38 Advertiseing

Dissertation Competitive Advertising
CONTENTS
S.
No.
TOPIC Page No.
1. Introduction 2
2. Case Studies
(i) Coke Vs Pepsi 15
(ii) Colgate Vs Pepsodent
5
(iii) !i"ca Vs #irinda !e"on $
(i%) Clinic Plus Vs Parac&ute 5'
(%) (ero (onda Vs TVS Su)uki 5$
(%i) *a+asaki ,a-a- Vs Escorts .a"a&a /0
'. Conclusion 5'
. ,i1liograp&2 5$

1
INT3O45CTION
The urge to advertise seems to be a part of human nature,
evidenced since ancient times. Of the 5,000 year recorded
history of advertising right up to our present television
satellite age we can fnd many changes. The two elements
missing in much of the advertising industry of the early
years of this century were :
1. n ethical framewor! for "udging promotional messages
and
#. $esearch to measure the success of these messages.
The history of advertising can be divided into three broad
periods. The pre-marketing era- for most of this period
%media& such as clay tables, town criers and tavern signs
were the best way to communicate a product or service. The
mass communication era 'from the 1(00s to the early
decades of this century, advertisers were increasingly able
to reach large segments of the population, frst with faster
presses and later through broadcast media. The research
era'during the past 50 years advertisers have methodically
improved the techni)ues of identifying and reaching
narrowly targeted audiences with messages prepared
specifcally for each group or individual . *odern
communication technology has aided in this )uest for the
perfect advertising campaign.

2

3
Competitive advertising 6
+n a copy writer,s armoury the latest , most lethal weapon is
the competitive advertising. +t is bold, incisine and can draw
blood at frst scoop. -one are the days of creative coyness.
Today,s brave new advertising strategy is openly aggressive.
*a!ers of a range of products, as diverse as photocopiers,
fans, two wheelers and even water tan!s are challenging
competitors in hand to hand combat .
*entioning a competitor,s name, comparing his product
feature'by' feature was till recently not )uite the done thing.
.ut advertisers assert that in today,s competitive din, bolder
, brasher approach is called for. The general feeling in
today,s advertising world is that you can no more a/ord to
be gentle0 you have to shout to get yourself heard over the
din of the mar!et place.
Comparative advertising 6
1omparative advertising is considered a direct fall out of
intense, cut throat competition in the mar!et when the only
way for the runner to survive is by tripping the winner.
+n pril, 12((, the 3elhi 4igh 1ourt restrained Standard
Batteries from releasing ads that allegedly cast aspersions
on rival Exide Industries' technology . The latter was
shown ft for the unse5y Ambassador, while standard,s
product was claimed to satisfy the needs of da66lers li!e
Mercedes -Benz, Opel Astra and Ford.

4
*ost brands in competitive mar!ets are aiming to
di/erentiate themselves and others serve as the point of
reference. Therefore, advertising by its very defnition is
supposed to be comparative . 7hat we usually see in 8*1-s
and durables advertising is mild innuendo . +t involves
pressing home product pluses that be little or challenge the
competition to a duel . +t,s done with subtlety.
Ta!e Complans defence against Smithkline Beechams
orlicks, Chaitra Leo Burnett, 1omplan,s agency created a
!Brand " 9 an obvious reference to orlicks: and had it
proved inferior to 1omplan by way of a children,s tal! show
in a T; spot. 7hen Smithkline sought recourse to the law, it
was whis!ed o/ air. ccording to one source, Charitra had
anticipated this all along. <o it had shot an alternative' with
.rand = . .ut .rand 4 had already caught attention before it
was replaced.
The *onopolies and $estrictive Trade >ractices ct 9*$T>1:
forbids references to competition directly or by implication
in advertising . +t is outdated and legal eagles !now better
than to blindly go by it. +n the land of liberty , the US Federal
rade Commission e5plicitly endorses the comparative use of
brand names to enable consumers ma!e a more learned
decision. +n +ndia, ASC!s guidlines on the matter say that
it,s o!ay so long as a company substantiates its claims, li!e
it is in authoritarian 1hina.
party indulging in comparative advertising also leaves
itself wide open to a counter attac!. <o it frst needs to ma!e

5
sure that it has covered all its wea! spots. ccording to
Tanaa6 ?alyaniwala, e5ecutive creative director, Chaitra
9who wor!ed on Complan:, % Comparative advertising is
like a #lade $ Either %ou can give %oursel& a clean
shave or %ou can cut %our throat.7 @iberal ad fol! say
that the consumer is good at punishing the guilty. +f the
company is not 100 per cent sure of your product, )uality,
your ad can boomerang.
*ost agree that the leading brands tend not to get
embroiled in such tussles. +t,s always the guy on the rung
below 9 who starts it:, because his strategy is dictated by the
Ao 1 guy. +n the classic 12B0s merican e5ample of A"is 9Cwe
are Ao #, we try harder,:, the Ao1 car rental service #ertz,
too! years to come up with its retort. #ertz has a competitor
who says he is only Ao #. That,s hard to argue with. +n
developed mar!ets, comparative advertising is per force. +f
you want to ma!e a claim about a product, you can not do it
in vacuum .
-rowing competition is ta!ing +ndia down the same path.
That,s what drove Samsun$ to name its rivals when it
launched its color T;s here. & I& %ou are not interested in
#u%ing the 'orlds #est T() %ou could al'a%s #u% a
Son%) *hilips or *anasonic 8 read the *udra'crafted ad. +t
was thought that this ad would be good entry point to ma!e
a dent since the brand was not !now at all in +ndia.

6
*int'O,s attac! on polo,s hole, though, may not entirely be
competitive. Bakemans *int'O started advertising when
the hole position was already owned by %estles polo. .est
then, to attac! the need for a hole, reasons rvind 4oon,
account director, Ambience which created the *int'O
campaign. %7e could have said that *int'o is stronger but it
would appear as me'too&. Bakemans decided to close the
holeDDDDD.. and the idea "ust clic!ed. +t grew the entire
category of mint confectionery by drawing so much
attention to it.
1omparative advertising is li!e win!ing at the consumer in
di/used sunlight. +f charming, cool, understand and "ust bold
enough for the consumer to catch on, the audience simply
loves it. The house wife !new )uite well that what
#industan Le"er was referring to when it showed a yellow
Sadharan 9ordinary: powder in Sur&s ads or what Captain
Cook was showing as a salt with free Eow a mind of its own.
There are no two opinions about the fact that a consumer
always goes through a process of comparison before buying
a product. The only change that comparative advertising
see!s to bring about is to shift this comparing the decision
ma!ing process from the mar!et to home. One of the grey
area of comparative advertising remains the data on which
the claims are based . n e5ample is the &hilips

7
advertisement some time ago which stated that its bulb was
the only % &ull #ul#& , the rest all being % hal&
#ul# %'a campaign which &hilips was as!ed to withdraw by
the *$T> commission. This brings us to the credibility factor.
That too many ads based on unsubstantiated claims in the
long runs will only erode the credibility of advertising in
general.
1omparative advertising can happen in mature categories
where growth rate is slowing and where product upgrades F
launches are occurring .+t can also happen in categories
where there is a mar!ed "ump in the )ualityF range of
products li!e T;s0 and even in small categories where a
smaller brand sees opportunity in ta!ing shots at a new
bigger entrant who can grow the category. *int' O comes to
mind which too! a comparative shot at >olo with its 8ole
in the ead& campaign. Though it could not really have
gained over >olo. *int'O did garner more consumer
awareness. $emember >olo was launched with the ad
campaign& The +int 'ith a hole7 and for the frst time
and newspaper 9The >ioneer: allowed an advertiser to punch
a hole in one of its color supplements 9Etcetra9 now
changed to 5SP: for this advertisement .Aevertheless, *int'
O replied bac! in the same note % AII +int) ,o hole7 to
catch the customer.

8
*any more such cases e5ist .8or instance, few years ago, the
capital did witness an ad war between two Gnglish 3ailies.
he imes o' !ndia and he #industan imes. The escalating
cost of newsprint owing to -overnment policies forced the
publication +ndustry to increase the cover prices of
newspaper and maga6ines which in turn a/ected their
circulation fgures 9 barring a few:. The newspaper industry
was left with no option but to adopt di/erent luring
mar!eting strategies. The ma"or ones were lowering the daily
cover price from over $s # per copy to "ust $e 1.50 per copy
9 initiated by the he imes o' !ndia: and catchy ad
campaignsF slogans . The pricing strategy though was later
adopted by other newspapers as well, including he
#industan imes, he !ndian ()press and he Statesman but
the ad was mainly restricted to the two ma"or players in
3elhi. The Ti"es o: India and T&e (industan Ti"es.
There was certain problem between he imes o' !ndia and
its distributors in 3elhi regarding low commission owing to
price reduction. Then the 8riday edition was >riced at $s 5
which was subse)uently lowered to $s. #.20 and now this
price has been shifted to the <unday edition by all
newspapers: during this period due to which the
distributionF supply of he imes o' !ndia was a/ected in
3elhi. $eaders addicted to it were deprived to their morning
taste and habit.

9
he #industan imes at once came out with an ad saying
*Think o& Delhi 'ithout $T. 8 9<ince TOI and (T account
for most of 3elhi leadership of Gnglish dailies and if both go
o/ the stands simultaneously the situation can well be
imagined : .The imes o' !ndia <oftly replied later %
-raduate to The Times7.
This was not the end. +t was rather a beginning of a war
.Owing to various ad campaigns and other strategies
through newspaper, maga6ines, hoarding etc., he imes o'
!ndia claimed a 10H.I per cent rise in its growth rate. +ts
<unday edition, he Sunda+ imes o' !ndia created history
by touching a circulation fgure 9 all B editions combined : of
over a "illion when the price was "ust $e1.50 9@atest
1irculation fgures of he imes o' !ndia:. he Sunda+ imes
o' !ndia is 1#,5(,0J5F1H,0B,HHB 9 <ource. #anora"a .ear
,ook 1;;; :. he imes o' !ndia was emerging bigger and
came out with an ad %T&e Ti"es o: India captures
4el&i7. he #industan imes too! note of it )uic!ly and
went to the *$T>1 since it still had greater circulation than
TO+ in 3elhi and the ad was misleading according to 4T
.+ntervention of the *$T>1 forced .11@ to withdraw this ad.
The war still continues but in a di/erent format altogether .
.oth are now o/ering various schemes and benefts for the
3elhi readers besides adding to their content to ma!e the

10
newspapers rich in materialFinformation. .ut will this
1omparative dvertising ever ceaseK
+I,DI,- TE C.ST/+E0S +I,D
1an ?abir *ulchandani ma!e things betterK >hilips +ndia
certainly believes he can. fter successfully rewriting the
rules of the mar!eting game with the !ai brand of television
and audio products, the 1GO of .aron Glectronics attempting
to play tug L of L war for consumer mind share once again.
This time the brand is iwa, yet another Mapanese
consumer electronics giant. 4e ac)uired the distributorship
for iwa,s home electronics product three months ago.
$ecently, *ulchandani launched his frst o/ensive. On #H
Manuary he released an advertisement in a national daily
comparing iwa with four competing television brands. Aot
ta!ing any chances, >hilips +ndia was the frst to ta!e up the
gauntlet. +n an attempt to ta!e the steam out of iwa,s ad,
>hilips released an advertisement that showed a
comparison chart with a high L end iwa audio model pitted
against a comparable >hillips product.
7hile there was no direct lin! between the two
advertisements, both companies instantly saw red. +n a
series of print ads over the wee!end, >hilips and iwa
blasted each other and cited evidence to proclaim the
superiority of their products. On H0 Manuary, >hilips issued
an answer to iwa,s frst advertisement. The full page ad

11
read: %I #ought the #est T( 1 a *hilips 234 B 9than!s to
the iwa ad:&. The following day iwa responded. %The
hard &acts o& Ai'as success and *hilips
desperation&. +ts ad spo!e of iwa,s audio and television
supremacy.
The main bone of contention was the O$- retail audit
fgures on real value sales for both the television and audio
segments. >hilips argued that iwa wasn,t even mentioned
in the latest retail audit report on color televisions, so how
could it have dislodged >hilipsK .aron protested. s for
audio products, .aron announced that O$- fgures for
Aovember 122J indicated that iwa,s mar!etshare in high
L end audio products, calculated on real value sales, had
grown steadily between October and 3ecember 122J, from
(.5 to IB.I per cent.
>hilips instantly disagreed. rgues >hilips brand manager
?aushi! $oy %*uch of .aron,s sales deals are a bundle of
products which are together priced higher than a
competitor,s standalone product, O$- considers the price of
these bundles and hence .aron,s real value share appears
higher. 7e have pointed out this discrepancy to O$- and
the fgures for the ne5t period are e5pected to reEect the
correct position&.
The war has since been called o/. .ut not before
*ulchandani had achieved his ob"ective to raise doubts
about >hilips in consumers minds. %7e are basically a
mar!eting company and our only ob"ective is to increase the

12
mar!et share of our products. 7e did it successfully with
!ai and we will do it again with iwa, he says.
The iwa L >hilips battle is another in a fresh round of high L
decibel advertising wars that are brea!ing out in the great
+ndian consumer goods ba6aar. .e they computers or cell
phones cars or cosmetics, food or soft drin!s, a whole host of
companies is trying to catch the customers eye in a
mar!etplace overcrowded with products and brands.
*ostly, the bugle is sounded by a brand that,s new in the
battlefeld, li!e iwa, or one that,s fghting for leadership,
li!e 1oca'1ola. Through comparative ads they are all
attempting to reposition their competition so that they can
slip into the positions that subse)uently fall vacant in the
consumer,s minds.
Must how are they doing itK 7ell very simply, by ma!ing
observations about a competitor which a customer can verify
himself. 8iat Nno, for instance, is regularly ta!ing potshots at
J00cc cars and is comparing them with its comparably
priced 1,000 cc petrol L engined cars. nd Oenith 1omputers
isn,t tiring of its *A1 computers at home L grown prices
o/ering. +nterestingly, mar!eting consultants say they are all
doing fne since the cru5 of a repositioning e5ercise is to
undercut an e5isting concept, product, or even person.
>ositioning gurus <l 3ies and =ack Trout say that, 'or a
repositionin$ strate$+ to ,ork, one has to sa+ somethin$

13
about the competitors product that causes the customers to
chan$e his mind, not about +our product, but about the
competitors product. That,s e5actly what many of the new
brands are attempting. ?orean automobile giant 4yundai
did it )uite successfully when it launched the <antro. +n an
ad soon after it was launched, the company ran <antro with
all other comparable cars on the +ndian roads, and left it to
the customer to ma!e up his mind.
+n this way, many brands are ta!ing the battle beyond the
realm of mere comparative advertising, which uses the
competitor as a benchmar! for its own brand to fell the
customer how good it is. +n most cases a buyer loo!s at an
ad li!e this and says %if you are so good, why aren,t you the
leaderK& The soap, detergent, and toothpaste industries are
littered with e5amples of such advertising. .ut none of the
brands that piggybac!ed on mere comparative advertising
have survived in the long run.
+n the early 1220s one of the most tal!ed about comparative
advertising battle was that between ata Salt and Captain
Cook. 7hich brand has had a longer shelf life is anybody,s
guess. Gven in microwave ovens, about two years ago +8.
loc!ed horns with .>@ when it launched its low priced ovens
in the mar!et. Today .>@ still leads the industry.
case in point also arises of B*5 ;s Duracell$ .>@ used to
claim that its al!aline battery is the longest lasting in the
world which was challenged by 3uracell before *$T>1 .ased
on this complain *$T>1 as!ed .>@ to withdraw its claim. The
*$T>1 order in this regard is being enclosed herewith.

14
CO*E Vs PEPSI
The need may be universal, but the advertising is desi to its
very soul. nd sure enough, 1oca'1ola has fnally begun to
vibe with the +ndian youth.
That,s now 1oca'1ola and watchers describe 122J L the year
that the tlanta brand started moving on the thesis that in
the once thunderstruc! and then choice L en amour +ndian
youth mar!et, getting there is not only about getting bottles
within arm,s reach or getting walls to loo! red, but also
about getting the brand,s message right through the corte5'
into the mind. The young +ndian mind.
8rom the insipid nostalgia of C<hare my dream, in 122H
9C3reamK 7hat dreamK 7as the general reaction: to the
invigorated teenspea! of C*eeti 6%a Coca-Cola in 122J.
1o!e,s oscillations between -eneration >ast and -eneration
Ae5t seem to have fnally found a median. +n -eneration
Aow,
*ind penetration, not "ust geographical presence. That, say
mar!et sources, is the new mantra for 1oca'1ola +ndia. <o
now it,s .hangra ?ing Daler +ehndi vibrating his turban
and shoulders to the energetic "oys of the wonder
refreshment. *eanwhile, regional campaigns for the <outh
and Gast are about to get going, even as the e5pense on
below L the Lline activities, cric!et sponsorships, banner

15
Eying red painting and sundry promotions 9centered around
such festivals as -andi+a and &on$al: pic! up momentum.
$ound one of 1o!e,s advertising left the youth wondering
whether the brand was for them at all. The red sandstone
alley cric!et commercial didn,t "ust bore young cola fans, it
earned the brand the description of a Ctourist special, for its
view from the outside,.
+n pril 122( came word that spread through the ad world
li!e wildfre: 1o!e,s account had moved from McCann-
(rickson to Chaitra Leo Burnett. This is happened "ust a
month after 1oca'1ola +ndia got a new 1GO 3onald <hort,
who, fresh from a stint in Mapan, spotted some )uic! cultural
similarities between the two countries. The N< and +ndian
mar!ets, it was now felt, were not )uite as close as the
company had earlier rec!oned. mong various other
e)uations, the +ndian consumer,s e)uation with colas was
uni)ue, and cola wars had continued after 1o!e,s 12((
departure 9remember the Thums Np 1ampa 1ola tussle over
?apil 3evK:. all this meant that what was needed was a
Ee5ible approach L with deep local inputs. <uperfcial
absorption would not be enough. nd unless 1o!e could
develop as good a relationship with people as had Thums
Np, which too! young +ndians to a higher plane of ad L
savviness bac! in the 12J0s, there was no point giving the
latter step motherly treatment.

16
Pet the challenge of building a distinct brand personality and
fnding ways to connect with the brat pac! seemed high. +n
October 122(, <an"iv -upta, an e5'@ever man, "oined 1oca L
1ola +ndia as vice president, mar!eting. There was ma"or
brainstorming to be done. brea!through was needed.
home grown one too. +n fact, it was best if +ndia did the basic
thin!ing for tlanta to redeploy and not the other way round.
.ut it would ta!e some time. +n 122(, 1o!e,s volume growth
had been disappointing, reveals a source.
.ut big things were to come. .y 122J, the brand was bac! in
the game. +t unfolded its teen program slowly. 8irst, 1o!e
bro!e with global norms and signed on cric!et heroes
Saurav -angul% and Srinath. Aice guys, but a little too
shy and sti/ L certainly no match for >epsi,s cool, irreverent
cric!eters. %1o!e prefers to !eep the drama around the
product rather than the celebrity&, says -upta. s!s $ahul
3hawan, director, e5ternal a/airs and corporate
communication, %7hat would have greater impact Lseeing
cric!eters on screen, or meeting them face L to LfaceK&
+t was part of a larger plan, as 1ola L watchers discovered
when 1o!e started tal!ing about youth passions. Cricket,
.lms, 'esti"als and 'ood. %Eat cricket) sleep cricket )
drink onl% Coca-Cola went the ads. They were catchy . +n
fact, terrifc, as far as approach road strategy went. .ut if
1oca'1ola was %the real refresher& for young +ndians, each of

17
the commercials still needed to vibe with the target
audience. 7hile %passion play& sent out the right signals of
common felds of interest, 1o!e still hadn,t managed to
climb onto the same attitudinal plane as the consumer.
Gven 1o!e,s vending machine romance, spot failed to
generate much f66. %-et real, guys, went the ad, but it "ust
wasn,t e5citing enough. 7ell, the ad'line certainly spurred
its own creators on L to get real about the passion thing.
nd out came the winner that had eluded it all these years&
*eeti k%a Coca-cola. %7ith this&, feels ;iren $a6dan, client
service director, Chaitra Leo Burnett/ %1o!e has ac)uired a
body language. The brand has a certain swagger, a new
confdence. +t,s ready for eyeball to eyeball confrontation.
Pes, 1o!e as a passion invigorates in an otherwise
enervating country. 8or those who get sweat on their brow
for the right reasons. Of course, in terms of tune beat and
broad appeal, it rode the chart L busting success of CAati
k%a 6handala,, nd there too, it missed the creative
ambiguity 9a re)uest or demandK: of the original music
video, made so captivating by Amir 0hans eye e5pressions
and honey L dew tric!s of the tongue. .ut that,s mere
pseudo L connoisseur )uibbling. +t wor!ed. The message
went through.
To give 1o!e its due, having entered four years after >epsi,
the company had to slog to establish its ground networ!.

18
>oints out 3hawan with satisfaction, %*eeti k%aD didn,t
have a personality that cost $s. # crore, and ha no
e5travagant sets either&. The success has confrmed the
value of the theme and egged 1o!e on to bring celebrities
into the picture 9having celebs without a clear theme idea
wasn,t doing it any good:. 8irst, it too! on 6arisma 6apoor
for its miracle card promos. nd now, it has the inhibition L
free Tunak Tunak Daler, who is all over the airwaves with
his Ctumbe ,ali taar and Cdil di pukar 9in &un1abi:. 8or the
1o!e spot, airing all +ndia , he does his infectious shoulder
thing to the beat of Cmasti%aan chaa ga%inD&, a trac!
created especially for the campaign bottle in hand, out
energi6ing the %peetiD& duo.
+s 1o!e fnally ready to open the money bags for crowd
pullersK 1elebs cost. >epsi was smart0 it used Aamir 6han,
Shah 0ukh 6han and others on an early whi/, before they
hit big'time. 7ill 1o!e pay the price for being a late entrantK
7ell, not )uite. 7ith 3aler, reasons 3hawan %Our contract is
for H0 concerts, so it can,t be compared to a H0'second ad&.
+n all, says <uhel <eth, 1GO, (2uus, which recently won a
regional part of the brand,s account, %1o!e has ta!en the
enormous appetite +ndians have for flms and flm based
advertising and captured it in C*eeti k%aD&. part from re'
phrasing the new teenspea! of the generation, the
commercial %has also captured the attitudinal change that,s

19
ta!en place in 1o!e&. 7hile >epsi continues with its
3eneration %e)t "argon without really defning what it stands
for . %1o!e is evolving with the current generation&, says
<eth triumphantly. nd by signing on Daler 9who also does a
amil version:, 1o!e is out to prove that the real thing is
serious about tapping deep into the stu/ of real +ndia.
That,s why 1oca'cola pulled out all the stops for the 3aler
spot, bringing together a team o f well !nown names for its
ma!ing 9with flm director &ri+adarshan of *4irasat fame
heading it:. Gven for its promos, 1o!e is underta!ing never
done before !ind of activities. 6arisma ) Saurav, Srinath)
Anil 6um#le and 0o#in Singh are out !noc!ing at the
consumersQ door , getting everybody in the country to cheer
in unison as they wor! their magic on the feld. nd its shy
cric!eters are a whole lot more gregarious0 witness the ad
showing 0umble and 3an$ul+ ta!ing a shot at bowling the
maidens over L a @a 5ade1a. The brand has also signed on
0am#ha a popular actress in the <outh to help out in that
region.
.ut while co!e,s new vibrancy is being appreciated 9C&eeti
0+aD& is a widely ac!nowledged hit:, one factor continues to
trouble analysis, Ma66ed up sets and more peppy celeb
models are all very well, but the dependence on cric!eters
and flm songs must not Ey o/ on a tangent, thus
overshadowing the reason that 1o!e L as a formulation L is

20
the real thing. nd the storylines could, perhaps, be more
gripping. There,s pressure to perform. The audience would
clam out for more. *ore depth, more width. 8ilm hits are
available to all. +s 1oca'cola e)uipped )uite as well as >epsi
when it comes to actually forecasting the hitsK %7hen&, as!s
an analyst, %7ill we see a self L inspired spree of lateral
thin!ing from 1o!eK& +n the Cala re Coca-Cola case, almost
nobody was willing to buy 1o!e,s story that it hadn,t
plagiari6ed a >epsi spot. *eanwhile, even the >epsi camp
unoRcially admits that 1o!e has understood the game and is
on a rapid catch up trac!. fter stumbling about li!e a big
daddy for so long, 1oca'cola has fnally begun to dance with
the young +ndian. <o long as the music is good, the steps
should get better. Till then, as -upta says, %7atch this
space&.
,attle 3o2ale
re we about to witness the mother of all battles between
1oca'cola and >epsiK fter the Cblunder, rip'o/s, the fght
had vanished from public ga6e, e5cept for the employee
poaching and idea stealing allegations made by >epsi
against its rival. Pet, for the frst time, it is >epsi that seems
to be ta!ing reactive steps to counter 1o!e,s recent
aggression. 7ell, to be fair, >epsi and .ollywood have an
older relationship. +t,s "ust that >epsi and .ollywood have an
older relationship. +t,s "ust that >epsi having cottoned on to
1o!e,s game, is rushing to preempt it. 7hich is perhaps why

21
it has roped in the 76uch 6uch ota ai team 9ka8ol)
0ani and Shah 0ukh: for a multi L starrer. 4as 1o!e,s
bounce bac! triggered o/ panic in the >epsi campK %AO
way&, asserts a >epsi e5ecutive. C1ric!et was always >epsi,s
forte in any case. nd "ust +anisha would have been
enough to counter 6arisma, +f that was the idea. .ut we,ve
got 6a8ol and 0ani too&. .ut could 1o!e be using a more
potent core ideaK <omething that has the potential to
reposition >epsi as a sophomoric drin!K Ao, no. +n any case,
the >epsi e5ecutive continues, huRly, %the+ ha"e al,a+s
been the cop+ cats, not us/ 6e are choos+ about ,hom ,e
cop+&.
Coke makes Aamirs 6handala proportion its o,n and e"en
redirects it/
This H5' second Cmusical, begins in much the same way as
any .ollywood college romance, -ood L loo!ing girl in white
shirt 9*T; (9 +aria -oretti: being romanced by good L
loo!ing hun! in blac! "ac!et. step L mimic!ing dance
troupe in the bac!ground. 7A%) k%a #olti tu, goes the
hun!)" *eeti k%a Coca-ColaK, <hrugs -oretti, C6%a hoga
peeke% %eh Coca-colaK,, apprising the bottle with
dismissive apathy before deigning to try a swig. nd ,
abracadabra, chhoo mantar L it,s she who,s now on fre,
arching her body, twirling herself around and grabbing the

22
hero,s "ac!et with an 7A%) k%a #olta tuDK, ignition colaK
*agic potionK -etting down to the real thingK
ccording to Chaitra Leo Burnett 91@.:, the idea was to
leverage the li!es of the youth and to !eep the brand in tune
with what,s happening. fter the la re campaign, says
<umeet ?anwar, senior vice L president, 1@., %7e wanted to
see how we would ne5t connect with the youth&, t this
time, Aati 6%a 6handala was getting a fair bit of airplay
and 1@. decided to use the song. +n ?anwar,s assessment,
+t,s a hit because of the ease with which it can be said, sung,
whatever, by "ust about anybody. %Pou "ust have to say it. +t
is a sing L sung song, it is not a sung song&. The grammatical
hip'hop adds to the street ' poet charm and, though 1o!e,s
version doesn,t match the enigmatic elo)uence and word L
"ugglery of the original, the brand managers to get its own
message across. -ood advertising, says ?anwar, happens
only %when one adds creative to ma!e the ad uni)ue,
instead of "ust riding on the tuneS. +n this ad, the fun is the
interaction between the leading pair and the role reversal
clima5.
Though slic!, it misses that unself conscious mast touch "ust
a bit. >roduced by <abal <hei!hawat of *umbai,s .ig >icture
1o, the commercial had to be made )uic!ly. The song had
been around for over a month by the time 1@. decided to

23
ad 9opt: it, and the ad had to brea! while it was still
ascending the charts.
Though 1o!e has done such ads in the 7est, this is a frst for
1oca'1ola +ndia. ;ibing with the youth says ?anwar,
demands brea!ing with convention. 8or years, 1o!e seems
ready to play the cool Lcrowd game eye'to'eye with >epsi L
which, through azadi dil ki and other hit commercials, has
gathered young +ndian lovebugs neatly under its shade.
<o what,s the ground'recovering magic of co!eK 7hat the
song says, replies ?anwar. %9humenge%) gaa%enge%)
naach8enge%) aish karenge) aur k%aK&
The $s. H,000 crore soft drin! industry is spending an
appro5imately $s. H00 crore on activities which are
tantamount illegal and restrictive trade practices. These
include poaching bottles and sta/ from the competition,
lifting competitor,s bottles and wor!ing out e5clusivity deals
with food service distributors on the condition that they do
not sell the competitor,s brands.
+t is an industry which spends huge amounts of money in
developing customer franchises and building retail and
distribution networ!s then why is it resorting to practices
which are detrimental to itself and the consumer in the long
runK +s it share desperation to win the war or is it plain
disregard for the rules of the gameK

24
+t is a fact that the beverage is an %impulse& category
mar!et. 3espite an increasing trend towards brand
awareness , most consumers would li!e to have any brand
at the point of purchase in case their favorite brand is not
available. 8ic!le consumer loyalty to a particular brand is,
therefore forcing soft drin! ma"ors to wal! the wrong side
of the law .

25
5i&ting and Breaking #ottles:
+n hot pursuit of competition , companies have adopted the
ma5im0 if you can,t beat their brand , brea! their bottles
.Aearly 50 percent of the $s.H00 odd crore is spend on
lifting and brea!ing of glass bottles.
The soft drin! industry in +ndia essentially wor!s on a )uic!
rotation of glass bottles which accounts for more than 20
percent of the pac!aging. The general industry practice is to
lift the competitor,s bottles to bloc! his stoc! of bottles
which, in turn, enables you to e/ectively push your stoc! of
beverages into the mar!et. +n some cases, the companies
are even lifting feld bottles, draining out the li)uid and then
either crushing or selling o/ the glass to a bro!er.
*oaching *eople;
7hile the lifting of bottles has been referred to as a %normal
industry practice& by some companies, industry players have
reali6ed that such indirect poc!ing into a competitor,s
networ! is not e/ective enough . They are instead going
straight for the "ugular, by poaching on the competitor,s
bottler cum distributor.
The soft drin!s business is a fne web of franchise'owned
bottling operations 98O.Os: through which the brands reach
consumers . 7ith the entry of 1oca'1ola and >epsi 1ompany,
a new concept of 1O.Os 9company owned bottling
operations: gained currency.

26
The new concept was to give the companies better control
over operations and margins. 4owever, both companies
have decided time and again to ta!e the short cut and frst
buy out an e5isting bottler rather than set up a green feld
facility. nd more often than not, they have targeted buying
out the competitor,s bottler. +t happened in -u"arat where
>epsi got 1o!e,s bottler to sign up with it. +t happened again
in -oa when 1o!e lost another bottler to >epsi and has to
now shell out above $s.#0 crore e5tra to service this mar!et
from its Tarapore bottling plant. 1o!e calls this poaching,
>epsi calls it pure luc!.
@osing a bottler is the worst blow for a company as the
company puts a lot of money'training and technology inputs
into 8O.Os which form the bac!bone one of its business.
>epsi has even gone to the 4igh court with a case against
co!e alleging that co!e is doing illegal deal as the terms of
termination by >epsi people are not being adhered to.
Exclusive deal;
+t often happens that we go to a restaurant and as! for a
particular brand of soft drin! and are told that the place
!eeps only certain brands of another company. Ao retailer or
service food distributor is bound to !eep only one company,s
brands. +n fact, >epsi had flled an anti trust suit against
1o!e in *anhattan alleging that the company supplies co!e

27
to food service distributors on the condition that they do not
distribute >epsi.
The suit claimed that 1o!e has specifc intent to monopoli6e
the mar!et for fountain' dispensed soft drin!s.
1loser home, it is >epsi which is indulging in similar games.
Aearly H0 per cent of its business is built on such e5clusive
contracts. Ta!e the case of Anupam &47 comple) in Aew
3elhi where >epsi has paid around $s. B0 la!h to the movie
halls for !eeping only its brands. +t has similar e5clusive
deals with Sterlin$ heatre and Cinema) in *umbai for $s
H0 la!h and $s.J la!h respectively. Today, 1oca'1ola and
>epsi spend around $s.B crone each every year to maintain
their e5clusive deals is +ndia.
The two companies have also e5tended the e5clusivity
clause to visi'coolers supplied by them to retailers.
ccordingly, no competitive brand is allowed to be !ept in a
visi'cooler provided by a company ' a restrictive trade
practice which nobody has )uestioned. The *$T> ct has
reams of pages which illustrate these practices as illegal and
monopolistic. 4owever, save from raising ob"ection to certain
promotional campaigns of the companies from time to time,
the *$T> .oard has been unable to stop these companies
from adopting desperate measures.
5ocal action:

28
The *epsi *rocess8: 3espite being a global brand, >epsi
has built its success on meeting the +ndian consumer,s
needs, particularly in terms of ma!ing the brand synchroni6e
with locali6ed events and traditions. +nstead of harping on its
global lineage, ergo, it tries to plug into ethnic festivals, use
the vernacular in di/erent parts of the country and blend
into the local fabric. Thus, in 1hennai, where it was Ao.H'
behind Thums Np and 1oca'1ola, >epsi o/ered free bottles of
>epsi 1ola with idli. +n 1alcutta ,where 1o!e has always
en"oyed a hung lead. >epsi lin!ed its lot to neighborhood
cric!et tournaments +n 3elhi, it lin!ed its brands to #oli,
o/ering sachets of colors with >epsi .
The aim of >epsi is to dance with the consumers.
To do that, >epsi is using both national campaigns'such as
the 3rin! >epsi -et <tu/ scheme, which o/ers large
discounts on other products to >epsi'buyers' as well as local
events. @i!e <pot'The *iranda'*an contest in 1hennai,
where three orange'mas!ed *iranda men drove around
town, and collected over 50,000 entries. >epsi hired people
who had e5perience in selling consumer products here
because the nature of this mar!et is such that you need local
e5perience. .y contrast, co!e deliberately chose to bring in
e5patriates.
The Coke Cop%: +nstead of creating a bond with the
customers through small but high'impact events, 1oca'1ola

29
chose to associate itself with national and international
mega'events li!e the 7orld 1up 1ric!et, 122B and the
Olympics, 122B. .ut neither enabled it to rise above the
clutter of high'spending mass'media advertisers. The
culpritK +ts association did not endear themselves to young
people, the largest consumers of soft drin!s.
lso missing from 1o!e,s mar!eting strategy so far have
been sustained campaigns. +ts occasional bursts of activityT
such as the Thunderblast promotion for Thumps up, o/ering
a T'<hirt in e5change for 15 crowns and $s. 25, as well as
H50'cc .ullet *achismo motor'cycles to 100 winnersTdid
not run long enough. <o, <hort must replicate >epsi,s
unending f66 in the mar!etplace.
Empo'erment;
The *epsi *rocess6 One of the strongest weapons in
>epsi,s armoury is the Ee5ibility it has empowered its people
with. Gvery manager and salesperson has the authority to
ta!e whatever steps he or she feels will ma!e consumers
aware of the brand and increase its consumption. 8or
instance, when the sales team in 1hennai found that
sponsoring an idli'eating contest would help the brand, they
went ahead regardless of the fact that >epsi has never
adopted that tac! in +ndiaTand not really worrying about
whether the move fts into >epsi 1o.,s global arsenal.

30
7hat that we do is to give people budgets within which to
wor!. Ao )uestions are as!ed as to what they do. >epsi are
performance'oriented and as! for results.& This attitude
Eows from the top, with the company,s global parent
adopting the same hands'o/ policy.
The Coke Cop%: 8le5ibility is the weapon that 1oca'1ola,
fettered as it is by the need for approvals from tlanta for
almost everything, lac!s. +n the past, this has shown up in its
stubborn insistence on "un!ing the franchisee networ! it had
ac)uired from >arle0 in its dependence on its own feed bac!
mechanism over that of its bottlers and in its head)uarters
led approach. 8or instance, its trade promotions have
followed a predictable pattern, o/ering fat margins to
retailers for a limited period of time' without e5ploring
alternatives that raise the level of involvement for the seller
as well as the consumer. 4owever, 1oca'1ola is now
beginning to value variety. Thus, the company has
introduced discounts at restaurants, and even display
contests as part of its new promotions .
*0ICE ;
The *epsi *rocess: >epsi has consistently wielded its
pricing strategy as an invitation to sample, aiming to turn
trial into addiction. +t launched the 500 ml bottle in 122I at
$s J versus Thums Np,s $s 2 9 in pril ,122B, its 1.5' litre
bottle followed 1o!e into the mar!et place at $s. H0 to $s. 5

31
less than 1o!e,s. +n both cases, >epsi raised the price once
consumption stabili6ed counting on the habit to compensate
for the lac! of a price beneft .Of course, >epsi also had to
contend with the fact that in the soft drin!s business, few
retailers pass on price advantages to customers, preferring
to sell competing brands at the same price and poc!eting
the discount. <o, it couldn,t have continued the lower price
positioning for long.
The Coke Cop%: +nitially, 1o!e carbon copied the strategy
by introducing its HH0 ml cans in Manuary,122B, at an
invitation price of $s 15 before raising it to $s 1J. .y this
time, it had reali6ed that the 1oca'1ola brand did not hold
enough attraction for customers to for! out a premium. The
#00 ml 1o!e, launched so far in parts of eastern, western,
and northern +ndia is priced at $s 5, lowering the entry'
barriers.
Aot in use long enough for its eRcacy to be tested, the
strategy, nevertheless, draws contempt from $amesh
1hauthan, 5(, 1GO, >arle G5ports, 1o!e,s bottler in 3elhi ,
who sco/s: % you can,t achieve anything by bringing down
the price from $s ( to $s 5. To really drive the mar!et, as
1o!e wants to, you must go down to $s H.
CA,,E5 +A,A-E+E,T;
The *epsi *rocess : They don,t have bottlers 0 they have
partners. nd they listen to them. 7hich is why they have a

32
well aligned bottling net wor!.& 7hile its well'!now 1O.O'
1ompany' Owned .ottling Operations' and 8O.O'
8ranchisee'Owned .ottling Operations'net wor!s cover most
of the country ade)uately, it,s the way in which >epsi 1o,
+ndia strengthens its mar!eting that gives it an edge. Gvery
member of its sales team is meticulously taught the
merchandising and display s!ills that can leverage the reach
of the company,s bottling networ! to achieve high visibility
for the product. Thus, >epsi 1o, +ndia has used its eight years
to develop a relationship with its bottlers that enables it to
wor! in tandem with them.
The Coke Cop% : 1oca'1ola ,s conEicts with its bottlers
have fnally settled down to a pattern that its global
e5perience understands. 1oca'1ola +ndia is Eoating two
subsidiaries, Bharat Coca-Cola and #industan Coca-Cola
which will act as holding companies for most of its bottling
operations, thus giving the transnational ownership and
control over this crucial part of its operations. Garlier, the
company had made the mista!e of demanding huge
investments from its bottlers without worrying about the
returns, assuming that they would be willing to sustain
losses as long as 1oca' 1ola did. +n the process, it had
alienated the former >arle franchisees so much that they
refused to give o/ their best. +f <hort can now adopt >epsi,s

33
method of transferring the transnational,s e5pertise to the
bottlers, his brands will beneft.
To be sure, the lead that >epsi has opened up over 1o!e
cannot be bridged simply by =ero5ing >epsi,s policies. Aor
did 1o!e win the merican 1ola 7ars. +t outsells >epsi I:H in
the N< ' through imitation strategies. 4owever, in a product
category where the di/erentiation lies not in the taste of the
product, but in the lens through which the consumer sees
the brand, 1o!e is undoubtedly, the Eatter of the f66'twins
at the moment . <o, it may not be enough to bring a di/erent
taste to its mar!eting. 1o!e must also out >epsi. >epsi in the
top' of'mind tourney if it does not wish to can its +ndia
comebac!.
Gver since the battle for the $s. H00 crore soft drin! mar!et
bro!e in +ndia, 1o!e,s rival from Aew Por! has been gaining
the upper hand here. 1o!e and >epsi both have spent over
$s. 1#0 crore last year to drive up sales in the #00 million
case soft drin!s industry.
$umors are doing the rounds that the advertising agencies of
both companies 9Chaitra Leo Burnett in the case of 1o!e and
#industan hompson Associates9#ATin >epsi,s case: have
planted moles in each other,s oRces, that these moles
report to their masters every morning about the rival,s game
plan and that the agency then churns out an ad by the
afternoon to torpedo the other,s campaign. s far as the two

34
soft drin! giants are concerned the last summer witnessed
the worst cases of ambush mar!eting.
<trategists at 1oca'1ola agree that +ndia is perhaps one of
the last large mar!et where it does not have clear lead over
>epsi. .oth 1o!e and >epsi are peddling products on similar
advertising platformsTCricket) <ilms and music. <o, while
success will depend partly on the details of each campaign,
it will lie mostly with who can elbow the other out frst.
1o!e garbled the sponsorship rights for the last +ndia
ustralia series, the 1oca'1ola cup on star sports and for 5#
wee!s serial on G<>A called %+nside 1ric!et,. +t had also
signed deals with star sports for sponsoring the triangular
series in <outh frica between >a!istan, <ri @an!a and <outh
frica and for yet another show called %1oca'1ola star
+nsights& also on the same channel.
>epsi and 1o!e are spending nearly U I million 9$s. 1B crore:
in sponsorships on G<>A ' <tar sports alone. +t,s the >epsi
that,s bagged the biggie ' it,s the main sponsor for the 1222
world cup to be played in N? Mune this year.
7hen 1o!e got the sponsorship rights to the 122( 7ills
7orld 1up, >epsi came up with the hugely successful
C,othing o=cial a#out it& campaign by *ohammad
6haruddin. 4owever, when >epsi got the little sponsorship
for the >epsi sia 1up played Muly 122( at <ri @an!a, 1o!e
spi!ed >epsi,s victory by bagging the television sponsorship

35
for the series. 1onse)uently, the &epsi Cup ,as *brou$ht to
+ou b+ Coke on tele"ision. +t was a ma"or drawbac! for >epsi
Tto brand an event and not be able to sponsor it.
The behind the scenes action got nastier, >epsi almost lost
the contract with the .oard of 1ontrol for 1ric!et in +ndia
9.11+: that it had signed in early 122(. This granted >epsi
the frst right of refusal to sponsor all cric!et played in +ndia
where upto three teams participated. 7hen the .11+ tried to
renege on the contract to favor 1oc!, >epsi went to court
and won. 1o!e oRcials, of course deny that they had a role
in >epsiT.11+ imbroglio. They said that the two sides were
loc!ed in conEict over payments for some matches. >epsi
denied having defaulted on any payments to the .11+.
1ompanies are fghting over the rights to 1ric!et matches
because they have become big buc!, high decibel events.
lso, most cric!et matches are telecast during prime time in
+ndia. That translates into higher visibility. bove all, with the
world cup scheduled for Mune, 1222 the year will be the big
year of 1ric!et. nd neither company can a/ord to lose out
on the build up to the mega event.
The one upmanship is not restricted to cric!et. 1oca'1ola
brought in pop star ,hi$h.eld to 3elhi and *umbai in *arch,
122J. fter that, the company also !ic!ed o/ a series of nine
concerts by Asha Bhonsle. <inging a similar tune, >epsi 1o
sponsored a <tereo Aational show at -urgaon, 1handigarh

36
and *umbai. +n <eptember 122J, >epsi 1o brought into +ndia
the legendary .ritish roc! band, the 7ollin$ Stones.
Ta!ing the musical connection further, >epsi has gone in for
a "oint promotion with *T;, called the >epsi 3ance
connection in 12 cities across the country. The promotion
began on the right note in *arch, 122J when an audience of
#0,000 turned up in >une for a live concert by +ndian
popstars and *T; ;ee"ays. The rationale: use music to drive
visibility in the smaller cities. 1o!e had obviously got a copy
of the same mar!eting guide. 1o!e had signed a three year
contract with the music channel for si5 roadshows each year0
the frst was held in -oa last *arch, 122J.
.ut it,s not "ust music, for every >epsi sponsorship of the
latest Mames .ond movie omorro, %e"er -ies, there,s a
Thums Np promotion of bloc! busters down south. +f >epsi
has the pouring rights at the 3elhi cineple5 Anupam &47,
1o!e has replaced >epsi at &ri+a cinema, also in the capital.
>epsi,s o/er of cric!et board game free with two 1.5 litre
>GT bottles of the soft drin! is countered by miniature bats
signed by 5a"a$al Srinath and Saura" 3an$ul+, courtesy
1oca' 1ola. 1o!e,s orange drin! 8anta gave free candy with
its H00 ml bottle 0 so >epsi 1o.,s *irinda tied up with <il Mam
for a *iranda sipper free, promotion. nd since 1oca'1ola is
pushing @imca this season, >epsi plans to counter it with
*iranda @ime, a new cloudy lemon drin!. The e5citement
continues. >epsi plans to launch the 1ola in its trademar!
blue can, while 1o!e is promising 3iet 1o!e once
government approvals are through .

37
7here will it all endK Today, >epsi 1o oRcials claim that
though they lag behind 1oca' 1ola if you ta!e all its brands
into account 9>epsi has a IHV share against 1o!e,s 51V
>epsi 9 the drin! : out sells both 1o!e and Thums Np put
together. Aaturally, 1o!e disputes the statements. +n the
absence of any independent mar!et research fgures it,s
tough to assess mar!et shares. .ut what is obvious is that
with the ad campaigns of the two brands converging the
identities of the two brands converging, the identities of the
two brands are now blurring. lso, critics say that the two
companies are pouring all their money into % tal!ing& to each
other. The tangibles for both the companies are ali!e0 both
sell sugared water, so, it becomes a game of intangibles.
nd, in this product category, the only di/erentiator is
image&.
The cola companies, for their part, "ustify their' and the
competition,s 'gameplans di/erently. The >epsi brigade,
which includes its ad agency 4T, cites a simple reason for
1o!e,s increased ad spends0 desperation. ccording to >epsi,
1o!e grew by barely 5V in 122(, while the rest of industry
grew by around 11V in volume terms. % <o, it,s )uite obvious
why 1o!e,s wal!ing where >epsi,s wal!ed&. >epsi oRcials
point out how 1o!e has outbid >epsi for sponsorships of
college festivals, pouring rights at cinema halls and "oint
promotions with satellite channels .

38
4url these accusations at 1o!e and the company,s
e5ecutives get hot under the collar. 7hat big buc!s are they
tal!ing aboutK 7e have increased our advertising budgets by
1IV over last year,s fgures . The only reason we are seeing
more of because they are buying media and chal!ing out
campaigns more intelligently.& nd when it comes to
mar!ing strategy, 1o!e is perhaps also !eeping its
customer,s and not "ust the competition in mind.
<!irting an advertising platform "ust because the rival,s
brands have already positioned themselves there may not
be the wisest thing to do. 1onse)uently, there,s been an
obvious shift in 1o!e,s tactics for tac!ling the +ndian mar!et.
Though 1o!e is world wide positioning is in the J'J0 age
group, in +ndia, it has consciously decided to focus more
sharply on the 15'12 age group . 1o!e,s recent :eat-Sleep-
-rink campai$ns have a lot more youth , energy and
hedonism than many of its past campaigns, The empathy,
e5tendibility and fatigue of the campaign may be issued
that 1o!e has to deal with. .ut it will not be surprising if the
brand is already ma!ing inroads into >epsi,s strongest
franchise Pouth.
8or starters, in all the top soft drin! mar!ets in the world
9 the N<, *e5ico , Mapan, .ra6il , the N? etc: 1o!e has been
ahead of >epsi by very healthy margins, Aot "ust that in
recent times, >epsi has also lost !ey mar!ets in $ussia and

39
;ene6uela to 1o!e. +n fact, 1o!e,s U 500 million ac)uisition
of >epsi 1o.,s biggest bottling operation in ;ene6uela in
122B too! >epsi completely by surprise.
.ut +ndia may be the one country where >epsi can resist the
1o!e "uggernaut, +t has a clear frst mover advantage of
three years over 1o!e. 7hich translates into greater
consumer recall.
+ndeed, 1oca'1ola,s conceit has been its prime folly when
dealing with the +ndian mar!et. >erhaps the biggest mista!e
that 1o!e made was ta!ing the +ndian consumer for granted0
the company believed its name alone'coupled with its global
ad campaigns would be suRcient to tempt +ndians to gu66le
1o!e by the gallon.
Gven at the corporate level, 1oca'1ola "uggled its top
management mi5 time and again. +n the last fve years, 1oca
'1ola +ndia has seen three 1GOs 9Maidev $a"a, $ichard
Aicholas and now <hort: an e)ual number of mar!eting
directors 9Aitin 3alvi, -urt .ruce and now, -upta: and any
number of senior e5ecutives. These reshuWes have,
unfortunately for 1o!e, dulled its sheen further.
more humble 9 and , therefore, more perceptive: 1o!e is
today re'e5amining a fve'year'old burr on its side' the >arle
ac)uisition. 7hen 1oca' 1ola ac)uired $amesh 1hauhan Cs
labels and his e5isting distribution system , virtually
everyone predicted that >epsi would be virtually wiped out.

40
That didn,t happen, +n hindsight, some company oRcials
now believe a greenfeld operation may have been better for
1o!e, e5plains a senior 1o!e oRcial % when we ac)uired the
>arle brands, we were buying a national heritage. 7e were
also buying a bottling system that was capital averse. nd
we have wasted precious time in trying to deal with both
1hauhan and his bottlers.&
1o!e also lost precious opportunity by not utili6ing the >arle
brands e/ectively. One of the greatest mista!es the 1o!e
made was not using Thums Np properly. 8or every bottle of
Thums Np that wasn,t pushed into the trade, >epsi sold a
bottle of its own cola& +n other worlds, the openings created
by Thums Np were occupied not by 1oca 1ola, but by >epsi
instead. .ut fnally, 1o!e oRcials had reached a consensus
on using the >arle brands last summer more e/ectively
.7hat 1o!e believe is that no one can now match their four'
brand o/ering of Coke, Fanta, hums Up and Limca/
*oreover @imca is a drin! that,s recommended by doctors.
That Cs a lot of e)uity 1oca'1ola has identifed fve distinct
channels' transportation, education X entertainment, grocer
X retail services, eating X drin!ing and institutional through
which it will address the specifc needs of the customer.
1hannel mar!eting addresses the consumer,s needs based
on his environment. Therefore, availability, a/ordability and
pac!aging become the critical issues in the various channels

41
. 8or instance, 1o!e has developed a special chilled bo5,
dubbed a, pouring "unction,, which carries the drin!. This
serves a #00 ml beverage for $s 5 and its price 9 $s. 10,000
per bo5 : convenience 9it doesn,t use electricity : ma!es it
ideal for small time and small town retailers.
+t may seem e5citing and colorful from a distance, but for
1o!e and >epsi the cola wars are serious business. That,s
especially true of the two men who run the show from the
N<: +vestor and Gnrico. +vestor never been here yet0 Gnrico
visited +ndia last Manuary . Pet both are watching what
happens here intently. Gnrico,s always been convinced that
+ndia is a great mar!et0 he,s been interacting with bottlers,
!eeping tabs on +ndia for a few years. >epsi will stand toe to
toe with competition and fght for mar!et leadership in
+ndia. @i!ewise now +vestor also thin!s this is a great place
to be in. @ast year, 1oca'1ola +ndia was made a decision on
the global map . That means the +ndian operation reports
directly to tlanta and not through .ang!o! as it did earlier.
nd it wasn,t the si6e of the e5isting business which merited
that, but the potential.
One of the most aggressive on the battlefeld today is 1oca'
cola. The reason it is in a hurry to grow, because it fears that
>epsi will catch up soon. Today the mar!etshares stand at
roughly 51 per cent 1oca'cola and IB per cent for >epsi,
though there is no way of confrming these fgures. +n the

42
year ended H1 3ecember 122( the fgures were 5# and IH
per cent respectively.
<witch on to the ongoing sian cric!et Test championship
matches and you can,t miss the recently launched <prite
ads: they are direct spoofs on >epsi,s advertising. .ut it,s
hardly the frst time that 1oca'cola is ta!ing pot shots at its
rival. One of its ads on air today shows Aamir 0han lustin$
'or a can o' Coke; 'our +ears a$o , the same 0han ,as
promotin$ &epsi in the ,ell < remembered ad 'eaturin$
Aish,ar+a 7ai. +n what 1oca'cola believes is a coup of sorts,
it has reportedly coughed up $s. # crore to rope in amir
?han against >epsi,s earlier fgure of $s. 1( la!h. .oth
companies, however, disagree with the fgures.
4ere,s more, between them the two giants have signed on
nine players of the +ndian cric!et team. nd, in .ollywood, if
Shahrukh 0han, 7ani Mukher1ee, and 0a1ol are unabashedl+
promotin$ Pepsi, 0arishma 0apoor, 7ambha, and Salman
0han are ca1olin$ consumers to drink Coca9cola brands.
The advertising battle between 1oca'cola and >epsi bro!e
out way bac! in 122H on the day that 1o!e was relaunched.
Two full page ads appeared on ad"acent pages in the same
newspaper L one announcing the advent of 1o!e and the
other declaring >epsi as the choice of the new generation.
@ast year the battle was ta!en further, with Thums Np doing
spoofs on >epsi ads0 the frst one was in response to
>epsi,s ad featuring a chimpan6ee. The Thums L Np
catchline. !Dont #e #under) taste the thunder. The
>epsi made ads featuring mos)uitoes0 1o!e responded with

43
a retaliatory Thums up ad. 7hen 1oca'cola played the 7Eat
Cricket) Sleep Cricket) Drink onl% Coca-cola theme,
>epsi responded with a retaliatory ad that featured cric!eters
Mohammed Azharuddin and A1a+ 5ade1a.
*ost of the advertising wars between 1oca'cola and >epsi
have been fought in fun. That,s because they are the only
two main brands in the soft drin!s industry and both !now
they will e5ist. <o neither brand has got hurt0 instead, the
consumption of soft drin!s itself has perhaps shot up L last
year, the total mar!et for soft drin!s grew by about #5 per
cent. <uman <rivastava, vice president of Guro $<1-, puts it
this way,
%comparati"e ad"ertisin$ ,hich is 'air is actuall+ bene.cial
to the customer, since it increases a,areness and hi$hli$hts
the products=/ .ut 1o!e and >epsi are e5ceptions. +n an
overcrowded mar!etplace, some brands have to die if others
want to live. That,s what advertising wars today are all
about.

44
COPYWRITING FOR A COLA AD
#arketing strateg2 6 <tudies show that consumers cannot
tell >epsi'1ola, 1oca'1ola and Thums'Np apart by taste. Aow
they must not be able to tell them apart by their advertising
either.
Cele1rit2 Endorse"ent Strateg2 6 *atch the rival
cric!eter for cric!eter, flm'star for flm'star. 1onfuse the
consumer thoroughly
E>ecution 1. Ta!e 1oca'1ola,s campaign featuring catchline
Eat Cricket) Sleep Cricket) drink onl% Coca-Colas. >o!e
fun at it through literal depiction of the acts, featuring
various cric!eters. Gnd with >epsi punchline : >ehi ai
0ight Choice Ba#%) Aha.
E>ecution 2.. Ta!e >epsi'1ola,s campaign po!ing fun at
1oca'1ola,s campaign. $eshoot $eplace >epsi L Gndorsing
cric!eters with mon!eys. nd with Thums'Np punchline:
Dont Be A Bandar) Taste The Thunder
E>ecution '. 8ind out popular 1in$le being used by rival
campaign. Yuic!ly shoot and air commercial with the same
1in$le.
E>ecution .. nything they can do we will do better. Or, at
least, in identical fashion.

45
COLGATE Vs PEPSODENT
Though the Aew >epsodent 1olgate dental cream imbroglio
over comparative advertising has raised enough dust
recently a lot of shoulders are also being shrugged with, %<o
what,s newK, That,s the point . The rising wave of
comparative advertising in +ndia over the past two years
raises a bigger )uestion why are mar!eters indulging in
more of it, even inspite of being hauled to the *$T>1 K
@ogically, the pointer is to the need to start out with
consumer in a glutter of products and advertise with superior
products and stand apart in advertising.
ly)ue >adamsee 9>resident' > ssociates: says, !n the
earlier +ears products ,ere stressed as bein$ superior in an
absolute sense ,ithout outri$ht comparisons, e.g. ,&Sur&
'ashes ?hitest& or the subtly comparative @alita"i
campaign, to ta!e on the %irma 1hallenge: Sasti chee@ aur
achchi chee@ mein phark hota hai&. Aow is the time of
bold ,20 s more' up front, less polite but more honest.
Col$ate &almoli"e >C&? and #industan Le"er Limited >#LL?
the two consumer goods giants are at it again . +n their
continuing tooth'for tooth battle, 1> has hauled 4@@ to
*$T>1 alleging that a 4@@ advertisement for the Aew
>epsodent tooth'paste constituted an unfair trade practice.
<pecifcally, 1> claimed that the ad, though it did not
mention 1olgate by name, damaged it by claiming that Aew
>epsodent was 10#V better than the leading tooth paste. +n
an interim order the *$T>1 as!ed 4@@ to desist from putting
out the ad until an e5pert committee had verifed the claim.

46
<ei6ing the opportunity to crow over its arch'rival, 1olgate
promptly issued its own ad which highlighted the salient
parts of the *$T>1 order and selectively )uoted from it' a
step not calculated to please 4@@. Aot to be out done 4@@
retaliated by putting out yet another ad in defence of Aew
>epsodent but too! a di/erent trac! this time. +t mentioned
1olgate dental cream by name and sought to establish Aew
>epsodent,s superior anti bacterial )uality . The ad also
defantly asserted that 4@@ won,t stop advertising Aew
>epsodent.
7hether 4@@ would continue to use the old ad or devise a
new campaign was not clear . t least one newspaper
carried both 4@@ Cs original 10#V ad as well as the latest
one on the same day. <o has 4@@ infringed the *$T>1,s
orderK That,s a )uestion for the legal e5perts to determine .
.ut one thing is certain the last salvo hasn,t been fred in the
battle of the tube.

47
@+*1 ;s *+$+A3 @G*OA
>epsiQs *irinda @emon is trying to dethrone @imca. Pes,
@imca. @ord of the cloudy lemon segment, a >arle'built brand
that had loyalists in the 12(0s when Thums Np didnQt e5ist.
nd when Teem, launched by >epsi in 122H, bombed, @imca
didnQt even need to advertise to retain its base. .ut the #0'
million cases'per annum segment 9in 122H: reached "ust #5
million cases by 122J.
Aow comes *irinda @emon to confront a @imca that 1oca'
1ola wants to bring bac! onto the tip of the consumerQs
tongue. .oth brands address more or less the same
consumer. @imca targets the #0'#2'year'old while *irinda
@emon, the #5'H5'year'old. *ar!eters of white spirits have
also got ad'active in the past few months.
8irst what ma!es @imca @imcaK +t was widely available safe
9and f66y tooZ:. the Qisotonic saltsQ gave it a scientifc '
sounding bait. 3rin! @imca it said to )uench thirst and
restore the ahem'body p4 balance. Q@imca after @imcaQ went
further, appropriating 1o!eQs original formula as a rehydrant
for any dehydrating activity 9strenuous or otherwise:.
fter $amesh 1hauhan sold it out, colas too! centre stage.
@imca lived on demand from the greyed and greying. <ince
then, 1oca'1ola has abandoned its main brand monomania
and as!ed Chaitra Leo Burnett 91@.:, which also has the

48
Thums Np and 1o!e accounts to give @imca a bungee
bouncebac!.
ccording to <umeet ?anwar senior vice'president, 1@., the
agency discovered that people in their #0s are the most
voracious consumers of f66y drin!s. This age segment is
characteri6ed by a change of phaseQ. 4aving survived the
tyranny of schooling teens go to college for a do'your'own '
thing binge. +n their #0s, they enter the real world, get
reregimented, get saddled with responsibility and miss
college li!e mad. Nnder stress, one has two options ' to
submit or ta!e it easy. The latter is Qmore aspirationalQ than
actually practiced. Q<o we positioned @imca as the drin! to
unwind withQ, says ?anwar. The new ad line: take it eas%
9T+G:. Nnli!e colas, which sometimes try changing the
drin!erQs self'image 9drin! >epsi, be cool:, T+G is not for
adolescents. <o the @imca drin!er is Qone who doesnQt show
o/Q.
4owever, ads showing stressed'out scenes could needlessly
give people a vehicle to identify with neurosis. Qdvertising
does not have to be a mirrorQ, says Ndaiyan Matar, brand
manager @imca, 1oca 1ola +ndia. Thus the brief: @imca
provides you a conduit to light'hearted moments when you
are really stressed out. Gach spot has a happy ending with
the lead character "ust shrugging and Ta!ing it Gasy. <o you
have the man at the railway station accosting the wrong

49
babe the auctioneer slamming the priceless vase, the cool
dude on the stalled bi!e and the e5pectant nephew at the
reading of NncleQs will 9where he lands a lemon:. The
advertisements are QeverywhereQ says Matar though mainly on
T;.
@imca also has some interesting promos. mong them is a
tie'up with Channel A(B for [;\ M endorsements. <o .dham
Singh appears on T; clarifying to a tree'shaded chaupal
gathering that itQs not re,ri but 7rigleyQs gum free with
@imca. 7hy NdhamK <ays ?anwar, 4e <pea!s his mind.S
nother promo : 1@. is putting wisecrac!s under bottlecaps.
There is >rice hi!eK -o tre!!ingQ <plitting headacheK Nse
-lueQ and many more. <ince *arch 2J about H00 of these,
across languages have come out.
7hat about *irinda @emonK *a!ing a go of cloudy lemon
was part of the companyQs plan for 122J 9for >epsi, 122B was
the year of *irinda, 122( of <lice:. 4owever, the infant brand
has a couple of problems. newly resurgent @imca and the
Orange tag that *irinda carries around. <o far, *irindaQs
name recall has been wea!, particularly in isolation of the
orange'heads on T;. =ack Trout and <l 3ise would warn
against diluting *irindaQs e)uity. Q+nternationallyQ Q*irinda is
the companyQs brand for Eavours available in strawberry,
lemon apple and orange.S ccording to #A the agency on
the account *irinda @emonQs campaign wants to create a

50
product property by placing *irinda @emon on a taste
platform and spelling out the e5perience.& 9or ka 8hatka
Dheere lage" goes the ad line.
1@. says that this line and T+G are essentially slogans of the
same feather and that T+G came frst, the slogan e5plains the
pleasurable high ' the slow !ic!'that the brand o/ers 9as if
itQs 1hampagne:. +n fact a lifestyle statement 9such as T+G:
wouldnQt have managed to counter @imcaQs long'established
product values. .esides argues >epsi, T+G is "ust a phrase
borrowed from upmar!et collo)uial use, so when somebody
uses it, @imca probably wonQt spring to mind0 but the 1or kaD
line is solely *irinda @emonQs and it appeals to a broader
audience. +ts very originality o/ers greater scope for creative
e5pression and while ma!ing a single'minded brand
proposition is important matching wits with @imca 9which
neednQt play on rehydration anymore: is the other part of the
gameplan.
*irinda @emonQs campaign uses little s!its where the ad line
is applicable to comic situations. 4owever, it scores high on
e5ceptional de5terity. Amita#h Bachchan in his inimitable
ts!'ts! style of triumphalism mi5ed with parody, uses
*irinda @emonQs soothing )ualities to soften the blow while
he informs a wealthy couple that their stretch limo has
turned into a bonsai version 9hit by a khatara:. Or as a
postman, where he uses the theatrics at his disposal'plus

51
*irinda @emon'to tell the village la6e 9getting his customary
massage: that heQs ma!ing o/ with his 1handni. QThe ads,Q
are being e5tremely well received in Nttar >radesh and .ihar.
+f @imcaQs campaign reminds one of a certain Gagle number,
*irinda @emonQs appears to have ta!en the baton from
>remchandQs classic %asha.
The @imca team is confdent of seeing the challenger o/.
There is dormant e)uity to count on as well. $emember
12JJ, the year when @imca was the top'selling f66y drin! in
the countryK QThey want to ta!e it bac! there.Q
CA, A,TICS
1oca'1ola +ndia has decided to pull out all stops to ma!e
+ndiaQs largest non'cola brand, @imca top of mind with
consumers. <ince the company hadnQt accorded it enough
priority, @imca had languished. *oreover the spotlight was
trained on the two global rivals'1o!e and >epsi and @imca
along with other brands paled in comparison.
.ut the company has reali6ed that @imcaQs image needs a
boost. QThe graphics were very old and it hand started losing
its modernity, says Ndaiyan Matar, .rand manager, @imca. To
rectify that the company has changed the color of the @imca
can from white to green. 7hite was not a young and
happening color and had failed to communicate the
freshness and vibrancy that 1oca'1ola wants @imca to stand
for.

52
The original @imca can had light green, yellow and dar!
green waves on a white bac!ground. s the brand passed on
to 1oca'1ola, the waves gave way to brush stro!es in the
same combination. Aow the can sports a slightly bigger logo
with a metallic outline, standing against a dar! green 9a
dynamic shot of water: bac!ground, which is also the main
color for all >O> material fountain cups 9for vending
machines: bus shelters and other outdoor advertising media.
-reen was chosen since it connotes freshness, the brandQs
attribute, e5plains the company. nd lemon, @imcaQs base is
also associated with green. 7hite on the other hand is a
neutral shade which reEects other colors, and loo!s almost
clinical. +tQs associated with mil!'and mil! is uncool and
unrefreshing for the youngster. The green on the new can
reminds one of swirling refreshing mouthwash.
4owever, @imcaQs new can does bear a more'than'Eeeting
resemblance to >epsiQs (Np can. 1oca'1ola though maintains
that no rival brand has anything to do with the change.

53
C!INIC P!5S Vs. P<3<C(5TE
<ince the time men clubbed women on the head and
dragged them into caves, the care of hair has been a rite of
civili6ational passage. The 4arappan dancing girl had well
groomed plaits, virtue preserved in bron6e. Gver wonder if
she oiled her hairK
The two giants industan 5ever 5td. ( (!! : and +arico
Industries fought with each other for proving supremacy of
their coconut hair oil. The ad war reached such a point that
4@@ had to approach *$T>1 against the advertisement of
*arico +ndustries.
Through maga6ines and T;, the >arachute of *arico
informed the consumers that the coconut oil of companies
bearing plus sign contains IJ per cent para@n clearly
indicating 1linic >lus of 4@@. +n this particular ad, there was a
bottleF container bearing plus sign. This plus sign had
created the ad war between the two companies although
plus sign was not the symbol of any company.
The >arachute coconut oil of *arico +ndustries at that time
was very popular among the consumers. .ut the 1linic >lus
of 4@@ was able to challenge the supremacy of >arachute.
The 1linic >lus shampoo was already popular in the mar!et
and 4@@ started getting success in its coconut oil also. This
led to the attac! by the >arachute through attractive ad
without naming any company.
>arachute says that paraRn dilutes the oil. Therefore it is
essential to buy hundred percent pure coconut oil. The 4@@
approached *$T>1 against this ad and won.

54
fter wining the case against *aricoQs >arachute, the 1linic
>lus advertised in the newspapers that the >arachute is
actually an edible oil therefore it should not be compared
with hair oil. Aot only this the 1linic >lus even in another ad
said that another product of *arico S#air and careS also
contains paraRn. The message the 1linic >lus tried to send
was that its hair oil should be compared with hair oil Q4air
and careS not with >arachute because it was an edible oil.
4@@ said that its 1linic >lus contains some special mineral
contents which increases the beauty of hair and prevent
stic!iness. nd the 1linic >lus claimed that the >arachute is
spreading wrong information saying that this mineral oil is
paraRn. The most important part of this ad war was that to
maintain supremacy one company tried to blame the other
by accusing that their competitor is selling low )uality
product. Aot only this, the ad war had another angle. fter
entry of 1linic >lus within four months, the >arachute has
changed its mar!eting strategy to counter 1linic >lus. +n
many places it decided to change its dealers and appointed
many new dealers in new places. 8or e5ample, the *arico
+ndustries appointed four dealers increasing it from two at
that time in Gast 3elhi alone.
1linic >lus also retaliated by ta!ing more aggressive steps.
1linic >lus in its advertisement !ept on saying that their
competition is with 4air and 1are as >arachute is an edible
oil. .ut actually the 1linic >lus was in direct competition with
>arachute. lthough the >arachute advertisement was
banned by *$T>1, it was able to confuse the consumers.

55
The most interesting part of this ad war came to light after
the ban on >arachute ad. fter the notice of *$T>1, when
4@@ gave their advertisement many interesting points of this
industry could be found. ctually the coconut oil is under
category of edible oil which is free from ta5. .ut e5cept
?erala in almost all places in +ndia, coconut oil is used as hair
oil. 4ence the company li!e *arico +ndustries too!
advantage of it by not writing as coconut hair oil in its
>arachute oil. +nstead they used to write hundred per cent
pure coconut oil. +f they write coconut hair oil in their
pac!aging then the company was liable to pay I0 per cent
ta5. Therefore most of the companies did not write the word
Qhair oilQ. 7hen the ad war bro!e out, the 4@@ openly
announced that although its competitor >arachute is
comparing with 1linic >lus according to government
regulation >arachute comes under edible oil category. fter
this ad war, the mar!et analyst clarifed that dilute paraRn is
used all over world in hair oil after ac)uiring license from the
concerned government. Gven most fragrant hair oil also uses
dilute paraRn.
7ith ad war between 4@@ and *arico was on, some other
brands too! advantage of it. 8or e5ample, Da#ur (atika
air oil gave an ad claimed to be in the interest of healthy
and beautiful hair where there were two bottles. On the left
side, one bottle was of paraRn ] coconut oil 9clinic plus: and
other was of coconut coo!ing oil 9&arachute:. Through this
ad 3abur ;ati!a indirectly claimed that their product ;ati!a

56
4air Oil is superior than both >arachute and 1linic >lus as ad
says %,either para=n nor cooking oil$ 9ust pure
Coconut air /il enriched 'ith enna) Amla and
5emon.& The most interesting part of this 3abur ;ati!a hair
Oil was that they ac!nowledged the presence of light li)uid
paraRn 9mineral oil: in their product. 7ith a star mar! it
indicated that li$ht li2uid para@n >mineral oil? is totall+ sa'e
and is e)tensi"el+ used in leadin$ hair and skin products
both in !ndia and abroad. This ad was also directed towards
answering customer )uires to clarify the company,s point on
controversy regarding oils containing paraRn and coconut oil
being pure or impure.

57
(E3O (ON4< Vs TVS9 S5?5*I
dvertising for two wheelers, whose mar!et si6e is estimated
at $s. J.1I la!h units 9valued at appro5imately $s. (,000
crores: has generally followed one of two routes: emotional
for mopeds, scooterettes and scooters and largely rational
for motorbi!es 9or sensory, focussing on the good loo!s of
the bi!e:. The motorcycle category in contrast to scooters
and other two wheelers is innately about style, machismo
and attitude. <o the consumer naturally responds to these
cues.
7ithin the motorcycle category, it has been observed that
two'stro!e bi!es appeal more to the younger college going
set, while four stro!es are preferred by more mature
consumers. Translated into a psychographic profle, a two L
stro!e consumer is one given to Eaunting a fast lifestyle that
his bi!e symboli6es, while the four stro!e consumer is
associated with sound middle L class values of thrift and
maturity.
The ma"or brands that are available in +ndia are all made
with Mapanese collaboration: 4ero'4onda, ?awasa!i .a"a",
T;<' <u6u!i and Gscorts'Pamaha. There are some functional
or feature di/erences among these brands but they may not
appear considerable. The advertising in this category has
traditionally focused on adventure, style and maleness in its
basic defnition.

58
The T;< was frst in +ndia to enter into this highly price L
sensitive 100 cc segment in 12JI. .ut later entrant 4ero
4onda had 6ipped far ahead of T;< <u6u!i with a cleaver
positioning strategy in what is essentially a buyers mar!et.
Aow the 4ero 4onda has I0 per cent mar!et share and T;<'
<u6u!i has #H per cent.
The 4ero 4onda has established itself as the most
economical bi!e in the mar!et. >henomenal fuel eRciency
was 4ero 4onda,s N<>, conveyed in the campaign headline,
%<ill it) shut it) &orget it.& Ta!ing o/ from this T;<' <u6u!i
came up with highly visible ad campaign, which was
launched in 8ebruary, 12J2 with the poser: % But can %ou
reall% aCord to &orget 'hat the% arent telling %ouK
The ad then proceeds to tell you how T;<'<u6u!i has a lead
over 4ero 4onda on seven di/erent counts, including price.
This comparative ad of the T;<'<u6u!i had put the 100cc
<u6u!i motorobi!e on a collision course with mar!et leader
4ero 4onda. The ad tried to compare seven features
between T;<'<u6u!i and 4ero 4onda. s it is clear from the
ad which highlighted the disadvantages in 4ero 4onda and
the advantages in T;<' <u6u!i on the basis of seven
features. Aot only that the ad had one 4ero 4onda placed in
front of a T;<' <u6u!i clearly indicating that the T;<'<u6u!i
wanted to challenge the supremacy of 4ero'4onda.
ccording to *r. ;enu <rinivasan of T;<'<u6u!i the reason

59
behind the provocative advertising approach was that the
surveys had revealed that non'users did not reali6e e5actly
what !ind of value the bi!e o/ered. Therefore the basic aim
of T;< L <u6u!i was that it is more mobike for money.
1hanging consumer perception is not an overnight process
but such creative things can trigger o/ faster responses. This
particular ad campaign had created an uproar.

60
?7<?+ .MM ;s G<1O$T< P*4
The two motorcycle manufacturing companies 6a'asaki
Ba8a8 and Escorts >amaha were confronting head on in
100 cc segment through their advertisement. 8rom some
time both the companies were claiming that their product is
superior than the others.
<topping production of $=100 motorcycle, Gscort Pamaha
had introduced $=- in a new fashion. +n place of 100cc
,Gscort Pamaha introduced 1H5cc motorcycle and claimed
that ,ithin A seconds it can take speed 'rom zero to si)t+
kmBhour. nd this claim of Gscort Pamaha was challenged.
This claim of Pamaha was challenged by ?awasa!i .a"a" and
through hoardings and newspapers it said that the claim of
Pamaha was wrong. 8or this they gave reference from %Auto
!ndia& maga6ines and claimed that ?awasa!i .a"a" L1#5 cc
can take speed 'rom zero to si)t+ kmBhour ,ithin A/C
seconds which is not possible for Pamaha. 8or reaching this
speed Damaha needs E/F seconds. part from time ta!en
.a"a" had also claimed that ?awasa!i .a"a" motorcycle is of
GH/I bhp but Pamaha is GG/C bhp.
8or general public cc, bhp and speed these things do not
ma!e any di/erence. .ut there are a lot of cra6e for cc, bhp
and speed among true lovers of motorcycle. These words
can change the purchase decision of a person. Aow' a' days

61
no customer is ready to compromise with )uality and
features.
7hat Pamaha was saying that at present their motorcycle
was so famous and popular that the ?awasa!i .a"a" is trying
to mislead the customers by spreading wrong information.
8or them whatever ?awasa!i .a"a" is saying, that is out of
frustration. +n 100cc motorcycle category, the 1H5 cc $=-
model of Pamaha is an improvement from its 100 cc model.
.ut in ?awasa!i .a"a"' 1#5 introduced by .a"a" there is
nothing new in it. The ?awasa!i .a"a" had only changed the
stic!er without any alteration in the engine.
8rom the ad of these two motorcycle companies, the third
ma"or player <u6u!i tried to ta!e advantage of it. <u6u!i,s ad
line says % no' DD4 cc is more po'er&ul than DEF cc&.
ctually the <u6u!i was also identifed Pamaha as its main
competitor and Pamaha 1H5 cc was the main rival of <u6u!i
<hogun. 4ence <u6u!i said that its <u6u!i <hogun is better
than Pamaha in terms of bhp. <u6u!i said that although its
motorcycle is of 110 cc but in terms of bhp, it is 1I bhp
motorcycle and therefore more costly than other
motorcycles. The claim of <u6u!i was )uite realistic because
among motorcycle lovers the attraction for less cc and more
bhp bi!e is more. 8or them <u6u!i shogun is %per&ormance
#ike&.

62
CONC!5SION
Jinda$i mein K mushkilain hain to manzilain hainK k+onki
.$hter hamesha 1eetta hai&. 1ut to an e5ecutive celebrating
after a marathon deal or a bi!er cruising to victory after a
grueling raceK Aot )uite. 1ut to 9aved Akhtar endorsing a
ball penZ bit e5treme., to sell a lowly ball per with sha+ari,
some would say. 1ompletely natural for the brand to now
ma!e an emotional appeal, others insist. 7hy "ust $otomacK
@oo! at pollo tyres, sian >aints, 1adbury,s 3airy *il!, 8iat
Nno, $aymond suiting, ;+> luggageD e5amples abound.
@ilting music, soul L stirring lyrics, heart'warming visuals
and warm sepia tones even in print. The +ndian ad industry is
high on emotions.
+s there a specifc reason for this trendK re budget cuts
pushing agencies to the tried and tested emotional route
rather than ris! new approachesK re creative gurus ta!ing
their cues from the thumping success of feel L good 4indi
movies such as -il to pa$al hai and kuch kuch hota hai to
tune into their target segmentsK Or is competition forcing
the hand of advertisersK
Pes and no. Gssentially defned as advertising that has an
emotional rather than a rational appeal, it does seem as if
several advertisers have clambered on to the emotional
band'wagon because of the recession. s Airan"an
Aatara"an, 1reative 3irector, rika+a 3re+ puts it. %6hen the

63
$oin$ $ets tou$h, the tou$h $et emotional&Z 8aced with
increasingly ferce competition, product parity, falling
demand and a fc!le lot of consumers, advertisers are going
the emotional way to try and forge a bond with the
consumer which, they hope will !eep him from reaching for
another brand.
+n doing so, they appeal primarily to the unabashed
sentimentality of +ndians. s any advertiser will glee'fully
assert, we are an emotional people. *uch more than
mericans and .ritons, or even our other sian cousins. nd
when an advertiser touches the rigid chords, we can be a
loyal, generous lot. s <umanto 1hattopadhyay ssociate
1reative 3irector O$il"+ and Mather puts it. %>ull at our
heartstrings and we,ll open our purse stringsZ&. Typically, it is
the leaders in a product category who can a/ord to plug
emotions strongly. mar!eter would normally build his top
brands through an emotional route while using a regular,
rational route for his lower end brands. The route is also very
much in evidence when a leader is losing share 9the ads for
*aruti Gsteem, for instance:, when an +ndian company wants
to thwart a foreign brand 9#amara Ba1a1: or when an *A1
brand wants to sport a desi loo!. +n the last category would
fall ads for brands such as ?oda! cameras, 7all,s ice cream,
1o!e, >epsi, didas 9the cric!et ad with Tendul!ar: and
<amsonite 9pic!le bottle' in'the'suitcase:.

64
7hile there is an entire gamut of emotions, the hot favorites
among +ndian advertisers are those of "oy, sentimentality,
empathy and fear. The last is arguably the most powerful
and is used to great e/ect by insurance companies 9fear of
fre, theft, loss of valuables:, some car tyre manufacturers
and mos)uito mats, coo!ing oil, water purifers and
disposable needles.
7hile the emotional route is really the Cperipheral, route in
advertising as opposed to the Ccentral, route that uses logic
and reasoning. +ts power is far greater. $esearch shows that
ads strong on emotions generally en"oy high recall,. >ossibly
because it manages, by virtue of its subtlety, to impress on
the consumer while !eeping his defenses down. That way, it
really is the Cbac!door, route to a consumer,s heart. .ut that
isn,t the only reason why the route is so attractive to
advertisers. +t helps enormously in building the brand and its
image, and in building a long L term relationship with the
consumer.
nd this as more and more advertisers are reali6ing can
beneft them enormously. The 50
th
year of independence
fortuitously provided advertisers with a chance to go
emotional in a big way by e5pressing pride in being +ndian.
This celebration of a shared e5perience where the ob"ective
is to tell the consumer. %Pou and + are ali!e, we feel the same
way, so let,s stay together,., 9appealing to the innate

65
tendency to form groups a Cgranfalloon, in psychological
lingo: is in fact used successfully in celebrity endorsements
too.
The new millennium, it is predicted will also bring in a wave
of emotional advertising as it presents an opportunity for
advertisers to cash in on the sense of promise and
e5pectancy consumers are e5pected to feel. N? based
brand consultancy group has revealed that consumers
perceive the dawn of the millennium as a very emotional
moment and are e5pected to ma!e ma"or changes in their
lives. +t would undoubtedly give +ndian advertisers the
chance to build a positive image of their brand around an
emotion they don,t often use hope.
7hatever the circumstances, compulsions or limitations,
emotional advertising is certainly the route of the future. .ut
it seems the advertisers can not ignore competitive
advertising. <uch is the impact of competitive advertising
that the companies li!e -ae,oo Motors are still advertising
its 1ielo and *ati6 car comparing with its competitors. <ame
is the case of #+undai Motors. gainst the present trend of
emotional advertising, these companies have e5pressed
their confdence in competitive advertising. <o powerful is
the impact that it is now being used for selling &olitical
!ma$e. +n a recent government release advertisement
featuring >rime *inister *r. tal .ehari ;a"payee and >ower

66
*inister *r. >. $. ?umaramangalam compared government
performance in improving power situation in the country with
that of previous governments of Late 7a1i" 3andhi,
Mr/ %arashimha 7ao and Mr/ #/ -/ -e"a$o,da/ +t will be
interesting to see where competitive advertising is going to
use ne5t.
,I,!IO@3<P(.
The Times of +ndia
The 4industan Times
The 4indu
Mansatta
.usiness +ndia
.usiness Today
.usiness 7orld
dvertising X *ar!eting
X *

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