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Homegrown brand Thums Up was launched in 1977. Nearly five decades after its launch, an acquisition by Coca-Cola Company in 1993 and many ‘Toofans’ later, it became the first home-grown billion dollar beverage brand. Storyboard18 spoke with Arnab Roy, vice president, marketing Coca-Cola India and South West Asia, about the next milestone for the brand. Roy says, "It will be an incremental billion dollars in the next three years."

Homegrown brand Thums Up is close to Indians' hearts in many ways. From a go-to drink with or after a heavy meal to the classic pairing of Old Monk and Thums Up on a rainy day, the brand has found a place in everyday occasions over the past 45 years.

Its strong fizz makes it a leading brand in the Coca-Cola Company’s portfolio, globally, and also one of the leading players in the aerated beverage market in the country.

Just a few months ago Thums Up became the first home-grown billion-dollar Indian beverage brand. James Quincey, CEO of Coca-Cola Company attributed this growth to focused marketing and execution plans for the brand in India.

But there is more opportunity for the brand to grow, feels Roy. He tells Storyboard18, “The overall penetration of the brand is still very small, if you look at India’s opportunity and size. We will have another incremental billion dollars in the next three years. If we have the right strategy then it is absolutely possible.”

Roy shares three things that are important to make it happen. “We need to continue to make it relevant with everyday culture. This is our largest brand. It needs to be an iconic brand with every generation. So obliviously how well we are able to keep it relevant with the culture is critical." 

Second, he adds, is "how we are able to ensure that we build occasions around the brand. Which honestly we haven’t done a very good job of. I think it is seen as a powerful brand but how well do you make it relevant with everyday occasions? That is a big vertical we are working on." 

Third, how can this brand innovate? "We recently launched our first super soda-Charge by Thums up. And we are excited by its potential. It is not a cola. As we start thinking how big Thums Up can become with the power of what the brand stands for, I think the opportunity is endless.”

As a part of keeping itself relevant to everyday culture, the brand recently unveiled the #HarHaathToofan campaign around the 75 years of India’s Independence. 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BR9mxK8_ET8" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>


The campaign features inspirational stories of athletes like former Indian national cricket team captain and current President – BCCI, Sourav Ganguly, who instilled self-belief and fearlessness in the Indian cricket team. It also has Avani Lekhara, first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the Paralympics, firing her way to the top, despite losing her legs in an accident when she was 11 years old. And Nikhat Zareen, Indian Boxer and IBA Women’s World Boxing 2022 gold medalist, who became a world champion by showcasing great endurance and fortitude in a sport, which was traditionally considered masculine. 

The new campaign is an extension of #PalatDe, which was initially unveiled last year during Thums Up’s worldwide partnership with the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020. “This is part two of what we started off last year. We started with the Olympics and the idea of ‘Palat De’ started there. The response was outstanding both from brand equity and the impact on the business. So it was clear that we had to go back and activate this once again. We don’t think there was a better opportunity than the 75th year of India’s independence." 

Besides a TV campaign, there is going to be a lot of activation, content development with people who are making an actual impact in India’s progress so far. "We are working with Sudarshan Patnaik, the famous sand sculptor in Orissa, and other amazing artists. We're also working with chess prodigy Praggnanandhaa. That is the power of the campaign. We have so many people around us who are making an impact and that is what is going to make the difference. It's an infinite number of stories,” says Roy.

But is the challenging economic environment impacting their plans?

“So far we have had a fantastic year,” says Roy. “One of our best Q2 ever. India is the fastest growing operating unit worldwide for the Coca Cola Company and Thums Up has played a big role in it. Are there challenges? Absolutely. After everything that has happened, Covid, what’s happened in Ukraine, the supply chain issues are not small. We were lucky that there was enough demand but on the flip side it was the highest out of stock percentage that we saw across all our brands. We have never seen such high out of stock numbers.”

Roy says that they will continue to be bullish on the India economic opportunity. The company believes that India will be one of the few markets that can ride through any possible recession that may happen in the West.

He does acknowledge that inflation is a challenge. “It is hitting us. But we will have to have a smart plan on the commercial side, working on revenue growth management on how we can still manage to overcome the challenges that inflation poses.”

<blockquote>
"Thums Up is seen as a powerful brand but how well do you make it relevant with everyday occasions? That is a big vertical we are working on." </blockquote>

But, at the same time he is very clear that they have no plans to cut their marketing budget. “We will play with our pack mix instead,” says Roy. “When I say pack mix, it is very critical for us to ensure that we are able to offer affordable price points for our consumers. For Indian consumers, affordability is still critical. As we have a long way to go to recruit more consumers, I think this is going to be critical. We are trying to ensure that on the affordable packs, we are not making big price increases." 

However, he adds that there could be opportunity to increase prices on certain packs and certain channels. "Therefore, how your pack mix allows you to overcome those inflation challenges is what all of us are working on everyday right now.”

Thums Up needs to be an iconic brand with every generation

How many brands do you use? How many are ones you truly care for? From these, for how many can you recall advertising? I am sure the answer would be a single digit. But there will be many more brands which you can identify, at a glance, without any other prompting. Just their design, packaging, colour, smell etc will pop them up in your memory. That is important.

We have never lived in a time so full of brands and commercial stimuli. Already in our daily lives – on TV, radio, magazines, and billboards–digital marketing has brought them to every moment of our lives. But are we building stronger brands? Many argue that this is not the case. Brand Darwinism has peaked. Why is much forgotten and only so little remembered? In an over communicated society too much is being said and not enough is being repeated. At their core, brands are about trust. You don’t demand trust, you earn it through your actions. Being the same at all times is a big factor in trustworthiness.

Via evolution, we are all descended from people who relied on short cut decision making. In the early human period, one may guesstimate that less than 10% of information required for decision making would be available. Hence ‘fight or flee’ type reflexive decisions looked out for markers and signs which were extrapolated with lifesaving consequences.

The reason successful brands are vivid in people’s minds is thanks to distinctive assets. They must remain constant. This could be one big anchoring hook or many small ones sticking on to the consumer mind like Velcro. The ‘distinctiveness’ provides a reason to recall and that is a big battle won where marketing is concerned. Distinctive assets help create and consolidate a brand image and make it more desirable and remembered positively in the market. They work as mental triggers, reminding people of a brand and all its attributes and associations.

Distinctive assets are elements that trigger the memory of a brand in the consumers’ minds without mentioning its name. They can be something you see, read, hear, touch, or feel, and immediately reminds you of a brand. The barebones definitional criteria for a distinctive asset would be anything that strengthens at least one brand element in the public’s imagination.

Think slogans, colours, logos, fonts, music, sound-effects, visual effects, scents, packaging, product shape, characters, ambassadors or celebrities.

These elements, when associated with a brand, create a picture in people’s heads. When they are reinforced enough by consistent and coherent communication, they “stick” to the memory. Thus, distinctive assets can be easily accessed among other memories with just a small trigger.

But it is not a coincidence that these elements stick to the memory. We are talking about branding work here but with a deep scientific basis.

Antonio Damasio, professor of neuroscience at the University of Southern California, and the head of the Brain and Creativity Institute in his book, ‘Self Comes to Mind’, distinguishes between "emotions" and "feelings," stating that emotions are the unconscious, physiological responses in your body, and feelings are the mental perceptions of those physiological changes. Damasio is one of the world’s most preeminent neuroscientist whose view on emotions, consciousness, and decision-making are ground breaking. His book, Descartes' Error, shed light onto the ideas that rationality and emotions weren't opposites, but actually worked together and required each other. Damasio’s concept of Soma or a group of somatic markers is relevant to brand assets. Dr. Robert Heath writes in his book Seducing the Subconscious how "subconscious associative conditioning" is the method by which these associations get connected to brands.

When applied to brands, we see how every small encounter with a brand or even things associated with it influence our somatic marker for the brand. They emerge in our conscious minds prior to purchasing decisions. More than the conscious message, think also of shaping all the subconscious associations with the brand.

That is already enough to reach distinction. From there, it is possible to establish a deeper connection with consumers, stir their emotions, and make a difference in their lives.

People expect brands to contribute to the quality of their life and their well-being. Therefore, they are willing to create positive connections with brands. And a brand is nothing more than the set of experiences that the consumer has with it. These are associations of thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and sensations provoked by the outside world that are put together in people’s heads, forming the brand image.

Distinctive assets help to compose this experience and activate them in the memory of consumers. When hearing the set score of a brand signature tune, all past experiences are triggered in the memory and the relationship with the brand is strengthened. Distinctive assets remain there, stored in the memory. All it takes is an input – a chord from a soundtrack or the colour combination of a logo – to trigger brand recall instantly.

Distinctive assets make brands much more recognizable by the public. You don’t even need to mention its name for it to be remembered.

This recognition is important because it helps consolidate the brand image and build awareness.

It is interesting to think of distinctive assets in international marketing, especially since many of these elements work regardless of the language spoken. An image, a sound, or a character, for example, can be recognized anywhere in the world.

But this memory does not just bring that brand element to mind. With it, also comes everything that is associated with the brand, such as perceptions, opinions, and sensations that have been stored in your memory through previous experiences. Of course, this presumes a bedrock of subliminal positive experiences and associations.

It may be that distinctive assets trigger a memory of the positive feeling that using the product has already provided. But it may also be that the consumer connects it with memories that are not directly related to the brand but their life experiences - affective memories and create stronger ties with people’s emotions.

The vast majority of brands don't get to be loved. We feel slightly positively or negatively toward it, so we buy it or we don't. Research shows that we tend to narrow down our choices even in very high involvement categories like buying a car or a house. We fix a set of options and then choose from those. It's often our general gut feeling that gets those options put into the consideration set in the first place. The brand's somatic marker gives it a fighting chance to be considered. If you are in the subconscious mind, you will pop up when the decision funnels begin to get firmed up.
<blockquote>So, for most brands, rather than building a conscious feeling of "brand love”, unconscious recognition is a better bet.</blockquote>
Distinctive assets help to put these brands in a special place in your memory to be remembered when the time comes to make a purchase decision. This hopper from awareness to consideration is crucial. 

- Being unique - the element must be unique, original and differentiated, to highlight and evoke the brand and not its competitors.
- Being well-known - the element must be recognized by most of the public to be understood as a representation of the brand.

The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute proposes a methodology to identify the potential of distinctive assets, which consists of the following steps:

 - An in-depth study of the brand elements: survey the brand elements to analyze, test, and measure their strength.</li>
 - Research to collect data about the consumer experience and identify how connected the brand and its elements are in their perception.
 - Interpret users’ responses and identify how to use the elements in your brand communication.

Align the distinctive assets with the essence of the brand
<blockquote>Whatever element you choose to use as your distinctive asset needs to be aligned with the essence of your brand to be coherent.</blockquote>
Keep communication consistent

Create consistent communication to consolidate distinctive assets in people’s minds. Repeat repeat repeat.

Memory is built from reinforcement and insistence, with consistency across all content and brand channels.

Bring to mind Netflix’s “ta-dum”, Tiffany’s patent colour ,The Michelin Man, Coca Cola’s Red or the Nike swoosh. Then think if you recall anything more. Do you need to?

I rest my case.

Shubhranshu Singh is vice president, marketing - domestic &amp; IB, CVBU, Tata Motors. He writes Simply Speaking, a weekly column on Storyboard18. Views expressed are personal.

Simply Speaking: A brand mosaic and the little things that make it

“We will have another incremental billion dollars in the next three years for the home-grown billion dollar brand Thums Ups,” says Arnab Roy, vice president and head of marketing, Coca-Cola India and Southwest Asia to Storyboard18’s Shibani Gharat. He also talks about the brand’s new advertising campaign #HarHaathToofan.

<iframe title="Coca Cola's Arnab Roy On Thums Up New Campaign 'Har Haath Toofan' | Storyboard 18 | CNBC-TV18" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fXe4to9HL4Q" width="853" height="480" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Coca-Cola's Arnab Roy on Thums Up’s new ad campaign #HarHaathToofan

Vishal Gupta

Previous: Vice President - Beauty and Personal Care, Unilever Russia

Present: EVP - Consumer Beauty Brands, FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd (NYKAA)

FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd (NYKAA) appointed Vishal Gupta as executive vice president for its consumer beauty brands. With nearly three decades of experience in the FMCG space, Gupta joins Nykaa after a long tenure at Unilever globally where he led large-scale, award-winning campaigns and teams. In his last role at Unilever Russia, Gupta helmed the beauty and personal care business comprising a large portfolio of international and local brands including Lux, Surf Excel, Wheel and Sunlight. Gupta will now steward Nykaa’s transformative growth across its portfolio of owned consumer brands. Gupta’s appointment comes just a day after Nykaa announced the resignation of Reena Chhapra, CEO of its private label division. Recently, the company also confirmed the acquisition of lifestyle platform LBB.

Reena Chhabra

Previous: CEO - Private Label, Nykaa

Present: Not known

Reena Chhabra, who had served as the chief executive officer of e-commerce beauty company Nykaa's beauty private label has decided to move on. Her resignation will come into effect on August 16. During her six year stint at Nykaa, she helped take the private label to more households, introduced new product lines and expanded distribution. Chhabra has over two decades of experience and has worked across companies like Kodak, Kaya Skin Care, Unilever and Colorbar USA.

Ashish Tiwari

Previous: Chief Marketing and Digital Officer, Future Generali

Present: CMO, Home Credit

Ashish Tiwari, who served as the chief marketing and digital officer at Future Generali has put in his papers and is set to join consumer finance provider Home Credit as its CMO. With over two decades of experience under his belt, Tiwari is a seasoned marketer who has held positions at companies like HCL Infosystems, Vodafone, and JACPL etc.

Vineet Nair

Previous: Vice President - Mindshare

Present: Head of Media - Amazon India

Amazon India appointed Vineet Nair as the head of media. Previously, Nair was the vice president of GroupM’s Mindshare where he headed the client leadership and planning vertical for Mindshare Fulcrum. Nair has also been a part of organisations like Lodestar Universal and Amazon. At the e-commerce platform, he led the media planning and buying, and handled long term media strategy. Further, he looked after the day-to-day deployment for Amazon.in and new engagement platforms like Prime (video and retail), digital payment solutions, fashion and grocery.

Rajesh Ghatge

Previous: Chief Growth Officer, Publicis Groupe

Present: CEO, Wondrlab Technologies

Wondrlab Technologies appointed Rajesh Ghatge as the chief executive officer. Wondrlab India, a martech startup, launched Wondrlab Technologies to help clients transform their businesses and brands in the dynamically evolving industry 4.0 digital landscape. Ghatge has held senior positions at Amul, Lamb Weston, Bates CHI &amp; Sercon, iCare Life, Indigo Consulting etc. In April, Wondrlab acquired a data-driven influencer marketing platform Opportune. Through this acquisition, the company has added influencer marketing solutions to its network.

Ganapathy Balagopalan

Previous: Head Of Strategic Planning, Ogilvy West and East

Present: Deputy Chief Strategy Officer, Ogilvy India

Ogilvy India has promoted Ganapathy Balagopalan to the position of deputy chief strategy officer where he will partner some of the agency’s key clients. Further, he will be the national effectiveness leader and help teams across markets. Ganapathy will also partner account management and creative leaders to drive digital excellence.

Abhinav Kaushik

Previous: Executive Vice President &amp; Head of Office, Dentsu

Present: President, FCB India

FCB Ulka appointed Abhinav Kaushik to the position of president. Armed with more than two decades of experience, Kaushik started his career as an area sales manager at GE Capital. Then he moved to Contract Advertising and worked as an account manager. At M&amp;C Saatchi, he was the account director, and from there he moved to J.Walter Thompson and was the vice president and client services director. At Dentsu, headed the Delhi and Mumbai offices of Taproot Dentsu and Dentsu One. His work experience spans across multiple categories from FMCG, telecom and consumer electronics to auto, education, finance and fashion.

Pratik Mukkherjee

Previous: Head Of Marketing, Infra.Market

Present: Vice President - Brand Factory, Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd

House of Brands for beauty and personal care Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd appointed Pratik Mukkherjee as the vice president of the brand factory. In his new role, he will be responsible for crafting, launching, and building new brands businesses for the company. With 15 years of experience, Mukkherjee is a Cannes Lions-award winning commercial leader and his experience spans across consumer goods, technology and consumer internet sectors. At Procter &amp; Gamble, he started his career as the assistant country manager for Gillette India. He was promoted as the DTC head for the Indian and the South Asian region. From there, he moved to Urban Company where he was the marketing head of the beauty, men's grooming, and professional cleaning segment.

Jyoti Mahendru

Previous: Executive Vice President Human Resources, McCann Worldgroup

Present: Chief People Officer, Wunderman Thompson

Wunderman Thompson appointed Jyoti Mahendru as the chief people officer. In her new role, she will be responsible for talent development and talent acquisition strategies across the organisation and its group companies. Mahendru had started her career with Tata Press two decades ago. Then she moved to Star TV Network where she worked as the senior manager in the HR department. She then joined Barista Coffee Company and held the position of the vice president of HR.

Rohin Desai

Previous: Head - Trading and Partnerships, Mindshare Fulcrum

Present: National Media Buying Head, Bharat Media Group

Rohin Desai joined Bharat Media Group as the national media buying head. Desai had started his career with Godrej as the field officer. Then he joined the Media Edge as a media buyer and moved to Wavemaker as a business manager. At Lintas Media Group, he was the media director and later served as senior manager of media and planning at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. At Mindshare and at Madison Communications, he was partner, and vice president of media buying. In the latter position at Madison, he headed media investments nationally for ITC.

Cherryn Dogra

Previous: Head of Marketing, India Leadership Team, Emaar India

Present: Chief Marketing Officer, Bharti Land

Bharti Land appointed Cherryn Dogra as the chief marketing officer. Armed with 17 years of experience, Dogra has held positions across organisations like United Breweries Ltd, Pernod Ricard India, Lodha Group, Xanadu etc. Prior to joining Emaar India, she was the head of marketing at DLF Limited.

Saurabh Bajaj

Previous: Head of Marketing - Dairy, Britannia Industries

Present: Not known

Saurabh Bajaj, who had served as the head of marketing of the dairy segment at Britannia Industries has decided to move on. During his stint, he was responsible for the marketing strategy, activations and media for the Rs 450-crore dairy portfolio. The portfolio included Britannia cheese, ghee, dahi, dairy whitener and Winkin Cow milk shakes. Prior to this role, at Britannia Industries, Bajaj was the marketing head and looked after the international business. He was responsible for marketing Britannia's international business of Rs 700 crore. For a decade, he was associated with Mondelez International, and his last position there was as the branch sales manager. Before joining Britannia Industries, Bajaj headed innovation for the premium and luxury segment at USL - Diageo.

Abhishek Bhatia

Previous: Head ECC Marketing Max Mudra, DDB Mudra Group

Present: Vice President - Marketing, Hindustan Wellness

Hindustan Wellness has appointed Abhishek Bhatia as the vice president of marketing. He started his career as a sales officer at Coffee Day Group. He’s had stints at Ogilvy, Bates CHI&amp;Partners, Percept Ltd, Telenor, GroupM and Impact Communications.

Fatima Qidwai

Previous: Marketing Professional, Future Group India

Present: Head of Digital Marketing, SMART Stores, Reliance Retail

SMART Stores, which is a part of Reliance Retail has appointed Fatima Qidwai as the head of digital marketing. Qidwai Started her career with Future Group India as senior executive store operations, and at Future Value Retail as the assistant manager marketing. She then moved to Reliance Retail as the chief marketing manager and at Shoppers Stop she worked as the deputy general manager of the marketing department.

Snigdha Anand

Previous: Senior Brand Manager, Surf Excel

Present: Vice President - Marketing, Mamaearth

Mamaearth appointed Snigdha Anand as the vice president of marketing. At Unilever, she led purpose-led communication development for water-saving products in home care. Anand has also worked at Unilever Sri Lanka. She’s been an area sales manager and national projects lead of sales strategy and analytics, and later was brand manager of Surf Excel.

Sagar Sharma

Previous: Senior Manager, Strategic Portfolio Management, APAC, GSK Consumer Healthcare India

Present: Director of Business Strategy, The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company appointed Sagar Sharma as the director of business strategy. Sharma has had stints at Aricent and Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting. He worked at GSK Consumer Healthcare India for a decade.

Pratik Adhikari, Parijaat Sehgal and Swati Agnihotri

Previous: Brand Director, Lowe Lintas; Associate Account Director, Innocean Worldwide India; Management Supervisor, Ogilvy

Present: Associate Vice President, Account Management; Associate Vice President and head - account management; Client Servicing Director

Advertising agency Enormous Brands strengthened its leadership team by roping in Pratik Adhikari, Parijaat Sehgal and Swati Agnihotri. Adhikari and Swhgal were both appointed as the associate vice president of the account management. Agnihotri was appointed as the client servicing director. Adhikari, who has an experience of more than a decade started his career with Ogilvy and worked with Leo Burnett and Hakuhodo Percept Pvt. Ltd. Sehgal has been a part of agencies like Adept ARTvertising, McCann Worldgroup and Ogilvy &amp; Mather. Agnihotri worked at Marico, DDB Mudra Group, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Jay Morzaria

Previous: Creative Associate, Spring Marketing Capital

Present: Creative director, Oktobuzz

A few months after joining Spring Marketing Capital, Jay Morzaria quit the company to join OktoBuzz as creative director. Morzaria has worked at Schbang, The Glitch, Wavemaker and ^atom network in the past. At Schbang he was the creative head handling Pidilite's Fevicol brand.

Pranesh Urs

Previous: Director - Marketing, Samsung Electronics

Present: Not known

Pranesh Urs, who served as the director of the marketing department at Samsung Electronics has decided to move on. Announcing his departure from the organisation, he said, “These 6 years have been an incredible journey. Happy to have contributed to the growth of the brand, and to see where it is today despite a very competitive category. Now, onto exploring new possibilities.”Urs started his career at Ashok Leyland. He had stints on the agency side with Bates CHI&amp;Partners and DDB Mudra Group. He moved to HP Inc where he was the country marketing manager of laptops and tablets. His expertise spans across marketing management, digital strategy, direct marketing, digital marketing, social media marketing, integrated marketing and advertising.

Govind Agarwal, Sulagna Chanda, Neha Gupta

Previous: Associate Vice President – Client Services, Publicis Groupe; Associate Director, Plum Insights &amp; Strategy; Client Servicing Director, Hakuhodo Lync Pvt. Ltd.

Creative arm of Havas Media Group, Havas Worldwide has appointed Govind Agarwal, Sulagna Chanda and Neha Gupta as the vice president of account management, vice president of strategic planning and associate vice president of client servicing, respectively.

Ashish Golwalkar

Previous: Content Head, SET (Sony Entertainment Television) and SonyLiv

Present: Not known

As per reports, Ashish Golwalkar, who was the content head of Sony Entertainment Television and SonyLiv, has decided to move on from the company. Golwalkar has more than two decades of experience which spans across sales and marketing, content syndication, brand management and content creation. He has held positions in companies like Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, and Star TV Network etc. Three weeks ago, SET had appointed Rachin Khanijo as the marketing head.

Reuben Karkaria

Previous: Creative Head, The Good Creator Co

Present: Group Creative Director, MullenLowe Lintas Group

MullenLowe Lintas recently appointed Reuben Karkaria as the group creative head. Karkaria’s expertise lies across digital and mainline advertising, copywriting, and creative strategy. He has been a part of agencies and media houses like Leo Burnett India and Miss Malini.

Manoj Jacob

Previous: BBDO Bangalore

Present: Executive Creative Director, Crayons

Digital marketing agency Crayons roped in Manoj Jacob as the executive creative director. Jacob has worked in agencies like Ogilvy, DDB Mudra, Soho Square, Havas and Contract Advertising. At BBDO, Jacob helped set up the creative team from scratch and oversaw the creative work for Mercedes-Benz TeamX.

Vishal Chopra

Previous: Senior Director and Head of Growth Marketing, Freshworks

Present: Chief Growth Officer, Hiver

Software company Hiver has appointed Vishal Chopra as the chief growth officer. Chopra has been a part of organisations like IBM where he was the global marketing lead and he led the marketing strategy and planning for GBS’s MobileFirst portfolio globally. At Freshworks, he looked after the strategy and programs to acquire new customers, expand into the current base and retain the accounts. Towards the end of July, Freshworks announced an integration with Google’s Business for Freshchat, Freshdesk Omnichannel and Freshsales Suite products.

Udayan Chakravarty

Previous: Executive Creative Director, Wunderman Thompson

Present: ECD, FCB India

Advertising agency FCB Ulka has roped in Udayan Chakravarty as the executive creative director. Chakravarty, who has an experience of more than 15 years, had started his career as a trainee with FCB Ulka. He has gone on to work with agencies like Ogilvy, Dentsu International, JWT Worldwide, Wieden+Kennedy etc. A week ago, FCB India had appointed former Dentsu executive Abhinav Kaushik as the president.

Sudheendra Chokkasamudra

Previous: National Lead - Agency accounts, MyGate

Present: VP - Sales and Strategy, Sense Digital

Advertising and digital marketing solutions provider Sense Digital appointed Sudheendra Chokkasamudra as the vice president of sales and strategy. In his new role, he will be responsible for demand generation and campaign strategy. Having an experience of more than a decade, Chokkasamudra has been a part of organisations like Ohana Media, Ozone Media, Digex Media, LocoBuzz, Firework, ETV Bharat etc. The agency also promoted Ekta Khungar as the vice president, sales - key accounts. Her role would see her boost online revenues for the company's key accounts, develop new business and generate revenue.

Raunaq Singh Kohli

Previous: Marketing Director - India, Tinder

Present: Head of Marketing, Hinge

Dating app Hinge appointed Raunaq Singh Kohli as the head of marketing. This move comes after his six-year stint with Match Group that owns Tinder. In his new role, he will head the launch, setup and growth of Hinge in India. At Match Group, he was marketing director of the India region and aided Tinder’s launch and growth. Recently, Match Group said it would drop Tinder’s plans of adopting newer technologies like virtual currencies and metaverse-based dating. Further, Match Group also acquired members-only dating app The League.

Rohit Gupta

Previous: Chief Revenue Officer - Ad Sales and International Business

Present: Advisor, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI)

Rohit Gupta, who served as the advisor to the management and the board at Sony Pictures Networks India has decided to move on. During his 20 years at SPNI, he was responsible for the organisation’s growth under the different profiles he held. In a recent announcement, SPNI said it has extended its broadcast partnership with England Wales and Cricket Board (ECB) until 2028.

Balachandran V

Previous: National Trading Director, Dentsu Media

Present: Executive Vice President, Havas Media Group

Havas Media Group appointed Balachandran V as the executive vice president. Having an experience of 25 years, Balachandran has worked across agencies like Mindshare and has worked as an investment director with MPG. Recently, the company launched a sports, entertainment and culture based agency called Cake in India. Further, it won the integrated media mandate of millet-based food children’s brand Slurrp Farm, and expanded its footprint in Eastern India by tying up with Kolkata based digital marketing agency ‘Quite Easily Done’.

Ferzad Variyava

Previous: Group Creative Director, FCB Interface

Present: CCO, Langoor

Digital marketing agency Langoor has appointed Ferzad Variyava as the chief creative officer. In his new role, Variyava will drive brand strategy and creative thinking upstream. He will also help to coordinate brand creativity with technology, data and web 3.0 as part of the digital marketing transformation process. Armed with an experience of more than two decades, Variyava has worked in agencies like Publicis India, McCann Erickson India, Leo Burnett, Fortune Communications Pvt. Ltd, JWT, DDB Mudra Group, Famous Innovations etc. In June, Langoor exited Havas Group within three years of acquisition by the media company. Also, in the same month, the agency brought Vinay Rao on board as the head of client success where his mandate would be to head digital strategy and digital transformation on key accounts. And, gaming and esports agency Power League Gaming---based in Dubai—named Langoor as its digital, creative and strategic agency partner.

Titus Upputuru

Previous: National Creative director, Taproot Dentsu

Present: Founder, Titus Upputuru Company

Writer, director, lyricist and former national creative director of Taproot Dentsu, Titus Upputuru launched his own advertising and films firm – The Titus Upputuru Company. The company will create content for brands and audiences across platforms where along with offering brand strategy and static creative solutions across mediums and platforms, the company will offer their expertise in video also. Upputuru, who has more than 25 years of experience, has been a part of agencies like Ogilvy &amp; Mather, Publicis, TBWA and Dentsu.

Compiled by Kashmeera Sambamurthy

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As Qatar prepares to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup scheduled between 21 November and 18 December, a section of brands has chosen to stay away from the big sports tournament troubled by worker abuse and human rights issues prevailing in the host nation.

For instance, ING, an international financial services and banking group that sponsors the Netherlands and Belgium national teams, insisted it will not use World Cup imagery in its advertisements and it will not send representatives to Qatar. Several other partners of the Dutch and Belgian teams also issued statements outlining their plans to ignore what would in normal circumstances be a major marketing platform.

To be sure, brands such as Adidas, Coca-Cola and Hyundai/Kia are global partners with FIFA. Meanwhile, edtech major Byju’s also joined the big league by announcing FIFA sponsorship in March. However, none of these brands have openly taken a stand on the humanitarian crisis at Qatar.

Byju’s declined to comment on the issue.

Sports marketing and advertising executives believe that while globally FIFA might have to face soft boycott from a section of brands, in India there might not be much pushback as a select few brands associate themselves with the tournament.

[caption id="attachment_761" align="alignnone" width="1201"]<img class="size-full wp-image-761" src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/FIFA-edited.png" alt="Qatar &amp; FIFA World Cup 2022" width="1201" height="1201" /> Qatar &amp; FIFA World Cup 2022: Snapshot of sponsors and their stance[/caption]

Limited brands associations

“I’m not aware of any Indian brands backing out because of humanitarian concerns from any global sports properties so far. There haven’t been too many Indian brands in the first place that have been associated with global properties. It’s happening now with firms like Byju’s and a couple of others around the World Cup,” says a senior sports marketing executive requesting anonymity.

The executive emphasises that the boycott, if it happens, will be mostly done by international firms.

“I don’t see that happening around the FIFA World Cup primarily because it’s such a big property. In terms of humanitarian grounds, most brands would look at pressing and time bound issues such as a war, climate change which are constantly in the news. The Qatar humanitarian issue is an ongoing crisis so it is a lot more difficult to take a stand. Scandinavia human rights is treated as a big issue hence brands there taking a stand is no surprise,” the executive adds.

Legally not binding

In India, humanitarian issues do not always find their way into sports contracts, says Mathew Chacko, Partner, Spice Route Legal.

“However, it is merely a matter of time before Indian corporations that sponsor sports events start using their leverage to require organizers to contribute to the betterment of work / living / environmental standards,” he adds.

“In terms of sports contracts, there are no grounds to back out from a sponsorship; they can choose not to be a part of the event but they will have to pay the fee. We saw brands doing that during the Winter Games in China,” notes sports marketing executive quoted above.

Limited local advertiser interest

Undoubtedly, the FIFA World Cup is a massive sports property in terms of sponsorship and viewership. For instance, the last edition of the World Cup held in Russia garnered over 3.5 billion viewers. However, in cricket obsessed nations like India there’s limited interest in the tournament garnering viewers from selected markets.

As per BARC India’s data, FIFA World Cup 2018 managed to get a total of 111 million unique viewers and 231 million impressions. The viewership was high particularly in the regional centres. Kerala, Assam, North-east, Sikkim and West Bengal together contributed to 81 per cent of the total viewership for FIFA World Cup 2018.

This is in sharp contrast to IPL 2018 viewership where Star Sports Network with 17 channels managed to get 448 million unique viewers, the impressions of which comes up to 1.4 billion.

Although football’s viewership is increasing each year but the advertiser interest in it remains limited and this year the tournament will happen post Diwali so the interest will be impacted, says Dinesh Singh Rathore, CEO, Madison Omega.

“There is limited inventory to sell in FIFA matches (during mid-break, pre-break and post the match). Unlike cricket and tennis, there’s no live inventory to be sold. Thankfully, it is being held in Qatar so matches will be suitable for Indian audiences however there are only a set of brands that associate with football. Some of them are sponsors with FIFA and have a long standing association with leagues across Europe and they will continue to capitalise on it,” he concludes.

While FIFA might face pushback in terms of soft boycott by global firms, the ripple effect, it seems, is unlikely to be felt in India where football advertising is yet to reach a massive scale.

Will Qatar’s humanitarian crisis impact FIFA World Cup sponsorship?

In February 2022, Thums Up entered the billion-dollar club, a goal The Coca-Cola Company has been aggressively working towards since 2019. Thums Up has remained one of the strongest products in Coca-Cola's portfolio in India and globally.

Over the years, the beverage brand has been creating an all-macho thunderous personality for itself through its advertising. Last year, for the first time in its brand history, Thums Up decided to change its narrative. This happened after it became the worldwide partner of the Tokyo Olympics. The brand also partnered with athletes who represented India at the Games. After the Tokyo Olympics, Thums Up became the first FMCG brand to partner with the Paralympic Games.

During the Tokyo Olympics, the brand spotlighted stories of leading sportspersons for its ad campaign #PalatDe.  Thums Up also inked strategic sponsorship deals with wrestler Bajrang Punia, boxer Vikas Yadav and ace archers Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das. It collaborated with the National Rifle Association of India and sponsored the shooting contingent including Manu Bhaker. Thums Up has also collaborated with cricketing events.

In a conversation with Storyboard18, Arnab Roy, vice president and head-marketing, Coca-Cola India and Southwest Asia, shares why Thums Up is committed to promoting and supporting sports and sports personalities, why some sporting bodies need to look beyond tactical brand partnerships and more. Read on:

How has the association with the Olympics and Paralympics enhanced the brand Thums Up? 

Last year, the brand set out to make an evolution with its association with the Olympic and Paralympic Games. With these campaigns, we aimed to celebrate Indian athletes across both the Olympic and the Paralympic games - to showcase the core values of brand Thums Up, for what it has truly stood for since inception – strength, perseverance, and resilience.

As an ode to the athletes and their arduous journey towards this pinnacle of sporting excellence, Thums Up’s creative and innovative campaign resonated beautifully with the audience and it contributed greatly to the brand’s growth in the year 2021. In fact, it played a critical role in Thums Up becoming the first homegrown – billion-dollar brand in Coca-Cola India’s portfolio. Additionally, in a research done by the IOC, Thums Up was the second most recalled brand associated with the Olympic Games across countries and across companies.

What are the benefits of associating with non-cricket events and personalities?

While cricket continues to be one of the most loved sports in India, The Coca-Cola Company globally has a longstanding history of supporting major sporting events, organizations, and projects around the world. Sports partnerships are a part of the DNA of The Coca-Cola Company.

Globally, we have worked closely with FIFA for the past four decades, and with World Cup Rugby for over 25 years. We have also been associated with UEFA in the past.

In India, while mainstream sports such as cricket garner interest from brands and consumers alike, and rightly so, we believe that it is just as important to support inclusive sporting tournaments and platforms. Our close association with Olympic and Paralympic Games’ and athletes such as Dr Deepa Malik, Bajrang Punia, Mariyappan Thangavelu, Avani Lekhara, Deepika Kumari, Manu Bhaker and many more from diverse backgrounds is something we are extremely proud of and resonates well with the company’s philosophy of diversity inclusion and equality.

Also, what does cricket bring to the table that other games don't?

Cricket in India is not just a mere sport. It is a religion. Fans across cultures and generations come together to celebrate the thrilling spectacle that is cricket. Cricket enables brands to reach out to consumers across demographics, and promises love, engagement, as well as prominence, unparalleled to any other sporting event.

What do brands need to do more to promote a greater sports culture in India?

We believe brands can do a lot to promote the sporting culture in India. A few top-line approaches could range from inspiring the next generation of athletes with powerful stories around sport/ sporting events; helping build sustainable grassroot programs across sports; driving inclusivity in sport – actively promoting the paralympic movement, actively promoting women sport and women athletes to be at par with men’s sport; and driving the popularity of the sport in rural and small-town India.

What are the current challenges of sports marketing? 

Many sporting bodies (not all) still see brands and companies as cash sources and thus most of the partnerships are short-term tactical ones. There 
is an opportunity to build a true partnership and play the long-term game with brands. The Coca-Cola Company for example only believes in long-term partnerships and nurtures the relationship over a period of time. We have been the longest-standing partner of both the FIFA WC and the IOC.

Which emerging sports and leagues do you see the big opportunities in?

We continue to believe there is a massive opportunity across all non-cricket sports – India is destined to become a massive market across many sports and not just cricket.

What's the next big thing on Thums Up's plan of action for sports marketing?

We shall continue to activate both cricket and non-cricket sports across urban and rural areas over the next 12-15 months.

Coca-Cola’s vision is to craft the brands and choice of drinks that people love, to refresh them in body and spirit. India is a key market for The Coca-Cola Company, and we will continue to prioritize innovation as a part of our progressive marketing strategy, along with our associations with various sporting tournaments, to help strengthen our relationship with our audiences and consumers across the country.

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