The brand that refused to die ; Thums up is possibly India's most resilient iconic brand. While legions of companies pump large sums of money into their brands in the hope that they attain icon status, Thums Up has done so with minimal fanfare. After being shunted aside for years, it is once again the king of Indian colas, reports Shamni Pande.

Thums up is possibly India's most resilient iconic brand. Whilelegions of companies pump large sums of money into their brands inthe hope that they attain icon status, Thums Up has done so withminimal fanfare. Launched by the Chauhan brothers Ramesh and Prakashin order to fill the gap that Coca-Cola left when it exited India in1977, Thums Up introduced a bold new flavour that Indian customersinstantly took to. We first tried variants that tasted like Pepsiand Coke, then launched our version with an orange base and morefizz, says Ramesh Chauhan. Apparently, colas have a base fruitflavour in the concentrate. Pepsi and Coke are, according toChauhan, lemon-based. In our minds we had an image of a man with aneye-patch. We wanted a different taste that would be the hook andthe differentiator for our brand, he adds.

The stronger, fizzier carbonated beverage has ruled theruthlessly contested cola category for much of its existence. Atfirst, Thums Up faced-off against local competitors such as CampaCola, Double Seven, Duke's McDowell's Crush and Double Cola, amongstothers. When the Chauhans sold Thums Up to Coca-Cola in 1993 uponthe cola giant's reentry, it was forced to share shelf space withboth Coke and Pepsi.

Here's where the tale gets twisted. Instead of treating itsnumber one brand like a prized stallion in 1993, when Coke enteredIndia, Thums Up had a 36 per cent market share versus 26 per centfor Pepsi industry sources say that Coke tried to kill the brand(The company denies this allegation). This case of cola filicideresulted in Coke India ceding ground to Pepsi, as Thums Up's marketshare began to take a precipitous dive.

Today, Thums Up is once again King of the cola hill, with a 16per cent share, and Sprite and Pepsi trailing it with 15 and 13 percent respectively. So, what explains this remarkable tale ofchutzpah and resilience?

Thums Up's advertising has stayed clever and consistent, for one.In the 1980s, Thums Up ads featured a hummable jingle, Happy DaysAre Here Again innocuous enough, but in reality this was a codedmessage that not only announced the availability of cola, after bothPepsi and Coke had exited the country, but also signalled the end ofthe Emergency, says brand expert Anand Halve. This was followed byTaste the Thunder tagline in the 1990s that is in existence tilltoday.

Coke has been far from consistent in this regard. I do not knowwhat it's trying to say, says Halve. The brand has alternated fromits international messages, Enjoy, or Eat, Sleep, Drink, to ones inHindi such as Jashn Mana Le, Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola, and Sar UthaKe Piyo.

Most importantly, Thums Up's taste profile has resonated wellwith the Indian palette. It offers a masculine appeal and its tastebecomes biologically coded with this appeal after sometime, observesSantosh Desai, former Head of McCann Erickson. Still, question is,can Thums Up continue to attract the Gen-Next audience who are socompletely familiar with Pepsi and Coke? I do believe that it willsurvive and thrive, says marketing expert Harish Bijoor. Still,Coke's Sprite has quickly become the No. 2 brand in the country andis within spitting distance of Thums Up. If the brand wants tocontinue tasting the thunder, it needs a strategy to compete withnot just colas, but other flavours in the sparkling category aswell.

Shamni Pande