Dome Pakornlam, a well-known singer, is being used by Pepsi to connect its brand with young consumers.

Siam Square has become the main focus of the marketing war, as soft-drink giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi have both unveiled new marketing concepts to connect with young customers.

While Coca-Cola has installed 89 advertising eye-catchers throughout Siam Square to promote its new global marketing platform, "The Coke Side of Life", Pepsi yesterday rolled out its first-ever Pepsi Square at Centre Point in hopes it will become a new interactive hang-out for teenage consumers.

At Pepsi Square, teenagers can experience more of the brand under one roof, including the downloading of ring tones and wallpapers via Bluetooth technology.

An industry source said global leader Coca-Cola had increased its marketing budget four-fold over last year, in a bid to wrest leadership of the Thai market from Pepsi.

Pepsi claims it controls 64 per cent of Thailand's cola-drink market, and the cola segment makes up about 75 per cent of the total soft-drink market, which is worth more than Bt30 billion a year.

Moreover, the market enjoys sustainable annual growth of more than 5 per cent.

Thailand is one of only a few markets in the world where Coca-Cola trails behind Pepsi.

Coca-Cola has already kicked off its new "Coke Side of Life" campaign with a Bt50-million launching splurge, while Pepsi has introduced a new marketing concept called 3D.

Launched locally at the beginning of January, Coca-Cola's new marketing platform is based on the simple idea that drinking Coke makes people happy. In addition to an invitation to live on the positive side of life, the "Coke Side of Life" message also reflects the company's continued commitment to engage its consumers in a fun-filled, relevant and meaningful manner by providing both physical and emotional uplifts, said Coca-Cola Thailand marketing director Chuenhathai Vuntanadit.

"The Coca-Cola brand has always stood for 'positivity', and what we're saying through this new campaign is that being positive is a personal choice you make every day," Chuenhathai said. "'The Coke Side of Life' is designed to be a refreshing reminder of this positive outlook on life. It invites you to choose to be positive and optimistic."

Coca-Cola also launched a Bt6-million, 10-week promotion campaign yesterday called "Coke Music VIP". It offers young consumers a chance to win various music-related prizes, including karaoke DVD players, music phones and tickets to an exclusive music holiday.

Pepsi-Cola (Thai) Trading marketing director Charlie Jitcharoongphorn said his company had launched a new marketing-communications concept called "3D", to bring the Pepsi brand and its young consumers together.

The first-ever Pepsi Square at Centre Point in Siam Square is meant to be a new interactive hang-out for teenagers. It follows the company's "Life Is Full of Endless Possibilities" campaign, aimed at inspiring younger generations to discover the spirit of youth.

"Our new marketing concept is not only to promote the visibility of Pepsi to teenagers, but also to connect them with our brand through different activities, to encourage our young consumers to taste more, learn more and experience more," said Charlie.

In addition, Pepsi also launched an Bt8-billion "Twist Luck with Pepsi Cap" promotion, in which 200 Pepsi Fino motorcycles will be given away. A company survey found the motorcycles to be the trendiest automatic road machines on the minds of young consumers.

"Stimulated by severe competition in the market, Thailand is among the few markets in the world that has seen significant growth in the soft-drink industry. The soft-drink market has suffered a slow-down or even negative growth in many major markets around the world, including the US, Japan and the Philippines," said Charlie, adding that the total soft-drink market was, nevertheless, expected to enjoy growth of 4-5 per cent this year.

He said Thailand still had strong market potential, because soft-drink consumption per capita is about 120 bottles per person per year. In mature markets like the US, soft-drink consumption is as high as 700-800 bottles per head per year.