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Rajita Bansal
Mumbai, Oct 10: When partners turn foes, the battle becomes murkier. This is what's happening between Ramesh Chauhan of Thums Up fame and Coco-Cola. Partners in the cola business are now openly slugging it out in the soda segment.
The battle of the fizz started with the recent termination of agreement between Chauhan and Coca-Cola for marketing the Bisleri Soda. Chauhan is promoting and marketing Bisleri himself while Coke has quickly retorted by launching its own soda brand, Kinley.
The first keen contest is taking place in the verdant vista of Goa which is the largest soda market in the country. According to industry estimates, soda contributes to more than 25 per cent of total carbonated soft drinks sales in Goa. For Chauhan, therefore, supremacy in Goa means a lot. Not surprisingly, soon after tying up with Cadbury Schweppes for using its bottlers for manufacturing Bisleri, Chauhan's first `relaunch' of Bisleri has been in Goa.
A quick look into marketshares in Goa shows that the pie is dividedbetween three national brands -- Bisleri, Kinley and Pepsi's Eversess -- and a host of local soda names. Estimates project that while the branded soda market in Goa is around 2.4 lakh cases, the local soda makers chalk up sales of around nearly 10 lakh cases.
According to Coca-Cola Rahul Dhawan director (corporate communications) Rahul Dhawan, Coke enjoys a 60 per cent share of the total soda market. Pepsi is supposed to have another 12.5 per cent. These figures are disputed by the Bisleri marketers who claim that Kinley has a much smaller share.
Industry sources, however, are still waiting to see how Chauhan will wrest back marketshare from Coke as the latter does have a much bigger distribution network than Schweppes in Goa.
While there is no doubt that Bisleri has a clear advantage in terms of brand recall, market watchers point out that soda is essentially an alcoholic additive and so the crucial element to win marketshare is availability and not just branding.
Meanwhile, Bisleri has alreadystarted a print campaign riding on the claim that it is India's largest selling soda. Not to be outdone, Coke has responded with a spurt of print advertisements, hoarding displays and point of sale activity. Keeping with its `think global and act local' advertising ethos, Coke has roped in a regional advertising agency called Associate Artists to do the campaign. However, the brand is also getting support from a new television campaign done by Mudra Advertising.
The recent spate of advertisements by Bisleri, according to industry observers, does not reflect Chauhan's ambitious plans to make Bisleri a supreme brand. However, they add that it may be a little early to pronounce judgement as Chauhan is still in the process of relaunching Bisleri and may therefore put in place a larger advertising and distribution plan in the next few weeks.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
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