From e-commerce to ads, PepsiCo, Coca Cola uncork plans to woo consumer
Lalitha Srinivasan | Mumbai | Updated: Oct 18 2014, 09:08 IST
PepsiCo India and Coca-Cola India are tweaking their distribution strategy, retail initiatives and advertising plans to fight competition in the Rs 30,000-crore domestic beverage market. While PepsiCo India's game plan includes launch of new price packs, retail initiatives and brand activation programmes, Coca-Cola India is sharpening its focus on e-commerce activities, new ad campaigns and consumer connect programmes.
To start with, deviating from the traditional way, Coca-Cola India has launched its global brand ‘Coca-Cola Zero’ only on e-commerce platform Amazon.in. Coke Zero, which has $1 billion in global sales, will be sold through Coca-Cola India's 1.8 lakh outlets in 100 top towns across the country.
PepsiCo has announced on its website that it plans to roll out Pepsi True, made with sugar and stevia, this month on Amazon in the US.
On the company's new retail initiative, Coca-Cola India's spokesperson said, “E-commerce platforms are a part of the product distribution mix. We have faith in it and we will continue to increase our reach and offerings. Putting the product on Amazon for the first 15 days of launch was part of the strategy to build preference and anticipation for the beverage.” Coca-Cola India sold Coke Zero for only 15 days on Amazon and sales crossed 1 lakh cans within two weeks.
At present, Coca-Cola India has a pilot e-commerce project called Coke2Home.com which sells the company's brands in five cities in Gujarat. "If the results are encouraging, we will scale it up," said the company spokesperson.
Like Coke, PepsiCo India is also leveraging e-commerce platform for its programmes like the ‘Perfect Match kit’ this year and plans to roll out programmes across its portfolio which are sustainable. ''In today’s digital age, e-commerce has become a significant platform to engage and directly reach out to the end consumers, especially the millennials," said a PepsiCo India spokesperson.
In addition to e-commerce plans, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are launching new advertising campaigns, ground promotions and consumer activations to woo consumers. ''We have launched a slew of marketing and consumer activations across our beverage portfolio. This includes a mix of national and regional activations, launch of new price packs and expanding the footprint of our recent innovation," explained PepsiCo India spokesperson.
The company has recently introduced two new price packs — 400 ml and 750 ml — in signature Pepsi packaging.
The company has recently launched a new television campaign featuring its brand ambassador Virat Kohli.
"We will connect