More than a summer drink
KING OF JUICES Major mango fruit drink brands have brushed up their looks and appeal – with Frooti making the boldest shift – to draw in Indian consumers who stay true to their mango passion MANGO DRINKS IN INDIA
MUMBAI: Funny how you can pin so many different emotions to a product that persists unfailingly as an India favourite. Indian consumers will surely never tire of mango. Knowing this, brands that put them into tetra packs and bottles as fruit drinks, have kicked off the summer with high decibel campaigns.
Debabrata Mukherjee, VP marketing and commercial, Coca-Cola India, said, “There is a strong mango consumption culture across India. In consuming it in any form, the Indian consumer does not decode it.”
While Parle Agro’s Frooti, in a departure from its comfortably familiar rounded signature logo, has adopted a stencilled signature – created by Pentagram – that is more grown-up and contemporary, Tropicana’s Slice (PepsiCo) has added Alphonso to its mango range of Kesar, Dussehri and Banganapalli. CocaCola India’s Maaza has refreshed its pack look and introduced a `7 tetra pack sachet –Tetra Fino.
At variance from Slice’s ‘luscious mango indulgence’ sensuality, expressed in its latest ad through a playful chemistry between brand ambassador Katrina Kaif and actor Aditya Roy Kapoor, Maaza has added a dash of typically Bollywood heroand-baddie action in its new ad for its “Har mausam aam”. Maaza’s size of the non-fizzy soft drink market share of the packaged juices segment in nonfizzy soft drinks FROOTI
` 5-99 across 80 ml-2.25 litre share of mango fruit drinks of packaged juices segment SLICE
` 11-62 across 200 ml-1.2 litres hero and new ambassador, Varun Dhawan, faces off with Gulshan Grover.
Vidur Vyas, senior director marketing, PepsiCo India, said, “Different taste experiences get more consumers into the mango beverage category and into the Tropicana Slice fold. It always adds back to the brand.” annual growth rate of mangobased fruit drinks MAAZA
` 7-61 across 100 ml-1.2 litre
Undoubtedly, the biggest shift has been by Frooti. Its “suckita, lickita” ad campaign with its animated digital figures, signed off by actor Shah Rukh Khan taking a sip of Frooti from a PET bottle, is definitely aimed at a more grown up audience than kids, its traditional audience. Frooti’s advertising will be handled by Sagmeister & Walsh, New York, after Creativeland Asia handled it for seven years. Frooti is moving out of its “Why grow up?” attitude to a grown up, contemporary attitude.
“For Frooti, an overall relaunch was critical to create a more universal appeal. It needed to up its cool quotient. Its old logo was very rounded, childlike,” said Nadia Chauhan, joint MD, Parle Agro.
“Frooti’s new green lettered logo is inspired by the stencil you see on mango crates. It’s almost like a sign of authority. Combined with its original yellow background, the lettering creates maximum shelf throw,” Chauhan said.
Alok Nanda, ex-ad agency creative and MD, Alok Nanda & Company, a packaging design and brand identity agency, agreed: “The confidence of the stamp and the contemporariness of the font creates a visually strong, graphic identity.”
“Since its relaunch in January this year, Frooti has seen a 60% growth over January-March last year,” claimed Chauhan.
The stakes are high. Said Mukherjee: “In the packaged juice space, which is 25% of the overall juice market, mango predominates at 75-80%.” Chauhan says it’s 93%.
Industry estimates say Maaza is market leader with a 39.1% market share. Chauhan claimed Frooti has a 35% share after its January-March growth