Tag: PepsiCo India

  • PepsiCo spends 15- 20% of its marketing budget on digital: D. Shivakumar

    PepsiCo spends 15- 20% of its marketing budget on digital: D. Shivakumar

    MUMBAI: Emphasizing on the importance of the digital medium, PepsiCo India  chairman and CEO D. Shivkumar said that 15 per cent to 20 per cent of all marketing spends of PepsiCo are on digital. He also added that RS 35 lakhs per month should be the bare minimum digital spend by a Pepsi brand while addressing a conference session at 12th Marketing Conclave, organized by the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) in Mumbai.

    Breaking the maths down further, Shivkumar explianed that if the marketing budget of a brand for the year is about Rs 10 crore then, the brand should spend Rs 35 lakh every month on digital which is about Rs 5 crore for the year.

    He also  added that if  one wants reach and result, then digital will give them the same provided brands are patient for the big return and not invest meagerly for short returns. 

    Reiterating the importance of mobile, Shivkumar added, “In a nation of 1.2 billion people, millions of people have smart phones and a lot of them have internet. Over 50 percent of search, shopping, travel and YouTube streaming happens on mobile. Not only that, e-commerce has seen the rise of categories which never could have reached the consumers without the online platform. Luxury brands, vegetables, innovators and a lot of categories today reach the consumer through online. “

    Advising  marketers to understand the pulse of the consumers of both the genders  Shivkumar said,“Today the consumer is King, Queen and has a voice.”

  • 7UP to launch reality show on Udaya TV

    7UP to launch reality show on Udaya TV

    MUMBAI: Taking a step towards advertiser funded programming (AFP), PepsiCo India’s brand 7UP is all set to launch a six-week reality show titled 7UP UPstarters, which will feature original talent from South India.

     

    Featuring budding dancers, singers and actors, the first episode of 7UP UPstarters will premiere on 7 June on Udaya TV at 5.30 pm.

     

    The contest saw huge participation from aspiring singers, dancers and actors during the on-ground auditions across Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and through a unique wild-card system on Facebook.

     

    With talent including brake-dancers, classical singers, beat-boxers and acting enthusiasts among others, seven teams will fight to finish through a series of week-on-week performances. The winning 7-member team will win a cash prize of Rs 7 lakh.

     

    The grand-finale of the six-part series will be judged by actors and 7UP brand ambassadors Dhanush and Puneeth Rajkumar.

     

    PepsiCo India senior director marketing, social beverages Ruchira Jaitly said, “7UP UPstarters is not just another reality show but a search for the next generation of original, authentic talent from Karnataka. The entire journey from audition to the finale has been packaged into six action-packed episodes to bring viewers closer to the actual experience of each contestant.”

  • Strategic brand discussions are a rarity these days: D Shivakumar

    Strategic brand discussions are a rarity these days: D Shivakumar

    GOA: While delivering a keynote at the Goafest, PepsiCo India CEO D Shivakumar pointed out that technology is taking a toll and becoming a priority, which in turn is leading to negligence of a brand’s strategy.

     

    “Nowadays, we see ads put up on platform at a certain point of time, which have no relevance with the strategy of the brand. We are just getting carried away by the tactics and suppressing the strategy,” said Shivakumar.

     

    He went on to add, “Clients meet agencies again and again, which signifies that they are not clear in their head. Hasty decision-making and confusing agencies leads to debacles. Many campaigns fail because of clients’ confusion, as the discussion is always around buying, planning and selling. Strategic discussion has become a rarity, which needs to change.”

     

    Talking about the innovative Pepsi campaign for the IPL, Shivakumar said, “PepsiCo, with its IPL campaign, has turned consumers into an agency as we asked them to make an ad, and promised that better words will find place in television. We will release six different ads made by consumers during the course of the tournament. The first will be launched on 12 April. We will put all the videos online for people to vote and select the best one according to them. The agency has been assigned the work of judging the videos so that nothing that violates law and order is put up and consumers can go to any level with their imagination.”

     

    “We always keep track of what is happening. Who is saying what about Kohli, Ranbir etc. These factors play a vital role in coming to a consensus. Moreover innovative ideas also come out from trending topics, so it is highly important to be in the loop,” he concludes.

  • YouTube FanFest returns to India with global & local stars

    YouTube FanFest returns to India with global & local stars

    MUMBAI: YouTube and Branded Limited with Pepsi, in association with HP have brought back the YouTube FanFest to Mumbai, which is an exclusive live show bringing together established and emerging YouTube stars from India and around the world with fans.

     

    YouTube FanFest, which debuted in India last February, provides fans with the unique opportunity to meet their favorite internet heroes in person. 

     

    This year, YouTube FanFest is set to take center stage on 20 March at the NSCI Indoor Stadium in Mumbai. Over 6,000 fans will get face-to-face with some of YouTube’s biggest stars, local internet sensations and up-and-coming talent performing live on stage.

     

    This year’s show features a dynamic mix of music, comedy, dance, fashion and even cooking, all together on one stage. The line-up for the YouTube FanFest Mumbai encore features 24 widely popular YouTubers, including Superwoman, Bethany Mota, Jus Reign, TVF ONE, Kanan Gill and Biswa Kalyan Rath and East India Comedy.

     

    “Over the past year, we’ve seen popular Indian creators emerge on YouTube and excite people around the world. We’re bringing YouTube FanFest back to Mumbai for a second showing to celebrate this new generation of YouTube stars with some of YouTube’s most passionate fans in Asia,” said YouTube Asia-Pacific director of content and operations Gautam Anand.

     

    “This FanFest in Mumbai is going to be the largest FanFest ever. More stars, more fun and more screaming fans in one of YouTube’s largest Asian markets,” said YouTube FanFest producers and branded CEO Jasper Donat.

     

    According to PepsiCo India VP – marketing Vipul Prakash youngsters today are creatively inspired, not scared of new experiences and eager to live life in the now. He further stated that consumers and brands across the world are stepping it up to make great things happen through collaborative innovation and a sense of disruption that’s soon becoming a norm. 

     

    “For us, the YouTube FanFest exemplifies all of this and stands for original creativity and the young consumer taking control. These values perfectly embody the Pepsi consumer. We are extremely excited to partner with the YouTube FanFest this year, and in true Live It Abhi style, we look forward to cheering the creative, inventive and spirited young consumer,” added Prakash.

     

    HP India head of marketing, printing and personal systems Lloyd Mathias believed that India has one of the youngest populations in the world and through the FanFest, HP is able to connect with the new generation who are bending the rules as they go creating and enjoying content. 

     

    “Keeping millennia’s’ needs in mind, HP has a range of stylish, yet productive notebooks, tablets and hybrid devices that will enable them to bring their creativity to life and go that extra mile,” Mathias said.

     

    To make this day more memorable, fans will have chance to get up close and personal with the stars through promotions run by the YouTubers themselves. Jus Reign, Kurt Hugo Schneider, and Sam Tsui will join several other global and local music sensations for the performances in Mumbai.

     

    “I’m pumped to finally be coming out to Mumbai to see many good looking faces that are way more good looking than mine, see you all on the 20th. ALL OF YOU…” said Reign.

     

    “We are really looking forward to this Fanfest. We’ve never been to India and we are totally excited to be coming to Mumbai to meet fans and to collaborate with other artists,” said Schneider and Tsui.

     

    “Biswa and I are extremely excited to host the second-ever FanFest in Mumbai, to see fans who like our work, and to meet other creators from around the world who we are fans of! We’re counting down the days!” said Kanan Gill.

  • Women bankers lead India in Fortune list

    Women bankers lead India in Fortune list

    MUMBAI: Eight Indian women have made it to the Fortune list of 25 most powerful women ‘shaping the new world order’ in the Asia-Pacific region.

     

    ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar has been ranked second across the region while SBI’s Arundhati Bhattacharya, HPCL’s Nishi Vasudeva, and Axis Bank’s Shikha Sharma have also made it to the top-10 earning fourth, fifth and tenth rankings respectively. The list is topped by Australian banking major Westpac’s chief Gail Kelly.

     

    Releasing the latest rankings, the Fortune magazine said that women around the world are continuing to win the top jobs, so much so that more than a third of the women on this Asia-Pacific list are making their debut in the coveted list, including two from India.

     

    The two Indian new entrants are Bhattacharya and Vasudeva.

     

    Bhattacharya is the first woman to hold the ‘three-year post at the country’s largest bank and oversees a 208-year-old institution with $400 billion in assets and 218,000 employees dispersed among 16,000 branches across India’.

     

    On the other hand, Vasudeva, became the first woman to head an Indian oil company and is ‘and one of only four women to helm a Global Fortune 500 firm in the Asia-Pacific region’.

     

    Other Indians on the top-25 list include Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (19), National Stock Exchange CEO Chitra Ramkrishna (22), HSBC’s Naina Lal Kidwai (23) and TAFE chairman and CEO Mallika Srinivasan (25).

     

    Meanwhile, Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo’s India-born CEO, has been ranked third among the world’s most powerful business women by Fortune. She is only Indian-origin woman on this year’s global list, which has been topped by IBM chairman and CEO Ginni Rometty and General Motors CEO Mary Barra.

  • Tata Global Beverages looks at wellness segment

    Tata Global Beverages looks at wellness segment

    KOLKATA: Tata Global Beverages (formerly called Tata Tea) is mulling to explore options of entering into the wellness segment by launching tea for diabetes and cardiac patients. The company with this aims at improving its business.

     

    That apart the beverage company is planning to expand its water portfolio to 10 per cent of its turnover by launching ‘Tata Gluco Plus’ and ‘Tata Water Plus’ stage-by-stage across the country.

     

    “We are actually looking at functional teas as an area of future growth. I think this is a very interesting subject going into the future,” said Tata Global Beverages chairman Cyrus Mistry.

     

    A functional beverage is a non-alcoholic drink and consists of ingredients such as herbs, vitamins, minerals, amino acids or additional raw fruits.

     

    “A number of categories in tea and coffee are still unexplored and the geographic reach continues to give us opportunities,” he said.

     

    He said the philosophy of the company is to invest in new categories and geographies.

     

    On tea price, he said, “Tea prices are volatile, but we are making all emphasis on innovation and improvement in procurement process to minimise the impact of rising tea prices in the future.”

     

    According to Mistry, the water division currently accounts for just one per cent of the company’s turnover. During the last financial year consolidated total revenue of the company stood at Rs 7,819 crore, higher by five per cent as compared to the previous fiscal.

     

    TGBL will continue to invest in NourishCo Beverages, a joint venture with PepsiCo India Holdings, despite it not being profitable in the short-term. “But we see revenue growth from this business significantly,” he emphasised. 

     

    The company is also looking at capacity expansion for its premium water brand Himalayan. “We have to invest significantly in building the brands in India and globally,” he said.

     

    Tata Water Plus, a fortified water product was also bought by the Tatas after it signed a 50:50 JV with PepsiCo in the year 2010.

     

    Tata Global has already shifted its headquarters to Mumbai from Kolkata.

  • PepsiCo, MSM attempting out of court settlement over ‘Youngistaan’

    PepsiCo, MSM attempting out of court settlement over ‘Youngistaan’

    MUMBAI: It was in 2008 that PepsiCo India came up with a new campaign around the theme ‘Youngistaan’, the land of youngsters.

     

    The campaign featuring cricketers and film stars was aimed at bringing alive the connect between the cola brand and the youth.

     

    PepsiCo India had then got ‘Youngistaan’ registered as its trademark. The trademark is now a matter of dispute between PepsiCo India and MSM Motion Pictures.

     

    The dispute is over the title of a film co-produced by MSM Motion Pictures and Vashu Bhagnani-owned Pooja Pictures.

     

    Even after having received a notice in January from PepsiCo India against the use of Youngistan as the title of their film, the co-producers went ahead and announced the film with the same name.

     

    PepsiCo alleged that its registered trademark Youngistaan has been violated by the co-producers of the film by choosing to go ahead with Youngistan as the film’s title.

     

    Singh&Singh, a law firm representing PepsiCo, had last month sent a legal notice to the co-producers of the film against the use of Youngistaan as the title of their film.

     

    Notwithstanding the objections raised by PepsiCo, MSM Motion Pictures and Pooja Pictures, on 6 February, announced the launch of their upcoming film ‘Youngistaan’ featuring Jackky Bhagnani, Neha Sharma, Boman Irani and late Farooq Sheikh.

     

    Pepsi then took the matter to the Delhi High Court on 12 February. “Since MSM didn’t comply with the legal notice, we had to take a step and file a case against them for violation of (PepsiCo) trademark,” says a source from the law firm.

     

    Pepsi has pleaded for an order from the high court “restraining them (the co-producers of the film) from launching their movie under the impugned title ‘Youngistaan’ which is nothing but a blatant imitation of the plaintiff’s (Pepsi) registered trademark”.

     

    The next hearing in the matter is scheduled on Monday, 24 February in the court of Justice A K Pathak.

     

    While PepsiCo India continues to pursue the legal course, the two parties have not completely given up hope of an amicable settlement.

     

    PepsiCo India and MSM Motion Pictures are in talks to try an out of court settlement, as per industry sources.

     

    Officials of MSM Motion Pictures were unavailable for a comment.

     

    The dispute is interesting as a corporate is attempting to prevent one of its promotional trademarks from being used as the title of a film.

  • PepsiCo India’s Shivakumar says collaboration will be the key to growth

    PepsiCo India’s Shivakumar says collaboration will be the key to growth

    MUMBAI:  “One needs to look at brands which will help each other grow as well as benefit the industry…”

     

    This was the message conveyed by PepsiCo India chairman and CEO D Shivakumar to a large gathering of who’s who of the industry on Wednesday, as he took them through the highs and lows of marketing, media and advertising in 2013 and indulged in crystal gazing to see what holds for the communication fraternity in 2014.

     

    In the coming years, Shivakumar sees a conflict between independent growth and dependent growth among agencies as well as brands.

     

    Giving the example of telecom, Shivakumar said, “Telecom would not have been what it is today if Airtel would not have collaborated with Nokia or Vodafone with Samsung. “

     

    Apart from all this, the industry is all about innovation wherein size doesn’t matter but all depends on how fast a company is in responding to consumers.

     

    As the industry waited for the leader with ‘fighter’s instinct’ to share his views at the IAA organised event called ‘Retrospect and Prospects’, Shivakumar stepped on to the stage and made it clear it is more about paying tribute to the city (Mumbai) which has taught him a lot and that he will wrap up within 60 minutes.

     

    He started with how the city and the people he met here have helped him grow in his career and went on to touch upon various aspects which affect the industry starting with how last year saw the emerging markets slowing down and how it devalued the currency.  

     

    Not indulging much in the negatives, he highlighted how 2013 was the defining year for the digital space. “The smart phone which gives the power of internet in every person’s hand has opened up the whole world of opportunities for them. It has empowered women and youth,” he said while pointing out how a billion phones were sold last year and this year will see many more being sold.

     

    People using internet through mobile phone is much higher than through fixed internet, globally, hence, he urged marketers to shift their media strategies.  With that note, he estimated that the year 2014 will see the world media industry spending $505 billion.

     

    The general elections in India will play a major role in deciding which way the country and the various sectors will head. Shivakumar said in the coming months India will see about Rs 1,000 crore being spent on advertising by political parties, 2.5 times higher than what was spent in 2009.

     

    The year will also see a shift in the manner the money will be spent. The shift will be in favour of the digital medium wherein 10 to 15 per cent will be spent on the platform as the first time voters (160 million) are on social media.

     

    Shiv believes that regional markets play an important role as regional languages are driving growth in the number of TV channels. The same stands true for print as well. “We are a hyper fighting market and can never be satisfied with just a couple of choices. But with so much proliferation, it is time to collaborate?” he questioned the audience.

     

    He then added how TV has been a major contributor in unearthing talent in the country. With too many dance, singing, etc reality shows gracing our television sets only shows the potential this wonder has, he said.

     

    Maybe that is the reason behind the company (PepsiCo) launching its channel with MTV to help budding talent get a platform to showcase talent.

     

    For brands which depend on celebrities, one needs to understand how social media has changed the equation and how brands as well as celebs need to help each other reach high numbers (likes and followers) on social media platforms.

  • Pepsico India ropes in Sushant Singh Rajput as brand ambassador for new Cola Pepsi Atom

    BENGALURU: Pepsico India (Pepsico) announced what it claims is its biggest beverage innovation in India – a new Cola brand ‘Pepsi Atom‘. The title sponsor for the on-going sixth season of the IPL cricket league has roped in actor Sushant Singh Rajput who made his debut as an actor with Abhishek Kapoor’s film ‘Kai Po Che’ as Pepsi Atom’s brand ambassador.

    Brand Atom’s positioning redefines masculinity and portrays the modern Indian man in a new light – someone who has the strength of mind as well as body says Pepsico. Through its tagline, ‘Piyo Josh Mein Jiyo Hosh Mein’ and the soon-to-be-launched communication campaign, Pepsi Atom projects the more relevant and relatable definition of masculinity, as opposed to the much hyped mindless action. The communication strategy has confidence at its core, targeting young adults across big and small towns.

    “Pepsi Atom addresses the consumer need for a stronger, fizzier cola with a sharp taste hit. Our positioning for Pepsi Atom, ‘Piyo Josh Mein Jiyo Hosh Mein’ is also inspired by the evolving Indian consumer. Traditionally, we have seen unrealistic and exaggerated portrayal of male characters in advertising and movies, but it is not only about brawn these days… a real man is one who knows when to act. Sushant suits this definition of a modern man and therefore fits the brand personality perfectly”, said Pepsico VP – Beverage Marketing Deepika Warrier.

    The launch will be supported by a 360-degree marketing and activation plan with disruption at its core. To kick-start the action, PepsiCo is leveraging the on-going Pepsi IPL tournament, to give launch visibility to the brand, both in-stadia and on television. This will be followed by a massive sampling and engagement exercise with over 1 million consumers across key centers says the company. The TV campaign highlighting the ‘Piyo Josh Mein Jiyo Josh Mein’ positioning will be unveiled on social media first and then go on-air on 1 May. PepsiCo says that it is also investing significantly behind distribution and trade promotion to support the mega launch.

    The new Cola brand gives the Indian consumer a choice between the universal taste of Pepsi and the new Atom.

  • Vidya Balan is brand ambassador for new Aliva variants

    MUMBAI: PepsiCo India has named Vidya Balan as the brand ambassador for its six new baked variants of snack brand, Aliva.

    The three new products, Multigrain Waves, Milk Minis and Crispy Thinz, are available in two variants each – providing more variety, flavours and ingredient choices.

    The new Aliva range, now endorsed by Lay’s, follows the introduction of parent brand Lay’s baked range of potato chips earlier this year. It further strengthens PepsiCo India’s snack portfolio in line with the emerging consumer health needs.

    PepsiCo India marketing director – foods Vidur Vyas said, “Endorsed by Lay’s, the new Aliva range is baked and brings forth a unique combination of grains with great taste. An accomplished actress, a woman of substance and an affable personality, Vidya is a great match to highlight the brand’s positioning of a snack jo tasty hai, accha hai.”

    The launch will be supported by a 360-degree campaign featuring Vidya that will be unveiled shortly. Apart from her, Aliva continues to be endorsed by actress Chitrangada Singh who has been the face of the brand since 2009.