Frooti: Some things never change

Since its launch in 1985, Parle Agro’s flagship mango drink, Frooti, has gone through its ups and downs. After the Digen Verma fiasco, the more recent ‘Bindaas’ premise succeeded in buoying the brand’s image somewhat, but left scope for more.

“‘Bindaas’ worked well for us for a certain amount of time,” says Nadia Chauhan, director, marketing, Parle Agro. “But now it’s time to take that attitude to the next level.”

Creativeland Asia, the agency for Frooti, is now out with a new campaign that highlights Frooti’s bond with its consumers over the 22 years of its existence. Says Raj Kurup, chairman and chief creative officer, Creativeland Asia, “With time, Frooti has matured as a brand. Recently, its whole branding and packaging underwent a change to become more contemporary.” While changing with the times is a given, its essence remains the same – that of being the nation’s favourite mango drink, says Kurup. “In fact, as per a survey in a leading business daily, Frooti was declared the most trusted mango drink in the country.”

The TVC, which went on air two days ago, has been shot in Mumbai by Nikhil Advani of MAD Films, and comprises various vignettes that underscore the changes India has undergone. The first frame shows the back of a boy (with long hair) and his girlfriend (with cropped hair); only on closer inspection do you realise which is the girl and which the boy. The voice-over explains how men and women have changed over time. The next shot has a group of college girls whistling at a guy, while another frame shows a boy getting caught in class for drinking Frooti, except that his professor takes it from him and drinks it himself, showing how the student-teacher relationship has changed.

Next, a fancy dress competition has a young girl dressed as an astronaut and caught drinking Frooti by her seniors. This is meant to portray how the aspirations of children are changing, and that girls are going beyond dolling up like beauty pageant queens.

Another frame is that of a bunch of children abandoning their playground to play with a gaming console. The next shot is of an elderly gentleman throwing rubbish on the street; a college student picks it up and throws it in the bin. The voiceover now explains that while India has changed, India’s favourite fruit drink is the same. The last shot has the college student drinking Frooti.

The ad has the brand’s signature jingle, ‘Mango Frooti, Fresh and Juicy’, playing in the background, except that this time, a hip-hop rendition has been utilised to showcase the ‘contemporary’ nature of the brand. The ad will be aired till around the end of October – a period often referred to as the ‘Second Summer’. Apart from claiming Frooti’s leadership position in the market through above the line activities, Frooti has also launched an elaborate below the line programme based on the thought, ‘Thank You, Mango Lovers’. This will be a series of promotional activities aimed at both the trade and consumers to thank them for their continued support over the years. Activation programmes around schools and colleges, too, will be leveraged.

According to Kurup, Frooti already has a strong foothold among kids; with this new communication, the focus is more on Young India (age group 15-24), a segment which generally poses a problem for most marketers.