Monday, April 17, 2006

Limca : Lime N Lemony

Brand : Limca
Company: Coca Cola
Agency:O&M
When Ramesh Chauhan sold his soft drinks brands to Coca Cola for 10 mn $, he may had some clue that the brand babies that he is selling will be left to die.But he may not have a clue that some of them will survive, Thums Up did. Now we see a very unusual ads in TV, ads of Limca, Who?

Limca was one of the brands that was sold along with Thums Up, and Gold Spot. Launched in 1971, Limca was the quintessential Isotonic drink that quenches your thirst, it was the lemon drink from Parle. Limca was virtually dead since it had no place in Coca Cola’s Indian plan.
This summer has proved that some brands have life of their own, Thums Up had that, now Limca reinforces it. Limca was a powerful brand of our times, it was the major Lime flavoured drink and was positioned as “ Lime and Lemony”. As usual the ads were catchy and depicted fun and enjoyment.How did Limca resurrected at this juncture? The answer is that in the first place there was no reason for it to die. Coke did not have a lemon flavored drink but some on in Atlanta thought that it could come out with such a variant later.
Now the Indian SD market is hotting up. With the traditional Coke- Pepsi war is hotting up with lousy ads from both sides : Pepsi with the rubbish Pepsi TV and Coke with an equal bullshit ‘ Thande ka Thadka” While Sprite has messed up with Sania, Mountain dew is stuck with the three Hooligans. While 7 up is trying to be more Clear, its agency had forgotten the fact that every time you talk about being Clear, Sprite comes to the mind. The brand element Fido has not been able to connect with the Indian psyche.The only silver lining is Thums Up surprisingly is back with its “ Taste the Thunder “ campaign ( it could have avoided the hyperbole). While Mirinda is nowhere remembered so is Fanta.

Hence there is enough space for a different flavour , a flavour that is most popular in India, lemon. And Limca makes perfect sense. The ads of Limca is in line with the earlier campaigns that shows lots of water and really urges you to take some liquid . In the earlier avatar, Limca had that COOL attitude while Gold Spot was the Zing thing.In India , lemon flavored drinks had to compete with our very own Nimbu pani, that is a reason why earlier nimbu version of Mirinda failed in Indian market. Hence Limca have to bypass the direct comparison with the cheaper Nimbu paani.

The resurrection of Limca is indeed a nostalgia and good news for all who knew this brand , we welcome you …

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:09 AM

    hello harish..im a first year mba student..n when i watch these cola commercials i wonder how much of the buying behaviour is influenced by the celebrities in these ads..do consumers really buy a particular brand of cola bcoz it is endorsed by say srk n kareena?? or do they just pick up a particular brand bcoz they like its taste(which is the case with me)..n if the latter is true what about the obscene amount of money these cola companies spend on celebrity endorsements..waiting for your response..

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  2. Dear smita
    Yes ads have their role in the buyers decision. With regard to products like cola, the aim for these ads are
    a. for long term brand building
    b.Capture the share of voice and share of mind in the short term.

    The ads make no sense because cola or soft drinks are just carbonated colored drinks, there is little scope for differentiation using the product, so the players use image to differentiate. the money is not a waste : look at Brand value of coke and pepsi, it runs to billions of dollars.

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  3. Anonymous8:15 AM

    In your recent advertisement of Limca, the line "Do pal Zindagi Ke" sounds very negative. If you change it to "Har pal Zindagi" then it would have a positive impact on consumers mind.
    The slogan "Har pal zindagi" means that after drinking Limca one can enjoy life every moment and not just "Do pal" as mentioned in the ad.

    Thanks
    Gaurav Goyal
    gauravgoyal.112@gmail.com

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