Exclusivity is key for Minute Maid's new Nimbu Fresh

Coca-Cola recently unveiled a new lemon variant of Minute Maid, the drink that was launched in a 'Pulpy orange' flavour in 2007. The Nimbu Fresh variant, whose tagline is 'Bilkul Ghar Jaisa' (just like home), was launched on February 19 but interestingly, the product was made available exclusively at the Future Group's Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar hypermarket chains.

For approximately 10 days, till February 28, Minute Maid Nimbu Fresh, that is available in 400 ml and 1 litre PET bottles priced at Rs 15 and 40 respectively, was retailed only from Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar's 96 outlets across seven cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad.

This was done under the chain's 'Shubh Muhurat' programme. Under this programme, Big Bazaar introduces new products each month and new brand launches are carried out exclusively in its outlets.

Walunj shares that the Shubh Muhurat programme is a four month old property, adding, "We successfully launched Tasty Treat corn flakes in November, Milestone luggage range in December, Monza furniture range and Koryo Slim television in January. The entire planning and execution for each brand is customised as per the launch objectives, resources available and product and category specifics within Big Bazaar's guardrails for Shubh Muhurat."

For the exclusive launch of Nimbu Fresh, teams from Coca-Cola and Big Bazaar's internal Experience Design team planned unique in-store promotions, signages and branding. A special Minute Maid Nimbu Fresh zone was created with a canopy, with lemon cut outs and multiple bottles stocked in it. Floor graphics of lemons were pasted around it, making the zone stand out in the store.

Contests and sampling were done as well. One of the contests, the 'Fresh n Spoon' race, involved a Nimbu Fresh bottle replacing the lemon in the 'Lemon and spoon' race. In a lemon and spoon race, participants race while balancing a lemon on a spoon held in the mouth. For the Fresh n Spoon race, a bigger spoon was used and participants were asked to get across a distance balancing the bottle on the spoon. Winners received on the spot prizes from Coca-Cola.

The brand also had a juggler juggling the bottles for added effect.

Besides the usual standees, danglers and dropdowns, cross category reminders were also created. For example, bottles were kept in the Farm Fresh area that stocks fruits and vegetables, where some bottles were kept in the lemon crates.

In the electronics section, attractive communication was placed on refrigerator door handles that said 'Open the door to get fresh' and inside, tent cards were placed along with the products in the doors of the refrigerators. A canopy was also created near the chill station section. The brand also had presences in the fashion section as well as in the trial rooms.

Sumanta Datta, vice-president, customer and commercial leadership, Coca-Cola India, says, "This partnership was a win-win opportunity for all as it provides Coca-Cola India the scale to refresh its consumers across the four metros as well as Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune, all in one go. On the other hand, this special relationship enables Big Bazaar to exclusively offer a brand such as Minute Maid Nimbu Fresh to its consumers."

Incidentally, this is not the first lemon drink to hit the Indian market. Besides the company's existing brand Limca, last year, competitor PepsiCo launched Nimbooz by 7Up in February, while in March, Parle Agro launched LMN. Whether the brand quenches thirst and gains loyal customers remains to be seen. However, the summer season is almost here and the consumers are already sensing the heat of the brand war.