INTRODUCTION

Pakola has been one of the most recognized beverages of Pakistan. The brand was established in
1956 with the intention of producing a drink which would reflect the color of the Nation. Pakola
had made its own place in the markets not only in Pakistan but also in many parts of North
America and Europe (Although it is not readily available there now.). According to the official
records, Mehran Bottlers Limited (MBL) exports Pakola to North America, Africa, Europe, Far
East, India, Afghanistan and Middle East.
Pakola is a line of fruit flavored soft drinks, originally introduced in Pakistan in 1950 by Haji Ali
Muhammad. It is produced by Mehran Bottlers (Pvt) Ltd. It is the first nationally branded soft
drink of Pakistan. Hence it is named Pakola meaning 'Cola of Pakistan.'
The original green color Pakola ice cream soda is still popular in Pakistan. However, other
Pakola flavours, like Pakola Lychee, have gained popularity. Another famous type of Pakola is
Pakola Orange, which is an orange soda with an ice cream taste. It is also available in most Asian
shops in the U.K. The drink itself is a very bright green color, much like the can, and tastes
unlike most North American soft drinks. It has a distinctive and strong taste.
Pakola have also launched their milk. Pakola brand name is owned by Teli Family and currently
Zeeshan Habib is the owner of Pakola carbonated drinks and Yasin Teli, is the owner of Pakola
flavoured milk. Yasin Teli is also the bottler for Pepsi Co for Sindh and Balochistan province.

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PRODUCT LINE
Product line of the company is not that big but still it holds a unique position in the market. The
product line includes the following:
CARBONATED BEVERAGES
It includes all the fizzy drinks produced by Mehran Bottlers Ltd. such as following:
Pakola Ice Cream Soda
Pakola Lime
Pakola Lychee
Pakola Raspberry
Pakola Orange
Apple Cidra
Double Cola
Bubble Up

PURIFIED WATER
Mehran Bottlers has not been so active in producing purified water. It launched purified water
namely VITAL which was not able to create a lasting impact in the market. It is still available
in the market but not every where.

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DAIRY PRODUCTS
Mehran Bottlers has also started producing milk products such as packaged milk and flavored
milk. The products are as follows:
Pakola Milk
Pakola Milk Ice Cream Soda
Pakola Milk Chocolate
Pakola Milk Rose
Pakola Milk Banana
Pakola Milk Strawberry
Pakola Milk Cardamom, Almond & Saffron
Pakola Milk Cold Coffee
Pakola Milk Peach
Pakola Milk Pina Colada
Pakola Milk Double Treat

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PRODUCT MIX
The product mix for Mehran Bottlers Ltd. is not very big as the companys products are usually
not successful. It can be explained as follows:
WIDTH
The width of companys product mix is three as it has three product lines namely;
Carbonated Beverages
Purified Water
Dairy products
LENGTH
The length of companys product mix is 20. Carbonated Beverages contain 8 products, Purified
water contains 1 product and Dairy products contain 11 products.
DEPTH
The versions of Pakola are 5 and the versions of Pakola Flavored milk are 10. Altogether the
Depth becomes 15.
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CONSISTENCY
The product mix of Mehran Bottlers Ltd. shows a lot of consistency as most of the products are
closely related and are drinks.

INDUSTRY ANALYSIS
To analyze the beverage industry we will use Michael Porter 5 forces model to understand the
characteristic of the industry in which Pakola is participating. A thorough investigation of the
five-force template shows us that the industry is highly favorable when it comes to threat of new
entrants. Yet because of a cutthroat rivalry between existing players, it gets an unfavorable rating
when it comes to this regard. In the remaining three forces, the beverage industry has scored
favorably.

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Threat of new entrants

In this industry, it is considerably difficult and costly to set up the factories and bottling plants
required. Also, for a new entrant, it would be extremely difficult if not impractical to infiltrate the
established distribution network of the current players like Pepsi and Coke. Furthermore, it
would be quite a daunting task to change the hard and fast perception of millions of consumers,
making it a favorable point for this industry.
Bargaining power of buyers
There are an extremely large number of buyers as compared to companies in the industry, and
these buyers often purchase this industrys relatively low priced products on a habitual, impulse,
or convenience basis, thus making it favorable for the industry.
Threat of substitutes
The threat of substitutes, although mediocre, still poses a considerable threat to the overall
profitability of the industry, and that is because in recent times a health craze has taken over all
respects of life, worldwide. Therefore, it would signify a heavy reduction in the consumption of
sugary and carbonated cola based beverages, and instead prompt consumers to opt for healthier
drinks such as fruit juices, and energy drinks.
Bargaining power of suppliers

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Most of the raw materials required in the beverage industry are non-specialized commodity
products, such as sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, carbonated water, glass bottles, plastic bottles
and cans. This indicates that suppliers are non-specialized, allowing companies in the industry to
switch between suppliers without losing any strategic alliance or significant cost advantage.
Furthermore, it is also considerably difficult for any one supplier of the beverage industry to
integrate forward into the concentrate manufacturing and bottling businesses.
Rivalry among existing players
The players in the beverage industry have one of the most competitive rivalries in any industry.
In Pakistan the market is dominated by the two international giants, Pepsi and Coke, with market
shares respectively of 77%, and 16%, leaving little room for others to grow. Yet even with
approximately 5% of the total market share, Pakola can still manage to be profitable in a
cutthroat industry, and we plan to position it strategically in order to do so.

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
Pakola faces competition in the beverage industry from the bigwigs such as Pepsi and Coca cola
to the local and imported juices and energy drinks that are available in the market. It is also
competing with Oplers and Nestle in the flavored milk domain and with nestle, Pepsi, Habib,
Sufi, and Kinley in the bottled mineral water sector. Pakola has great potential to compete in its
market if it improves its distribution strategy and puts in more marketing effort. The major
attributes of competition are such as market share, distribution, customer loyalty, financial
position, product quality and based on these factors Pakola has to fight against the giants Pepsi
and coke.

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POSITIONING
The company uses emotional appeals such as Dil Bola Pakola to position its products as a
product of the Nation. It is the major national brand that is giving head on competition to the
international giants, and it has a brand name in the minds of its consumers due to the aggressive
marketing in the 90s that has made consumer form association with the brand, the product still
has awareness thus effective promotions and advertisements once again can bring back the
market share Pakola had in that era. Pakola owns much of its market to the customers patriotic
attachment to the soft-drink, who tends to go for the green colored drink which reflects
Pakistans flag.
Pakola has introduced a number of new tastes after the ice-cream soda, and tastes like Pakola
Lychee, Raspberry, Lime and Orange exhibit that the brand aims to increase its market by
introducing new products which helps it to differentiate it from the competitors. Its positioning
for different product lines is as follows:
CARBONATED BEVERAGES
The positioning of carbonated drinks is based on the product itself. For all the carbonated
products the product attributes are the only point of focus and positioning is done on them.
PURIFIED WATER
It was positioned for product and price both but the positioning was in sufficient to capture a
wholesome amount of consumers.
DAIRY PRODUCTS
The dairy products were also positioned for product attributes.

DIFFERENTIATION
Pakola stands out from the competitor due to its green color and taste that makes it one of the
kinds. It is the first nationally branded soft drink of Pakistan. Its name, Pakola has meaning 'Cola
of Pakistan and its color reflect Patriotism. Pakola was first to introduce Ice Cream Soda Flavor
and by date, this flavor continues to be the best seller in the market.

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PRODUCT LIFECYCLE

Pakola since its introduction in the market has taken a very strong stance because it is competing
against the bigwigs such as Coca-cola and Pepsi and has worked hard to reach to the growth
stage as its sales rapidly increase for the last few years and their market development increased.
The major competitors are all the carbonated soft drink producers such as Coca-cola, Pepsi and
other than that all the beverages such as energy drinks, juices, and fruit drinks. Pakola in order to
increase its growth has implemented the following strategies:
MARKET PENETRATION
Pakola has increased its marketing effort in order to increase its market penetration and sales.
Over the time Pakola has increased its share of spend in advertising and promotion over mass
media and different channels
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Pakola has moved from carbonated drink to other domains such as flavoured milk and drinking
water in order to cater to the different needs of the same target market.

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Pakola has maintained its brand equity by securing its position through line extension (Pakola
Lime, Pakola Lychee, Pakola Orange, Pakola Raspberry), Brand extension (Pakola Milk, Pakola
Flavored Milk), MultiBrands (Apple Cidra, Bubble Up, Double Cola).

PRICING STRATEGY
The Company uses following pricing strategies for its different product lines.
CARBONATED BEVERAGES
It uses competition based pricing strategy for its carbonated beverages.
PURIFIED WATER

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It uses competition based pricing strategy for its purified water.

DAIRY PRODUCTS
It uses competition based pricing strategy for its dairy products.
The retail price of Pakola bottled according to the size is:
1.25 ltr ~ Rs.40
500ml~ Rs.25
300ml~Rs.15
250ml~Rs.250
Pakola Flavored milk Rs.15

DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS
Karachi is the only city where Pakola could easily be found. The reason behind this fact is that
the product is manufactured here and MBL has about 56 trucks which cover the assigned areas
throughout the city. Poor distribution and marketing strategies have hindered the product sales
but the company is now focusing on increasing the availability of Pakola in its target areas. We
assume that if the product is marketed properly and if its distribution is made effective then
Pakola can compete in the big market with its fierce competitors like Pepsi and Coca Cola.

The level of distribution is from the company through its retailers it is made available to its final
consumers.

MARKETING PAKOLA
Pakola is a well known product to the current generation as their past was nicely integrated into
the green color of Hara Hara Pakola. But that generation has grown up. Once being loyal to the

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green ice cream soda, current generation is now outlying the category of potential market of
Pakola. Its not that they have forgotten the taste; its just that Pakola is something they dont
remember.

Point of difference:

Here we need to learn upon the attributes that only Pakola have and concentrate upon it, i.e.
o It is the first nationally branded soft drink of Pakistan. Its name, Pakola has meaning
'Cola of Pakistan and its color reflect Patriotism.
o Pakola was first to introduce Ice Cream Soda Flavor and by date, this flavor continues

to be the best seller in the market.

Unique selling proposition:

Does the product tell a unique story?

Pakola was launched on 14th August 1950. It has catered Pakistani market for 58 years but
unfortunately Karachi remains the prominent market of Pakola. As we stand together to relaunch Pakola, we are coming up with better taste and different yet innovative packaging to
attract customers. Dil Bola Pakola is for every Pakistani. Moreover Pakola has 0% Fats, so
weight conscious people are also their target market. The company promotes the brand through
mass media on T.v, radio, Magazines, newspapers. It also sponsors events on national holidays
promoting its patriotism

Brand Awareness:

Make the brand stand out.

Pakola, the Cola of Pakistan, is the name which had ruled the hearts of Pakistanis. Most of the
Pakistanis are aware of the brand. We need to make it stand tall against all the competing brands.
Against its Pakistani competitors, it is the first drink to make its place in the markets of North
America, Europe and Africa.

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