Storyboard18 | Throwback: Thums Up – Defending against a global giant

(Representative Image) Brand Thums Up was launched almost 45 years ago in 1977 by Ramesh Chauhan of Parle and was acquired by Coca-Cola in 1993.

The economic liberalization policies of the 1990s ushered in many international companies wanting to explore the Indian market with their brands. There was more competition and fear that local brands may suffer. However, some brands were able to carve a niche for themselves. This is the story of one such iconic brand, Thums Up.

Thums Up and the need to change

The earlier campaigns: “Happy days are here again with Thums Up”, followed by “Food, Friends and Thums Up”, and “The Refreshing Cola” had done their part. Thums Up was at a crossroads again. Things needed to change with Pepsi on the way.

The drink, Thums Up, is more carbonated, stronger, and less sweet than the rest – a masculine/manly taste. The call was to move Thums Up away from the teens having fun, to renowned action-driven men who would go to any extreme to sample the intense taste of Thums Up.

Evolution of “Taste the Thunder” campaign: Ashok Kurien, of ad agency Ambience, was stuck creatively. What campaign would help Thums Up stand up to the onslaught of the global juggernaut, Pepsi? Exasperated, he reached out to his friend, Bugs Bhargava Krishna, who was working at Contract Advertising and shuttling between Bangalore and Mumbai.

Ashok briefed Bugs. Bugs went back to Bangalore and drank many bottles of Thums Up. He liked the ‘Hit’ which Thums Up gave after every drink. At Bangalore Airport, while returning, he was having yet another Thums Up, when a strong burp hit him - it was more thunderous bellow than a burp! Just then a Bangalore summer storm hit. The rumbling in the sky sparked the idea that drinking Thums Up was like tasting thunder. He wrote the line on a napkin and kept it with himself.

He met Ashok the next day and, before presenting the line, was building his case. The impatient Ashok said, “ F&^% the preamble, just tell me the line.” Bugs gave him the napkin. Ashok read it, kept quiet, and finally blurted out “you ba@$^#%, you have done it!

And then they got themselves drunk in celebration.

The story behind the “Taste the Thunder” campaign: The following evening, they met again with Elsie Nanji (co-founder and creative director) and her husband Hossi Nanji, who composed the Thums Up jingle. They discussed many ideas for the television commercials and finally came up with 6 ideas for the launch of the campaign. It was lifestyle advertising, but not too much, more a way of life.

The stories revolved around situations where Thums Up was the winner. Which also tied to thunder, as a round of applause. The team at Parle (which owned brand Thums Up then) was not convinced though. They questioned how a sound can be tasted. But Ramesh Chauhan of Parle decided to go ahead with the recommendation from Ambience.

Shantanu Sheorey, a popular photographer, had recently entered film production, and he filmed the commercials. A secret not known to many is that Ashok wrote the Hindi translation – Toofani Thanda.

Insights into Competition: Ambience knew that Pepsi would follow a certain formula and adapt what works internationally. So Ashok studied Pepsi’s tactics and decided to pre-empt them in India. Thums Up took the following actions:

a) Since Pepsi was the ‘The Choice of the New Generation”, they signed up Salman Khan for 10 years.

b) They did a taste test between Pepsi and Thums Up using Pooja Bhat, and she selected Thums Up.

c) Since Pepsi leveraged Top Gun for its advertising, Thums Up used the IAF fighter jets for a Top Gun-like television commercial.

Legacy of the campaign: The Thums Up campaign was so successful that the brand not only survived Pepsi’s entry into the Indian market but continued to maintain its market leadership.

Many years later, Bugs was working with Saatchi & Saatchi and was in London. Bugs went to a pub and was introduced to an old gent and a young man. The older person was from McCann and was interviewing the young man.

Bugs offered to excuse himself, but he was told to stay. After the interview, the talk turned to India. The young man had visited Goa recently. Talking about India, the older gent mentioned the problem McCann had in India. “There’s this bloody homegrown brand of Cola, that is giving Coke hell in India. The brand just has too much traction. Has a line ‘taste the thunder’ and the drinkers won’t change for anything.” Bugs diffidently said he wrote the line. On hearing this, the older gent got up and shouted to everyone in the pub. This is the guy giving us all the trouble in India, all the drinks are on him (Bugs) today.

Thums Up is an example of a local brand that managed to stay relevant, and even thrive in the face of global competition.