Coca-Cola’s homegrown brand Thums Up has announced its association with the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, scheduled to be held from August 24-September 5. After celebrating real heroism with the #PalatDe campaign at Tokyo Olympics 2020, Thums Up has now become the first FMCG brand to partner with the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Speaking about the associations with the Paralympic Games, Arnab Roy, Vice President, and Head-Marketing, Coca-Cola India and South-West Asia said, ”Coco-Cola Company is the oldest standing partner for the Olympic Games and the Olympic movement since 1928. We are one of the oldest standing partners for the Paralympic Games as well. As we are beginning our journey in India, this was the first that we had large-scale Olympic activation with our brand Thumbs-Up. As an extension of the Olympic Association, we treat the Paralympians at parity with any other athlete fighting their naysayers and representing India at this global sporting event. Inclusivity is the major reason behind it, and it is one of the biggest themes that is becoming extremely important for us as a society and as a brand.”
Paying homage to the arduous journey of the athletes and saluting their sporting excellence, Thums Up has also unveiled a high decibel marketing campaign for the Paralympic Games 2020 with the tagline of #TaanaPalatDe. The campaign includes a series of videos and other related visuals for digital and social media to keep the audiences connected with the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and the Indian athletes. The campaign will feature six athletes, including MariyappanThangavelu (High jump), Sakina Khatun (Powerlifting), Suyash Yadav (Swimming), Navdeep (Javelin throw), SumitAntil (Javelin throw), and AvaniLekhara (Shooting). The video campaign effectively brings out the undying resilience of these athletes and their strength to persevere in the face of challenges. Battling everyday odds, the protagonists are seen wearing the ‘taunts’ they received every day from people on their T-shirts against the backdrop of the inspirational tagline – #TaanePalatDe. The motivating tone of the film perfectly complements Thums Up’s brand message of ‘real heroism’.
Speaking about the media mix for the #TaanePalatDe campaign, Roy said, “We are going to be on the mass media and heavy on digital media. The brand is also looking at selective activation with our key partners and stores. We want to ensure that the Paralympic will create the same kind of impact and effort similar to Toky0 Olympics 2020. We are going all-in mass media, Digital, OOH also instore activation. Given the Indian media context, television will take the lion’s share of the ad spend. How we will leverage social media and digital is also going to be very important, especially as we are targeting the youth of this country. We are trying to leverage the platforms where the youth is included.”
