New Delhi, February 27: Coca-Cola India has targeted a 20 per cent growth in volume sales in the current calender year against a nominal 5 per cent growth in 1997.Speaking to The Financial Express, Coco-Cola India president and chief-executive officer (CEO) Donald Wilson Short said, "Last year was not very good for us but this year we are determined to be off-the-blocks much faster".
Short has drawn up an aggressive strategy to cover up for the late entry of Coke in Indian market vis-a-vis its arch rival Pepsi. "You will see us everywhere the whole of this year - films, music and cricket events," he said.
Pepsi recorded a 20 per cent growth in volume sales in the country in 1997. Coke's 5 per cent growth also does not compare well with its performance in China where it recorded a 30 per cent volume growth last year.
The Coke CEO blamed the trucker's strike and hike in excise duty amongst the factors for the soft-drink major's slow growth in the country last year. The growth rate was also lowdue to the absence of Coke and Fanta from several regions of the country. "We have still not entered about half of the country with these two brands," Short said.
All this is now set to change as Coke has a new marketing game-plan for the coming summer months. The major plank will be to strengthen the distribution network, an aggressive advertising campaign and focus on domestic brands such as Limca and Thums Up which were acquired from Parle group.
Short said Coke's biggest advantage was two strong brands in the cola segment. This has helped the company to take the lead in certain markets and follow a differential price strategy. For instance, a 300ml Coke bottle in Mumbai is priced at Rs 7, while Thums Up and Pepsi sell for Rs 8 a bottle.
Coke also plans to expand its distribution network to new areas. Though company officials are tightlipped on revealing the names of the cities, Short said Coke would be definitely available in more number of cities than it is now.
Short said his company gave equalimportance to Coca-Cola and Thums Up. "We would not have been advertising Thums Up and Limca aggressively if there was any intention to subvert these brands," he said. Coke unveiled a new ad-campaign for Limca in January this year.
Coca-Cola India has also got its parent company's approval to export Thums Up and Limca brands in the Gulf region and countries such as USA, Britain, Hong Kong and Singapore which has a sizable Indian population.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
