Soft drinks are a daily part of our lives.
India being a tropical country has a huge demand for refreshing drinks. The competition is pretty stiff.
I mean just look at some of the advertising campaigns of these drinks! From signing massive stars to using witty taglines- the marketers can do crazy to make a single campaign a massive success.
Thus, after fashion, food, whiskey, we decided to bring soft drinks into our battleground!
Today we have two most popular brands with us- Sprite Vs Mountain Dew!
Let’s start then?
BACKSTORY
Sprite- A Refreshing Journey
Sprite was created back in the 1960s by The Coca-Cola Company, for the people who did not want to have black colored drink. It is still a major competitor of 7 Up as both of them are lemon & lime-flavored drink.
By the 1980s, the brand created a large following of teenagers.
The green color packaging was done to integrate the idea of refreshment among the buyers.
During the mid-1990s, Sprite changed its slogan to “Obey Your Thirst” with an urban hip-hop jingle.
Gradually Sprite outrun its main competitor 7 Up with its unique marketing techniques which we will discuss in the next segment!
Mountain dew- All About Pushing Limits
One of the primary competitors of Coca-Cola, PepsiCo introduced Mountain Dew long ago in the 1940s.
It was a citrus-flavored, less carbonated drink with more sugar and high caffeine levels.
Over the years the company diversified its product with Diet Mountain Dew & also added new flavors like raspberry, blueberry, orange, watermelon, so on.
MARKETING STROKES
Sprite – “Clear Hai” Campaign
Mostly conceptualized by Ogilvy & Mather, Sprite’s “Clear Hai” campaign is one of the most popular marketing campaigns done by a soft drink brand.
The ads are unique. One of the most popular ad is the Valet ad where it takes a fresh take adopted by the brand to show two elderly ladies get a parking spot with the help of the Sprite’s protagonist.
The jingle in the background “Duniya Lagati Ulti Gear” is really refreshing & the viewers are bound to get hooked to it!
Sprite’s signature ads have one theme. Mostly targeting the young crowd, it shows how the drink helps youngsters to attain clarity of thought & take a stand with wit.
The company believes in the promotion to a strong extent. They are mainly focused on the promotion activity of the company. They use all the channels like newspapers, radio, television, hoarding, net, etc. The company makes sure that the product reaches to almost all the customers.
This has created a huge brand awareness for the drink!
The campaigns are generally executed by theatre actors or struggling faces. Generally for India, the brand refrains from using big names to make the ads more relatable to the common masses.
Sprite, popular amongst its audience as a “Jugaad” drink, resonates with the idea of the ability to think clearly & overcoming obstacles to achieve one’s goals.
Mountain Dew- “Darr Ke Age Jeet Hai”
Owned by PepsiCo, this carbonated soft drink has a very different approach from Sprite.
The brand campaigns are about ultimate adventure & daring stunts.
In 2011, Salman Khan was signed for a year as the face of the brand in India. The ad was shot in the mountainous terrains of New Zealand with a high adventurous vibe, keeping up with it’s brand’s philosophy.
In 2013, Hrithik Roshan was signed as the face of Mountain Dew.
This was a major move for the brand, as it got associated with one of the most celebrated actors in the country!
In 2017, the brand always urges consumers to break out of the ordinary & launched a new initiative Risk Taker of India to inspire people from real-life heroes.
In these campaigns, Hritik Roshan portrayed the journey of five real-life heroes who broke boundaries.
For instance, in one of the commercial Hrithik portrayed young mountain climber, Arjun Vajpai, attempting to climb Mt. Cho Oyu- one of the most difficult summits to scale!
Other than this, Mountain Dew also partnered with Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara team to feature its drink in the movie!
GROWTH & REVENUE
Sprite
In 2008, Coca-Cola reported to have an 18% increase in sales.
It is currently the number 1 selling soft drink in the country!
According to WABE, Coca-Cola’s profit rose to 38% in 2017 due to the high selling of Sprite.
At present, the company’s Facebook page has over 22 Million followers!
According to CNBC, Coca-Cola did a business of $ 1.37 billion in 2018 which is a 32% share. And a lot of it comes from its baby- Sprite!
Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew’s parent company had four rough years consecutively.
Although their Facebook page over 2 million followers, PepsiCo had a hard time earning profits & competing with Coca-Cola!
According to Economic Times, in 2017-18 PepsiCo made a net profit of Rs 190 crore. It was a moment as the year before it had a loss of Rs 148 crore.
Apart from the eponymous cola and other brands including Mountain Dew, 7Up and Mirinda, Pepsi has also been branching into other segments.
Pepsi has branched into the fruit juices segment with Tropicana, and the sports drink segment with Gatorade.
So, here we have two comparisons in front of you. Two marketing approaches completely different from each other!
One relying on relatability & the other an inspiration.
Which one do you prefer?
Let us know in the comment section.
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Disclaimer: All the above information is not to defame or promote any particular brand. This is just for reading purpose & do not have any unethical intention.
