What's UP?

It's 7UP. PepsiCo India's campaign for 7UP and its popular sub-brand Nimbooz has Bollywood star and brand ambassador Sharman Joshi and a Penguin dance to the tunes of 'Dil Bole I Feel Up', the new brand philosophy of 7UP.

What do you do to cheer someone up? "Drink 7UP," says Pepsico India.

As part of the new positioning, Pepsico India's first 'Dil Bole I Feel UP' TV commercial featuring Sharman Joshi went on air in January.

Created by BBDO India, the ad film features a dance-off between Joshi (Sharman) and a penguin. Shot in Australia with CGI (computer generated imagery) and motion capture technology, the film is choreographed by renowned Hollywood choreographer Simon Lind of Happy Feet 2 fame.

Lending an insight on the entire campaign, Sandipan Bhattacharya, executive creative director, BBDO India, says that all the lime and lemon products have a peculiar uplifting quality. "The whole concept stemmed from the fact that Indians are optimistic about their own future and sort of riding on the curve. This was the socio-cultural insight that we got. Also, a lemon drink makes you feel light, effervescent and happy, and also uplifts your mood."

Speaking about the idea, Bhattacharya says, "It creates a great visual image. It is a story of a penguin, whose mood is uplifted by the energy that the protagonist exudes."

The TVC is supported by a 360 degree communication. The song 'I feel UP', composed by music composer Ram Sampath, is being played on various radio channels.

The brand also partnered with The Viewspaper, to host a 'I feel UP' tweet-a-thon on Twitter, in January, where tweeple could post their views on what made them feel positive in India.

In the past, 7UP has always been about converting the negative into something positive. Some of the campaigns along these lines include 'Bheja Fry, Toh 7UP try', and last year's 'Gussa Hatao, Chill Machao'(which once again, featured actor Joshi).

With the new positioning, the company has also unveiled exciting new packaging for both 7UP and Nimbooz with its new international logo. The Indian repositioning follows a global repositioning exercise. 7UP will sport a new logo (based on a new international logo) and packaging, although the new logo largely maintains the same colour scheme as the earlier one in red, white, yellow, and green. However, the font is different, and aims to be more youthful, progressive, confident, and 'uniquely 7UP'.

Speaking about the new positioning, Ruchira Jaitly, executive vice-president, marketing, beverages (Flavours), PepsiCo India, says that the new approach has optimism of Indians rooted in it. "Indians are unputdownable, and our optimism or UPtimism helps us stay motivated in any situation. India feels UP, and at 7UP, we salute that with our new positioning.

Apparently, the entire range of the lime and lemon products from Pepsico India will be under the 7UP brand name.

Up or Down?

K V Sridhar (Pops), national creative director, Leo Burnett, gives a thumbs down to the campaign, saying that there is nothing spectacular about it. "There is not much of joy that you feel after watching the campaign."

He says that it is difficult to understand what exactly is being communicated. "They have put two different drinks together. One is for the rural market, while the other is for the urban market. It leaves me perplexed and confused about what message they wish to convey. Who are they trying to talk to?" states Sridhar.

Speaking more on the concept, Sridhar mentions how penguins are capable of remarkable feats and that their skills could have been used in a better way in the TVC.

Satbir Singh, managing partner and chief creative officer, Euro RSCG India, feels that the actual story is better than what we really see. "I feel it could've been done better --something like the Coca-Cola polar bears and penguins commercial. I feel the product doesn't really play a credible turning-point role in this before and after the plot."

Singh is also of the opinion that the execution lets it down and suggests that the song could've been more upbeat. "I feel we all have our off days," he concludes.