Gulp. What is happening with Frooti? From ‘Digen Verma’ to ‘India has changed’ (with several others in between) it has seen so many thematic changes in communication. The latest one is sure to generate buzz.
Frooti has always had a perception problem of being seen as a kiddie drink. It was only available in Tetra Pak initially and that perhaps triggered the perception. By making it available in bottles and trying to appeal to the youth, Parle Agro is trying out several options. While Digen Verma created expectations (way back in 2001) it is believed that the launch activity did not live up to the expectations of the teaser ads. What happened in between is hazy for me. Last year they attempted to capture popular sentiment by saying that while India has changed, Frooti hasn’t. Simply because it has been around for some time, Frooti could have claimed that. For me, a fruit drink linking itself with a changing India was a bit hollow. And attempting to connect with the youth this way was a bit preachy. And they tried to straddle all age groups by going the montage way.
This year’s film is a departure in not showing kids. It’s a montage alright but is based on a real observation: people do tend to slurp on their drinks, specially those in a Tetra Pak. The ad engaged me on first view. But questions remain: is this the right communication for the brand?wasn’t it a bit dragging? Why restrict the signature ‘Mango Frooti, fresh and juicy’ to a musical note? Of the various attempts to appeal to adults, ‘Why grow up?’ is the most head on approach – as if to say that it is OK to have Frooti, even if you are an adult. Overall, it is a quirky and even bold approach. Will it work like how the Cadbury’s cricket film did? Have they got it right this time? Do comment.
7 Comments
hey thanks for sharing the film. hadn’t seen it. i didn’t like the film though it looks quite slick. Frooti suffers from a perception and design(packaging) problem. also juices I feel are subservient to colas in image and that is difficult to bridge…
Why grow up? – is quite a laboured, unconvincing attempt…won’t do much for the brand I feel . It doesn’t do anything for me and am a Frooti lover( i liked it as a kid). The problem with many Parle brands is they try to fix up/ cover up design problems/ issues with ads . and it doesn’t work
and yes they also need some consistent thinking behind the brand. for kids or adults ? fun brand or refreshing brand? they are experimenting wildly every year to not much effect 🙂 I have no clue about the sales but as a brand it hasn’t really grown up over the years. Maybe that’s why – why grow up LOL
@Manish, thanks for the comment. Agree totally on the design problems – struck me after I published the post. The font has remained the same for ages now. With a name like Frooti and that tag line it conveys ‘refreshing’. But the advertising and the format veers towards fun. While colas seem to change their tag line and idea every year, not too sure if Frooti can afford to do that…
Frooti’s losing its market share to other tetrapacked juices like ‘real’ & ‘tropicana’which are percieved to be healthier , so its now trying hard to have that ubiquotous presence again.But these ‘timepass’ ads have a momentary impact which lingers for a short while cuz they arn’t followed up well..n it gets cliche’d ,cuz most brands are using this approach to catch attention (but Vodafone pulled it off well).In the end what stays is the associations that the brand reflects like the ‘fresh and juicy’ element that worked well for frooti initially..I think frooti is a declining brand and its hard to resurrect a dying brand with fierce competition.But you never know, if your brand has a smart communication strategy to break through the clutter you could sell ice to eskimos..
mujhe yeh ad kuch samaj nahi aaya hai aur bilkul bhi aaca nahi laga.kyunki ismai jo aavaz aati hain wo mujhe kuch pasand nahi hain..
frooti bahut aachi hain per ye ads aacha nahi hain….
thanku
Hey! I’m reading your blog/website for the first time, and I really, really like it! Especially the title!
I’m a college student (Engineering) and so I can safely say that I don’t know a thing about brand perception or advertising, even, but I do know that most of my friends loved the new frooti ad, simply because it was different enough to make you want to watch it till the end. It was different from most of the old ads, and I especially liked how there was no one singing “Mango frooti, fresh and juicy” and they just played the tune instead. IMHO, if they’d sung it, it would’ve seemed repetitive to me. For many kids who grew up drinking frooti, it was like hearing and watching something you grew up with suddenly being touted as something you could enjoy just as much, even now. A lot of the other drinks (like tropicana) weren’t around then, and so for me, this ad somehow marked the constant that frooti always has been, in spite of so many other products that keep hitting the shelves.
I know I felt like buying frooti and going ‘slurp’ when I saw the ad. I don’t know how many people come under the same segment as me, but these were my two cents. 🙂
@Ramya, thanks for the comment. On second thoughts about the use of the jingle in a musical note – yeah it is a smart idea. It acknowledges the iconic nature of the jingle.
Tamil version of Frooti ad has killed the Tamil language – I was shocked when i saw the tamil translation of the line ” Why grow up? ” in Vijay TV