Project Report

1.0 INTRODUCTION:

"The very fact we have started in first week of January means we are going to give lot of flavor to consumer and doing it at part of year which actually kicks off the season earlier than normal," VP Marketing, PepsiCo India, Vipul Prakash

The Rs.17000 crore market of carbonated drinks industry in India looked really bad just after the “Pesticide” controversy last year. But some cool promotions and quick reactions by cola companies have handled the crisis satisfactorily. The controversy has thought the industry few lesson or so and in the process consumer and the economy also benefited.

Colas, contributing more than 50 per cent to fizzy drink sales, saw a huge slide after the pesticide controversy, but are believed to be making a come back. Thanks to increased advertisement spends which is over 20 per cent higher than last year.

There is some good news on the non-cola segment. The lime and lemon segments with brands like sprite and 7up have registered a 30 to 40 per cent growth, although on a smaller base.

"The very fact we have started in first week of January means we are going to give lot of flavour to consumer and doing it at part of year which actually kicks off the season earlier than normal," VP Marketing, PepsiCo India, Vipul Prakash said.

Nevertheless, the battle between two cola giants, Coke & Pepsi, did not go any slow. Rather it has become fiercer. They are now fighting each other even at the local level. That too the trend is as old as start of this millennium.

“All’s fair, as usual, in a cola war, even a slugfest between two real-life brothers! Always thriving on ambush marketing activities, the two cola giants Coca-Cola India and PepsiCo have now gone to the extent of putting up two real-life brothers (who also happen to be celebrities) against each other with the strategic aim to gain rapid market share in one of the country’s largest carbonated soft drinks (CSD) market: Andhra Pradesh (AP). In the latest move,... [continues]

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