In the early ’80s, it had women surfing, yachting and skydiving in another commercial. It had a guy bungee-jumping to pick a bottle of Thums Up when the adventure sport was barely known. It created campaigns that were cool, edgy, quickly adopting what was new in popular culture. In terms of advertising, Thums Up stayed ahead of its time.

“It is not incidental that the last word, Thunder, had a strong phonetic resemblance to the Hindi word for cold, which is thanda, which is the colloquial term in India for cold drinks in general,' says Sinha. Wisely, it switched to a campaign that highlighted its distinct taste with the enduring line Taste The Thunder. But Parle quickly realized that it could not fight Pepsi and its deep pockets on a generic, undifferentiated platform. The initial communication campaign was built around the theme of Happy Days Are Here Again as an antidote to the feeling of loss in Coke’s absence. Over the years, consistency in Thums Up’s advertising also helped it to stay relevant. “It is also entirely possible that Thums Up received an additional boost through the resurgence of desi pride in the 1990s following liberalization, when desi became cool,' he adds. An entire generation grew up on Thums Up in the absence of Coca-Cola. “This gave it a distinct identity and prevented it from being unfavourably compared to Coca-Cola as its poorer cousin,' says Sinha, who worked briefly on Thril (from McDowell & Co.) during a stint at ad agency Lintas. To be sure, Thums Up never tried to become a Coca-Cola clone, either in taste or in name. But as we all know the script played out differently,' says Samit Sinha, brand expert and managing partner, Alchemist Brand Consulting. I am sure that the folks in Coca-Cola’s Atlanta headquarters also thought the same. When Coke arrived, Indian marketers started writing the obituary for Thums Up, “believing that the India market would be reduced to a two-horse race between the two international giants in a matter of months. Pepsi, Coke’s traditional international rival, which it always considered its main competitor, was a distant number two. So when Coca-Cola re-entered the country in 1993 after an absence of 16 years, it had to contend with Thums Up, which dominated the Indian market with more than 80% share. Although Thums Up faced competitors such as Campa Cola, Double Seven and Thril, Chauhan’s brand enjoyed a massive distribution advantage in the country, thanks to its other two fizzy drinks-Limca and Gold Spot.

The absence of Coke (there was no Pepsi at that time) created a vacuum in the market which Parle took advantage of. Ramesh Chauhan started Thums Up when Coca-Cola exited India in 1977. Thums Up gained the top spot of the #1 cola drink in India, but unfortunately, Limca, Gold Spot, and Citra could not see the light of the day.For starters, it enjoyed favourable circumstances in the initial years of its launch. The re-entry or revival of the Thums Up brand helped Coke gain significant market share. Revival of Thums Up by Coca-Cola and marketing strategiesĬoca-Cola revived the Thums Up brand in 1997 with a re-engineered tagline “I want my Thunder”. It was a roller coaster ride for Coke and they soon realized that by killing Thums Up, they had served the market share to Pepsi, quite easily, on the platter. Thums Up was withdrawn after a few months.Ī war of colas broke between Pepsi and Coke after the withdrawal of Thums Up. Gold Spot and Limca were withdrawn in the very first few months itself. Ramesh Chauhan got a hint of this intent through his sources and tried to reason with Coca Cola against doing it but in vain. The company had decided to withdraw (read KILL) Parle’s products from the market. In 1993, Coca-Cola bought Thums Up, Gold Spot, Limca, and Citra from Ramesh Chauhan for $60 Million.Ĭoke reached the numero uno position instantaneously on acquiring the #1 brand Thums Up. Moreover, Parle couldn’t compete with cash-rich Coca Cola in advertising through top Bollywood stars. On seeing the franchise bottlers being converted into Coke manufacturing plants, Ramesh Chauhan decided to call it quits and surrender. So, while Parle had 80% market share but had only owned 4 bottling plants while other 58 were franchise who were eager to work with foreign brands. Coca Cola was not able to displace the number 1 spot of Thums Up.Ĭoca Cola started poaching the franchise bottlers of Parle. Journey of Thums Up from Parle to Coca-ColaĬoca-Cola thought that Indians would welcome this brand once again after 16 years. Up until 1993 when Coca-Cola decided to re-enter the Indian Market post-liberalization of the Indian Economy.

As of now Thums Up had a stronghold on the Indian Cola Market. But Pepsi’s entry didn’t deter Parle Thums Up to grow.

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