INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, ROHTAK

PGP 12
Mid Term Exam (Term III)

Name: Chandana Landa

Roll No: PGP12038

Subject: MM 2

Marks Secured:
(In figures & words)

Question No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Maximum Marks

Marks Scored

Examiner’s Signature
 Please write in given space only
Q2)
Mountain Dew was first launched in India in the year 2003 with the tagline “Cheetah Bhi
Peetah Hai” and positioned itself as an energy drink. Its growth was quite stagnant until its
second campaign, “do the dew” which focused on adventure and the thrill and risk that comes
with it. The ad campaign resulted in a growth in the market share of the product. But this ad
campaign did not appeal to their Eastern audience as their preferences and choices were
varied and were not aligned with the purpose of the campaign.

We can see that a campaign was effective in increasing Mountain Dew's market share in the
past, therefore it should be successful now.

Mountain Dew had an 8.2% market share in May 2011, up from 1-2 percent in 2003.
Although the positioning approach makes it a viable alternative to Thumbs up, there was a
disconnect between the advertising channels' and customers' perceptions of the brand.

We can see from the AIDA model that there is brand awareness, but there is a lack of interest,
desire, and action.

Because the misunderstanding was not restricted to the eastern area, a nationwide campaign
concentrating on developing a unifying cultural message while maintaining the brand's
posture was necessary.

The market in each region is unique, so their message must be tailored to meet those needs.
Additionally, the media used in one location does not guarantee that it will be successful
elsewhere; they have already depleted financial resources by providing incentives, so we are
unsure of their financial situation; however, it will cost them a significant amount.

The campaign should be cultural-specific so that the brand awareness translates into interest
and would pull the customers to buy the product. By including sportsmen like Baichung
Bhutia or Saurav Ganguli, we can appeal to the Eastern audience as well.

Q3) Sanjay should focus on hybrid push-pull strategy instead of only a push strategy as push
strategy is short-lived and won’t be feasible in the long run.

In the case, we can see that the push strategy was being applied for a long time where they
push sales through the retailers. Kalpana also says that they need to provide additional
schemes and incentives exclusively for mountain dew as the demand for it was less in their
outlets.

From the AIDA model it can be seen that there has been awareness about the product but
there is a lack of interest as the customers as well as retailers consider sprite or 7-Up as a
substitute for it, which are already well established. Even the previous advertising campaigns
of Mountain Dew were run on the same lines as thumbs up which created confusion in its
positioning as well.

A pull approach would generally be recommended for establishing improved long-term

loyalty from clients by connecting with them through region-centric promotions. Sanjay's
goal, according to the complaint, is to double the brand's market share in the East in the
following three months. Playing the long game will not help him reach his short-term goal in
this scenario. As a result, I believe Sanjay should use a hybrid push-pull strategy to boost the
brand's visibility.

A pull strategy would work in creating interest and invoke for the product whereas the push
strategy would help in the action stage of the AIDA model where the product would be
readily made available for the purchase of the customer.

He should adopt the push strategy for the following reasons:

• Ensuring that soft drinks are available anytime a customer goes into a store to buy
one.
• Overcoming the misalignment between retailer and customer perceptions of the drink
as a rival to Sprite/Seven-Up rather than Thums Up.
• Take use of PepsiCo's overall brand's strong market presence for a quick increase.
• Establish a core client base in the East to serve as a basis for the brand's existence.

In addition, he should launch pull ads at the same time to develop the brand's relationship
with the Eastern Indian population. So far, the brand hasn't done a great job of reaching out to
Indians who don't live in the North or West. For the following reasons, attempting to attract
customers to the brand would be a beneficial long-term strategy:

• Create a devoted consumer base that is emotionally engaged to the brand and what it
stands for.
• Establish a long-term presence in the region, regardless of national results.
• Form alliances and relationships with local heroes like as Saurav Ganguly, Bhaichung
Bhutia, and Sunil Chhetri.

Using a push-pull strategy to aggressively market the brand to customers with a wide
presence in local and regional retailers will help Sanjay meet his objective for the next
quarter. People must feel a connection or a pull towards the brand in order to become repeat
consumers and suggest the business to their friends and family in order to continue this short-
term gain. In order to guarantee that Mountain Dew continues to expand in the East, a
concurrent pull strategy is required to attract Eastern customers to the brand by demonstrating
why it is the drink of choice for them and their distinct lifestyle.

Q1) Mountain Dew was first introduced in 2003 with the tagline “Cheetah Bhi Peeta Hai” in
its advertising campaign, where a group of daring youngsters communicates with the viewers
that this yellow-colored citrus-flavored beverage provides a high level of energy.

This action theme persisted in the coming years, and the campaigns continued to aim
towards the young, masculine audience. The second campaign, “Do the Dew,” also focused
on adventurous activities such as bungee-jumping, extreme racing, mountain biking, etc.

While the sales of this product did well in North India, where the people are more into
drinking and machoism, the people belonging to the eastern region of India are culturally
different. They could not relate the activities promoted by the campaign to their daily lives.
These people are relatively polite and intellectual.
Hence, the advertising campaigns have failed to reach the markets of the east. People
preferred other local beverages such as lime soda, laal sharbat and Rooh Afza over Mountain
Dew.

Another reason for the poor performance of Mountain Dew in the markets of east was the
promotional activities. Salman Khan was chosen as a brand ambassador, although he is not as
well-known in the east of the country.

Since the target market were huge sports fanatics, utilizing Sourav Ganguly or Baichang
Butia to do the promotional activities would probably bring about a change in the current
scenario of Mountain Dew, as suggested by Sanjay.

Further, Mountain Dew was presumed to be the substitute of other similar looking beverages
such as Sprite and 7Up by the retailers because of the green bottle packaging, while it was
aimed to be a high-adrenaline adventure drink like ThumsUp. It can be said that there has
been a mismatch in the perceptions of the retailer, customer and the company brand.