By SONALI KRISHNA
Indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Bigger is better! That's the philosophy that the US soft drink major Pepsi is swearing by. Capitilising on Mumbai's no show winter season as well as the festive season with Dushhera and Diwali, Pepsi's gone all out with a major outdoor spree in Mumbai.

Yeh Maha-offer kya hain?

Buy a two litre Pepsi pack and get half a litre free. So, essentially a 2.5 litre pack now costs Rs 45. Earlier, a two litre bottle cost RS 40, so now for RS 5 more, one get an extra 500 ml.

This localised campaign comes with the introduction of first, a new bottle design - internationally known as the Carolina design which makes for a more slender and slimmer pack which ensures a better palm grip while pouring for the consumer. The other being the festivities that these months offer and hence a strategic time for consuming cola's as social gatherings tend to rise.

Why only Mumbai?

While the rest of the country, seems to be battling winter, Mumbai is normally hit with the same robust heat that sets in during the March-April season. So, for the Mumbai market cola consumption's indicate two definite seasons, the latter being the current one.

Speaking to Indiantelevision.com Pepsi's executive vice president Vipul Prakash says, " This is an excellent time for us to drive consumption. Considering Mumbai doesn't have a defined winter season, the maha-offer was a good way to ensure increasing volumes as well as providing a value offer for our consumers."

Pepsi also spruced up its distribution reach. Apparently big pack sizes reach only 50 per cent of retailers, but the maha-offer 2.5 litre pack within 30 days of its launch has already covered 90 per cent of the retail outlets pointed out Prakash.

Real bottle life-size examples

Conceptualised by J Walter Thompson (JWT), the campaign is outdoor led with some support on the print side. The campaign spews one simple idea - The bigness of the bottle translated into Bahut bada Pepsi.

The real diffrentiator of this campaign are the life-size bottles that Pepsi has planted in strategic areas personifying the offer and ensuring impact and visibility.

Speaking about the campaign, JWT's senior vice president Rohit Ohri said, " This campaign was conceived with the best demonstrative medium in mind, which we concluded was outdoors. The whole idea revolved around Pepsi's main theme which is 'The big thirst - Yeh pyaas hain badi' which we extended to its satiation by 'Bahut bada Pepsi.'

Primarily, focussing on the single minded approach of large size, Mumbai has been swept by huge vertical hoardings, life size bottles reiterating the maha-offer.

This unique real examples of the mega - bottle campaign is the first ever to hit the market says Ohri.

Although, one major concern that this new size will have to battle, is the capacity of average refrigerators to store this big size. That will be one of the key factors that might prove as a stumbling block for this campaign.

But, Prakash explains," Yes, although this might be a point of concern right now, eventually refrigerators will modify their model to ensure storage of larger capacities. A similar problem was faced when the launch of the two litre cola bottles, but in six months, refrigerators adapted their design allowing space to store larger quantities.

Another concern is the loss of fizz in bigger packs of colas. In a two litre pack, the last 250-300 ml, is usually wasted as most consumer's complain that the drink becomes flat. With the introduction of the 2.5 litre pack, upto 500 ml is assured to loose its fizz. Here, Prakash says that this pack is not for normal consumption but a design for social gatherings and parties.

The 2.5 litre as of now is a promotional offer and will be available only during festive seasons and peak consumption months which fall from March - May.

Interestingly, Coke seems to be lying low on the promotional and advertising front. A recent consumer survey ranked Pepsi as the most preferred beverage brand with arch cola rival Coke trailing in almost all categories.

In the overall beverage segment, Pepsi seems to have topped the chart with 23 per cent aggregate preference in terms of brand association while Coke has been ranked second with 20 per cent, according to the 'Indicus Consumer Tracker' research.