According to industry watchers, the two companies are hoping to make up for lukewarm cola consumption during the World Cup. Pepsi Cola bottler Serm Suk anticipates that the soft drink market may fall short of last year's.
With marketing muscle worth up to 60 million baht (US$1.5 million) to back it, Pepsi hopes to sell as many as three million cases of Twist, which would lift its share of the 10 billion baht cola market by one per cent to 68 per cent. Pepsi Twist will also "expand the carbonated soft drink market by five per cent, widen the consumer base as well as boost total sales volume and market share for Pepsi", marketing director Charlie Jitcharoongphorn said. Pepsi valued the carbonated soft drinks (CSD) market at around 18 billion baht a year.
Pepsi is understood to have yet another cola variation - Pepsi Blue, made with berries - in the works.
Coca-Cola declined to say if it would match Pepsi with a new product.
Its latest campaign will run for "more than a year"; the main goal is to reach 90 per cent of Thai teens in the first three weeks, said Chuenhatai Vuntanadit, Coca-Cola CSD marketing manager. She said the effort would be heavily loaded on the front-end for maximum impact.
"Our primary objective has always been to capture the heart and the minds of Thai teenagers, but this is the first time we are speaking their language, she said. The tagline, 'Coke Zah Doan Sa', coveys the idea that 'the fun is where you are' and is based on Coke's research.
The launch ad shows a group of teenagers, who had been denied entry into a local disco, having their own party outside around a red couch, which eventually changes into the Coke "dynamic ribbon".
Chuenhatai said. "We will leverage the ribbon in everything we do."
In the run-up to the launch, the company placed red couches in several spots frequented by teens as a teaser for the campaign.
