MAM
The Thums Up man graduates to a new masculine code this summer
MUMBAI: Thums Up, India‘s most successful cola brand, is evolving into a wholesome personality while sticking to its masculine image.
This summer, Thums Up has graduated from its ‘Live the Thunder’ life philosophy to a new masculine code.
Aided by creative agency Leo Burnett, Thums Up has unleashed its ‘Aaj kuch toofani kartey hain’ (Let‘s do something stormy today) campaign as it seeks to quench the thirst of an increasing number of Indian consumers this hot summer and maintain its leading market share position in the cola segment.
Featuring action movie star Mahesh Babu, model-turned-actor Sahil Shroff, winner of Khatron ke Khiladi 2011 Dhaval Thakur and Kingfisher calendar girl Angela Johnson, the Thums Up man grows up from being the ‘angry young man’ to the ‘cool risk taker’, the follower of ‘playful mastery’ and now the advocate of bold masculine leadership.
Shot in Bangkok, the campaign highlights a series of daredevil acts by Babu and his team who use Thums Up as a fuel to achieve their mission to do something ‘Toofani’ (stormy). As the leader of the pack, Babu inspires his team to use a combination of bold action, smart thinking and team effort to outwit the challenges, demonstrating the bold leadership and daredevil attitude of a Thums Up lover.
The campaign also includes an anthem that has been composed by the lyricist duo of Ram Sampath and Amitabh Bhattacharya of ‘Delhi Belly‘ fame. The ad film has been directed by Hollywood action director Nick Livesey.
Says Leo Burnett executive creative director Sainath Saraban, “Thums Up campaigns are about ultimate adventure and daring stunts that reflect the brand’s persona. The new ‘Aaj Kuch Toofani Kartey Hain’ campaign has been designed to give the consumers a differentiated and thrilling experience. Shooting this campaign was extremely challenging and exciting and that added to the stature of the stunts.”
In the past too, Thums Up‘s brand proposition has been “action” and “daring” virtues as it differentiates itself from the other cola competing peers as a stronger aerated drink. The bold, red Thums Up logo is a very popular icon in India, forcing Coca-Cola to acquire it.
Thums Up‘s previous brand ambassadors include Bollywood actors Salman Khan and Akshaye Kumar.
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.
