Chapter 84\ Brand building at the mercy of Lebanese Politics

The government of Israel threatened to boycott Coca-Cola for not having a local bottling plant, despite the business Jewish communities in the US and across Europe were giving to Coca-Cola. Because of this ultimatum, Coca-Cola rushed to build a bottling plant in Bnei Brak on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. This resulted in Coca-Cola being blacklisted by the Damascus headquartered Israel Boycott Bureau, which was a powerful organization in 1966. Many neighboring countries followed suit and stopped the brand from bottling and selling in their own markets.

The company that bottled Coca-Cola in Lebanon was called the Lebanese Industrial & Commercial Company S.A.L. (LICO), which was owned by Najib Salha and Youssef Salem. Najib was a well-known businessman who had built his fortunes in Saudi Arabia, where he had served as assistant to the minister of public works and finance. Then, upon his return to Lebanon, he was voted into the Lebanese Parliament and named minister of national planning. He was also a major investor in Intra Bank and the owner of the Phoenicia and Le Vendome hotels, while Youssef was a member of the Lebanese Parliament and was later named a minister.

When the Coca-Cola boycott was implemented, Salha hesitated to close the state-of-the-art bottling plant he had built. Consequently, he launched an effort to spare LICO from financial damage as result of the boycott. On 3July 1968, his lawyers presented a petition to the minister of national economy, requesting permission to bottle and market a cola drink with a new formula and a different brand name using the old Coca-Cola bottles, despite the directives of the boycott office. The petition promised to remove all the previous branding that was printed on the bottle caps, as well as on the sides of these bottles. This was requested to be applicable for a period of three months, starting on the 1^st of August 1968, and was to be non-renewable. However, like many other deadlines in Lebanon, this was extended indefinitely.

To lead the launch of the new brand and all the logistical preparation required to get it into the marketplace, Mazen Salha, the son of Najib, was assigned the task. Mazen, who was a fresh graduate of AUB, immediately called on a university friend of his, Hanna Souan, for help. Souan had been working at P&G in Geneva since graduation. So Mazen highlighted to him the fascinating challenge of launching a local soft drink brand against all the big global brands following Coca-Cola’s forced removal from the Lebanese market. Hanna, who was known to be a fighter, accepted the challenge, resigned from P&G, and flew back to Beirut. Little time was wasted coming up with a new brand name, developing a logo, removing the Coca-Cola branding from the existing stock of bottles, ordering new caps, and repainting all the delivery trucks.

Before long, the challenge of the media launch race began. It was certain that the other Druze family of Toufic Assaf was preparing to launch an aggressive campaign for its Pepsi brand, and the challenge was who would blast off first. Hanna called on two Palestinian ad men who had been introduced by one of his relatives. Nadim Saffouri and Johnny Youssef, who had recently joined Young & Rubicam in Beirut, were building a reputation as the new kids on the block. Y&R Lebanon was the second international advertising agency to set up in the Lebanese capital.

Launching a carbonated soft drink was a creative’s dream, so the assignment was handled by the duo personally. Both client and agency brainstormed intensively, and the launch approach was agreed upon. The casting session was an easy one and was concluded with a standing ovation when the audio reel of Kamel Costandi was played. Mazen had rushed back to meet an unexpected visitor, so he missed the voice casting bit of the meeting.

Kamel Costandi was a Palestinian who grew up in Jaffa, listening to the news presenters of Radio Berlin, which was his father’s favorite radio station. After working for the British Army War News Service out of Jenin in Palestine, he was transferred to Cyprus. There, after some time, he joined the famous Near East Sound System, which was popular well before Radio Monte Carlo and Sawt Al Arab went on air. Kamel was soon given his own daily morning program and became one of the seven anchors at the station. Then he moved to Lebanon and became involved in the establishment of Studio Baalbek and then Al Anouar Troop. Kamel’s voice was distinctly enriched by his Palestinian dialect, so when the first TV commercial for K Cola was being produced, it was normal that his fellow countryman Nadim Saffouri called on him to voice it. The concluding statement of the launch commercial said: “Now drink K Cola.”

Hanna Souan and Johnny Youssef were not convinced of this decision and fought with Saffouri, to replace him, although Costandi was a friend of all three and a fellow Palestinian. Costandi had a very distinct Palestinian accent which Souan and Youssef will alienate many Lebanese, and trigger negative response to the new brand. K Cola failed to sell, except in very restricted regions of Lebanon. The volumes were negligible and definitely didn’t warrant the professional nor the financial investment made by Mazen Salha. Sadly, K Cola was buried soon after it was born, due to the stubbornness of Saffouri, a trait which is unforgivable in advertising. Only when the first spark of the Lebanese Civil War flared up in April 1975 did the Lebanese marketing community realize what national hate could do to a flourishing country and a thriving soft drink brand that it was keen to sell.