Pepsi launches new campaign with brand ambassador Ranveer Singh in celebration of 125 years in India.
Speaking on the ‘Yeh Dil Maange More’ campaign, Shailja Joshi, Category Lead, Pepsi Cola, PepsiCo India, said: “Yeh Dil Maange More is more than a campaign; it’s a cultural phenomenon etched in the hearts of Pepsi lovers. As we embark on this journey, Pepsi invites everyone to savour the taste of this timeless sentiment and embrace the exciting evolution that lies ahead. Ranveer Singh is the perfect ambassador to lead the charge, this iconic campaign celebrating our enduring connection with India and paying homage to the timeless pursuit of ‘more’. Through ‘Yeh Dil Maange More’, we aim to honour the youth of India who relentlessly strive for greater aspirations, encouraging them to heed their heart’s desires and aspirations, despite the limiting voices in their heads. It’s not just about celebrating our past but creating a vibrant future for the brand. Our new global branding is a symbolic fusion of our rich legacy and a dynamic future, resonating with consumers across the globe. We are excited to share this with our consumers across generations.”
Pepsi took over the Gateway of India in Mumbai to unveil its new look as it rolled out its first visual identity change in 14 years. The carbonated soft drink took over the monument with a digital artwork that showcased the reveal of new Pepsi visual identity in an inflatable installation.
Sharing her excitement, Shailja Joshi, Category Lead, Pepsi Cola, PepsiCo India, said: “We are thrilled to reveal Pepsi’s refreshed visual identity and new logo, embodying unapologetic modernity and the iconic status of Pepsi. The fresh design language reflects the invigorating spirit of Indian youth and their boundless pursuit of possibilities. The unveiling of Pepsi’s updated visual identity at the iconic Gateway of India, through a unique installation, signifies our celebration of an exciting new chapter. We’re delighted to bring the new logo to India and are positive that Pepsi enthusiasts nationwide will embrace and connect with the bold new era of the brand in 2024.”
Pepsi launched its new film with actor Salman Khan.
Speaking on the film, Saumya Rathor, Category Lead, Pepsi Cola, PepsiCo India, said: “Pepsi’s new campaign brings alive the philosophy of swag and refreshment with more fizz. This campaign is pivoted on driving trials while maintaining the brand’s quintessential irreverent challenger spirit. Working with Salman has been an absolute delight and we are sure all Pepsi lovers will enjoy his new swag avatar in the film.”
PepsiCo India has announced the appointment of Garima Singh as Head of Government Affairs and Communications. Singh, takes over from Viraj Chouhan who is elevated to the role of Vice President, Global Market Communications.
Prior to the new appointment, Singh was Head of Corporate Affairs at HeroMotoCorp and as part of her 20+ years of experience, she has led public affairs mandate for companies like Mondelez, Apple, Mahindra & Mahindra amongst others. In her new role at PepsiCo India, she will be a key business partner managing long-term policy risks and opportunities to shape public policy decisions for sustainable, responsible business growth of the company.
Chouhan meanwhile will take up a global role with him being a focal point for all global market communications teams outside the US, covering both internal and external communications. He will serve as the head of the Markets Center of Excellence, providing support and guidance to teams and drive positive outcomes around key themes including pep+, Diversity, Engagement & Inclusion, Digital Transformation and Community.
How hardwired we have become to sensation. It’s not a rhetorical question but an emphatic statement. This IPL, everyone is talking about CSK and Mumbai Indians. Not because they are doing well but because both these teams, who, between them have won 9 out of 15 trophies, have lost their first four matches. We are not celebrating that a new team Gujarat Titans hasn’t lost a match yet. We are not celebrating that a forgotten hero, Kuldeep Yadav, has risen again to become the leading wicket-taker. We are glossing over the spunk shown by newcomers Anuj Rawat or Abhishek Sharma against the same two teams. It’s business as “unusual”, I say.
And then one comes across the Tata Neu ads. After a nice round of teasers which raised expectations of a great product, I am confused about this Tata Neu Pass. It’s all in the family. What’s Neu Pass? What’s all in the family? Whose family? Tata family? The only thing that made sense to me was the advice to download the app. Which I did. Now mind you, I am a Big Basket consumer. So, I think the app was smart enough to recognise me and my location after I keyed in my mobile number. But then it sent me another message. That it is not yet available at my location. Well, who wants to argue with a Super App. I, therefore immediately clicked on the Big Basket app, worried, that I may have been ejected from the BB platform. Thankfully, I could order my groceries on BB as usual. I then tried some apparel and when I clicked on a product, I immediately got an email from Tata Cliq saying that it has created an account for me. Err! Why? Can’t I just shop from the app and check out? I did not bother to find out and with the temperature rising outside, I did not want my temperature to rise too.
Temperature of course reminded me about the new Pepsi ad. More Fizz, More refreshing. Formula change? Something new? And then I thought I saw an asterisk at the end of the baseline. I promptly checked the ad on YouTube again and discovered that both Fizz and Refreshing had asterisk and the explanation was that some research done by an independent body in Jaipur and Lucknow determined that Pepsi had more fizz and another research conducted in Mumbai, Jaipur and Lucknow determined that Pepsi was more refreshing. So, I have lived to see the day when taglines have to be validated by research. And we wonder why the advertising model is crumbling.
Having ditched the thought of having Pepsi and given that fresh mangoes are available in market, I decided to try Slice. The image of Aamsutra with Katrina was still in my mind. But I did a double-take when I saw the new Slice ad with Katrina. It was a taste challenge. And it again quoted some research which said that 73% people voted Slice to be the most thick. Ahem! Is PepsiCo the parent company of Pepsi and Slice using the US Pepsi taste challenge of the 70s as a blueprint for its brands in India? For the uninitiated, Pepsi did some live taste challenges in the US, asking people to rate two unmarked Colas on whose taste is better. Majority favoured Pepsi, though lot of statisticians debunked the research as a sweeter drink will always win on one sip taste challenge. But that’s another story. Will PepsiCo India now launch 7Up too based on some taste research?
Did you notice that there are three Swiggy brands advertising on IPL? Swiggy Instamart, which claims quick grocery delivery, Swiggy match day mania which is about large orders at a discount and then just Swiggy. All the three brands have done a good job in communicating their benefits. Swiggy has a simple though of “Aap kiske saath dekhoge” which is very IPL-centric and have carried that thought into both Instamart as well as match day mania very well. My favourite of course is the Instamart ad of the young kid bawling about her empty cereal box as the father is watching the IPL. Quick delivery saves the day for him and therefore when he is asked at the office “kal match kiske saath dekha” he answers with a satisfied look “Shanti ke saath”. Smart.
I started off about the unusual performances in the IPL. But then I discovered that a most unusual thing has also occurred on the IPL ad scene. If my memory serves me right, it’s the first time since the launch of Jio that no Jio ads have been aired on IPL. Yet. No plethora of stars, no tacky execution, no Bollywood-style jhatkas. Sometimes we should thank our respective Gods for small mercies. Amen to that.
Pepsi has unveiled its latest campaign featuring brand ambassador Salman Khan.
Speaking on the launch, Saumya Rathor, Category Lead, Cola, PepsiCo India, said: “As a culture-curator, Pepsi has constantly endeavoured to bring entertaining campaigns for its consumers through innovative storytelling. With Bollywood being a key consumer passion point in India, this new campaign takes the SWAG narrative several notches higher by featuring not one but two Salman Khans. For the first time in Indian advertising, we have leveraged hi-tech deep fake technology to recreate one of the most iconic characters of Indian cinema. We are confident that this campaign will resonate strongly with our consumers, given the entertainment quotient in this film.”
Sharing his views on the campaign, Ayappa KM, Director of the film added: “For the first time in Indian advertising, Pepsi has used hi-tech DeepFake technology to resurrect Salman from the 1990s. While it’s a throwback to the past, the tech is a peek into the possibilities of the future. We have no doubts it’ll create quite a stir.”
To all those who thought that dimple-cheeked Shah Rukh Khan Thums Up can never really be looked as an action hero, Thums Up (and agency Ogilvy) have got the actor perform stunts on the top of a train. And more.
Commenting on the new campaign Sumeli Chatterjee, Head – Integrated Marketing Experiences (IMX), Coca-Cola India & Southwest Asia said: “Thums Up is a 45-year young brand that has always inspired millions to stay committed to their dreams. When we launched #PalatDe last year, the upside-down bottle of Thums Up became symbolic of the #PalatDe spirit – turning down every naysayer who cast a doubt on your ability. Building on this platform, we are thrilled to team up with Mr. Shah Rukh Khan to tell the story of the #ThumsUpStrong spirit. The strong unique taste of the brand is naturally weaved into strength as an emotion, that urges the drinkers to stay strong and believe in their dreams.”
Btw, Salman Khan endorses Pepsi. The Khans aren’t foes, but the colas don’t have any love for each other.
Coke and Pepsi have been at it for half a century, trying to outsmart each other both for marketing share and advertising that makes the brand relevant to the youth. Real Magic, the new commercial by Coke, I think has taken a giant leap and does manage to outsmart Pepsi.
Firstly, it is rooted in Gen Z passions by basing the idea on gaming. The gaming market is expected to reach USD 398,950 million by 2026 growing at an annual rate of 11%. Secondly, the Coke commercial is based on a philosophy that makes more sense than ever before.
Says Manolo Arroyo, marketing lead at Coca-Cola: “The ‘Real Magic’ philosophy is rooted in the belief that dichotomies can make the world a more interesting place-a world of extraordinary people, unexpected opportunities and wonderful moments.” The philosophy itself is not new – the hippie revolution believed in this more than anyone else right since the 60s. The world is growing more apart as we celebrate our differences rather than our similarities. The real idea behind the wave of globalisation was to embrace our dichotomies.
” ‘Real Magic’ is not simply a tagline or a one-off campaign,” says Arroyo. “It is a long-term brand philosophy and belief that will drive and guide marketing and communications across the Coca-Cola trademark.” Maybe it was about time for Coke to try something new given its sluggish sales in the recent past. Real Magic then succeeds ‘ Taste the feeling’ which was first introduced in 2016. BETC London, along with director Daniel Wolfe made the film.
The campaign also uses the Coca-Cola logo to wrap around the campaign images. I thought this was a pretty unique treatment of the logo given that the curvature of the Coke bottle or can always makes the logo seen this way.
Also the tagline ‘We are one Coke away from each other’ is reminiscent of the six degrees of separation theory first propounded in 1929 which said that we are on an average six or fewer social connections away from each other. With the expansion of the internet and social media to cover people around the world has often meant that we might very often be just one connection away from each other. Or one coke away from each other. Clever!
The commercial shows a World of Warcraft type of battle in progress until one of the contestants opens a can of Coke. After the contestants first sip, Orc in the game is overcome with feeling and throws away his battle axe, picks up his opponent and there is suddenly peace in the gaming universe. A metaphor for World Peace?
There is a lesson to be learnt here for the world. After all we if we all threw out our weapons nuclear or otherwise, one of the principles of nuclear disarmament, we might be all less threatening to each other.
Having grown up as a teenager in the 60s, all these little nuggets of philosophy make great sense to me, although it is supposed to appeal to Gen Z. And if Gen Z does think like this maybe we can hope for World Peace as eulogised by John Lennon in his immortal song Imagine!
Never has marketing communication been under the scrutiny of so many, ever before in its history.
First, there are the regulatory bodies who look over your shoulder. While working in China in the late 1990s, and when censorship was much stricter perhaps than it is today, I remember having a tough time. In a commercial of mine, a student acts cheeky with his teacher. It was intended to be tongue-in-cheek, but the humour of the situation was lost on the powers that be. We were told that it went against the norms of the teacher-student relationship which went back to none other than Confucius who had articulated with great lucidity on the subject. I even remember, Close-up toothpaste, which was then running the ‘Kisses’ campaign in the US my version of the campaign for China, had two toothpaste tubes of Close-up coming together to suggest they were kissing. At the time, it was a big hit in countries like Indonesia, which again had strict censorship rules in place.
Coming back to the present moment, with the addition of the Department of Consumer Affairs being added in the last few years, means there are two watchdogs, a government watchdog and the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) which is the self-regulatory industry watchdog. One is not quite sure what the government watchdog has been up to since they don’t publish their achievements, but the ASCI publishes every quarter the cases disposed of by them which run into a few thousand. In addition to the regular cases which come under the Advertising Code, we now have a third entity that is policing advertising and that is the consumer.
The Culture Police
The Tanishq ad that got shot down by social media last year would have had no objections from either the ASCI or the Department of Consumer Affairs. But the social media police is quite another story. These are typically the cultural watchdogs if one may call them that. They scan the environment for cultural misdoings like the Tanishq ad which was innocently launched during Diwali last year to promote its Ekvatam collection. The YouTube description for the ad said: “She is married into a family that loves her like their own child. Only for her, they go out of their way to celebrate an occasion that they usually don’t. A beautiful confluence of two different religions, traditions, cultures.”
It was story of a Muslim family, with a Hindu daughter-in-law which was helping her to celebrate her own festivals. But the social media immediately jumped on to a conspiracy theory called ‘love-jihad’ which which accuses Muslims of converting Hindu girls to increase their own population.
A lot of people were shocked with the objections but nothing doing, Tanishq was forced to take the ad off the air to appease the social media groups especially when the danger manifested itself in crowds wanting to damage their Tanishq showrooms.
This is not just an Indian phenomenon but the culture police also exist in other countries. This is very familiar to the Ganesha ad that got shot down in Australia. Meat and Livestock Australia put our favourite Lord Ganesha in an ad which showed meat-eating.
This enraged the local Hindu groups who of course besides staging protests to Ad Standards, in Australia
The ad showed Lord Ganesha sitting and enjoying the meat with Jesus Christ, Moses, Aphrodite, lord Buddha, Zeus, Obi Wan Kenobi from Star Wars franchise along with Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. Ad Standards Australia upheld the complaint from local Hindu organisations and the ad went off air.
The latest ad questioned by the Culture Police is Manyavar Mohey ad (Mohey is the brand for women) featuring Alia Bhatt which was received with mixed feelings. While the ad was trying to break away from the age-old practice associated with marriage, where the daughter like a commodity, ( kanyadaan), the ad proposed greater respect for women (kanyamaan ). Unfortunately, when celebrities like Kangana Ranaut join the culture police, the attack on ads become stronger. She is known to have said: “Don’t use religion to sell products.”
Again, not very different from the Pepsi ad which showed supermodel Kendall Jenner leading a Black Lives Matter movement with a fizzy can of Pepsi.
It provoked Martin Luther King’s daughter to make a blistering remark on Twitter, that read: “If only Daddy would have known about the power of #Pepsi.” Bernice King’s tweet was accompanied alongside a photo of her father being pushed back by police.
Another ad that was forced to bite the dust.
The Human Rights Police
Here the human rights police objected to the extreme conditions that Zomato delivery men are put through when they don’t even get a moment to themselves between orders. In the commercial, Hrithik Roshan goes in to get his mobile to get a selfie with the Zomato delivery man. But the delivery man is so busy that he forgoes the opportunity of a pic with Hrithik because he is getting late for his next order. Zomato was quick to appease the trollers with their tweet which read, “We have been listening intently to the chatter about gig workers and the problems associated with this part of the economy. We understand you expect more and better from us”.
Advertising uses Figures of Speech
A few advertising regulators coupled with public groups on social media who keep a watch, means that advertising will have to be more careful than before. Diversity and inclusion is no longer an option, it is an imperative. In 2021, it will need to become a habit for most advertisers.
For the last 100 years or so, advertising has used figures of speech to communicate. So parody (humour), hyperbole (exaggeration ) to make a point, and metaphor (where a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable ) are some of the main figures of speech that advertising uses to make an impact. Advertising can continue to use them but now will have to keep away from sensitive subjects.
A long time ago, Jerry Della Femina said: “I honestly believe that advertising is the most fun you can have with your clothes on”.
I am not so sure it is any longer for more than one reason. The times they are a changing!
Prabhakar Mundkur is a former advertising agency captain and has spent over four decades in marketing services across geographies. He is a prolific writer and was a few years back rated as among the top voices by LinkedIn. Other than advertising and writing, Prabs, as he is known to friends, is a very active musician and a self-taught producer of music. In the pandemic, he has performed and produced nearly 50 songs, including one with the very accomplished Usha Uthup. Mundkur’s views here are personal.
Beverage brand Pepsi recently saluted the indomitable Swag of Young India through a tribute on social media. The brand released a video which highlighted how India’s youth came forward to help complete strangers during these unprecedented times.
Notes a communique: “With a tagline #GivingToughTimeAToughTime, the post has brought to life various instances of how today’s generation is, whether it was by sharing leads on social media or by amplifying requirements via messaging groups, not just for friends or family but for complete strangers for days at end. The frontline heroes now have an entire army of online warriors, all coming together to help during such unprecedented times.”
Beverage major Pepsi has unveiled a new campaign featuring brand ambassadors Tiger Shroff and Disha Patani that celebrates friendship with swag.. Through this campaign, the brand has launched a new limited-edition friendship pack of 600 ml available at Rs 30.
Said Tarun Bhagat, Director – Marketing, Hydration and Cola, PepsiCo India: “Pepsi understands the pulse of the young generation and believes in creating campaigns that are most relatable to the youth. The new ad featuring Disha and Tiger reflects the confidence and irreverence that friends share between themselves. With the intent to celebrate the emotion of friendship, Pepsi has also launched a special pack that friends can enjoy together.”
Beverage brand Pepsi pays a tribute to friends across the nation by launching a special piece of content in collaboration with popular singer Knox Artiste ahead of Friendship Day. The song is built on an insight wherein the brand conducted a poll and found that in current times, 87% consumers are missing their friends immensely while at home.
Talking about the campaign, Tarun Bhagat, Director-Marketing, Hydration and Cola, PepsiCo India, said: “Through this special content, Pepsi®️ aims at encouraging consumers to celebrate one of the most beautiful emotion of friendship virtually with swag. We are confident that Knox Artiste’s riveting music will have people across the nation want to connect this Friendship Day and set up a virtual party with friends that they’ve missed spending time with for so long.”
Now if Pepsi is a true friend of you and me, would it be encouraging the consumption of an aerated cola?
How hardwired we have become to sensation. It’s not a rhetorical question but an emphatic statement. This IPL, everyone is talking about CSK and Mumbai Indians. Not because they are doing well but because both these teams, who, between them have won 9 out of 15 trophies, have lost their first four matches. We are not celebrating that a new team Gujarat Titans hasn’t lost a match yet. We are not celebrating that a forgotten hero, Kuldeep Yadav, has risen again to become the leading wicket-taker. We are glossing over the spunk shown by newcomers Anuj Rawat or Abhishek Sharma against the same two teams. It’s business as “unusual”, I say.
Pepsi has unveiled its latest campaign featuring brand ambassador Salman Khan.
Coke and Pepsi have been at it for half a century, trying to outsmart each other both for marketing share and advertising that makes the brand relevant to the youth. Real Magic, the new commercial by Coke, I think has taken a giant leap and does manage to outsmart Pepsi.
Beverage brand Pepsi recently saluted the indomitable Swag of Young India through a tribute on social media. The brand released a video which highlighted how India’s youth came forward to help complete strangers during these unprecedented times.