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Ratna Bhushan

NEW DELHI, March 6

WHILE enough steam is being generated on the cola front, action is hotting up in other carbonated soft drinks segments as well.

Pepsi Foods has taken the lead in the clear lime category and is set to break the summer campaign for its brand, 7 Up. The electronic campaign breaks on March 7 to coincide with the India-Zimbabwe one-day cricket series.

The brand is being given a fresh advertising positioning with the tagline `Keep it cool'.

"The advertising focuses on attributes such as intense cooling and refreshment," said sources at Pepsi Foods.

Interestingly, a national-level campaign for 7 Up has been created after a couple of years. The brand has been promoted strongly in regional markets in the past one year, but the decision to invest in a national-level electronic campaign for the 7 Up brand is based on the need to grow the category and build brand salience, Pepsi's official spokesperson told Business Line. However, the ad spends for Pepsi Cola would continue to be significantly higher than that for 7 Up, the spokesperson added.

The national electronic campaign for 7 Up would be bolstered with a parallel regional-level campaign which will include specific outdoor activity and on-ground promotions, besides airing local adaptations of the advertising on regional electronic media, company sources said.

According to industry estimates, the clear lime segment is minuscule and accounts for just about 4.5 per cent of the carbonated soft drinks (CSD) market currently estimated at about 250-270 million cases. The cloudy lemon segment accounts for 10 per cent of the CSD market, and the carbonated orange soft drink segment accounts for roughly 15 per cent.

Pepsi's 7 Up brand leads in the clear lime segment, followed by Sprite from the Coca-Cola stable.

The 7 Up brand is available in 250-ml, 300-ml and 500 ml bottles, and additionally in 200-ml bottles in the southern States. Meanwhile, in line with the industry trend of pushing 200-ml bottles to gather volumes, the company is in the process of rolling out Mirinda Lemon, Apple and Orange in 200-ml bottles in the Delhi market, priced at Rs 6. Mirinda 200-ml is available in Punjab and parts of Uttar Pradesh since last year.

The brand's positioning too, is being changed from zor ka jhatka to Lemoni jhatka, taste pe atka. An advertising strategy is currently being worked out for the Mirinda brand, the company's official spokesperson said.

Mirinda Lemon had been endorsed by Bollywood stars, Amitabh Bachchan and Govinda, in the past.

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