• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Rina Chandran

The higher print spends are clearly an indication of the damage control exercise that the cola majors put in place quickly, a media expert said.

Mumbai , Sept. 14

WHEN the going gets tough, press ad spends go up - at least in the case of the colas. The cola majors, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, upped their press spends considerably in the month of August, when they were caught in a bitter controversy over the alleged content of pesticide in several of their brands.

While the monsoon months of June, July and August are generally an off-season for the colas as far as advertising activity is concerned, total press ad spend by Coca-Cola in August was more than Rs 139 lakh (calculated on market rates), as compared to a spend of just over Rs 39 lakh in July, according to TAM-Adex, which monitors ad spends in press and on television. Pepsi spent more than Rs 113 lakh on press ads, as compared to just under Rs 10 lakh in July.

The CSE report charging that the colas contained high levels of pesticide was issued on August 5, and a Pepsi ad in the national dailies three days later declared, `The safest thing you're likely to drink today is a Pepsi'. When the Government gave a clean chit to the colas on August 21, the Pepsi ad the very next day invited consumers to `Refresh your faith... refresh your thirst.'

However, Pepsi found itself mired in another controversy when it used a quote from the Minister of Health, Ms Sushma Swaraj, in the ad, and so issued another ad a week later, apologising to the Minister.

Overall, for the week of August 3-9, Coca-Cola spent about Rs 110 lakh on press, compared to about Rs 16 lakh the previous week, while Pepsi spent about Rs 75 lakh on press, compared to only about Rs 2.5 lakh the previous week. For the weeks of August 10-23, Coca-Cola spent more than Rs 29 lakh on press, as compared to Pepsi's spend of about Rs 39 lakh, according to TAM-Adex.

By comparison, their TV spends remained low: Coca-Cola spent about Rs 3.50 lakh (up to August 23), as compared to Rs 55 lakh in July. Pepsi spent just Rs 1.23 lakh in August, as compared to Rs 1.60 lakh in July. The companies said they did not pull any ads from air.

Both companies had said they would undertake efforts to reassure consumers and rebuild trust through a variety of measures that comprised print, TV, online, on-ground, PR and trade contacts. The higher print spends are clearly an indication of the damage control exercise that the cola majors put in place quickly, a media expert said.

As print requires less of a lead time than TV, and with the situation changing from day to day, it was obviously easier to execute a plan in the press, the expert added.

Now, with the controversy laid to rest, it is not expected to impact the colas' festive spends. The new advertising is not expected to carry even a whiff of the controversy. Happy days are here again?

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
Raw deal on farm subsidies: Lamy

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line