Pepsi Is Official For Independence Cup
Nothing official about it? Well, there is, after all, and lots of it.
A news item that has gone largely unnoticed is that Pepsi has become the title sponsor of the four-nation cricket tournament, the Independence Cup, scheduled to be held in various parts of the country from May 9 to May 28. Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and host India will participate in the tournament, being organised to mark the 50th year of India's Independence.
The Pepsi Independence Cup also marks the beginning of a three-year contract up to 2000 during which Pepsi will have the first right of refusal to be the title sponsor of all one-day international matches and five-day tests to be played in the country.
This item could not have deserved any more coverage than it got, but for the carnage caused by the cola war during the World Cup 1996, for which Coca-Cola was the official soft drink. Some intelligent and innovative thinking by the copywriters of Hindustan Thompson Associates the advertising agency which holds the Pepsi account stole the thunder (not referring to Thums Up) from Coke with the ingenious nothing-official-about-it campaign. The campaign caught on in such a way that it nearly attached disparaging connotations to the word official. Coke for once was truly on the mat. All the sponsorship money it had paid to become the official drink of the tournament suddenly appeared a non-performing asset.
However, in all the breast-beating and war cries unleashed by the Pepsi camp, nobody cared to consider that the victory celebrations could perhaps be premature. After all, the two colas are in the country not for one season or two. India figures in the longest of their long-term plans.
So, did Pepsi close the doors to future sponsorships by projecting itself as unofficial? No, said an obviously restive Deepak Jolly, Pepsi general manager (corporate communications). If we ran campaigns saying nothing official about it, it did not mean we had lost the right to sponsor a future event. We have been sponsoring events all along. Jolly says Pepsi does not intend to revive the official-unofficial issue in the run-up to the Independence Cup. If you have observed the nature of our advertisements, it has always been about being young and fun-loving, with Pepsi being the drink of choice, not official.
This was the message in the yehi hai right choice campaign. Nothing official was an event-based campaign, just a part of the fun aspect. Even our freedom campaign embodies the same spirit. Have you ever seen Sachin or Azhar endorsing the drink in the 'boost is the secret of my energy' way?
Regarding the discontinuance of the unofficial campaign, he says: The contracts of some of the cricketers have expired, forcing us to discontinue some of them. He refused to divulge the strategy with regard to the Independence Cup.
It is still early days, he added.
Retaining the unofficial image, while being the title sponsor will take a lot of media planning, especially if Coke, sensing the vulnerability of its rival, decides to pounce.
The creative wing of Hindustan Thompson Associates dismisses the issue, saying that there is no conceptual conflict in Pepsi turning official.
Some analysts see a causal link between the freedom campaign and the Independence cup. The freedom campaign is viewed by them as working towards an independence campaign. Certain sections of the advertising industry also expect Pepsi to persist with the freedom campaign during the Independence Cup.
Coke, too, is holding its cards close to its chest. A faxed questionnaire, sent to Atul Aggrawal, in charge of press relations for the company, some days back, remains unanswered.
Pepsi has been the lead ground sponsor for all one-day internationals and domestic first class matches (like Ranji and Duleep Trophy tournaments) since 1993. Coke has not attempted to wage a battle on pitches hosting Ranji matches, perhaps in view of the low visibility of domestic cricket.
But, the day of reckoning, as they say, approaches now, with Pepsi becoming the title sponsor of the Independence Cup. It just might be the opportunity Coke was waiting for, while licking its wounds.
Advertising industry circles are attaching lot of significance to the recent decision by Coke to terminate its contract with McCann Ericsson and join hands with Chaitra Leo Burnett.
Meanwhile, Pepsi can count itself lucky on one count: the public memory is short-lived. Few are likely to hold it against the company that it became the official sponsor of an event despite proclaiming nothing official about it.
In fact, Ajay Shourie of INK Advertising says turning official will have no negative impact on Pepsi. Nothing-official-about-it was a very clever and well-executed campaign, meant to needle the Big Boy. A year down the road, that's all forgotten.
Till the time of going to press, Pepsi was still running the freedom campaign, while Coke was concentrating on the 'josh ka ik rang'.