5 Brilliant Campaigns That Shaped The Coke Brand In India

Coca Cola is an apt example of a product without any real benefits. Similar and better product satisfaction in terms of physical attributes are widely available in the market. Yet there is something different about having a Coke. The psychological reasons of choosing a Coke over a Nimboo Soda is much different, and the satisfaction attained is way apart as well. Let’s analyse how Coca Cola attained this position in the consumers mind.

Coca Cola was launched in India in 1956. So its exactly a 60 year old brand in India now. Below are some of the very early Coke ads in India. They appeared as print ads.

Coke targeted youth (16–34 yrs) and positioned themselves as a fun and refreshing drink for young couples though its using the term “friends” in the copy. Therefore, it naturally expanded the consumption occasions , drink Coke with your date or friends. During 1950’s, the way to romance was much different from now — much local and in the city — typical romancing spots were beaches, parks, outdoor gardens, streets or education campuses. There was definitely a lack of popular cafes, malls or comfortable public spaces. Have a look at some popular 1950’s Bollywood romantic songs.

The idea of having a cool, instantly refreshing drink, packaged in a beautiful, small & stylish to hold bottle while you go dating outdoors in the hot & humid Indian tropical climate, is surely a marvellous positioning statement by Coke.

Campaign 1 — The Coca Cola 1998 Cup

Coca Cola exited the Indian market in 1977 due to the then Foreign Exchange Act. It re-entered India again in 1999. Coca Cola did a strategic sponsorship 1998 with the Sharjah Tri-Nation Cricket Cup, just before it entered the Indian market. It came to be known as the Coca Cola 1998 Cup.

This was the first cricket tournament in Sharjah to be sponsored by Coca Cola, played by India, Australia, New Zealand. India won the tournament in a reversal of what happened in the Pepsi Cup , which was just played before the Coca Cola cup. India winning the Coca Cola cup at a time when Coke is planning its re-entry into the Indian market, is a great masterstroke.

Campaign 2 — Jo Chaaho Ho Jaaye, Coca Cola Enjoy

Coke re-entered India with the “Jo Chaaho Ho Jaaye, Coca Cola Enjoy” campaign. The ads featured highly popular youth celebs of the time — Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Aamir Khan. Coke maintained its initial TG in this campaign and targeted youth, it appealed both at a product level as well as at an emotional level.

The ads were extremely well executed. Have a look here:

Here are some of the print ad campaigns from 1999 to early 2000.

Campaign 3 — Thanda Matlab Coca Cola

In 2003 Coca Cola launched one of the most successful campaigns till date, “Thanda Matlab Coca Cola.” The ad campaign is a brainchild of one of the most revered advertisers in India Prasoon Joshi. The series was enacted by Aamir Khan.

Thanda in India means cool drink, and this word is ingrained in our culture. For example, when guests come to our house, we ask “Kuch thanda lenge yaa garam?”, means will you prefer having something cool or hot? Similarly hawkers sell cold drinks, soda or chilled water by crying out “Thanda Thanda!.” Joshi used a clever twist of this very familiar Indian Hindi word to link it to Coca Cola. Resulting in a synonymous recognition in the Indian minds of anything cool means Coca Cola.

So when you crave for a cool refreshing drink or Thanda, the immediate word that comes to your mind is Coca Cola. This is but a brilliant way to position Coca Cola again as a cool, refreshing drink for the youth and everyone. This campaign expanded the Coke TG from the initial youth to the masses. This was a first attempt in dissolving boundaries and representing Coke as The Cool Drink for everyone.

Have a look at the Thanda Matlab Coca Cola ad series:

Campaign 4 — Sabka Thanda Ek

After having made ‘Thanda’ synonymous with Coca-Cola, in 2007 Coke launched the “Sabka Thanda Ek” campaign. The campaign was designed to build the Coke brand from its refreshment platform to a higher order of emotional benefit by establishing it as the universal choice, which would bring people together.

According to Prasoon Joshi, “The sheer power of the Coca-Cola brand lies in its universal appeal. The creative challenge was to come up with a campaign, which clearly brings out this universal appeal. While doing so, care needed to be taken to ensure a higher order of emotional benefit for the consumer. The campaign captures all these emotions in a very entertaining and engaging manner.”

Here is the ad video brilliantly conceptualised by Joshi and delivered by Aamir Khan.

Campaign 5 — Open Happiness

As a part of the global Coke Side of Life campaign, the Open Happiness integrated marketing campaign was rolled out in India in 2009 , right after its successful roll out in the US in late January 2009.

The first Open Happiness ad film is called ‘Dost’ features Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir. This ad film is one of the brilliant approaches by Coke to associate itself with the game of cricket. Cricket as we know is a religion for people in India. Indians across states, ages, castes, communities and all other boundaries come together to watch and celebrate the spirit of the sport.

As Coke was already establishing itself as a universal cool drink for everyone through its previous “Thanda Matlab Coca Cola” & “Sabka Thanda Ek” campaign, the approach of linking togetherness, celebration & happiness through cricket with Coke is another great boost for enlarging brand’s universal appeal.

Here is the Dost ad film:

The next Open Happiness ad film based on the celebration & happiness of cricket was ‘Cricket Ki Khushi’, featuring the company’s ‘Happiness Ambassador’, and cricketing legend, Sachin Tendulkar. The campaign again celebrates India’s most loved sport, Cricket, which transcends all boundaries, opening happiness for people across the nation, just like enjoying a bottle of Coca-Cola. The new campaign, celebrates the exhilarating spirit of the game that binds people together irrespective of locales or circumstances. In the new campaign, Master Blaster, Sachin Tendulkar, urges people to keep playing, be happy and enjoy Coca-Cola.

The Open Happiness campaign is centred around Brand Coca-Cola’s offering as a stimulator for Happiness in all of us by celebrating spontaneous moments of Happiness around us. The Cricket Ki Khushi ad film is all about celebrating the pure happiness we derive from the game of Cricket.

And here is the ad film:

Simultaneously Coke was rolling out other commercials targeted at the youth, which was its initial TG. Have a look at this ad film rolled out in 2010, featuring Bollywood celebs Imran Khan , Kalki Koechlin.

This communication initiative takes the ‘Open Happiness’ theme of ‘sharing life’s simple pleasures’ to the next level by building spontaneous human connections and sharing joys even with people who are complete strangers

Targeted at the youth, the latest communication aims to build an emotional connect with the youth, best explained by the tagline — ‘Coke Khule To Baat Chale’ (Coke Opens Up Possibilities).

The Invisible Bottle in the film addresses the divide between genders. Through the lovable device of the invisible bottle, brand Coca-Cola breaks the ice of social distance between a boy and a girl. This ad film is all about bringing people together, building connections, breaking ice between different people irrespective of where they come from.

Some more awesome communication initiatives under the umbrella of Open Happiness is here below. They are truly cheerful! Do watch them :)

One of my favourite on ground campaigns done by Coke for Open Happiness was the Happiness Truck. The campaign pleasantly surprises people who are on with their regular day. It beautifully captures their genuine reactions and happiness around the Coke Happiness Truck.

So these were the major communication campaigns that helped shape the Coca Cola brand in India.

The brand started its journey as a cool, refreshing drink to be had with friends and 60yrs later now its a catalyst for happiness. Coke has successfully established itself as an element of celebration around small and big moments of happiness dissolving all segments and boundaries. And the journey to achieve this positioning in consumer minds has been quite a remarkable one!

Other ideas on the way! Stay Tuned. Stay Creative.