Cola Drinks in India

ThumpUp
 

In late 70’s (1978) American cola giant Coca Cola abandoned operations in India rather than accept a forced sale of 60% of their equity to an Indian company.

In 1977, the Morarji Desai government asked Coca-Cola to hand over the controlling stake of its Indian operation to Indian investors as per the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. This would have meant that Coca-Cola might have had to share the secret Coca-Cola formula with its Indian partners. Coca-Cola refused and was asked by the government to cease its operations in India.

Following this, the Parle brothers launched Thums Up as their flagship drink, adding to their portfolio of older brands  Limca (lime flavour) and Gold Spot (orange flavour).

Thums Up enjoyed a near monopoly with a much stronger market share, often overshadowing domestic rivals like Campa Cola, Double Seven, Dukes and United Breweries Group's McDowell's Crush, although many small players sold well in their own markets.

In 1990, when the Indian government opened the market to multinationals, Pepsi was the first to come in. Thums Up and Pepsi subsequently engaged in heavy competition for endorsements.

Thums Up also introduced a larger 300 ml bottle, branded "MahaCola" (the original size was 250 ml). This nickname gained popularity in smaller towns where people would ask for "Maha Cola" instead of Thums Up. Consumers were divided, with some saying that Pepsi’s mild taste was rather bland.

In 1993 Coca-Cola re-entered India after a prolonged absence, spurring a three-way Cola War with Thums Up and Pepsi. That same year, Parle sold out to Coke for US$60 million. Some assumed Parle had lost the appetite for a fight against the two largest cola brands; others surmised that the international brands' seemingly endless cash reserves overwhelmed Parle. Thums Up had an 85% market share when sold.

Relaunch after losing ground.

Despite its strong overall equity, the brand was losing its popularity among the core cola drinking age group of 12 to 25 year-olds, partly due to a lack of advertising.

At first, Coca-Cola cut advertising and production for Thums Up to drive customers to their flagship band, but soon realised that Thums Up customers would turn to Pepsi instead of Coke, were Thums Up withdrawn from the market. Instead, Coke decided to use Thums Up as a rival brand to Pepsi. 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), hence it once again dusted off the Thums Up brand and re-launched it, targeting 30- to 40-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 Pepsi’s television commercials, focusing on the strength of the drink hoping that the depiction of an “adult” drink would appeal to young consumers. “Grow up to Thums Up” was a successful campaign. The brand’s market share and equity soared. The brand was unshakeable and Coca-Cola’s declaration that Thums Up was India’s 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.

The famous slogan until the early 1980s was "Happy days are here again", coined by then famous copywriter, Vasant Kumar. The slogan later became "I want My Thunder", and subsequently "Taste the thunder!"