pepsi really has no flanking products. Coke, on the other hand, has two of its brands at the top. Pepsi needs a miracle now, to claw back. I have a feeling that Sprite is getting ready for the war for the top spot, and Pepsi played into their hands by releasing SRK. Thums Up, with Akshay at #1, and within touching distance Sprite at #2, with Shah Rukh. With these two sharing icy cold vibes these days in real life over the Bollywood #1 position, I think, we have a thriller on our hands.

    until next time, cold war!!

    PS. Interesting tactic by Coke – Don’t Dew it, a 24-ounce Vault (Coke) free with any purchase of a 20 ounce Mountain Dew (Pespsi)

  • One up

    While watching the nation’s current pastime yesterday, those irritating screen-side-and-bottom takeovers started happening, but there was one creative that made me smile. It had two popups (both with what looked liked an actress caricature). The first said “I will expose if the script demands it” and the second said “I will expose if i get enough money”. Guess the brand….. Sprite – Seedhi baat, no bakwas.

    I read an interesting post the other day on tag lines, about their ownability, and how integrating the brand name into the tag line makes it more powerful. What struck me when i saw the ad yesterday was the tagline of Sprite, and that also got me thinking about its competitor- 7up. As i’ve said before I was a huge fan of Fido until they started using for such nonsensical stuff as this and this. I did enjoy the female leads though. 🙂 And while this was definitely better, they regressed with this. I really wonder what they were drinking when they came up with ‘Bheja Fry, 7up try’. Why stop with Bheja, i say, maybe you could do some ambient stuff in restaurants with ‘Pomfret Fry, 7up try’ and ‘Chicken Fry, 7up try’. The possibilities are endless. 7up, keep trying.

    And while that was happening, Sprite obviously thought about the entire thing, and came out with this positioning. And as though following a script, Pepsi played into their hands and they came out with a killer spoof, that fitted their positioning completely. Sprite has to be commended for a wonderful follow up to their earlier ‘Sprite bujhaye only pyaas, baki sab bakwas’. Remember that, in turn that evolved from ‘Sprite –clear hain‘, and take a look at this. The wonderful thing for Sprite is that they have taken a completely generic positioning (Mumbai Mirror and Bangalore Mirror launched with a ‘Lets cut the crap’ line which is saying the same thing – seedhi baat, no bakwas, but with a different set of words) and made it into their own.

    With so much of beating around the bush/implying/connoting happening, they can take any subject and make a creative around it, and across media, because they have a brand promise which they can easily fulfill – quenching thirst. At the same time, note that they’ve evolved a very appealing proposition from that basic drab premise that every soft drink can make a claim for.

    Notice that both brands have their names in the tag lines, but look at the difference. I really would’ve loved to see Fido playing the brand ambassador for the Sprite line (he fits really well because that’s where he started out), but that, i guess, would be asking for too much.

    until next time, upstaged

  • Youngistunned

    Remember the fun we used to have with the Sprite vs Mountain Dew which used to be so entertaining –  the ‘I want to do’ version that Sprite did in response to ‘do the dew’, in addition to the various fwds it had spawned from ‘Mount and Do’ to ‘Brokeback Mountain – Do the Dude’? We also had the Cola wars with SRK taking shots at Hrithik. Guess what, we have more fun coming our way.

    This blog has already written about Youngistan. Allow me to introduce to you the latest entrant in the Cola-Uncola TVC wars, the all clear Sprite. (thanks to the tip from Balu)

    [youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=0_N-FVryV1I]

    I think Sprite has gauged the public response to the Pepsi ad before taking such a step. I’ve not heard too many good comments about them, online or offline, and this must be a big factor in reviving the ad wars. I guess some agencies are in for sleepless nights trying to outwit each other. In fact these cola wars actually remind me of those UCB-Spring collection type stuff, this summer like the last couple of summers, we have the Pepsi/Coke – Summer 08 ad collection.

    Long before i was made aware of dental problems and pesticides, i used to be a Pepsi guy more than a Coke guy. During the first round of cola wars, I always wondered why Pepsico chooses Mountain Dew to do battle with the Coke products. Pepsi has a perfect weapon in its hand, if only they knew how to use it. What am i talking about? Remember this cool pencil thin character we used to love, he lived ‘cool’ long before cool became cool. These days he’s wasted sitting on elephants or jamming with Mallika Sherawat or relegated to taglines. He’s called Fido Dido. Research apparently says his ads don’t make sense anymore (thats because of the ads silly, not him), and when he does battle against ‘Clear Hain’, I’d want front row seats.

    until next time, youngistan main jashn mana le, clear hain?