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Thums Up grows up after attacking Pepsi

Parul Gupta in New Delhi

Coca-Cola has decided that advertisements for Thums Up will focus on the brand's intrinsic qualities instead of attacking Pepsi.

Company officials said though the "Grow up to Thums Up" campaign was successful last year, continuous use of the campaign had led to erosion in the Thums Up brand equity. "The campaign will now tell its own story about maturity and masculinity," said Rahul Kansal, deputy managing director of Leo Burnett, Coca-Cola's agency for Thums Up.

However, the old advertisements might be rolled out again if required, the officials said.

Advertisements for Thums Up have been attacking Pepsi as being too sweet for grown-ups. The commercials featured Salman Khan and Sushmita Sen. Company officials said it was possible the new campaigns might feature other celebrities. Coca-Cola India vice-president (marketing) Shripad Nadkarni said the contract with Salman Khan was valid till the end of the year.

Apart from Thums Up, Coca-Cola has also been using Sprite, another brand in its stables, to target Pepsi. However, there are no plans to pull the hard-hitting Sprite campaign off the air. By attacking Pepsi with these two brands, Coca-Cola has been able to steer clear from ambush marketing through its own brand.

Coca-Cola had acquired Thums Up in 1994 from the Ramesh Chauhan-promoted Parle Drinks, and continued to advertise the brand on its earlier "Taste the Thunder" platform.

By 1999, as a result of higher spends by Coke and Pepsi, the brand started losing its connection with young consumers. Thums Up started to stagnate in terms of volumes. In order to attract the youth, a new campaign was kicked off, with the aggressive challenge, "Have you grown up to Thums Up yet?".

The results were dramatic. The brand grew more than 1.5 percentage points, despite fierce competition from its international rivals. Its top-of-the-mind recall scores zoomed more than 40 per cent over its earlier figures.

Thums Up emerged the strongest brand among urban males across the country. With the help of the "Grow up to Thums Up" challenge, the brand became associated with the younger crowd, with the average age moving from 28 years to 22 in 15 months.

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