Five brands that could create successful Ramadan campaigns
BY ALI NAQVI
The holy month of Ramadan is passing through the summer season and it will keep doing that for a few years more. The fasting duration is around 15 hours or more. Cold beverage brands are in for bigger rewards from the market during the month of fasting. Let’s look at some of the top beverage brands to see what they are doing to grab a bigger market share during the month of fasting.
Rooh Afza
Without Hamdard Rooh Afza no Iftar arrangement is considered complete. It enjoys the status of being the most loved and trusted drink in the sub-continent. To connect with its target audience Rooh Afza Ramadan campaign tells the story of friendship, love and compassion with a tinge of patriotism. The 160-sec long TVC does well to engage the audience. Rooh Afza stands out as the only thematic campaigner in the beverage industry this year.
Jam-e-Shireen
Jam-e-Shireen and Rooh Afza has been battling for supremacy in the market for many decades now. Rooh Afza being the pioneer in the category has always been a step ahead. Jam-e-Shirin’s current Ramadan campaign shows why it is lagging behind the competition. The campaign does not engage the audience on an emotional level. Though it talks about ‘Ehsaas’ and sharing yet we see a lot of product shots which makes the advert look more functional than thematic or conceptual.
Coca Cola
Ramadan in summer season is the most lucrative opportunity for brands like Coke to cash in, but surprisingly Coke has not done anything new for Ramadan this year. There are few glimpses of the previous ‘Edi for Edhi’ campaign but there is no buzz to go with it on social media or elsewhere. One of the biggest beverage brands in Pakistan is busy working things out for the ICC World Cup 2019. Coke has been campaigning ‘Zaalima Coca Cola pila de’ for quite a long time. Coke fans deserve something new and refreshing. We have seen the promo for the coming event which seems exciting. It remains to be seen how coke will execute the idea ‘taste the feeling’.
Pepsi
Pepsi Ramadan campaigns outrun and outsmart coke. Since Pepsi Liter of Light, Coke had no chance of competing Pepsi during the holy month. But this year Pepsi has not done a Ramadan specific campaign either which is astonishing. The discount of Rs. 5 is the only thing Pepsi can brag about. The current TVC ‘Khanay Ka Scene Aala!’ is a slightly better execution of the previous ‘Khana Baney Exciting’ campaign. Both ads feature Fawad Khan that makes it difficult to figure out which TVC is old and which campaign is new.
Nestle Fruita Vitals
Nestle Fruita Vitals has never attempted to tap the potential of the market during the fasting month by associating itself with Sehr-o-Iftar. The overall consumption of beverages increases during the month which positively impacts the sales graph of beverage brands across the country.
Nestle has also focused less on its juices if seen in comparison with its dairy division. The recent ‘Pakistan’s Favorite’ campaign is very basic and product centric. The only noticeable thing about the ad is the classical music style jingle which grabs your attention for a while.
