A change in the positioning of Coke's water brand is also on the cards. ``While we'll continue to be positioned on the health plank, we'll drop our earlier endorsement campaign to comply with the laws,'' a Coke spokesperson told The Financial Express. The next campaign with a ``new endorsement strategy'' is likely to break in March 2001.

According to industry sources, the 500 ml Kinley pack was launched in Ahmedabad in Gujarat last week, and is due to be launched in Delhi, this week. A national roll-out of the 500-ml bottle is likely to follow in the coming months.

Kinley's initiative comes close on the heels of the launch of Chotu Bailey, a 350-ml bottle launched by Parle Bailey at Rs 3.50, two months ago. By pricing Kinley-500 ml bottle at Rs 4, Coke seems to have gone a step ahead and undercut the market leader Parle Bisleri whose 500-ml bottle is priced at Rs 5.

Coke, however, says that the Rs 4 price is an introductory offer and that the company would be revising its prices shortly. Pepsi's Aquafina is currently available in just one pack-750 ml and is priced at Rs 10. Pepsi's Aquafina is priced at a slight premium in comparison to the leading mineral water brand Bisleri which is priced at Rs 10 for a 1 litre bottle.

New positioning
Meanwhile, CCI is also readying for a new positioning of Kinley water in order to adhere to the amendment to the PFA Rules 1955 issued on September 29, 2000, which besides making ISI certification mandatory also prohibits companies from making claims on packaged water's medicinal benefits. The deadline to abide by these rules is March 29, 2001.

It may be recalled that Coke had roped in a Federation of Family Physicians Associations of India (FFPAI) to certify its Kinley water and position it on a health plank. Though details are not known, the company is believed to have dropped the `doctor's recommended' certification and is coming out with a new advertising campaign to communicate its new positioning in March 2001.

Kinley water, launched in August 2000 in 1-litre PET bottle at Rs 10, has not been rolled out nationally so far. The brand is yet to be distributed in the East. It was launched in Goa, this week.

The water is being produced at Coca-Cola's three greenfield manufacturing plant located at Bidadi, near Bangalore, Dasna in UP, Goa, Maharashtra. The company plans to either add more water bottling operations or go for contract bottling as it goes nationally.