Aamir still a fizz for Coke to attract youth

Global soft drink major Pepsico may have phased out its ageing brand ambassadors, including Sachin Tendulkar and Shah Rukh Khan, its rival Coke is still holding on with 45-year-old Aamir Khan to target youth.

With successive hits like '3 Idiots' and 'Ghajini' enhancing Aamir's brand value among the youth, industry sources said Coca Cola has renewed contract with the star for another three years last month. The value of the deal could not be ascertained.

In contrast, Pepsico had dropped 44-year-old Shah Rukh and 37-year-old Tendulkar in 2008 as brand ambassadors and signed new Bollywood faces like Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone for its 'Youngistan' campaign.

Yet, Coke is still banking on Aamir, who has been its brand ambassador since 2003, although the firm signed on his nephew and Bollywood star Imran Khan to attract youth.

"No marketing person can ignore the younger audience now, considering the kind of population we have...Depending on the creative requirement we will use Aamir Khan," McCann Erickson Executive Chairman and Regional Creative Director (Asia Pacific) Prashoon Joshi told PTI.

McCann Erickson handles the advertising account for Coke.

Aamir's brand value soared even higher after the blockbuster '3 Idiots' and reportedly signed a Rs 35-crore deal with a UAE-based telecom firm recently.

When contacted a Coca Cola India spokesperson said, "Going forward, Aamir Khan will feature in other versions of Coke's advertisement."

Currently, Coke is airing its latest 'Open Happiness' ad, which features Imran Khan and starlet Kalki Koechlin.

The spokesperson said if a need arises then the Khan uncle-nephew duo could also feature together in future ads.

"If there is creative demand for it, we will surely feature them in future advertisements," he said, adding that it was purely a creative call to feature Imran in the current campaign.

Joshi said the idea behind Coke's new advertisement was more about "emotional connection between two people" and featuring Imran was a strategy to appeal with the youth.