NEW DELHI: Pepsi, adidas and Nokia are considered to be among the "most exciting" brands by young consumers in India, a survey has discovered.

The Economic Times, the newspaper, and Nielsen, the insights provider, asked 624 people aged 15-24 years old in the cities of Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Mumbai which brands they saw as trendsetting, stylish, fun and aspirational.

Coca-Cola, the soft drink, led the rankings, with Pepsi, its major rival, taking third. Second place went to adidas, while fourth was occupied by Fastrack, the fashion label.

Thums-Up and Sprite, two more carbonated beverages owned by Coca-Cola, were in fifth and seventh respectively, indicating the strength of the company's broader portfolio.

Nokia, the telecoms group, was in sixth, and has aimed to engage young shoppers with campaigns such as "Trendify", which tap into the surging interest in both mobile phones and social networks.

"We know kids like to share and there's social currency involved in sharing. Even if you are not a trend, you spot one and it makes you cool," said Viral Oza, Nokia's chief marketing officer.

Reebok, another sports specialist, has pursued a similar approach, with the goal of creating content that enhances, rather than interrupts, the target audience's online experience.

"Our youth-centric activities predominantly revolve around social media. We have a simple strategy: be exciting, not intrusive," said Steve McPherson, brand director at Reebok India.

Mercedes-Benz, the auto marque, claimed ninth place in the charts, and BlackBerry, the mobile phone brand, took tenth, with its low cost plans and messaging tools having proved especially popular.

Krishnadeep Baruah, BlackBerry's director of marketing, said: "When we looked at the category in 2009, the data pointed to the fact that the smartphone intenders were between 15 and 25 years of age.

"We are really excited at having been able to make an impact on a segment that we clearly identified and worked very hard to meet the needs of. If you don't offer relevant product services, your offering will have no value."

Data sourced from Economic Times; additional content by Warc staff