Friday, December 26, 2014

Is Coca-Cola number one in India?


“Is Coca-Cola number one in India?” is a book about the true story of the biggest brand in the world, making a re-entry into India, namely Coca-Cola.  Who could be a better narrator of history than me, the first employee and part of the “India Task Force” of the company in the year 1992?  Having submitted the “India Plan” to the incumbent President, I had been nominated the “Head of the launch task force for India” by the time of the launch in Agra in October, 1993.

Coca-Cola has been number one all over the world for over a century owing to its dedication to a high standard of quality, in the product as well as the service.  The vastness of India warranted that we painstakingly launch the product through Greenfield projects, one by one.  Though time consuming, this is a traditional route that the company adopts for supremacy on the long run.  

However, the company had decided to stay away from the trodden path and opted for a short cut to success.  The brand leader at the time was ThumsUp of Parles and the company had bought over their brands, the flip side being that we had in our laps relatively old 54 bottling units.  This decision got most of us in the management team thinking long term, praying that we should never have to ask the question, “Is Coca-Cola number one in India?” 

The purchase of the Parle brands had come about owing to the betrayal of the Parle bottlers, who were overcome with the might of Coca-Cola.  However, Parles still continued to be owners of bottling units in the biggest markets of Bombay and Delhi, which increased their leverage with Coke.  The launch by the Agra bottler witnessed a spy within their camp and the media flashed the headline, “Coca-Cola has no fizz” resulting in the Technical head of Coke being shifted.  

Our worst fears had come true with egos at the top affecting the performance in the lower layers.  We had to overcome hurdles in Delhi and confront a prolonged restaurant strike in Bombay.  Illegal production of concentrate had to be halted with legal intervention.  Purchase of the Ahmedabad bottling unit by the competition followed suit, leading to a management by crisis situation, in terms of product availability.  

It is now 2014, warranting the need for a review in analysing the current standing of the brand Coca-Cola.  Our worst fears have come true as we now find that Coca-Cola is nowhere near the number one mark.  A detailed analysis reveals that even now Coke is about to make some more mistakes.  So, possible solutions have been outlined in the final conclusion.  Being a Coke loyalist, I want to hear, “Coca-Cola is number one in India.”

So I invite all Coca-Cola lovers to give your comments and suggestions!