Fevicol, the adhesive brand from Pidilite Industries Limited, has unveiled its latest campaign, ‘Jugalbandi’ – a film which celebrates musical journey of two brothers with a blend of traditional charm and quirky humour. It is crafted by Ogilvy India and Prasoon Pandey of Corcoise Films.
Said Bharat Puri, Managing Director at Pidilite Industries Ltd: “Fevicol, as a trusted household name, continues to uphold its core value of building Mazboot Jod (Strong Bond). Our latest Jugalbandi film humorously portrays Fevicol as an emblem of lasting connections and enduring strength. We are proud to launch this campaign in a year that holds special significance, as we celebrate the 100th birth anniversary of Fevicol’s founder, Balvantray Kalyanji Parekh.”
Added Piyush Pandey, Chief Advisor at Ogilvy India: “Fevicol’s Jugalbandi campaign underscores Fevicol’s unbreakable bond. Using a combination of Pidilite’s unique humorous style and quirky musical journey of two brothers, we bring alive Fevicol’s commitment to forging enduring connections and resilience across generations.”
Cadbury 5 Star, the chocolate brand from Mondelez, and Ogilvy India have come together to launch a campaign titled ‘Do Nothing’.It has been directed by Prasoon Pandey of Corcoise Films.
Speaking about this, Nitin Saini, VP- Marketing, Mondelez India, said, “Cadbury 5 Star has always been synonymous with indulgence and joy. With the new TVC we wanted to recapture that feeling of pure indulgence, where even the most insistent interruption can’t break the spell of enjoying a delicious 5 Star. This campaign is a playful reminder that in a world obsessed with doing more, slowing down and savoring the simple pleasures can be the ultimate act of chilling. We’re confident that this dramatic and quirky ad will connect with chocolate enthusiasts nationwide, further enhancing the distinct identity of Cadbury 5 Star as the champion of ‘Doing Nothing.”
Added Sukesh Nayak, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy India: “5 Star is back with another crazy interpretation of ‘Do Nothing’. Over the years, the brand’s counter-culture stance has resonated strongly with the youth, with each piece adding to the campaign’s massive popularity. We hope our latest avatar continues to surprise and entertain people.”
Nykaa, the beauty and lifestyle retailer, has rolled out a new campaign of four films. They are directed by Prasoon Pandey and conceptualised by The Script Room.
Speaking about the campaign, Nykaa’s Founder and CEO Falguni Nayar said: “At the heart of Nykaa resides an idea of beauty that is uninhibited and original to everyone who wants to express themselves. Over the years we have celebrated this idea through unique stories of inspiration, empowerment and human connections. Our new campaign once again presents a differentiated perspective, inviting each one of us to appreciate the extraordinary beauty in everyday relationships- our own ‘Kya Khoob Lagte Ho’ moments. We are delighted to present this thought via four new films and hope these will resonate far beyond Nykaa’s vast universe of beauty customers.”
Added Ayyappan Raj, Founder, The Scriptroom: “There have been interesting perspectives and POVs on beauty that has been explored in advertising and it’s a challenge to find a take that is both simple and insightful. Our idea for Nykaa is founded on the belief that beauty is a very personal thing. When a person acts a particular way, at a particular moment in a particular context you find them beautiful, captured by the expression ‘Kya Khoobh Lagte Ho’.We had written a bunch of charming and insightful stories. And it was a delight when Prasoon came on board and brought them alive in a superb way that only he can. We are sure that this campaign will help brand Nykaa strengthen its position as a lovable leader in the beauty and lifestyle category.”
Edtech firm Great Learning has launched its first television campaign titled ‘Power Ahead’. The campaign has been conceptualised and directed by Abhijit Avasthi from Sideways Consulting and Prasoon Pandey from Corcoise Films.
Said Hari Krishnan Nair, Co-founder, Great Learning: “Lifelong learning is the new normal for all knowledge workers today. One cannot hope to grow in their careers without learning new skills on a regular basis. In fact, the willingness to learn and upskill is a key parameter that companies are looking for when hiring professionals today. With ‘Power Ahead’ we intend to encourage professionals to aim high, upskill regularly and keep themselves prepared for the big opportunities. Through this TVC, we are engaging in a dialogue with our customers, in a language and context that they will relate to – while communicating our core mission to make professionals proficient and future-ready.”
Added Abhijit Avasthi, Sideways Consulting: “I am really excited to lay the foundation for the Great Learning brand story. With the world changing so rapidly, in the coming years upskilling is going to be crucial for India and its workforce. Our story brings alive an absolute truth – ‘growth only comes from learning’ – in a relatable manner that most of us have encountered at some point. I believe in an inward looking, degree-obsessed category, this film is a breath of fresh air.”
Said Prasoon Pandey: “It was deeply satisfying for me to work on this film because it is a really sensitive story about a great friendship in the backdrop of Career Enhancing Programmes that could actually propel friends into very different orbits.”
India has been under a full lockdown since March 24, 2020. After three subsequent extensions, a relatively unsuccessful Unlock 1.0 & 2.0 in June and July, spikes in positive cases are forcing many Indian cities to go under full lockdowns, again.
As the economy degrows, unemployment rises and sales decreases and every subsequent FY21 GDP forecast is worse than the previous one, the future seems bleak and unlikely to bounce back soon.
Basis a GroupM report released in June 2020, India’s GDP will contract by 3.7% and subsequently overall advertising spends will decline by more than 20% this year. This follows, as advertising in current scenarios is an after-thought, with most companies focused on reviving production and distribution. The drop in advertising has led to unprecedented job losses in the ad-dependent media industry, so much so that industry body International Advertising Association (IAA) has been running a campaign, ‘Let’s Advertise’ to spur advertising, since June 2020.
The campaign seems to have made some impact – brands in the Health & Hygiene categories or those that can pivot their messaging to sound Covid-wise have started advertising. However, this is a small portion of the market, and for the economy to revive, brands which can afford to, should, play a bigger role in recovery.
As Keynesian economics espouses, spending spurs consumption during times of economic downturns. If brands (which can) spend monies, this will spur demand, and the money will help the economy as a whole. In such pandemic times, the messaging of many brands is irrelevant, a great way to remain visible is by running Public Service Announcements (PSAs) campaigns.
While a decade ago, PSAs were issued by govt bodies, with the advent of social media, brands regularly run socially relevant campaigns because they help the brand earn respect and hence brand equity while also doing social good. Due to their affirming messages, PSAs also have higher than average trend-worthiness, i.e. audiences share these ads more because it helps them feel good about themselves to do something socially relevant.
With the notable exception of Mumbai Police PSAs, most PSAs released by government bodies in India, are pedagogical spiels, which are not engaging, even when starring celebrities.
In March 2020, just as the lockdown was announced, the Maharashtra government released a pedagogical PSA on Covid-19 headlined by the biggest stars of Bollywood including Amitabh Bachchan, Ranveer Singh, Ayushmann Khurrana, Alia Bhatt, Akshay Kumar etc. A month later, Sony launched a PSA with a similar Bollywood lineup but a much better storyline. (The PSA can be viewed here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQk0VrL2I-w
Short film – ‘Family’, conceptualised and virtually directed by Prasoon Pandey for Sony Network starring celebs from across the country used storytelling creatively to communicate the importance of staying at home. It was telecast in April 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju7ku–S6F4
Hence, in Covid-stricken times, effective PSAs can help brands kill many birds with one stone – create brand equity, earn public goodwill, spur good behaviour, meet annual CSR target spends as mandated by Indian law and, most importantly, help the economy recover. Earned goodwill will also spur trials for those whose loyalties lie with competitors.
Budget-struck brands can collaborate with other brands; conduct digital-only campaigns to give the push to the economy to help its recovery.
As brands with diverse target audiences release PSAs, different strata of society will get targeted which will help in overall compliance. This is backed by research conducted by 2019 Nobel laureates in Economics, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo. In a paper released last month, they have shown that frequent celebrity messaging, in addition to the existent large-scale government messaging on Covid-19, can positively impact behaviour by nudging people to follow best practices. The research also shows that there are spillovers of good behaviour in the entire community even when a few are targeted.
In a CSR initiative, waiting to be replicated by national dailies, Kashmir ‘s Urdu newspaper Roshni, affixed a mask on the front page of the paper on July 20 to drive home the message about mask usage. Kashmir was under complete lockdown from 22-27 July, due to a rise in Covid cases.
VIRALITY TO BEHAVIOURIAL CHANGE
The challenge even for good PSAs is translating virality to behavioural change. The ease of communication brought on by social media has made armchair activists of the majority of the population. However, while these activists enable knowledge-sharing with other people they don’t bother much with acting upon the gained knowledge before moving on to the next trending topic. Which is why, despite the dangers of inobedience, many who wear a face mask, style it as a chin-guard.
Hence, brands should be careful to create PSAs which are not just a retelling of facts, but facts communicated in way to appeal to their targeted audience, whether it is through high quality storytelling, a new ‘Hook Step’ or a ‘Challenge’ which is creative enough to warrant sharing. Basis the research by Banerjee and Duflo, leveraging brand ambassadors signed on for lavish multi-year contracts will also help to drive behavioural change. So brands, any takers?
Bhuvi Gupta is a marketer with over 10 years across industries, of which the last six have been in Media & Entertainment. She has been a part of many launch marketing campaigns – specifically at the Times of India group, Republic TV and the latest in marketing a Bollywood film. She will write on A&M (mostly marketing, but often on advertising too). Her views here are personal. She tweets at @bhuvigupta3
CenturyPly has launched a campaign across all leading television channels, theatres and relevant digital platforms to ensure trust in consumers.
The video highlights the brand ethics and highly durable products when the furbished room remains undamaged even after those unintentional tortures on the furniture. The film has been directed by renowned director Prasoon Pandey.
Regarding the campaign, Keshav Bhajanka, Executive Director, CenturyPly said: “CenturyPly, always being a brand of consumer’s trust, has come up with this new TVC which depicts our core message, ‘Sab Sahe Mast Rahe’. Showcasing the chaotic and distressed scenario of everyday household, the narrative of our new brand film reaffirms CenturyPly’s credentials as a leader in the industry, which seamlessly integrates trust and sustainability into customers’ lives. In a world full of uncertainty, CenturyPly will always continue to assure their customers with the best interior service, delivering the intrinsic value of strength, durability and wide ranges of aesthetic designs. We aim to elevate the trust in our consumers , as Centuryply products keeps its promise with water proof, scratch proof, fire resistant, bacteria proof products –assuring a completely worry free experience for customers.”
Asian Paints has launched a campaign to establish Ultima Protek as the gold standard in protection for the exteriors of every home. Conceptualised by Ogilvy India, the ad is directed by Prasoon Pandey. The film portrays Ranbir Kapoor as an aspiring politician.
Speaking about the new ad, Amit Syngle, COO, Asian Paints Limited said: “The consumer of today is showing more involvement in the painting process and is clearly looking for products offering unique solutions. Asian Paints Ultima has been at the forefront of technology led innovation. Ultima Protek, with its Lamination Guard and 10-year performance warranty, is the Gold standard of exterior paints today. Consumer research on exterior painting threw up a powerful mnemonic – ‘Lamination’, a term that they interpreted to imply strong protection from multiple elements – water, dust and time itself. In this new film with Ranbir Kapoor, this ‘lamination led protection’ is juxtaposed with a topic that evokes a passionate interest among Indian consumers – politics.â€
Added Sukesh Nayak, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy Mumbai: “The film is a humorous take based on the life of a politician, whose life is full of ups and downs. And how the protection given to his house by Asian Paints Ultima Protek, gives the politician the confidence to just keep going on. No matter what.â€
Winning teams of the Star Re.Imagine Awards that created the two award winning campaigns – Fevikwik’s ‘Khushiyon ke chand pal’ and Swiggy’s ‘No order too small’, conceptualised by Ogilvy & Mather and Lowe Lintas respectively witnessed an action-packed sporting spectacle between Manchester United and Tottenham along with a stadium tour of the team.
The guest teams of Pidilite & Swiggy, included the two lions of St Mark- Piyush Pandey and brother Prasoon Pandey; Vivek Sharma – CMO, Pidilite; Srivats Thirumala – VP Marketing, Swiggy; Sonal Dabral, Vice Chairman & Group  Creative Officer, O&M; Hari Krishnan, President – South India- Lowe Lintas, Vanita Keswani – CEO, Madison, Ankit Rastogi – MD, Havas Media; Binu Thomas, Havas Media India Pvt Ltdamongst others.The contest was run for all advertisers that ran on the Star Network during VivoIPL 2018
It’s been an unforgettable year for India at Cannes Lions 2018 this year. Veteran adperson, chief of Ogilvy India, and the country’s best known creative advertising executive Piyush Pandey and his brother Prasoon were recognised with the Lion of St Mark, the highest honour at the Cannes Lions. With this, the Pandeys enter the ad world’s most hallowed Hall of Fame.
They deserve every bit. And when the award was presented, every Indian present at Cannes – even the professional rivals – had tears of joy. And could walk around the French Riviera with T-shirts saying ‘Mera Bharat Mahaan’. We don’t think anyone did, but you get the picture.
There wera also other reasons why this is a special year for India at Cannes Lions. Even though our tally was down to 21 from 40 last year, some of the awards and the awardwinners brought much joy in the Indian contingent and back home.
India sent a total of 979 entries, up from 953 if you factor in the merged/dropped categroesi and the absence of the Publicis group of agencies.
India
2014
2015
2016
2017
2017 Restated
2018
Entries
979
1035
1315
1227
953
979
But there was joy for the Grand Prix for Creative Effectiveness for Savlon that Ogilvy bagged. And the earlier Healthcare for Good Grand Prix that TBWA\India was awarded.
There were Lions for categories like Creative E-commerce, Creative Effectiveness, Product Design and Innovation.
This edition of Cannes Lions is also important for FCB India which bagged four metals, two of which were Golds, both for a Times of India campaign. While metals at Cannes Lions are not new for The Times of India brand team, for FCB India (eka FCB Ulka), it marks an assertion of it being a creative powerhouse
Adperson, musician, bicyclist and someone who doesn’t hesitate to speak his mind…. every Thursday on MxMIndia.
By Prabhakar Mundkur
Prabhakar Mundkur
The year-end was full of the cacophony of writers making predictions for 2018, or mundane reviews of 2017, in spite of the fact that a calendar year has no particular statistical significance for trend spotting. Change is always continuous and never separated by any discrete intervals, especially an interval that lasts exactly twelve months. In some ways, 2017 may have just stolen the thunder from 2018, with the strides in artificial intelligence in the form of Sophia the Robot, or personal assistants like Alexa making a major impact in our lives towards the end of the year.
But one bright spot for December was the Lion of St Mark awarded to the much-deserved Pandey brothers. They have truly raised the bar of creativity to a global standard, besides putting India firmly on the advertising creativity map.  Showering undue adulation on our stars is an Indian trait and we do it constantly with all our stars, whether they are from cinema, sports or any other field. We may just have added ‘advertising’ to the adulation list.
With this award, Piyush and Prasoon Pandey join an illustrious band of creative people around the world that has included David Droga, Marcello Serpa, Bob Greenburg, Joe Pytka, Lee Clow, Dan Wieden and Sir John Hegarty. Not everyone might be aware of the work created by these distinguished gentlemen, or even knowwhere they work.The Lion of St Mark is one of those awards that lets the winner soak in humility and pride so deserving of a life time award, which by definition implies that it can only be won once.
St Mark incidentally is the evangelist pictured in the form of a winged Lion holding a Bible and is symbol of the city of Venice where the first Cannes was held in 1954. But the significance of all this may be lost to many, or otherwisedismissed as unimportant.  At least one of our advertising weeklies, which covered the event exclusively, could well have educated their readers on the significance of the award.
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For the marketing intellectual, the introduction of Thums Up Charged might hold room for an interesting debate. Variants according to textbook marketers can endow the mother brand with rewards ranging from increased market share to a longer life. But how does that augur for a category like colas, which is increasingly being seen as unhealthy? And Thums up Charged might well be dubbed an even unhealthier variant given the extra levels of caffeine and the heightened aeration. So how will an unhealthier variant of an already unhealthy brand perform? Of course, to its credit, Thums Up remains the market leader in a market which has the world’s leading colas. Another point to debate might well be how will the two variants will be differentiated in the advertising. Will it be differentiated enough for the consumer to know which variant is being advertised or will the consumer just see it as another Thums Up ad? This often is the acid test for variant advertising.
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If the rumour mill is to be believed at least one leading ad agency of earlier years shut down its Delhi office on Dec 31. What a way to close 2017. I believe the agency is managing its Mumbai office on skeleton staff. Another well-known agency that at the turn of the millennium was threatening to hold the creative high ground is being absorbed by another agency in the same communications group. As an ad guy, I find this kind of news depressing. Partly because I always questioned the soothsayers and never wanted to believe in the death of advertising that has been a hot topic of discussion for some time now.
For those of us who were celebrating the close of the old year, I am sure this is a week for sobering up and reflecting on what the new year holds for all of us. Â The first week of a new year always feels like the end of one journey and the beginning of another.
Having spent nearly four decades in the advertising business with companies like JWT, Havas and Y & R in India, Africa, and Asia, veteran adperson Prabhakar Mundkur is Chief Mentor at HGS Interactive, a part of Hinduja Global Solutions. He was LinkedIn’s Top Voice in India in 2016 and is a prolific writer. He recently set up PrabhakarMundkur.com as homebase for his writings. Ad Buzz will appear weekly on MxMIndia.com. The views here are his own.
It’s an award that’s perhaps as big as the Nobel Prize. It’s like the Honorary Oscar presented to the great Satyajit Ray fifteen years back. You’ve read it elsewhere already, but in case you haven’t: the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has announced that brothers Piyush and Prasoon Pandey will be honoured with the Lion of St. Mark award at the 2018 Festival.
So are we making a big deal about it? After all, Brand Equity – the publication which everyone in the A&M ecosystem aspires to be in – relegated to the bottomspread despite being given an exclusive.
Well, we aren’t here to question editorial discretion, but suffice to say that the names of Lion of St Mark winners in the recent past will tell you how important the honour is:
2017: David Droga, founder and Creative Chairman, Droga5 2016: Marcello Serpa, former Partner, AlmapBBDO 2015: Bob Greenberg, Founder, Chairman and CEO, R/GA 2014: Joe Pytka, Director, PYTKA 2013: Lee Clow, Chairman, TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Director of Media Arts, TBWA\Worldwide 2012: Dan Wieden, Co-Founder and Global Executive Creative Director, Wieden+Kennedy 2011: Sir John Hegarty, Worldwide Creative Director, Founder, BBH
This is the first time anyone from Asia – yes, no one from China till date – has been accorded this honour. The Pandey brothers of course do not need this recognition to be placed up there in Indian advertising’s Hall of Fame.
Said Jose Papa, Managing Director of Cannes Lions in a statement: “The Lion of St. Mark recognises those who have made a significant and outstanding contribution to creativity in our industry. Piyush and Prasoon have undoubtedly made the world pay attention to creativity in India. While they are famous, and rightly so, in their homeland, I’m thrilled that we have this opportunity to celebrate their contributions to our industry on the Cannes Lions stage. The fact we get to honour the achievements of two brothers makes this year’s Lion of St. Mark award particularly special.
Piyush Pandey paid tribute to India, his clients and colleagues, commenting: “This is a huge, huge honour. I am humbled and immensely grateful to the people of India. It is the richness and diversity of this nation that gave my brother and me the opportunity to learn and to create good work. I am also indebted to my clients, my colleagues and Ogilvy who gave me the support and the freedom to fly. Thank you Cannes Lions for giving every creative professional in my country a reason to believe that if Prasoon and Piyush can do it, so can they.”
Added Prasoon Pandey: “The Lion of St Mark is an absolutely incredible and stunning honour for two 10-15 year-old kids from Jaipur who were just having a blast playing Emperors and Thugs, Dragons and Demons, dreaming stories and playing them out with some far more imaginative and talented friends. We were so engrossed in that play that we forgot that we were well into our 50s and 60s! This is such a huge and humbling honour for us; I just hope it doesn’t make the kids inside us conscious.”
Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman and Creative Director Ogilvy South Asia won his first Cannes Lions awards with two Gold Lions for his work on an anti-smoking campaign in 2002, marking the start of a period of global recognition for a man who was already a creative legend in his native India. Piyush’s work is considered instrumental in the popularity of advertising campaigns produced in Hindi during the 1980s and 90s, heralding a shift to more universally accessible creativity in India.
Prasoon Pandey, younger brother of Piyush is a highly respected director whose name has repeatedly featured in global rankings of top film directors. Prasoon is credited for directing the first Indian campaign to win a Lion, for Ericsson’s ‘One Black Coffee’ in 1996 and is one of the most awarded directors in India.
Piyush Pandey joined Ogilvy & Mather in 1982, and made his name on work for Fevicol, Luna Moped, Cadbury and Asian Paints. In 1994, he was made National Creative Director for Ogilvy & Mather India. Piyush was the first Jury President from Asia at the 2004 Cannes Lions Festival. The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2016.
Prasoon Pandey started his career at Lintas Delhi, eventually becoming the creative director for Lowe India. He set up his own production company, Corcoise Films, in 2002.
Piyush and Prasoon Pandey will be presented with the Lion of St. Mark at the closing awards ceremony of the 2018 Festival. The brothers will also take part in an interview hosted by Philip Thomas, CEO, Ascential Events in the Lumiere Theatre as part of the 2018 content programme.
Not our words in the headline; that’s what Prasoon Pandey of production house Corcoise had to say in a session titled ‘The Rise of Creativity in India’ at the Cannes Lions. At the session he shared the stage with his brother Piyush Pandey, chairman and chief creative officer at Ogilvy India. Pandey senior, however, quickly interjected to add, “But winning is the icing on the cake.â€
Be that as it may, Indian agencies appear to be in the running for neither icing nor cake this year. In the categories announced so far, there’s nary a Grand Prix in sight. McCann Erickson bagged India’s first silver Lion in Direct for ‘Share My Dabba’ for Happy Life Welfare and Dabbawala foundation. Lifebuoy’s ‘Help a Child Reach Five’, created by Lowe Lintas India, crashed out at the shortlist stage in spite of a slick AV and a rousing endorsement by the Pandey brothers. The campaign is one among the non-Ogilvy films showcased by them during the session.
Its exit has added fuel to the perennially raging fire about how some of India’s best and most celebrated work is too local to appeal to an international jury. Of India’s 976 entries just a handful have made it to the shortlists so far, dimming hopes for a glorious run on the awards front. Josy Paul, chairman and chief creative officer at BBDO admits, “It’s going to be a tough year.â€
However, there are signs that Cannes may just become another front in a cross-border conflict.
This year, ‘Not A Bug Splat’ for Reprieve/Foundation for Fundamental Rights has popped up on multiple shortlists. The entry is being considered in Direct, Outdoor as well as Promo & Activation categories. Now why are we obsessing over one campaign in a sea of socially-conscious advertising?
Well, for starters, this piece of work may be Pakistan’s shot at winning its first-ever Lion. Created by BBDO Pakistan, it aims to create awareness about predator drones and the insensitivity of warfare that leaves countless faceless, nameless victims in its path. In fact, in military parlance victims or ‘kills’ of predator drones are sometimes referred to as ‘bug splats’. A group of artists put up a massive portrait of a young girl, clearly visible from air, in the fields of a heavily bombed region of Pakistan.
Google’s ‘Reunion’ from Ogilvy India, a touching story of two friends separated during the partition and Leo Burnett Chicago and Sydney’s ‘Coke – Small World Machines’ have attempted to bring Indians and Pakistanis closer to each other.
In doing so, they’ve caught the fancy of the advertising industry, consumers and media the world over. And they’ve won plenty awards too. But across the Indian border, Pakistan’s ad men and women are apparently scripting their own narrative at Cannes.
India has been under a full lockdown since March 24, 2020. After three subsequent extensions, a relatively unsuccessful Unlock 1.0 & 2.0 in June and July, spikes in positive cases are forcing many Indian cities to go under full lockdowns, again.
With this award, Piyush and Prasoon Pandey join an illustrious band of creative people around the world that has included David Droga, Marcello Serpa, Bob Greenburg, Joe Pytka, Lee Clow, Dan Wieden and Sir John Hegarty. Not everyone might be aware of the work created by these distinguished gentlemen, or even knowwhere they work.The Lion of St Mark is one of those awards that lets the winner soak in humility and pride so deserving of a life time award, which by definition implies that it can only be won once.
For the marketing intellectual, the introduction of Thums Up Charged might hold room for an interesting debate. Variants according to textbook marketers can endow the mother brand with rewards ranging from increased market share to a longer life. But how does that augur for a category like colas, which is increasingly being seen as unhealthy? And Thums up Charged might well be dubbed an even unhealthier variant given the extra levels of caffeine and the heightened aeration. So how will an unhealthier variant of an already unhealthy brand perform? Of course, to its credit, Thums Up remains the market leader in a market which has the world’s leading colas. Another point to debate might well be how will the two variants will be differentiated in the advertising. Will it be differentiated enough for the consumer to know which variant is being advertised or will the consumer just see it as another Thums Up ad? This often is the acid test for variant advertising.