MAM
Fanta’s new TVC with Rani launches 25 March
MUMBAI: Summer beckons and with that the cola war begins. Coca-Cola India is all set to launch yet another ad campaign for its orange drink Fanta with brand ambassador Rani Mukherjee.
The campaign ‘Rang Le Dil Khol Ke’ will launch on 25 March across all Hindi and Tamil channels and builds on the last year’s popular campaign ‘Dil Khol Ke’ and has been conceptualized by Ogilvy & Mather (Mumbai).
Rani Mukherjee in the new Fanta TVC
The company also launched Fanta in a 600ml pack size (500ml+100ml free) at Rs 15 across all key markets in India, keeping in tune with its affordability strategy. This new initiative is backed by a Fanta television commercial (TVC) with the popular actress Simran, and is running across all Hindi mainline channels, besides on-ground marketing activities and promotions.
“Fanta is currently the market leader in the orange drinks category and is identified as ‘The Fun Catalyst’ among the youth,” says Coca Cola India vice president Sunil Gupta. He adds, “Our campaigns this summer, will be focusing on consumer insights and consumer connect.”
Thinking up a prank – Mukherjee
Fanta has been projected as a drink which stands for its vibrant color, tempting taste that not just uplifts feelings but also helps free spirit thus encouraging one to indulge in the moment. This mood has been effectively captured in the latest Fanta TVC, which shows Rani Mukherjee playing a prank on an auto rickshaw driver along with her friends.
MAM
How beverage brands are rethinking marketing strategies for weather-led demand
SLMG Beverages Private Limited joint managing director Paritosh Ladhani.
MUMBAI: As Sun climbs up the hemisphere, summer has clearly arrived in India. On 7th March 2026 Delhi registered a maximum temperature of 35.7 degrees Celsius which is the highest reading logged for the first week of March in the last 50 years. Climate Change has been prolonging summers by causing earlier spring warming, delayed autumn cooling, and more frequent, intense heatwaves that persist for much longer periods.
In an endeavor to stay ahead of the curve, Beverage Brands are shifting from fixed seasonal marketing tactics to weather responsive strategies backed by data-driven insights, flexible campaigns, and diversified portfolios to capitalize on unruly temperature spike. In 2025, India’s beverage market experienced a massive, heat-triggered surge with carbonated drinks and ice cream volumes spiking 20–25 per cent in the March quarter itself on the back of hottest February in 125 years.
Clearly campaign timelines are being advanced to reap the seasonal shift in line with the jumping mercury. In the Indian context where Cricket is nothing short of religion, big ticket tournaments like T20 World Cup, Indian Premier League, ICC Champions Trophy provide plethora of opportunities to calibrate marketing campaign designs and associated business strategies to associate refreshment with community viewing both outdoor and indoors. A new trend that has taken the world by storm is that of booking the theatres for bonhomie viewing. It has also opened avenues for joint marketing initiatives by the Multiplex and Beverage Brands.
Price disrupting small potions and value packs tend to drive significantly higher volumes owing to volumetric flexibility and affordability to the consumers. Ramping up of cold supply chains for transit and at point of sales (POS) are strategic business imperatives that again define success of beverage brands.
In the era of AI and Big Data it is easy to track and calibrate messaging based on daily or weekly weather changes. Geo-targeted digital advertisement campaigns are also being run during heatwaves to make the business and marketing imperative very contextual. These pre-emptive strategies fueled by real time data and technology immensely help beverage brands to adjust supplies to the areas that are likely to generate more demand.
Novelty brings premium to the FMCG Sector and Beverage Brands are no exception. Newer SKUs build up excitement in consumers besides imparting the scope of frequent revitalization of brand marketing campaigns. Ensuring continuum of supply chain across material suppliers, logistics providers, distributors/wholesalers, and retailers become a strategic business strategy imperative for beverage brands during peak season.
Carbonated drinks among other beverages including packaged mineral water sell like hotcakes in summers, a period where holiday season gives big impetus to sales volumes. Tying up with air carriers railways, amusement parks, malls, convention centers for inclusion in the onboard beverage deck also holds a big window of opportunity for brands.
Limited period diversification into special summer categories entailing juices and functional beverages to capture the broader hydration market is also a business cum marketing imperative that beverage brands eye on. This also brings to fore the responsible side of the brand placing the compass on wellness of consumers.
Seasons are cyclic, hence summers are inevitable. Further, due to anthropogenic climate change, summers surely have been staging prolonged appearance that keep bringing beverage brands on to their drawing boards frequently for strategizing business and marketing campaigns that are agile, refreshment-focused, visually dominant in retail, affordable, and optimally promoted through seasonal campaigns in above and below the line media.
