‘Thums Up’ Becomes a Billion-Dollar Brand

Launched in 1977, the desi soft drink brand Thums Up became a billion-dollar brand in 2021, The Coca-Cola Company announced. It is the first brand from its range of drinks in India to reach that milestone. The country’s largest soft-drink brand has finally proved its might by unlocking this achievement. 

While reporting its October-December 2021 earnings, James Quincey, the CEO and Chairman of The Coca-Cola Company said, 

“Our local Thums Up brand became a USD one billion brand in India, driven by focussed marketing and execution plans.” 

Thums Up was introduced over 45 years ago by Ramesh Chauhan’s Parle Manufacturing Company when Coca-Cola exited the Indian market after a directive from the government to reduce its ownership share in the country’s operations. During the 1980s, Thums Up soon became India’s most popular cola product, with a near-total monopoly with more than 80% share. However, in 1933 Coca-Cola purchased Thums Up along with Maaza, Limca, Citra, and Gold Spot for $60 million.

The Coca-Cola Company reported a 17% increase in net revenue for the fourth quarter to $38.7 billion, with organic revenue up 16 percent. “This performance was driven by 9% growth in concentrate sales and 6% growth in price/mix,” the company said.

Coca-Cola’s market share in the fourth quarter sequentially increased, and the company saw nearly 30% growth in transactions. “In India, initiatives to build omnichannel presence and marketing campaigns around key occasions by leveraging festivals through occasion-led marketing formed sequential increase in the market,” Quincey added.

Coca-Cola’s unit case volume increased by 11% in the Asia Pacific Market, which includes India, resulting in a low single-digit gain compared to 2019. “Growth was driven by China, India, and the Philippines, partially offset by pressure in Australia due to the impact of the pandemic. Growth was led by Trademark Coca-Cola and sparkling flavors,” the company said.

In 2019, India became Coca-Cola’s fifth-largest volume market. During his last visit, James Quincey set a goal for Coca-Cola India to be amongst the top three markets in the future. A few years ago, the company set a goal to make Thums Up a billion-dollar brand. Moreover, in 2018, it chose to expand into neighboring markets like Bangladesh.

Thums Up also announced a global relationship with the Olympic Games held in Tokyo last year, becoming the first beverage brand from India to partner with the Olympics on a worldwide level. The 45-year-old drink is enjoying its iconic status in India’s aerated drinks market. 

With its distinctive “Taste the Thunder” tagline, the Indian fizzy has seen various big Bollywood celebs endorse it over the years, including Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar. The brand is touching new heights with the goal of inspiring customers with a “thunder” of hope.

Meanwhile, the manufacturers of Sprite and Limca stated their brands gained market share month over month while also boosting business for the three months ended December 31, 2021.

How India’s Beloved Thums Up Stole Coke’s Thunder?

When Coca-Cola pulled out of India due to the implementation of India’s Foreign Exchange Act., two brothers, Ramesh and Prakash Chauhan started their journey to quench India’s thirst for Cola. The Chauhan brothers controlled a portion of the Parle Company and already had two popular soda brands in India at the time, Gold Spot and Limca.

Ramesh had created the recipe from the ground up, experimenting with spices like cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg. After extensive testing and development, the Chauhan brothers along with their team developed a cola that was spicier and fizzier than Coca-Cola. The drink was originally going to be called “Thumbs Up,” but the “b” was deleted to make it more unique.

Coca-Cola re-entered the market in 1993, and it purchased the range of aerated drinks from Parle later that year. In the early years, the company reduced promotion for the Thumbs Up in the hopes of attracting more people to buy Coke instead but couldn’t beat India’s beloved cola brand. 

Thums Up’s success can be attributed to a number of factors. Firstly, it benefited from favorable conditions in the early years of its existence. The absence of Coke and Pepsi at that time created a market vacuum, which Parle exploited. So, when Coca-Cola returned to India in 1993 after a 16-year hiatus, it had to compete with Thums Up, which controlled more than 80% of the Indian market. 

Secondly, Thums Up never intended to imitate Coca-Cola’s taste or brand name. This provided it a distinct character and kept it from being unfairly compared to Coca-Cola. And finally, Thums Up’s advertising has remained relevant and ahead of its time. It generated hip, edgy advertising that swiftly adopted what was new in popular culture. With 42% of the cola market share and 15% of the market share for all carbonated drinks, the beverage is now India’s most popular cola.