Brand Potency of Soft Drink in India

Introduction

Research Objective

The sole objective of making of this research report is to know about the present BRAND potency of PEPSI in comparison to other brands of soft drinks competing in the Indian market and by the help of a research to know that which soft drink brand has a highest brand potency. This report will further put a spotlight on the various soft drinks competitors in the Indian Market and the attitude and choice of the customers about their preferred soft drinks.

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Industry/Company Background

Soft drink market size for FY00 was around 270 million cases (6480mn bottles). The market witnessed 5- 6% growth in the early‘90s. Presently the market growth has growth rate of 7- 8% per annum compared to 22% growth rate in the previous year. The market size for FY01 is expected to be 7000 million bottles. Soft Drink Production area The market preference is highly regional based. While cola drinks have main markets in metro cities and northern states of UP, Punjab, Haryana etc. Orange flavored drinks are popular in southern states.

Sodas too are sold largely in southern states besides sale through bars. Western markets have preference towards mango flavored drinks. Diet coke presently constitutes just 0. 7% of the total carbonated beverage market. Growth promotional activities The government has adopted liberalized policies for the soft drink trade to give the industry a boast and promote the Indian brands internationally. Although the import and manufacture of international brands like Pepsi and Coke is enhanced in India the local brands are being stabilized by advertisements, good quality and low cost.

The soft drinks market till early 1990s was in hands of domestic players like campa, thumps up, Limca etc but with opening up of economy and coming of MNC players Pepsi and Coke the market has come totally under their control. The distribution network of Coca cola had 6. 5 lakhs outlets across the country in FY00, which the company is planning to increase to 8 lakhs by FY01. On the other hand Pepsi Co's distribution network had 6 lakh outlets across the country during FY00 which it is planning to increase to 7. 5 Lakh by FY01.

Types

Soft drinks are available in glass bottles, aluminum cans and PET bottles for home consumption. Fountains also dispense them in disposable containers Non-alcoholic soft drink beverage market can be divided into fruit drinks and soft drinks. Soft drinks can be further divided into carbonated and non-carbonated drinks. Cola, lemon and oranges are carbonated drinks while mango drinks come under non carbonated category. The market can also be segmented on the basis of types of products into cola products and non-cola products. Cola products account for nearly 61-62% of the total soft drinks market.

The brands that fall in this category are Pepsi, Coca- Cola, Thumps Up, diet coke, Diet Pepsi etc. Non-cola segment which constitutes 36% can be divided into 4 categories based on the types of flavors available, namely: Orange, Cloudy Lime, Clear Lime and Mango.

About Pepsico & Its Products

PepsiCo Mission

"To be the world's premier consumer products company focused on convenience foods and beverages. We seek to produce healthy financial rewards to investors as we provide opportunities for growth and enrichment to our employees, our business partners and the communities in which we operate. And in everything we do, we strive for honesty, fairness and integrity".

Corporate Profile PepsiCo

In India PepsiCo entered India in 1989 and has grown to become one of the country’s leading food and beverage companies. One of the largest multinational investors in the country, PepsiCo has established a business which aims to serve the long term dynamic needs of consumers in India. PepsiCo India and its partners have invested more than U. S. $1 billion since the company was established in the country. PepsiCo provides direct and indirect employment to 150,000 people including suppliers and distributors.

PepsiCo nourishes consumers with a range of products from treats to healthy eats, that deliver joy as well as nutrition and always, good taste. PepsiCo India’s expansive portfolio includes iconic refreshment beverages Pepsi, 7 UP, Mirinda and Mountain Dew, in addition to low calorie options such as Diet Pepsi, hydrating and nutritional beverages such as Aquafina drinking water, isotonic sports drinks - Gatorade, Tropicana100% fruit juices, and juice based drinks – Tropicana Nectars, Tropicana Twister and Slice. Local brands – Lehar Evervess Soda, Dukes Lemonade and Mangola add to the diverse range of brands.

PepsiCo’s foods company, Frito-Lay, is the leader in the branded salty snack market and all Frito Lay products are free of trans-fat and MSG. It manufactures Lay’s Potato Chips, Cheetos extruded snacks, Uncle Chipps and traditional snacks under the Kurkure and Lehar brands. The company’s high fibre breakfast cereal, Quaker Oats, and low fat and roasted snack options enhance the healthful choices available to consumers. Frito Lay’s core products, Lay’s, Kurkure, Uncle Chipps and Cheetos are cooked in Rice Bran Oil to significantly reduce saturated fats and all of its products contain voluntary nutritional labeling on their packets.

The group has built an expansive beverage and foods business. To support its operations, PepsiCo has 43 bottling plants in India, of which 15 are company owned and 28 are franchisee owned. In addition to this, PepsiCo’s Frito Lay foods division has 3 state-of-the-art plants. PepsiCo’s business is based on its sustainability vision of making tomorrow better than today. PepsiCo’s commitment to living by this vision every day is visible in its contribution to the country, consumers and farmers. Performance With Purpose

Performance with Purpose articulates PepsiCo India's belief that its businesses are intrinsically connected to the communities and world that surrounds it. Performance with Purpose means delivering superior financial performance at the same time as we improve the world. To deliver on this commitment, PepsiCo India will build on the incredibly strong foundation of achievement and scale up its initiatives while focusing on the following 4 critical areas that have a business link and where we believe that we can have the most impact.

Human Sustainability reflects PepsiCo’s goal of nourishing consumers with products that range from treats to healthy eats. PepsiCo’s products have always offered consumers nutrition as well as great taste. The progress that PepsiCo has made under the Human Sustainability pillar includes reformulating some of its products to improve their nutritional profile while launching products that reflect consumer demand for healthier nutritious snacks and beverages. PepsiCo partners with Governments, health officials and Non Governmental Organisations to help address obesity concerns and it continues to provide consumers with new product choices and innovations.

Environmental Sustainability is based on PepsiCo’s commitment to strive to replenish the resources used where possible, and minimize the impact on the environment. PepsiCo continues to work to further reduce its water and electricity consumption and improve its packaging sustainability. Across the world, PepsiCo has re-used water from its processing plants and has worked with local communities to provide access to clean water, while supporting farmers to deliver “more crop per drop. ” Talent Sustainability is founded on PepsiCo’s belief that cherishing its extraordinary group of people is crucial to building an empowered workforce. PepsiCo pursues diversity and creates an inclusive environment which encourages associates to bring their whole selves to work.

PepsiCo has increased female and minority representation in the management ranks and has encouraged employees to participate in community service activities while continuing to create rewarding job opportunities for people with different abilities. Together, PepsiCo associates across the world are building on the platform of Human, Environment and Talent Sustainability, while delivering great financial results. PepsiCo India’s Performance With Purpose To deliver on the commitment of Performance With Purpose, PepsiCo India continues to build on its strong foundation of achievements and scale up its initiatives while focusing on the following 4 critical areas that are linked to its business and where it can have the most impact.

There have been many Pepsi variants produced over the years since 1898, including Diet Pepsi, Crystal Pepsi, Pepsi Twist, Pepsi Max, Pepsi Free, Pepsi AM, Pepsi Samba, Pepsi Blue, Pepsi Gold, Pepsi Holiday Spice, Pepsi Jazz, Vanilla Pepsi, Pepsi X (available in Finland and Brazil), Pepsi Next (available in Japan and South Korea), Pepsi Raw, Pepsi Retro in Mexico, Pepsi One, Pepsi Ice Cucumber and Pepsi White in Japan. In October 2008, Pepsi announced they would be redesigning its logo and re-branding many of its products by early 2009. In 2009, Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Pepsi Max began using all lower-case fonts for name brands, and Diet Pepsi Max was re-branded as Pepsi Max. The brand's blue and red globe trademark became a series of "smiles," with the central white band arcing at different angles depending on the product. As of January 2009, Pepsi's newer logos have only been adopted in the United States. Currently, Pepsi Wild Cherry and Pepsi ONE are the only two products that still use their previous design.

Diet Pepsi Wild Cherry, Diet Pepsi Lime, and Diet Pepsi Vanilla received the redesign. Origins Pepsi was originally named "Brad's Drink", after its creator, a pharmicist in New Bern, North Carolina. It was created in the summer of 1893 and was later renamed Pepsi Cola in 1898, possibly due the digestive enzyme pepsin and kola nuts used in the recipe. Bradham sought to create a fountain drink that was delicious and would aid in digestion and boost energy. Another theory is that Bradham and his customers simply thought the name "Pepsi" sounded good and reflected the fact that the drink had some kind of "pep" in it because it was a carbonated drink.

And another theory is that the word Pepsi was chosen because it reflected phonetically the sound of a can being opened, the sound "pop" "schi", was condensed and simplified in the name "Pepsi". This theory can be considered folklore only, since at the time of the naming of the drink, Pepsi was sold in glass bottles and not metal cans; and the pop top lid producing Pepsi's oddly phonetic sound wouldn't be invented for another forty years. In 1903, Bradham moved the bottling of Pepsi-Cola from his drugstore into a rented warehouse. That year, Bradham sold 7,968 gallons of syrup. The next year, Pepsi was sold in six-ounce bottles, and sales increased to 19,848 gallons. In 1929, Pepsi received its first logo redesign since the original design of 1905. In 1926, the logo was changed again.

In 1929, automobile race pioneer Barney Oldfield endorsed Pepsi-Cola in newspaper ads as "A bully drink... refreshing, invigorating, a fine bracer before a race" In 1931, the Pepsi-Cola Company went bankrupt during the Great Depression- in large part due to financial losses incurred by speculating on wildly fluctuating sugar prices as a result of World War I. Assets were sold and Roy C. Megargel bought the Pepsi trademark. Eight years later, the company went bankrupt again. Pepsi's assets were then purchased by Charles Guth, the President of Loft Inc. Loft was a candy manufacturer with retail stores that contained soda fountains. He sought to replace Coca-Cola at his stores' fountains after Coke refused to give him a discount on syrup.

Guth then had Loft's chemists reformulate the Pepsi-Cola syrup formula. Rise During the Great Depression, Pepsi gained popularity following the introduction in 1936 of a 12-ounce bottle. Initially priced at 10 cents, sales were slow, but when the price was slashed to five cents, sales increased substantially. With a radio advertising campaign featuring the jingle "Pepsi cola hits the spot / Twelve full ounces, that's a lot / Twice as much for a nickel, too / Pepsi-Cola is the drink for you," Pepsi encouraged price-watching consumers to switch, obliquely referring to the Coca-Cola standard of six ounces a bottle for the price of five cents (a nickel), instead of the 12 ounces Pepsi sold at the same price.

Coming at a time of economic crisis, the campaign succeeded in boosting Pepsi's status. In 1936 alone 500,000,000 bottles of Pepsi were consumed. From 1936 to 1938, Pepsi-Cola's profits doubled. Pepsi's success under Guth came while the Loft Candy business was faltering. Since he had initially used Loft's finances and facilities to establish the new Pepsi success, the near-bankrupt Loft Company sued Guth for possession of the Pepsi-Cola company. A long legal battle, Guth v. Loft, then ensued, with the case reaching the Delaware Supreme Court and ultimately ending in a loss for Guth.

Marketing

This Pepsi logo is still used with Pepsi Wild Cherry, Pepsi ONE, and in many countries. In 1975, Pepsi introduced the Pepsi Challenge marketing campaign where PepsiCo set up a blind tasting between Pepsi-Cola and rival Coca-Cola. During these blind taste tests the majority of participants picked Pepsi as the better tasting of the two soft drinks. PepsiCo took great advantage of the campaign with television commercials reporting the test results to the public. In 1976 Pepsi, RKO Bottlers in Toledo, Ohio hired the first female Pepsi salesperson, Denise Muck, to coincide with the United States bicentennial celebration. In 1996, PepsiCo launched the highly successful Pepsi Stuff marketing strategy.

By 2002, the strategy was cited by Promo Magazine as one of 16 "Ageless Wonders" that "helped redefine promotion marketing. " In 2007, PepsiCo redesigned their cans for the fourteenth time, and for the first time, included more than thirty different backgrounds on each can, introducing a new background every three weeks. One of their background designs includes a string of repetitive numbers 73774. This is a numerical expression from a telephone keypad of the word "Pepsi. " In late 2008, Pepsi overhauled their entire brand, simultaneously introducing a new logo and a minimalist label design. The redesign was comparable to Coca-Cola's earlier simplification of their can and bottle designs.

Due to the timing of the new logo release, some have criticised the logo change, as the new logo looked strikingly similar to the logo used for Barack Obama's successful presidential campaign, implicating a bias towards the President. Also in 4th quarter of 2008 Pepsi teamed up with Google/Youtube to produce the first daily entertainment show on Youtube for Youtube. This daily show deals with pop culture, internet viral videos, and celebrity gossip. Poptub is refreshed daily from Pepsi. Since 2007, Pepsi, Lay's, and Gatorade have had a "Bring Home the Cup," contest for Canada's biggest hockey fans. Hockey fans were asked to submit content (videos, pictures or essays) for a chance at winning a party in their hometown with The Stanley Cup and Mark Messier. In 2009, "Bring Home the Cup," changed to "Team Up and Bring Home the Cup. The new installment of the campaign asks for team involvement and an advocate to submit content on behalf of their team for the chance to have the Stanley Cup delivered to the team's hometown by Mark Messier. Bans in India Pepsi arrived on the black market in India in 1988. In 2003 and again in 2006, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a non-governmental organization in New Delhi, claimed that soda drinks produced by manufacturers in India, including both Pepsi and Coca-Cola, had dangerously high levels of pesticides in their drinks. Both PepsiCo and The Coca-Cola Company maintain that their drinks are safe for consumption and have published newspaper advertisements that say pesticide levels in their products are less than those in other foods such as tea, fruit and dairy products.

In the Indian state of Kerala, sale and production of Pepsi-Cola, along with other soft drinks, were banned in 2006 following partial bans on the drinks in schools, colleges and hospitals in five other Indian states. On September 22, 2006, the High Court in Kerala overturned the Kerala ban ruling that only the central government can ban food products.

Rivalry with Coca-Cola

Cola Wars According to Consumer Reports, in the 1970s, the rivalry continued to heat up the market. Pepsi conducted blind taste tests in stores, in what was called the "Pepsi Challenge". These tests suggested that more consumers preferred the taste of Pepsi (which is believed to have more lemon oil, less orange oil, and uses vanillin rather than vanilla) to Coke.

The sales of Pepsi started to climb, and Pepsi kicked off the "Challenge" across the nation. This became known as the "Cola Wars. " In 1985, The Coca-Cola Company, amid much publicity, changed its formula. The theory has been advanced that New Coke, as the reformulated drink came to be known, was invented specifically in response to the Pepsi Challenge. However, a consumer backlash led to Coca-Cola quickly introducing a modified version of the original formula (removing the expensive Haitian lime oil and changing the sweetener to corn syrup) as Coke "Classic". In the U. S., Pepsi's total market share was about 31. 7 percent in 2004, while Coke's was about 43. 1 percent.

Overall, Coca-Cola continues to outsell Pepsi in almost all areas of the world. However, exceptions include Saudi Arabia; Pakistan (Pepsi has been a dominant sponsor of the Pakistan cricket team since the 1990s); the Dominican Republic; the Canadian provinces of Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island; and Guatemala.. Pepsi had long been the drink of Canadian Francophones and it continues to hold its dominance by relying on local Quebecois celebrities (especially Claude Meunier, of La Petite Vie fame) to sell its product. PepsiCo use the slogan "here, it's Pepsi" (Ici, c'est Pepsi) to answer to Coca-cola publicity "Everywhere in the world, it's Coke" (Partout dans le monde, c'est Coke).

By most accounts, Coca-Cola was India's leading soft drink until 1977 when it left India after a new government ordered The Coca-Cola Company to turn over its secret formula for Coke and dilute its stake in its Indian unit as required by the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA). In 1988, PepsiCo gained entry to India by creating a joint venture with the Punjab government-owned Punjab Agro Industrial Corporation (PAIC) and Voltas India Limited. This joint venture marketed and sold Lehar Pepsi until 1991 when the use of foreign brands was allowed; PepsiCo bought out its partners and ended the joint venture in 1994. In 1993, The Coca-Cola Company returned in pursuance of India's Liberalization policy.

In 2005, The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo together held 95% market share of soft-drink sales in India. Coca-Cola India's market share was 52. 5%. A sticker from a USSR-produced Pepsi bottle. The logo shown is a version used from 1973-91. In Russia, Pepsi initially had a larger market share than Coke but it was undercut once the Cold War ended. In 1972, Pepsico company struck a barter agreement with the then government of the Soviet Union, in which Pepsico was granted exportation and Western marketing rights to Stolichnaya vodka in exchange for importation and Soviet marketing of Pepsi-Cola. This exchange led to Pepsi-Cola being the first foreign product sanctioned for sale in the U. S. S. R.

Reminiscent of the way that Coca-Cola became a cultural icon and its global spread spawned words like "coca colonization", Pepsi-Cola and its relation to the Soviet system turned it into an icon. In the early 1990s, the term "Pepsi-stroika" began appearing as a pun on "perestroika", the reform policy of the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev. Critics viewed the policy as a lot of fizz without substance and as an attempt to usher in Western products in deals there with the old elites. Pepsi, as one of the first American products in the Soviet Union, became a symbol of that relationship and the Soviet policy. This was reflected in Russian author Victor Pelevin's book "Generation P". In 1989, Billy Joel mentions the rivalry between the two companies in the song We Didn't Start The Fire.

The line "Rock & Roller Cola Wars" refers to Pepsi and Coke's usage of various musicians in their advertising campaigns. Coke used Paula Abdul,while Pepsi used Michael Jackson. They then continued to try to get other musicians to advertise their beverages. Whilst filming the Pepsi advert Michael Jackson burned his hair. In 1992, following the Soviet collapse, Coca-Cola was introduced to the Russian market. As it came to be associated with the new system, and Pepsi to the old, Coca-Cola rapidly captured a significant market share that might otherwise have required years to achieve. By July 2005, Coca-Cola enjoyed a market share of 19. 4 percent, followed by Pepsi with 13 percent. Ingredients

Pepsi-Cola contains basic ingredients found in most other similar drinks including carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, colorings, phosphoric acid, caffeine, citric acid, and natural flavors. The caffeine-free Pepsi-Cola contains the same ingredients minus the caffeine. The original Pepsi-Cola recipe was available from documents filed with the court at the time that the Pepsi-Cola Company went bankrupt in 1929. The original formula contained neither cola nor caffeine. Competitors • Coca-Cola • R. C. Cola Brands Under Pepsico (used in research) 1. Miranda 2. Slice 3. Mountain Dew 4. 7 Up About Miranda Mirinda is a brand of soft drink available in fruit varieties including orange.

A "citrus" flavour is also available in certain areas of the Middle East. It is part of a beverage area often referred to as the flavor segment, comprising carbonated and non-carbonated fruit-flavored beverages. The orange flavor of Mirinda represents the majority of Mirinda sales worldwide. Mirinda is owned by PepsiCo and is primarily commercialized outside of North America. It competes with Coca-Cola's Fanta and Cadbury-Schweppes's Orange Crush brand, with flavor brands local to individual countries. As with most soft drinks, Mirinda is available in multiple formulations depending on the taste of individual markets.

History

Mirinda was originally produced in Spain. It became available in the United States in late 2003 in bilingual packaging, and initially sold at a reduced price, presumably to become a competitor against Coca-Cola's Fanta brand. Since 2005, Mirinda flavors have largely been sold under the Tropicana Twister Soda brand in the United States except in Guam, where Pepsi began selling it under the Mirinda brand in 2007 (replacing Chamorro Punch Orange). Pepsico also tried to sell Mirinda in Brazil in late 1996, but the brand was discontinued in 1997 after weak sales, keeping the local brand Sukita under production. Recent events Mirinda campaigns over the years have included the Mirinda Woman campaign in the 1970s and a campaign in the 1994-1996 time frame with a campaign using the tag-line 'The Taste is in Mirinda' with the Blue Man Group.

In some markets, including Mexico, the Blue Man Group campaign re-launched Mirinda away from a multi-flavor positioning to a brand solely focused on the orange flavor. The Blue Man Group campaign showed the Blue Man Group competing to drink orange Mirinda and celebrating a successful drink with an open-mouth exclamation of 'Mirindaaaa'. Also in this same country Mirinda launch a campaign with the Pokemon anime series to the children with a promotion of many gadgets with the characters of the manga series. A recent, highly successful advertising campaign was launched in India featuring a handsome young gentleman, Stefan Persson, gallivanting about town in hunt of his sweet sweet Mirinda.

Stefan's credible portrayal of the Mirinda-obsessed youth earned the campaign accolades in Brand Equity, the advertising section of a leading financial newspaper. Mirinda advertising campaigns over the last fifteen years have been handled by Pepsi's stable of creative agencies, including BBDO and J Walter Thompson. Mirinda also regularly introduces special movie-themed editions in Asia. Recent ones included Batman (Blueberry) and Superman (Fruit punch). Mirinda has also recently released a new flavour of drinks called Mirinda Sorbet. They come in two flavours: Raspberry and Lime.

• It is also in the Middle Eastern markets, but the name is commonly mispronounced as "Miranda" due to its Arabic spelling.
• The name "Mirinda" means "amazing" in Esperanto. There is a claim that the original manufacturer of Mirinda, which later sold the brand to PepsiCo, was an Esperanto-speaking individual.
• Spanish-speaking consumers may also associate it with merienda or afternoon (teatime) snack.
• Mirinda's primary formulation is as an artificially flavored beverage; however, it has been produced in the past with a percentage of fruit juice, usually due to local tax benefits tied to non-artificial juice ingredients.
• Mirinda was sold in a distinctive ribbed glass bottle in Australia and parts of Southeast Asia, when originally released there.

Mirindas asesinas ("Killer Mirindas") was the first short film of the Spanish filmmaker Alex de la Iglesia About Slice Slice is a line of fruit-flavored soft drinks manufactured by PepsiCo and introduced in 1984, with the lemon-lime flavor replacing Teem. Varieties of Slice have included Apple, Fruit Punch, Grape, Passionfruit, Peach, Mandarin Orange, Pineapple, Strawberry, Cherry Cola, "Red", Cherry-Lime, and Dr Slice. Originally, the drink was known for containing 10% fruit juice, but that was discontinued by 1994. The original design of the can was a solid color, related to the flavor of the drink. These were replaced around 1994 with black cans, with a colorful burst (once again, related to the flavor of the drink), along with slicker graphics.

Around 1997, the cans became blue with color-coordinated swirls. The original orange flavor was reformulated at this time with an infiltration marketing campaign led by Danieli. The new flavor's slogan was "it's orange, only twisted. " Orange Slice has since been changed back to its original flavor. Lemon Lime Slice was replaced by Sierra Mist in most markets in the summer of 2000. Sierra Mist became a national brand in 2003. The rest of the Slice line was replaced in most markets by Tropicana Twister Soda in the summer of 2005, although the Dr Slice variety can still be found in some fountains. It has been discontinued in more and more markets though.

In early 2006, the Slice name was resurrected for a new line of diet sodas from Pepsi, called Slice ONE. Initially, Slice ONE was available exclusively at Wal-Mart stores, in orange, grape, and berry flavors. All three flavors are sweetened with Splenda. In 2009 Slice (Orange, Diet Orange, Grape, Strawberry, Peach) will be sold only in Wal-Mart Stores.

About Mountain Dew

Mountain Dew (also known as Mtn Dew as of late 2008) is a soft drink distributed and manufactured by PepsiCo. The main formula was invented in Knoxville, Tennessee, named and first marketed in Knoxville and Johnson City, TN in the 1940s, then by Barney and Ally Hartman, in Fayetteville, North Carolina and across the United States in 1964.

When removed from its characteristic green bottle, Mountain Dew is bright yellow-green and translucent. As of 2007, Mountain Dew was the fourth-best-selling carbonated soft drink in the United States, behind only Coca-Cola Classic, Pepsi-Cola, and Diet Coke. Diet Mountain Dew ranked ninth in sales in the same year. On October 15, 2008, it was announced that Pepsi would be redesigning their logos and re-branding many of their core products by the end of 2008. At the same time they registered the name "mtn dew" and a related logo with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This also announced the re-launch of Mountain Dew in the UK, which was released by Pepsi in 1996 but was dropped in 1998 due to low sales. As of April 2009, the flavors "Code Red" and "Live Wire" continue to use the previous Mountain Dew design.

Ingredients

Mountain Dew lists its ingredients as:

• Carbonated water
• Sugar (replaced by High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in much of the United States)
• Concentrated orange juice
• Citric acid
• Natural flavors
• Sodium benzoate (preserves freshness)
• Caffeine (54 mg per 12 US fluid ounces (350 ml))
• Sodium citrate
• Erythorbic acid (preserves freshness)
• Gum arabic
• Calcium disodium EDTA (to protect flavor)
• Brominated vegetable oil
• Thiamin hydrochloride About 7 UP

The rights to the brand are held by Dr Pepper Snapple Group in the United States, and PepsiCo (or its licensees) in the rest of the world. The 7 Up logo includes a red spot between the '7' and 'Up'; this red spot has been animated and used as a mascot for the brand as Cool Spot. Name According to Professor Donald Sadoway (MIT) the name is derived from the atomic mass of Lithium, 7, which was originally one of the key ingredients of the drink (as lithium citrate). However, there are numerous myths explaining the name. One popular myth is that its creator named the soft drink after seeing a cattle brand with the number 7 and the letter U. Other theories suggest that the drink was formulated with seven flavors plus the bubbles from the drink's carbonation (the bubbles go up).

Other ideas include the original bottle contained seven ounces; its creator came up with the name while playing dice; that it was the 7th large commercial lemonade brand that tasted the same. Another rumor has it that the name was created because the company had previously failed six times, hence the name "7 Up". Before the formula change in 2006, a can of 7 Up included seven ingredients. The "Up" in the drink's name might refer to the original inclusion of lithium citrate, when it was marketed as a patent medicine to cure hangovers. Some people mistakenly believe that the name 7 Up comes from the belief that its pH is 7. 0 and therefore neutral. This is not the case at all: the pH of 7 Up is comparable to many other soft drinks. At a pH of 3. 67, Diet 7 Up is less acidic than lemon juice (pH 2. ), vinegar (pH 2. 9) or wine (pH 3. 5). History 7 Up was created by Charles Leiper Grigg who launched his St. Louis-based company The Howdy Corporation in 1920. Grigg came up with the formula for a lemon-lime soft drink in 1929. The product, originally named "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda", was launched two weeks before the Wall Street Crash of 1929. It contained lithium citrate, a mood-stabilizing drug. It was one of a number of patent medicine products popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries; they made claims similar to today's health foods. Specifically it was marketed as a hangover cure. The product's name was soon changed to 7 Up.

The Great Depression was just the beginning of the business challenges the product would face. In its early years, there were around 600 lemon-lime beverage brands being sold in the US. 7 Up was able to survive and become the market leader in the category by being one of the first to be nationally distributed as well as being marketed as more healthy than other soft drinks. The success of 7 Up led Grigg to rename his company to "The Seven Up Company" in 1936. Lithium citrate was removed from 7 Up's formula in 1950. Expanding the brand beyond a niche market, major competitors began to set their sights on it such as The Coca-Cola Company with its Sprite brand introduced in 1961.

Sprite would not challenge 7 Up's position seriously until the 1980s when Coke forced its major bottlers, then distributing 7 Up, to drop the beverage in deference to Sprite. 7 Up challenged Coke's actions in court as "anti-competitive", a challenge they eventually lost. Formula 7 Up has been reformulated several times since its launch in 1929. In 2006, the version of the product sold in the U. S. was re-formulated so that it could be marketed as being "100% Natural". This was achieved by eliminating the preservative calcium disodium EDTA, and replacing sodium citrate with potassium citrate in order to reduce the beverage's sodium content. This re-formulation contains no fruit juice and is still sweetened with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

The manufacturing process used in the production of HFCS has led some public health and special interest groups to challenge the ad campaign's "natural" claims. In 2007, after the Center for Science in the Public Interest threatened to sue 7 Up, it was announced that 7 Up would stop being marketed as "100% natural". Instead, It is now promoted as having "100% Natural Flavors". The controversy does not extend to other countries, such as the United Kingdom, where high fructose corn syrup is not generally used in foods, including 7 Up. Methods used during my research:

• Interview method

During the research I used the personal interview method. I asked the questions generally face to face. sometime only for the appointment I used the telephonic method.

• Questionnaire method

Mostly I used the proper sequencing of the questions I used rating scale method

• Open ended

this type of question I also used in the form of personal interview. Research Design The design that is used in this project is exploratory design. The reason for choosing this design was to get clear response from the customers. I also used descriptive research design.

Research Instrument used

In this research I used mainly the structured questionnaire for getting the different type of information. My sample size for this research report was of 100 individuals. Fieldwork It includes giving out in the field to collect required information and data from the concerned person. I used to visit major educational institutes, localities, markets, shops, malls usually area wise conducting short interviews & giving awareness and for the promotion about the. Under this survey my main objective was to have an interaction with its users and to find out their preferences.

About the Research

Particularly about the project, this research was carried to know the Brand potency about the various brands of soft drinks in Indian Market on the basis of calculations of several values of each brand namely:

• Value Of Memorization (VM): this is value of a brand which states the degree of remembrance of a particular brand. It tells that how much does one individual remember about the brand.
• Value Of Association (VA): this is the value of the brand which tells the degree of association of a brand for an individual to his personal life experiences.
• Value Of Description (VD): this is the value of the brand which tells the degree of a brand, that how much does it describes its features according to its brand name.
• Value Of Motivation (VMo): this tells the value of the brand in the terms of the degree of motivation which the brand gives to the user to buy it.
• Value Of Reurchase (VR): this tells the value of a brand according to which it can be calculated and stated that an individual will repurchase the brand.

Though I tried my level best to make this report most accurate, some of the limitations are as follows :

• This study is valid for Lucknow city only.
• Due to certain unavoidable reasons, it was not possible to cover each and every outlet such as holidays, absenteeism, working closed etc.
• There may be some biased response.
• Some of the customers didn't provide dull data.
• Most of the customers were too busy to meet.
• Too much time consumed on some calls because of appointments and waiting.

Conclusion

Soft drink market whether on micro or macro scale, it is vast and full with great opportunities. It is one of the industry which is not adversely affected by the recession process.

Demand for soft drink is still at large, which is resulting in the launch of new and more soft drink variants. Due to which also the companies are adopting aggressive market strategies. Although consumers are going for and liking every soft drink brand but definitely some brands have more value and demand in the market than compared to others. This research was carried out for knowing the brand having maximum market potency, which is Thums Up hence objective achieved. At the end of this report we can clearly conclude that Coke had been greatly got success in the local Lucknow market of soft drinks as the first two positions of maximum potency Brands are held by Thums Up (22%) and Coca cola (16%).

This tells us that coke’s marketing strategy is far more clear cut and accurate than its competitors Pepsico, Coke is very well understanding the mind of the local Lucknow Consumer’s, which is making coke and its other brands more preferred and desired by the consumers in Lucknow market than compared to Pepsico’s Brands.

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