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Under pressure, the world's only 'real' cola takes an interesting new route to consumer mindspace. By Alokesh Bhattacharyya Look out! It's not a bird, it's not a plane, it's not even a puffy new haircut... it's Hindi film star Vivek Oberoi, the brand ambassador of The Coca-Cola Company's latest launch in India, Vanilla Coke. And he has gone Bollywood retro on TV screens, spinning about on a giant turntable, crooning and crowing ("Wakaw!") about tradition. Or rather, Vanilla Coke's attitude towards tradition (just what that is, you go figure). A sub-brand being projected as some new sort of ice-cream soda pop experience would, of course, demand some sort of consumer breakaway from past perceptions. There's cola you drink and vanilla you eat, they say, but Coke has it all blended in for you to slurp. The product----cola with a hint of vanilla----is of recent origin. It was launched in the US in May 2002, and 30 other countries thereafter. Says a company spokesperson: "The basic premise behind Vanilla Coke is 'Ice Creamy Thanda'. The 'Ice Creamy' is associated with vanilla, and 'Thanda' is associated with Coke. People often go to fast food joints and take something called ice-cream soda, where they put ice-cream into coke to get extra taste. So we expect a lot of people to take to this product." What's with the 'wakaw' thing? Nothing in particular. It's a word with no clear definition that has been around in Hindi cinema's popular culture for decades. But what explains the launch timing? It comes suspiciously close to the recent pesticide controversy. Close enough, in fact, to prompt suggestions of the brand being under pressure to align itself with parliamentary notions of what a healthful refreshment should be. The company's spokesperson is vehement in denying any such causation. "There is no controversy," he reacts, with some alarm, "Consumers are happy with our products, and they trust our products. So we don't see any reason why such things should affect the new product in any way." The product was launched after intense market studies to gauge the sustainability of such a brand variant (note that other variants such as Diet Coke and Cherry Coke haven't had full-scale launches in India yet). So there. This not exactly some 'yo I'll solve it' solution to some 'let me out' problem in India. Nor even a flank defence for the main cola brand against attack from ice-cream's claim to being the more satisfying stuff of 'thanda' this summer (or is it?). It's a widening of the brand's offer basket, plain and simple. And the response, the company claims, has been good. "Feedback from customers has been really amazing," says the spokesperson, "people are thrilled. We expect it to make a huge impact on the market." Huge---did the spokesperson say 'huge'? At the moment, Vanilla Coke is available only in dual-pour 500-ml PET bottles, and it's not clear yet whether the variant will make it to a single-serve format (aluminium cans or glass bottles). But then, it has barely been a few weeks, and the ad campaign has its share of ambiguity too.
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