GROUP ASSIGNMENT: 3

“Marketing communication”

Master of Business Administration (Executive)

SUBMITTED TO:

Prof. Rupesh K Shrestha

SUBMITTED BY:
Neeraj Sharma
Nishma Bajracharya
Sajeeb Chand
Vivek Bir Pandey

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
BALKUMARI, KATHMANDU
24 April, 2010
 Synopsis of the Case

While launching any product marketers should always try to segment the target according
to the age, demography, geography, psychographic, behavioristic, benefits segmentations.
The case Relaunch of Frooti- The 'Digen Verma' Campaign was a teaser campaign
introduced to create a mysterious character called 'Digen Verma' to target audience in the
youth segment.

As Frooti was always focused on targeting the kids segments, with this campaign they
wanted to target the youth especially the college-going teenagers. Teaser advertisements
are brief advertisement designed to tease the public by offering only bits of information
without revealing either the sponsor of the ad or the product being advertised. Teaser ads
are the frontrunners of an advertising campaign, and their purpose is to arouse curiosity
and get attention for the campaign that follows. In order for a teaser campaign to be
effective, the ads must have great visibility in print, broadcast, and out-of-home media so
as to reach a great many people. Teaser ads are often used in the introduction of a major
motion picture or a new product. This same strategy was followed by Parle Agro to
promote Frooti by using innovative teaser advertisement in creating hype with enigma
called "Digen Verma" whose identity as well as product identity was hidden.

Questions for Discussion:

1. "With pressure from all sides, Parle Agro was forced to rethink its strategy."
Discuss the components of the re-launch strategy for 'Frooti?

Frooti a product from Parle Agro introduced in 1984, was the first tetrapak drink and
one of the most popular in the Indian market till the year 2000 with annual sales of 300
crore. With fierce competition from other MNCs companies like Pepsi and Coca-cola
and other fruit drinks. With its product likeability, quality a score of 100 and 95 on
product recall had dropped in the top-of-the-mind ranking to 60 in two year's time.

So to over come the problem and increase the sale, they re-launched Frooti and aimed
at positioning Frooti as fun, trendy, and modern drink to target the youth segment
instead of kids. They tired to create a sub-segment with 12-15 years old as teenagers
and 9-12 as per-teens and 16-19 years old as new impulse category which were the
primary targets.

They had a creative strategy with teasing advertisement with the name Digen Verma
that created a hype and sensation in the world of advertisement. Most of the youths
were very curious to know about Digen Verma and what he is associated with. The
creative team had a strategy and focused on making something that appeal to the
college-going crowd. They re-launched and stressed on the teenage segments and
making product fun, trendy and modern, just like today's teenagers, who are out and out
nonconformist. They focused on the college going crowd, where these crowd hung out,
what their reference points were and what would grab their attention. So, they focused
 on promoting where they would spend most of their time like canteen, cinema halls,
cafeteria, etc. They created a teasing advertisement and highlighted the name Digen
Verma and made him as a brand ambassador so that the ad will grab the teenager's
attention and make them more curious.

They did not focus on the real celebrity as their life of glamour is short-lived. Today he
is there and tomorrow he is gone. So creating a fake identity as Digen Verma was very
creative strategy where they promoted in a blitz of outdoor ads, promos, cinema, and
teaser spots with the name of 'Digen Verma'. They focused promoting Digen Verma in
restaurants, movie theatres, buses and local trains with catchy posters.

The hype about the faceless man created for fortnight that created mystique, intrigue,
and high drama that became the talking point all around the country. To promote the
campaign, they organized a manhunt to select the right guy to play the role of Digen
Verma in September 2001.

Strategy they focused was on giving a new packaging, new splash graphics were
introduced on the pack in the same signature green and orange color and a flip top
packaging replaced the aperture for a straw. They changed a long tagline such as "Juice
up your life" and "Fresh and Juicy" to "Frooti- Just like that".

2. Discuss the rationale behind the 'Digen Verma' Campaign. Do you think it will be
effective?

The rational behind the Digen Verma Campaign was mainly to change the target
audience from Kid segments to the youth segments. In order to increase the sales which
was greatly declined within two years due to increase in competition was the major
reason behind the campaign. Initially the drink was positioned as a kids drink. The
product was perceived as a healthy fruit drink by the mothers. So within a short span of
time, the brand was an alternative to the “unhealthy” colas. The tetrapak had other
benefits also. Fruit juice is a perishable product and tetrapak have extended the shelf life
of Frooti because tetrapaks have 2 layers of paper and a plastic coating.
Lured by the success of Frooti, there was a lot of new launches in the TFJ market. Players
like Godrej with Jumpin, kissan etc tried their luck in this market but failed to dislodge
Frooti.

Frooti was positioned as a mango drink that is “Fresh-n-juicy” For over 7 years, the
company promoted the product using that famous baseline. The products have tried to
create excitement in the market through a series of new variants and packing. But in late
nineties the brand was facing stagnated sales. The company tried to excite the market
with an orange and pineapple variant but both the variant bombed. The came the
experiment with packaging. The YO! Frooti variant came with a slim paper can aimed at
the college going youth. Worried by the stagnating sale, Parle tried to reposition the
brand to youth aged between 16-21. The positioning changed to be more fun based. The
package also changed. The old green color of the bottle changed to brighter mango color
with lot of graphics added to it. One of the most famous marketing campaigns India has
witnessed took place during the repositioning. The campaign is the famous “Digen
Verma “campaign. This campaign was considered as one of the most successful teaser
campaigns in India. The campaign lasted for 15 days started in February 2001. The
campaign was about a faceless person Digen Verma. There were posters and outdoors all
across the markets that had messages like “Who is Digen verma” “Digen Verma was
here” etc. This created lot of excitement in the market and “Digen Verma “became the
most talked about faceless name at that time. The campaign was executed by Everest
communication. But the campaign was not followed up and the hype was not translated
to long term brand building.

Frooti is basically a nectar based drink so it is not 100% fruit juice, it also have some
preservatives added to increase the shelf life. Although Frooti did not face much
competition in the category it created, competition came from a slightly different
category, 100% fruit juices. Parle saw the emergence of the “100% fruit drink market and
launched “Njoy” brand but it did not clicked. Parle could have extended Frooti to this
market also .The brand Real from Dabur is the main player in this category. Real
effectively positioned itself as a premium healthy drink for adults. Frooti was not able to
appeal to adults and was considered as a mango drink while Real is not restricted to any
flavor. Frooti also changed its positioning statement from ‘Fresh-N-juicy” to “Juice Up
your life” which has not clicked with the customers.
Although Frooti enjoys a commanding (75%) market share, Frooti is facing stagnation.
May be some serious steps should be taken to increase the usage of the product. The
launch of PET bottle Frooti is a step in this direction. Recently Frooti also launched a
“Green mango” variant just to create some hype in the market. Frooti may have to
reposition itself again to appeal to cola drinkers.

However with the new concept of teaser advertisement helped Frooti in creating and
capturing customer awareness in a quite phenomenal way. How ever there were some
critics that pointed out that many of those who had watched this campaign, had expressed
certain disappointment when they learnt that it was a promotional campaign for Frooti.
With spending of around Rs 30 million, it was successful in positioning Frooti as fun,
trendy, and modern drink targeted at the youth segment, a marked change from its initial
positioning as a drink for kids. Frooti was successful in increasing the sales by almost 30
percent. Though it could not increase the sale in a phenomenal way however this
campaign was probably one of the most innovative teaser campaigns ever run in India.

3. "Success of a brand is dependent on many factors besides the promotional

campaign." Comment.

Besides the Promotional campaign, some of the factors that determine the success of a
brand are as discussed as below.
Five brand success factors

An efficient and scalable business model combined with innovation is necessary to stay
ahead of the competition. But individually these are not sufficient to make a successful
global brand. Five further overlapping components are required:

1. A great brand experience

Brand experience is not limited to the product or service. Every contact with the brand
counts.

2. A clear and consistent positioning

People need to know what a brand stands for. That's why an established and successful
marketing campaign should not be abandoned simply for the sake of saying something
new. When change is required, the challenge is to re-interpret the brand positioning in a
way that is appropriate to the current time and culture.

3. A sense of dynamism

Innovation is key to brand success but it is not limited to the functional benefits of the
brand. A brand that sets the trends rather than reacting to them is likely to be seen as
different and more popular.

4. A sense of authenticity

Today consumers in developed countries have a finely tuned sense for what is true and
authentic versus shallow and contrived. They are still drawn to brands with a strong
heritage.

5. A strong corporate culture

Today people seek out brands that display their values by the actions they take. In
industries with a strong customer-service component it is particularly important that
everyone involved with the brand understands and embodies its values.

Which brand epitomizes these success factors? Apple. In the 2008 Millward Brown
Brand Top 100 Most Powerful Brands ranking, Apple's brand value increased 128
percent as a result of strong business growth based on innovation and strong customer
loyalty.

Reference:
http://advertisinginindia.wordpress.com/
http://www.theglobalbrandonline.com/brand-success/five-success-factors/