History

The Indian governments edict in 1974

Hand over control to your Indian subsidiary or leave
In 1977, rather than comply with the new ownership law,
Coca-Cola left
A government-run company named one cola Double Seven
after the year of the departure
Pure Drinks, created Campa cola
The Parle brothers, Ramesh Chauhan and Prakash
Chauhan, along with then CEO Bhanu Vakil, launched Thums
Up as their flagship drink, adding to their portfolio of older
brands Limca (lime flavour) and Gold Spot (orange flavour)

Mid 90s
Thums Up enjoyed a near monopoly with a much stronger
market share often overshadowing its other rivals like Campa
cola and Double seven
In 1993, looser government controls enabled Coca-Cola and
Pepsi to re-enter India
Parle sold out to Coke for a mere US$ 60 million.
Coca-Cola apparently did try to kill Thums Up
Later Coke decided to use Thums Up to attack Pepsi.

Unusual David and Goliath fight

Thums Up had the equity to take on Pepsi
Thums Up took the battle to Pepsi by openly challenging it to a
blind taste test.
Pepsi was now at the receiving end of a taste challenge
The brand was positioned as a manly drink
Targeting the 30 to 45 year olds.
It was a favourite in rum-based cocktails, as in rum and
Thums Up.
Thums Up kick-started an aggressive campaign directly
attacking Pepsis TV ads, focusing on the strength of the drink

Successful campaign
Grow up to Thums Up
Ads showing the Thums Up man, riding through the desert in
search of a cantina that sells Thums Up rather than drink
another cola, stuck in the minds of many Indians and caught
the imagination of youngsters who want to be seen as men.
They signed actor Salman Khan to portray an Indian Air Force
fighter pilot winning in the skies, pre-empting a Pepsi
promotion with Tom Cruises pilot from Top Gun.

Sponsorships
Thums Up was a major sponsor of cricket matches in the early 1980s
It came out with several postcards featuring Sunil
Gavaskar and Imran Khan
Thums Up's celebrity endorsers include Akshay Kumar and Salman
Khan popular south Indian actors Chiranjeevi and Mahesh Babu
A major sponsor of Indian motorsport in the 80s
Sponsoring several Indian track drivers in Sholavaram races
They sponsored several regional car and bike rallies.

BRAND ELEMENTS

Brand Name and Logo

Slogan

Character

Packaging
Cans: 300ml and 330 ml
Bottles: 200ml and 300 ml
Pet bottles: 600ml, 1 lit, 1.5 lit, 2.25 lit.

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

Brand name: Pepsi

Slogan: yeh hai youngistan meri jaan
Packaging: My cans, bottles and Pet bottle.

Logo

Character

Areas of improvement
Packaging
Logo

BRAND IDENTITY OF THUMS UP

BRAND ESSENCE
- Feeling of masculinity
CORE IDENTITY
- A drink that gives the user a feel of masculine, macho
and confident guy.
EXTENDED IDENTITY
- Men who are adventurous
- Strong cola drink
- Thums up gesture

VALUE PROPOSITION
EMOTIONAL BENEFIT
- A feel of masculine and macho
SELF-EXPRESSIVE BENEFIT
- Expressing themselves as adventurous and achievement
oriented.

Alignment
What type of personality are you..?
How often have you consumed thums up..?
Do you feel that thums up is as adventurous and masculine as
its tag line Thums up taste the thunder..?
Will you prefer thums up over other cola brands?
How will you rate the quality of thums up in a 5 point scale..?

Alignment
Tamil Nadu respondents
There is no alignment between the actual identity and
communicated identity among Tamil Nadu respondents.
Other state respondents
There is perfect alignment between actual identity and
communicated identity among other state respondents

Strengths
Feeling masculinity projected through advertisements
Strong national brand image in north india
Brand equity to face local brands

Weakness
Poor distribution in some parts of India
Age old brand elements

Aakers Model
BRAND EQUITY
BRAND
AWARENESS
BRAND
ASSOCIATIONS

PERCEIVED
QUALITY
BRAND
LOYALTY

Brand awareness
Recognition High due to brand ambassador, logo and slogan
Recall Jingle & advertisements

Perceived quality : Macho feel

Strong cola taste
Good in rum based cocktails

Brand Associations
Manly taste
Celebrity endorsements
Grow up to Thums Up
Ads showing the Thums Up man, riding through the desert in
search of a cantina that sells Thums Up rather than drink
another cola, stuck in the minds of many Indians and caught
the imagination of youngsters who want to be seen as men

Brand loyalty
Brand loyalty is low among south India due to low availability
Brand loyalty is high among north Indians due to the taste
manly feel associated with it by the advertisements

Thank you..!