Mojo’s advertisements like “Asmane Pakha Melo” or “Antor is On” quickly created a buzz among the young generation in Bangladesh. Mojo entered a market dominated by international brands like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and RC Cola, with some local brands also trying to grab market share. Mojo’s approach received a positive response as a new domestic brand. However, aside from Pepsi, none of the competitors could stand firm against Coca-Cola’s legacy in marketing and advertising. Though Coca-Cola remained the market leader since its introduction as the first cola drink in Bangladesh, several local and international brands challenged its leadership for a period. In recent years, however, Coca-Cola has regained its dominance. Yet, a surprising factor in Coca-Cola’s domination has been Mojo, which has re-emerged as a significant competitor. Within a year, this local brand’s market share skyrocketed from 6% to 35%.
Overview
Bangladesh was first introduced to soft drinks by Coca-Cola in 1963, and Pepsi began operations in 1976. The country’s economic growth was slow before and after independence, so purchasing power was low, and the demand for soft drinks was limited to urban areas. In the 80s and 90s, Coca-Cola and Pepsi introduced Sprite, Fanta, 7-Up, and Mirinda into the Bangladeshi market. By then, people’s eating habits had started to change, and they began consuming carbonated soft drinks during parties, heavy meals, and social gatherings. Young people and the middle-aged particularly embraced Coca-Cola and other soft drinks. The growing popularity and demand for soft drinks prompted other international brands like RC Cola and Virgin Cola to enter the Bangladeshi market. Inspired by these international brands, local conglomerates also started introducing new cola brands, with Euro Cola becoming the first Bangladeshi brand in the market. In 2006, Akij Food & Beverage Limited (AFBL) launched Mojo as Bangladesh’s second local beverage brand. AFBL marketed Mojo with attractive jingles, colorful themes, and affordable pricing to appeal to the youth, who responded positively, and Mojo began performing well in the market. Following Mojo’s success, AFBL introduced Clemon and Lemu. Besides Mojo, Pran also had its own cola brand in the market.
Up until the 90s, Coca-Cola had clear domination in the Bangladeshi market, but this gradually declined. After 2000, Coca-Cola lost its dominant position due to fierce competition from international and local competitors. In fact, in the mid-2000s, Virgin Cola became the market leader, surpassing both domestic and international brands. However, Coca-Cola, as the first cola brand in the market, was not ready to relinquish its dominance so easily. Alongside international competitors like Pepsi and RC, Coca-Cola sought to regain market dominance. In 2010, The Coca-Cola Company officially began its operations in Bangladesh, partnering with Abdul Monem Limited. They increased their bottling capacity, strengthened their supply chain network, and targeted youth with various advertising and marketing campaigns, as well as CSR activities.
Initially, the company also utilized Pran Dairy Limited’s bottling plant to increase production. These strategies paid off, and Coca-Cola’s demand in the market began to rise. In 2017, Coca-Cola invested $60 million to establish a plant in Valuka, Mymensingh, significantly increasing their production capacity. There was a time when Coca-Cola was rarely available in rural areas, where Euro Cola, RC Cola, Maxx Cola, and other local brands were more common. However, Coca-Cola’s increased marketing activities, production capacity, and focus on expanding distribution channels have resulted in the disappearance of several local and international beverage brands like RC Cola and Euro Cola. Pepsi remains Coca-Cola’s primary competitor due to its global recognition, while Mojo, despite holding a 5-6% market share, wasn’t available everywhere. However, starting in 2023-24, the market situation for Mojo began to change unexpectedly.
In October 2023, Israel launched aggressive and illegal attacks on innocent civilians in Gaza. In response, Muslim-majority countries worldwide, including Bangladesh, began boycotting products from Western companies that remained silent or supported Israel’s actions. In Bangladesh, religious Muslims started campaigns on social media calling for the boycott of brands like Coca-Cola and Pepsi. This movement was also supported in public sermons, where lists of Western products were presented, urging Muslims to refrain from using them. Posters and leaflets were distributed in public places, encouraging people to boycott Western products. During this time, Mojo launched the “We Support Palestine” campaign, appealing to the religious sentiments of Bangladeshi Muslims. This campaign helped boost the brand’s sales by 130-140% within a few months, increasing Mojo’s market share in the soft drinks market to 35%. Not surprisingly, Coca-Cola lost the most market share due to Mojo’s rise.
But why did Mojo suddenly surge in popularity?
Religious values have been leveraged in Bangladesh before, such as with Aromatic Halal Soap, which quickly became successful, but it couldn’t sustain its market position in the long term. Could Mojo face a similar future?
Mojo’s Rise
With the price of Coca-Cola and Pepsi already high, boycotting these brands became easier for people. Toward the end of 2023, Akij Food & Beverage Limited launched the “Mojo Support Palestine” campaign, where the company pledged to donate 1 Taka to the people of Gaza for every bottle of Mojo sold. Following the launch of this campaign, Mojo saw a 30% increase in sales within the first two months. As a result, AFBL donated 15 million Taka to the oppressed people of Palestine, with 5 million Taka coming from the Mojo Support Palestine campaign. The campaign was widely embraced by the public, who participated enthusiastically. The company later renamed the campaign “We Support Palestine” and made it a campaign of the people. Mojo received significant appreciation on social media, and more people became aware of the campaign, further boosting sales. According to the dedicated website for the campaign, Mojo has raised around 14 million Taka so far, indicating that approximately 14 million bottles of Mojo have been sold since the campaign’s launch. Initially, 250 ml and 500 ml bottles were the most popular, but now the sales of 1-liter and 2-liter bottles have also increased. Mojo’s packaging also attracted customers, highlighting that Mojo was cheaper than other colas of the same size. In addition to religious values, the lower price compared to Coca-Cola and Pepsi made Mojo a popular choice for social gatherings and meals.
After the 2023 budget, Coca-Cola was the first to raise the price of its 250 ml bottle from 20 Taka to 30 Taka. Pepsi soon followed, raising the price of its 250 ml bottle from 15 Taka to 25 Taka. Initially, the prices of larger bottles remained unchanged, but they were later increased by 1.5 times or more. The companies attributed the price hikes to new taxes on raw materials for soft drink bottles and an increase in turnover taxes on beverage manufacturing companies. The 2023 Income Tax Act raised the turnover tax for beverage companies from 0.60% to 5%. Although the price increases were justified by the new taxes, the significant price hike created negative sentiment among Bangladeshi consumers toward Coca-Cola and Pepsi. On the other hand, Mojo and other local cola brands, despite raising their prices, kept them within 20 Taka. As a result, many consumers started choosing affordable alternatives like Mojo and Maxx Cola.
After 2017, Coca-Cola emerged as the clear market leader in Bangladesh. As the market leader, Coca-Cola tried to set itself as the price leader, believing that other companies would follow its pricing strategy and that consumers would prefer Coca-Cola over other cola brands due to its taste and brand image. Other companies did follow Coca-Cola in raising prices, but the widespread negative publicity about the price hike on social media forced nearly every company to lower their prices slightly. However, this did not yield much benefit for international brands.
In many countries, local cola brands have tried to stand up against Coca-Cola and Pepsi but have either failed to compete with the global resources of these two companies or have been acquired by them. Thumbs Up in India is a prime example.
Mojo’s comeback story, fueled by timely campaigns, a connection to the public’s values, and affordable pricing, may be a rare example in global history of a local brand standing strong against an international giant. However, can Mojo achieve long-term leadership against Coca-Cola? Previously, Jamuna Group attempted to leverage religious values with Aromatic Halal Soap against Unilever’s Lux soap, gaining quick popularity, but despite its immense popularity, the local brand couldn’t sustain itself against Unilever’s global resources in the long term. Even Islamic Bank, which became one of the largest commercial banks in Bangladesh by leveraging religious values, has recently faced criticism for appointing cricketer Soumya Sarkar as its brand ambassador.
Leveraging religious values can lead to quick success or popularity, but in the long term, sustainability can be challenging, as it requires carefully crafted communication and messaging to avoid offending people’s sentiments. Maintaining this balance can be difficult for any brand. For example, Mojo’s packaging includes two prices, with the higher one crossed out. Some on social media have pointed out that this type of advertising contradicts the values the brand is leveraging. Additionally, the types of advertisements Mojo has previously run could offend people’s sentiments in the future. While people have called for a boycott of foreign products, is it effective across all categories? For instance, a call to boycott Aarong during Ramadan may not have significantly affected Aarong’s overall sales. While the sales of Coca-Cola and Pepsi may have dropped, and local cola brands’ sales increased, have the sales of local brands actually increased in categories like soap, toothpaste, and detergent?
While Mojo’s sales have increased in the short term, whether this trend will be sustainable in the long term remains to be seen.
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