New Delhi: Beverage maker PepsiCo has appointed actor Ranveer Singh as its brand ambassador and also unveiled a new campaign targeting younger consumers as it gears up for a prolonged summer that could help lift sales of cold drinks.
Singh joins Pepsi's growing league of celebrity endorsers. In 2019, the brand roped in actor Salman Khan.
More recently, it also announced popular Kannada actor Yash, of KGF-fame, as the brand’s new face. A leading female actor could soon join the brand’s summer campaign that Pepsi is running under the “Rise up Baby” theme.
India is expected to see intense summers, the season is also a covid-free one prompting brands to leverage demand for cold drinks and cooling appliances.
“Rise up Baby is a youth movement, and we are bringing it alive in different flavors. So, one flavor is this whole Ranveer explosion, and there’s going to be another burst from a Yash perspective, which is slated for a March-end release,” said Saumya Rathor, category lead, Pepsi Cola, PepsiCo India.
Singh, whose brand rankings improved in 2021, had a brand value of $158.3 million according to a Duff & Phelps report. Singh was the second-most valued brand in the rankings after cricketer Virat Kohli. Singh endorses 45 brands.
The company is also using the “Rise up Baby” campaign as a peek into the lifestyles of the young—this generation continues to break age-old societal norms and redefines what success and happiness means to them, the cola maker said. Be it their nonchalant attitude towards societal judgements, carving out a path to follow their passions, or even their audacious thumkas on reels, this generation lives life on their own terms, it added.
Meanwhile, Rathor said the brand will continue to associate with Khan, at least in the near term. “It’s not a celebrity replacement strategy for us at all. Salman is on the brand. Pepsi has always been about a galaxy of superstars and we’re just adding a few more names that help bring this campaign to life,” she said.
However, the move also points to growing instances of large cola brands using similar celebrities to endorse their brands. Singh was the erstwhile brand ambassador for rival Coca-Cola’s Thums Up brand; Khan too has endorsed the brand in the past before being dropped. Currently the (Thums Up) brand is endorsed by actor Shah Rukh Khan, who in the late 90s and early 2000s endorsed Pepsi.
Advertising experts said that repeated use of celebrities from rival brands is bound to confuse consumers and create clutter in the category.
Companies are using celebrity faces as a crutch in the absence of big and inspiring idea, said business strategist and independent director Lloyd Mathias. The move is set to confuse consumers who have seen similar celebrities endorsing rival brands a few years ago. As a result, the category is getting too cluttered, he said.
However, having said, Mathias added that over the last decade soft drinks as a category has also gained far more penetration in India. “Brands need to depend on mass star power to get into the hinterland,” he said.
Sandeep Goyal, managing director, Rediffusion said the cola wars have essentially moved to a new arena, new playground. “Both brands have ample resources and address large consumer bases. Keeping the brand ‘newsy’ is a constant challenge,” he said.
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