After more than a century of pitched battle of frantic marketing, ad showdowns, and taste tests – both on Earth and in space – one might assume the cola wars have ended. But no!
On March 4, PepsiCo placed a full-page advertisement in an apparent challenge to its competitors or to just Coca-Cola. In response to Coca-Cola’s ‘Half Time’ campaign magnified during the Champions Trophy match between India and Pakistan, Pepsi rebranded The Times of India to ANY Times of India (credits to Havas India), seamlessly tying into its tagline – ‘Anytime is Pepsi Time’. It’s a hat-tip to the 1996 iconic Cricket World Cup campaign “Nothing official about it”.
Read more: With ‘Anytime is Pepsi Time’ campaign, we’re defining refreshment for summer season: PepsiCo
In a statement to Storyboard18, a company spokesperson framed the campaign as a celebration of spontaneity, saying, “With the launch of the ‘Anytime is Pepsi Time’ campaign, we are defining refreshment for the upcoming summer season — turning every moment, big or small, into an opportunity to enjoy an ice-cold Pepsi.”
The legendary Cola Wars might just be on the verge of reigniting in the 21st century, though experts predict a less aggressive battle. Coca-Cola is likely to maintain its ‘elder brother’ stance, barely acknowledging Pepsi, while Pepsi is expected to continue its playful, direct jabs at its rival.
This rivalry is expected to be less intense as it was in the 1980s and 1990s because both brands are not only focused on expanding their soda portfolios but are also heavily investing in non-carbonated beverages like tea, juice, sports drinks, and bottled water. In addition, challenges such as stagnant domestic soda sales and the need for new revenue streams are shaping their strategies. To stay competitive, both companies are continuously refining their bottling, pricing, and branding approaches to capture a share of the Rs474.96 billion carbonated beverage market and the Rs901.74 billion non-carbonated beverage market.
“Colas were once the most exciting, and engaging, category in FMCG. Over the years, many more categories have grabbed consumer attention and have got consumers engaged and involved. So colas are not centre stage any longer to the same extent as maybe half a century ago. Now they joust but they don’t go for knock-outs,” said Sandeep Goyal, Managing Director at Rediffusion.
Brands like Coke and Pepsi may not capture the public imagination as dominantly as they once did, mainly because the category itself is not as dominant as it once was, having ceded that pole position to the tech brands, adds Samit Sinha, Founder & Managing Partner, Alchemist Brand Consulting.
So while one would love to see some old-fashioned rivalry play out and see that level of excitement, Smita Khanna, COO, Newton Consulting India, thinks this jab at Coca-Cola is going to remain at the tease stage. Because direct, targeted marketing and aggressive advertising like they did in the 90s may backfire in the age of social media.
Brands put more effort into crafting a long-term commitment with their customer base and this short-term all-out rivalry requires massive budget, which may even be seen as a tad bit aggressive.
“I doubt Coco Cola would rise to the bait and go for a head-to-head competition. It’s more likely they’ll pursue diversification of strategies. They can try to project an image of being above the fray, focus on their own campaigns. A tit-for-tat move may backfire if Coca-Cola seemed reactive to PepsiCo’s attempt at provocation,” Khanna notes.
We know the saying, “respond, not react” it perhaps applies here too.
Read more: Cola Ad Wars Are Back!: Pepsi fires first salvo. ‘Nothing official about it 2.0’?
But according to the brand guru Harish Bijoor, Founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc., Pepsi is back.
“The new creative is clever. It’s in the face and it pokes the Pepsi finger into the Coke eye, and it does it well, it does it with ubiquity and cleverness. I do believe ‘Any time’ Pepsi is the big idea, and to an extent, this big idea route was paved for by Coca-Cola with the half time ad.”
Although Coca-Cola, according to brand experts, will not respond directly with its own campaign hitting out at Pepsi.
“Coca-Cola has positioned itself as the original brand, kind of like the dignified, elder statesman in the category, in contrast to Pepsi’s cultivated brash and irreverent image. Coca-Cola, having learned its lesson from the fiasco in responding to the Pepsi Challenge, favours the strategy of not reacting, explains Sinha of Alchemist Brand Consulting.
However, that should not prevent Coke from using its flanker brands like Thums Up, or less directly, Sprite to attack Pepsi, as they have done in the past, he adds.
The Ambush
Pepsi’s move is what experts call ambush marketing and the brand understands the power of wit and cheekiness in winning people’s hearts. A call back to the 90s rivalry and the iconic campaign ‘Nothing official about it’, it is the perfect blend of wit and nostalgia marketing.
For some, Pepsi’s bold ad is a masterclass in leveraging competition to your advantage. Instead of ignoring the market leader, the brand embraced the rivalry head-on, positioning Pepsi as the drink for any time, not just half the time.
Pepsi and Coke are both feisty marketers, and their advertising is always highly competitive. It is this one-upmanship that has kept their rivalry alive over decades.
The Coke ‘half time’ thought is strategically solid. But the Pepsi ‘any time’ is equally hard-hitting. The current press ad is a good rebuttal, but the creative juices will flow when we see it expressed in video, remarks Goyal.
Read more: Marketing masterstrokes: How Pepsi’s ‘Nothing Official About It’ upended the 1996 Cricket World Cup
In a nutshell, this is Pepsi playing true to form and at its best.
If one looks at the history of Pepsi’s advertising globally, it becomes evident that the most memorable instances have been those whenever it has taken a jocular dig at Coke, and the latest is only one such in a long line of such campaigns, remarks Sinha.
Pepsi is arguably one of the best examples of a challenger brand, and its very raison d’être has been as a counterpoint to Coca-Cola, which invented and remained synonymous with the category during most of its existence.
While it is a fantastic marketing tactic from Pepsi, reminiscent of the best traditions of cola wars, Nisha Sampath, Managing Partner of Bright Angles Consulting, doesn’t think that it particularly differentiating Pepsi. Rather, it draws everyone’s attention to more occasions for cola consumption in summer.
“Coke is the big brother, Pepsi is a younger brother – globally and historically also. So when the younger brother punches the older brother, you enjoy it, but when the older brother hits the younger one, no one likes it. Historically, this is what competitive advertising is all about. People enjoy that, but if the number one guy hits at number ten, it’s unfair,” highlights K.V. Sridhar aka Pops, Global Chief Creative Officer, Nihilent.
Coke’s approach, according to Sridhar, is a tad bit irrelevant, considering ‘Half Time’ really isn’t for Cricket and a large base of audiences might not even understand it.
Net in net, for good or bad, strategic or tactical, the industry is hopeful there is more fun and games ahead.