Coke adds more fizz to tap local market, brings in new flavoured drinks

With its first hyperlocal label Colour being launched in Tamil Nadu, the company hones its regional play

A year since James Quincey, global CEO of Coca-Cola announced that the company wanted to be bigger than Brand Coke in India and that it would introduce more fruit-based beverages in its portfolio, the local team is stepping up the action. Coca-Cola India has launched a grape-flavoured drink called Colour in Tamil Nadu and is pilot-testing another orange-based energy drink in Odisha called ‘Aquarius Glucocharge’. 

It also plans to launch another fruity beverage in Andhra Pradesh, but does not reveal the name or the flavour. 

The new labels are all being launched under the aegis of Minute Maid, which along with Maaza, is helming the company’s push into non-cola beverages. The two brands are expected to help tap local and hyper-local markets and offer consumers a healthy alternative to carbonated drinks. 

T Krishnakumar, president, Coca-Cola India says that Brand Colour was ten months in the making. Several consumer group meetings and laboratory reports later, it was decided that grape-based beverages would be a good fit for the local market. Importantly the company chose the grape flavour also because it would help take on a local giant, the grape-flavoured Kalimark Bovonto.

However, the multinational company is taking a leaf out of the playbook of small homegrown players when it comes to the new launches this time around. It is developing multiple flavours for different regions. While Colour helps tap into the market in Tamil Nadu, Aquarius, which will be launched in Odisha first and then in the North-East, is meant for a different taste palate. 

The strategy is to string a ring of local labels around the larger Minute Maid brand. Harish Bijoor, founder of Bijoor Consults says that the global brands have learnt their lesson. “Cola brands once believed that there was one size for all but the Indian market has thrust a new perspective into the mix,” he adds.

With Colour, the first hyper-local brand under Minute Maid, Coca-Cola is picking local tools to fight its local battles. Bovonto is a market leader in Tamil Nadu. Besides consumer behaviour reports show that locals prefer grape-flavoured drinks in the unpacked and freshly squeezed categories, thereby offering packaged brands an opportunity to break into the market. Bovonto has a good understanding of the local market and is able to offer customised products; it will be tough to take it on, says Bijoor.

Krishnakumar believes that with 12 per cent real grape juice and authentic ingredients, Colour offers a good fight. However, “Colour was one of the toughest projects for the team,” says Srideep Kesavan, director-juices, Coca-Cola India & South West Asia. 

The team was particular about the name. In Tamil Nadu towns and villages, packaged drinks (non-alcoholic) are colloquially termed ‘Colour’ and hence the name of the new label.

While focusing on local wants and habits, the cola major is also keen to build up a stronger portfolio of healthier, non-cola beverages. Fruit-based beverages make up one of the four pillars that the company has globally said that its brand rests on. 

Bijoor says cola companies are struggling to stay relevant and hence the need to come up with such products is acute. Healthy, good-for-you products are the need of the hour. The company has already launched beverages in traditional Indian flavours like jal jeera and fruits like orange, guava, anar (pomegranate), litchi, and specific mango varieties. It has said that it is keen to expand the ‘fruit circular economy’, which means using local produce to make and market fruit-based beverages.

For Minute Maid Colour, Coca-Cola has roped in actor Keerthy Suresh as the endorser, hoping that a local star will carry greater credibility for the brand. “There will also be a range of on-ground activations, digital and social media The company may look at taking the brand nationally and overseas, targeting the Tamil ethnic customer in other states too.

There are more such products on the horizon. Apart from an orange-flavoured energy booster in the East and North East, the company says it is planning to launch one more brand by February in Andhra Pradesh, which will be again based on a local fruit and take on a local favourite.