MAM
Thums Up to biking in India
MUMBAI: With the summer season upon us soft drink companies are going all out to further imprint brand awareness upon consumers. A case in point is Coca Cola.
The company has announced that its brand Thums Up will run a programme Thums Up Piyoge? Ninja Chalaoge? Hai Dum?
The aim is to promote the biking culture in India. The innovatively designed Thums Up under-the-crown (UTC) promotion is in line with the brand’s core identity of being – macho, outgoing, adventurous and fearless. The programme will give four winners an opportunity to ride home on a Kawasaki Ninja ZX 6R. A bike is worth over Rs 6,00,000.
To participate in the promotion consumers just need to peel the crown liner of their Thums Up bottle and collect four parts of Kawasaki Ninja ZX 6R bike and they can be the lucky winner. There are other prizes like over 100 Bajaj Pulsars and lakhs of biking gear like biker’s jacket, bags, sunglasses and waist-pouches up for grabs.
Coca-Cola India VP marketing Vikas Gupta said, “We had an overwhelming response to the Thums Up Everest Challenge – Hai Dum? through which we touched more than five lakh consumers in nearly 500 cities and towns. Thums Up Piyoge? Ninja Chalaoge? Hai Dum? also personifies the spirit of Thums Up – the spirit of adventure, of thrill and of excitement.”
The entire campaign is supported by an integrated marketing and communications plan that includes a TVC featuring Akshay Kumar, the brand ambassador for Thums Up. The TVC, conceptualised by Leo Burnett was launched on April 12 across all mainline Hindi channels inviting the Thums Up drinkers to participate in the UTC promotion. The TVC starts with the opening of a Thums Up bottle and the crown transforms into the legendary masked warriors, the Ninjas.
The four Ninjas attack our hero, but he, in his usual nonchalant way overcomes them easily. The communication construct echoes the promotion mechanic, ‘capture the 4 Ninjas and win the SuperBike Kawasaki Ninja’. The film is directed by Savier, flown in from Iceland and produced by Mad Entertainment.
Other marketing programmes lined up for the promotion of The Thums Up Ninja Hunt include activation of key accounts, promotional activities in colleges and marketplaces and an extensive roadshow casing the cool machines covering the country.
Brands
Thomas Cook India, SOTC and Booking.com team up for smarter corporate stays
Global hotel choices meet Indian corporate controls for seamless business travel
MUMBAI: Business travel just got a major upgrade. Thomas Cook (India) and its group company SOTC Travel have joined forces with Booking.com to offer Indian corporates world-class accommodation options with a side of convenience.
The collaboration brings Booking.com’s vast global inventory, more than 31 million listings across 220 countries, straight into Thomas Cook and SOTC’s corporate booking platforms. From luxury hotels and resorts to homes and apartments, business travellers now have an unprecedented range of choices, all while staying within company travel policies.
Thomas Cook and SOTC president & group head of global business travel Indiver Rastogi said, “Today’s business travellers want more choice, flexibility and transparency. By linking Booking.com’s extensive inventory with our managed corporate tools, we’re delivering exactly that: policy control, price clarity and service support that businesses can trust.”
The offering is designed with the Indian corporate traveller in mind. Key features include transparent pricing with GST-compliant invoices, curated hotel options for SMEs to large enterprises, coverage across 2,500 plus Indian cities, verified traveller reviews, essential business amenities, and integrated policy control for approvals, budgets and credit limits.
Booking.com VP partnerships Mark van der Linden added, “Corporate travellers in India want the same seamless experience they enjoy in personal trips, with the right corporate guardrails. This partnership makes our global accommodation inventory enterprise-ready, combining choice, flexibility and localised support.”
With real-time booking access on desktop and mobile, enterprise-specific rates, loyalty benefits, and future integrations into Thomas Cook’s TravelOne platform, the partnership promises to make corporate travel smoother, safer and smarter than ever.
