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7 UP brings back the "king of Cool" Fido Dido to India

LAUNCHES AGGRESSIVE INITIATIVES TO CONSOLIDATE LEADERSHIP IN CLEAR

LEMON CATEGORY

Hyderabad: The Summer of 2003 is going to be a cool one, as 7UP, the largest
selling clear lemon drink in India from Pepsi’s strong brand portfolio, brings back its
eternal faithful Fido Dido, the King of Cool.

In its own inimitable style, Fido will be bringing 7UP to life through an array of
unique initiatives. Beginning April 4th, Fido will spread the word to consumers
through a series of creative ads on all mainline TV channels. The ad spots will feature
quick-witted Fido showing that his clear perspective and optimism keeps him one
step ahead.

Announcing the comeback of Fido, Mr. Shashi Kalathil, Executive Director

(Marketing), Pepsi Foods Pvt. Ltd., said "7UP is the ultimate in cool, clear
refreshment. 7Up has been on a path of aggressive growth since last year, emerging
as the largest growing soft drink brand in the country in 2002. Fido Dido makes a
comeback this year to add more fun and excitement to the refreshing experience of
7UP, and ensures that consumers around the country "Keep it Cool."

Fido’s comeback to India is going to be backed by a series of new initiatives and an

aggressive multi-media package, including new TV spots, attractive packaging, radio
communication, new outdoor signage, shop fronts and point-of-sale merchandise.

The 30-second TV ad spot, to be telecast on all national and regional TV channels,

depicts the birth of Fido on a beverage napkin. Shot in Singapore, the ad features
leading Indian model Shivani Kapoor. The 7UP-Fido communication will be relayed to
the consumers through radio in all the cities with access to FM band facility. The new
packaging of 7UP will feature Fido and his "Fidosophies" on the 7up PET labels.

The aggressive marketing plan will amplify and bring to life Fido’s five central
"Fidosophies" It’s cool to be you; Normal is boring; Your best friend is your head;
Dare to be different and Life is short, live it up!

There is a seamless fit between the 7UP product and Fido Dido. 7UP is natural, clear,
refreshing and sparkling, while Fido is true to himself, genuine, simple, chilled out,
quick witted and sharp. In addition to 7UP, Pepsi’s brand portfolio in India includes
market leaders in their respective categories, such as Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Aha,
the Mirinda range of flavours - Orange, and Lemon, Slice, the Tropicana range of
100% fruit juices, Aquafina and Lehar Evervess Soda.

April'2003
Reachout's News Bureau
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/24/business/talking-deals-after-long-fight-pepsi-enters-
india.html
Talking Deals; After Long Fight, Pepsi Enters India
By Barbara Crossette

Published: May 24, 1990

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NEW DELHI— IT took half a decade of negotiating, 20 debates in Parliament and a

monumental public relations campaign. But last night, in the silver wine coolers of a
luxury hotel, Pepsi-Cola came to India.

Well, not exactly Pepsi-Cola. It is called Lehar Pepsi here, a concession to the anti-
foreign lobby. And it will not appear in all of India at first: just Jaipur, Kanpur,
Bangalore and Punjab state. Plans are to have Pepsi in the larger cities, like Delhi,
Bombay and Calcutta, later this year.

Nevertheless, Pepsico Inc. and its Indian joint-venture partners are jubilant. No
major American soft drink has been allowed in the Indian market since Coca-Cola
was forced out in a fit of nationalism in 1977 after it refused to divulge its ingredients
and reduce its ownership in its Indian venture.

Christopher Sinclair, the president of Pepsi-Cola International, who was on hand last
night when the first lids popped at a news conference, called his company's venture
in India ''an historic agreement.''

Because of the agreement, the company called on the Bush Administration not to
impose trade sanctions on India under the ''super 301'' provisions of American trade
law. The company sent a letter to Carla A. Hills, the United States trade
representative, saying, ''Given the progress of the Pepsi project, and what we believe
it portends for future U.S.-India business initiatives, we hope that our Government
will not have to take any actions under the super 301 process.''

Pepsico's move into the Indian market, in which three billion bottles of brand-name
soft drinks are sold annually, was made possible by the company's willingness to take
a 39.9 percent share in a conglomerate called Pepsi Foods Private Limited. Its co-
owners are Punjab Agro Industries, a Punjab state company, and the Voltas
subsidiary of the giant Tata Group.

Pepsico and its partners, hoping to sell not only Pepsi but also 7-Up and Miranda
orange drink in India, agreed to set up fruit and vegetable processing plants,
agriculture research stations, franchised bottling operations and snack-food factories
using local potatoes and other ingredients. Pepsico said it plans to invest more than
$1 billion in India in the next 10 years. The company's first plants have been built in
northern Punjab state, where unemployment among well-educated youths has
helped fuel a separatist movement.

Pepsico snack foods - potato chips and Cheetoswith Indian seasonings - were
introduced earlier this year, but soft-drink production was delayed, partly because of
the time it took to bring bottling operations up to international standards and partly
because at the last minute the name of the soft drinks had to be changed.

Pepsi Foods Private had planned to call its flagship drink Pepsi Era, but opponents
challenged the name under a law, mostly honored in the breach, that forbids foreign
names for Indian products. Lehar Pepsi, which means Pepsi Wave, was the
compromise. But by then, permanently labeled bottles had to be scrapped and new
ones made at a cost exceeding $1 million.

The battle may not be over. Local soft-drink manufacturers are threatening to make
Lehar Pepsi disappear from the shelves. Company officials say they are not worried
and are confident that there can be no successful campaign of sabotage against the
drinks through the illegal use of Pepsi bottles.

Although Pepsico has more than 700 bottling operations overseas, including
successful plants in China and the Soviet Union, the psychological barriers in India
have been unique.

In a country fiercely protective of local industry, Indian soft-drink manufacturers

have built strong political lobbies to fend off foreign challenges. Since a new
Government came to power in India in December, the local bottlers have waged a
campaign for the reversal of the Pepsico agreement, which was finally approved in
1988.
But the Government of Prime Minister V. P. Singh resisted, apparently deciding that
it would be a bad precedent to upset a contract that took so long to negotiate.

A new application from Coca-Cola, however, was rejected in March. The only other
soft drink here that might be considered American is Double Cola, which is selling in
limited areas of India and is owned by Indians who live in the United States.

Lehar Pepsi and its related brands, Lehar 7-Up and Lehar Miranda, got an
unexpected assist when the Government decided in April to begin enforcing a two-
year-old ban on the use of brominated vegetable oil. The substance, which is used to
prevent the separation of ingredients in fruit-flavored drinks, is reported to be
carcinogenic.

Indian consumer groups say that more than 120 countries have banned the oil, and
the groups are pressing the Government to impose a ban here. Brominated vegetable
oils have never been used in Pepsico drinks, Mr. Sinclair said at a news conference
last evening.

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