Identity and Nation in Coca Cola’s Thanda Narratives in India

When Coca-Cola re-entered the Indian market in the era of government-initiated liberalization, privatization, and globalization in the 1990s, one of the major challenges it faced was to again penetrate the Indian soft drinks market and acquire a considerable market share over a period of time in vie...

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Main Author: Rakesh Tripathi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Karadeniz Technical University 2024-06-01
Series:Nalans
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Online Access:https://nalans.com/index.php/nalans/article/view/770
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author Rakesh Tripathi
author_facet Rakesh Tripathi
author_sort Rakesh Tripathi
collection DOAJ
description When Coca-Cola re-entered the Indian market in the era of government-initiated liberalization, privatization, and globalization in the 1990s, one of the major challenges it faced was to again penetrate the Indian soft drinks market and acquire a considerable market share over a period of time in view of the fact that it was a foreign brand which had pulled out of Indian market owing to unfavorable legislations in 1977. Given this scenario, Coca-Cola, despite being a global brand with a high recall value, faced tough competition from popular Indian brands like Thums Up, Limca, and Gold Spot, which enjoyed a larger market share during the early 1990s. To meet this challenge, Coca-Cola launched a series of television commercials in Hindi, the national language of the country, featuring its brand ambassador, Aamir Khan, a popular Indian actor. Considered to be one of the most creative and popular advertisement campaigns of its times, the commercials specifically aimed to create a favorable narrative for Coca-Cola in the minds of Indian consumers. All the different versions of the commercial had a common but powerful punch line, which played a major role in positioning the brand at par with the long-standing Indian brands in the market.    This research article undertakes a semiotic analysis of the commercials, particularly with the aim of establishing the narrative(s) they offered and how that narrative was instrumental in giving Coca-Cola the makeover it needed to compete with the Indian brands.
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spelling doaj-art-b67460aede524067bb01c0339b2a11892025-08-20T02:55:36ZengKaradeniz Technical UniversityNalans2148-40662024-06-011224718410.59045/nalans.2024.43717Identity and Nation in Coca Cola’s Thanda Narratives in IndiaRakesh Tripathi0Sri Sri UniversityWhen Coca-Cola re-entered the Indian market in the era of government-initiated liberalization, privatization, and globalization in the 1990s, one of the major challenges it faced was to again penetrate the Indian soft drinks market and acquire a considerable market share over a period of time in view of the fact that it was a foreign brand which had pulled out of Indian market owing to unfavorable legislations in 1977. Given this scenario, Coca-Cola, despite being a global brand with a high recall value, faced tough competition from popular Indian brands like Thums Up, Limca, and Gold Spot, which enjoyed a larger market share during the early 1990s. To meet this challenge, Coca-Cola launched a series of television commercials in Hindi, the national language of the country, featuring its brand ambassador, Aamir Khan, a popular Indian actor. Considered to be one of the most creative and popular advertisement campaigns of its times, the commercials specifically aimed to create a favorable narrative for Coca-Cola in the minds of Indian consumers. All the different versions of the commercial had a common but powerful punch line, which played a major role in positioning the brand at par with the long-standing Indian brands in the market.    This research article undertakes a semiotic analysis of the commercials, particularly with the aim of establishing the narrative(s) they offered and how that narrative was instrumental in giving Coca-Cola the makeover it needed to compete with the Indian brands.https://nalans.com/index.php/nalans/article/view/770advertisementcompetitionsemioticnarrativeindian
spellingShingle Rakesh Tripathi
Identity and Nation in Coca Cola’s Thanda Narratives in India
Nalans
advertisement
competition
semiotic
narrative
indian
title Identity and Nation in Coca Cola’s Thanda Narratives in India
title_full Identity and Nation in Coca Cola’s Thanda Narratives in India
title_fullStr Identity and Nation in Coca Cola’s Thanda Narratives in India
title_full_unstemmed Identity and Nation in Coca Cola’s Thanda Narratives in India
title_short Identity and Nation in Coca Cola’s Thanda Narratives in India
title_sort identity and nation in coca cola s thanda narratives in india
topic advertisement
competition
semiotic
narrative
indian
url https://nalans.com/index.php/nalans/article/view/770
work_keys_str_mv AT rakeshtripathi identityandnationincocacolasthandanarrativesinindia