Tang campaign to break in April

KJS has earmarked an ad spend of Rs 5-6 crore for Tang, its powdered orange juice brand, which was launched on Friday in Delhi. The campaign, created by O&M, Delhi, will break in April. The message will target mothers and children with the claim that ‘Tang offers you your daily supply of vitamin C.' Tang has been priced at Rs 100 for a 500-gm refill pack (which makes up to 25 glasses of orange juice) and Rs 7 for the 25-gm sachet. Tang comes in 20 flavours, but in India Kraft has introduced the orange flavour only. The lemon and mango flavours will follow soon.

The KSJ brass is aware that it has a mighty task ahead. Powdered soft drink (PSD) is not very popular among the Indian masses unlike the way it is worldwide. However, the company sees this as ‘a minor challenge', which it intends to overcome by exploiting the huge brand equity that Tang enjoys internationally.

"KJS was incorporated in India in 1999 and for two years we have done extensive research to find out what suits Indian palates and with which product should we mark the beginning of our food business venture in the country. After having short-listed a few products we decided to go for Tang in the orange flavour," said Guiseppe Frittela, head of marketing, KJS India.

The total beverage market in India is 33.3 billion lt; of this the PSD segment constitutes 0.2 per cent. KJS India thus sees a great opportunity for growth in this segment and has done the spadework to tap it fully.

To start with an initial lot of 50 tonne will be imported for two months before the manufacturing plant in Hyderabad becomes operational. About Rs 25 crore has been invested in the 6,000 metric tonne plant where production will hopefully start in June.

To distribute Tang, Kraft has entered into an alliance with Dabur. The obvious question is: Will competition from a stable mate curtail Tang's reach in any way? Ajit Sahagal, director, KJS India, thinks otherwise. "Tang and Real are clearly positioned as non-competitive products. Tang is a powdered soft drink whereas Real is a ready-made drink. Moreover the pricing of the two products is different." It is the soft drinks such as Fanta, Coke or Rasna that the company sees as its real competitors.

Beginning with Delhi, Tang will be made available in 20,000 retail outlets in Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad over the next one year. In 2002, Kraft plans a second phase of roll out of Tang in the tier two cities. The company has set itself a sales target of 4,000 tonne in three years' time.

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