1. 200 ml for Rs 5: The 200 ml bottle product was launched keeping in mind the rural people and the test marketing was done in Andhra Pradesh which yielded very good results. Later it was promoted throughout India. The background depicted on the advertisement was rural. Aamir Khan played the role of a Government Official who is much respected among the people. The situation shows Aamir Khan finding the village shopkeeper selling 200 ml bottle of coke for Rs 6. He confronts the shopkeeper and uses wittiness to make the shopkeeper to return one rupee. This ad was representative of the Indian village and was identified as a rural wave. Changing Horizons: Brand Communication: “ Thande Ka Tadka”: Coca Cola realized that they must not lose their focus on youth at the cost of rural markets. With the changing psyche of youth there was a need to change the brand communication since there was a significant change in the woman’s participation in the workplace and college education. Coca Cola capitalized on this fact by creating an ad with the most beautiful woman in the world Aishwarya Rai. In this Ad, she played the role of a typical middle class Indian College going girl, who has deep respect for Indian values and tradition. This was reflected in her dressing style. The ad showed a young man making passes at her by using coke bottle. She confronted them and showed them how the coke bottle can be used to generate different whistling tunes. This boldness and assertive gesture of Aishwarya Rai made the young man feels embarrassed and defeated. The storyline was very well complemented with the tagline “ Thande ka Tadka”(meaning chilled drink made sizzling) which was also a reflection of new attitude of the Indian Youth. New Challenges: The Pesticide Controversy After being hit by the pesticide controversy, Coca Cola needed to take preventive actions to ensure that their brand image was not tarnished. This time, they relied on their champion brand ambassador to reaffirm customer’s faith in the brand. In the Ad, Aamir Khan was shown admitting his apprehensions of pesticide residues in Coke as a patron. These Apprehensions were removed after his visit to the Company’s Plant which was depicted in the Ad. This ad explained how the quality control tests were used for testing the product. This ad reinforced the customer’s belief in the product. Building Bonds- Branding Strategies There was world beyond brand positioning and association; this was a challenge for coke to find a place in the customer’s heart (in addition to their minds) by forming a harmonious relationship with the brand. There was a trend of youth getting hooked on to the internet enabled brands due to one to one brand communication. To encash on this, Coke setup a website: my enjoyzone.com with an objective to achieve high branding. “Coke kuch Na Kaho” had said a lot to the customers. This was a promotional contest organized by myenjoyzone.com which received over 7.5 lakh entries from across the country. Contest winners spend an evening with Aishwayra Rai at Mumbai’s exotic location “The Resort”. Youth participation was enabled through various strategic partners. Kolkata’s Red FM channel was one of the very successful ones which attracted over 25000 participants. Reliance Infocomm’s three lakh customers were also a part of contest. The website also offered more features like a virtual walkthrough of Coke City and was upgraded in September 2003.
