Coca-Cola celebrating 20 years, here's what Imran and Kareena had to say!

Off all the television commercials done over the last 20 years, there are very few that posses superlative brand recall even today. ‘Thanda matlab Coca-Cola’ was one such campaign that was received with thunderous response back in 2003. The cola maker Coca-Cola India, was 10 years in the market by then, and was offering shoulder-to-shoulder competition to other sparkling packaged beverage makers.

The year 2013 marks the completion of 20 years of Coca-Cola’s India operations and we at Adgully, today have a quick look at the life and times of the beverage maker.

A quick flashback to October 1993, when The Coca-Cola Company re-entered India through its wholly owned subsidiary, Coca-Cola India Private Limited and re-launched Coca-Cola after the opening up of the Indian economy to foreign investments in 1991. On its entry to Indian markets, several Parle soda brands including Citra, Thums Up, Limca, Gold Spot and Maaza were sold to Coca-Cola for millions. At the time of sale, the Parle brands together had a 60% market share in the industry as the brand was strong in South India. In 1999 and 2000, the company introduced Diet Coke and Schweppes while Citra was phased out by 2000 to make way for Coke's international brand, Sprite. This period also marked the signing-up phase of popular faces like Aamir Khan and Aishwarya Rai and the then new-comer Hrithik Roshan for Coca-Cola; and on the other side Salman Khan became the brawn for Thums Up and Rani Mukherjee was announced as the face of orange drink Fanta.

The first couple of years of the millennium began with only good news for the cola giant as Thumps Up emerged as a top scorer in soft drinks. Also, as mentioned earlier, the ‘Thanda matlab Coca-Cola’ campaign made way into the minds and hearts of consumers very smoothly. Come 2007, and we see another new product Minute Maid Pulpy Orange entering the brands portfolio. By this time, the company was actively involved in other corporate activities like ‘Little Drops of Joy’ and this was conveyed through the TVC of Limca. The following year saw some more creatively done-up campaigns for a new tagline for Sprite from ‘Bujhaye Only Pyaas, Baki All Bakwaas’ to ‘Seedhi Baat No Bakwaas, Clear Hai’ making it a hit among the youth. In 2009, PepsiCo launched Nimbooz and in answer to its direct competition, Coca-Cola launched Minute Made Nimbu Fresh in 2010. That year also saw the brand getting a new and young face - Imran Khan to match up and cater to its continually growing younger consumers.

The last couple of years have been quite eventful for the company with the entry of Coke Studio in India in 2011. The novel concept provided a much needed platform to independent Indian musicians and artists to showcase their talent to the masses. The show was very well received by music lovers, especially the young crowd who are always looking for something new in every sphere of life. The following year was seen as a subtle landmark for the beverage company’s mango drink Mazza as it introduced its first ever brand ambassadors in the form of Imran Khan and Parineeti Chopra. The year also saw Limca getting a new face of Kareena Kapoor with a fresh new tagline of ‘Pyaas Badhao’.  The company now looks at investing about US$5 billion in its India operation till 2020.

Pheww..What a journey has it been!! On turning 20, Coca-Cola India’s popular faces Imran Khan and Kareena Kapoor share their insight of associating the brand in the last two decades.
Imran Khan -

"20 years ago the idea of video calling was restricted to sci-fi movies and a McDonald`s burger was a myth that only your cousins in 'Amreeka' had experienced. The internet was a mystery, cell phones were the size of your face and nobody could imagine an Amitabh Bachchan in your living room on a daily basis. The last two decades have been an enigmatic odyssey for India; the country has sailed through some very difficult times and reached unfathomable heights. Growing up in the 1990`s in what was then Bombay, and enjoying the first sip of an India produced bottle of Coca-Cola, it was hard to imagine that 20 years later India would be a world class financial hub, home to some of the best companies and brands, and that I would star in a coveted Coca-Cola commercial! India’s youth has undergone a sea of transformation over the past two decades and I believe the biggest facilitator of this change has been the advent of media. From one Doordarshan channel in the 1990's to over 800 TV channels in 2013 and the 3rd highest number of Internet users in the world, the media has given every single citizen the opportunity to voice his or her opinion. We now live in a world where 140 characters on Twitter can stir a movement. It is hearting to see the world waking up to Indian talent across the spectrum. A shining example would be Mr. A.R. Rahman, who made his Hindi film music debut with Roja in 1994, to 2013 when he is recognized as one of the most adulated and respected Indian musicians in the world. Despite all the international accolades, he has remained true to his Indian essence and is still churning out chartbusters such as 'Jagao mere des' most recently for an amazing platform like Coke Studio. Another evidence of the changing psyche of Indians that inevitably influences a brand’s communicating pattern is the Coca-Cola small world machine which bought India and Pakistan together via a simple sweet gesture went on to garner more than 2 million views and warmed innumerable hearts. On that note I wish India and Coca-Cola the best for the next 120 years”.

Kareena Kapoor –
“As a youngster growing up in the 90s of India, Coca-Cola was very much a part of my teens, not just as a soft drink but as this fun brand which was always associated with a lot of happy and positive energy. Growing up, Coca-Cola ads were iconic! The classic Aamir Khan ads or Hrithik's first commercials; to those incredible one-liners - Life ho to aisi Coca-Cola! I even remember Salman Khan doing the Limca ads, before he became the icon of masculinity with Thums Up ads. 20 years back, who would have known that I would have the opportunity to be associated with the same company which has had ambassadors like Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Hrithik Roshan. It is truly humbling. Coca-Cola came to India in 1993 with a promise to open happiness for the people of this country. What could have been a better way of spreading happiness than through music, which knows no boundaries, it has the power describe things that simple words could never do! A concept like Coke Studio has given the myriad of beautiful voices and independent musicians of this country a much deserved platform in the country. For so many years, Limca's ads have been popular for the beautiful original melodies featured in the ads; Thums Up commercials of the 90s immortalized bungee jumpimg in India; the iconic Aamir Khan ‘Thanda matlab Coca-Cola’ campaign was so widely loved for all of Aamir's unique avatars - from the Punjabi munda to the Mumbai bhai. When Coca-Cola takes up a task, it adds so much color and cheerful spirit to it that it is contagious; and you remember it years and years later! Yes, the world around has changed since the 90s. But some things remain unchanged - like the fact that ‘Thanda’ still stands for Coca-Cola and Thums Up is still synonymous with Thunder!”

Coca-Cola India today, flaunts an extensive portfolio of beverages. The company manufactures and markets beverage brands like Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Thums Up, Fanta, Limca, Sprite, Maaza, Minute Maid Pulpy Orange, Minute Maid Nimbu Fresh, Minute Maid Mixed Fruit, Minute Maid Apple, Minute Maid Guava, Minute Maid 100 % juice (Minute Maid Apple, Minute Maid Orange, Minute Maid Grape), Georgia, Georgia Gold, Kinley, Kinley Club Soda and Burn through a network of over two million outlets.