Pricing

Pricing policy of Frooti: the pricing of Frooti is done by keeping in mind its target audience which includes kids, teenagers, youths, adults and also for the low income consumers. Unlike its competitors like Tropicana and Real it doesn't only caters to a particular set of consumers.

Tetra Pack packaging

Quantity	Price (Rupees)
65 ml	2.50
200 ml	10.00
250 ml	12.00

PET bottle packaging

Quantity	Price (Rupees)
250 ml	10.00
500 ml	18.00
1000 ml	35.00
2000 ml	60.00

As it can be seen the prices for this quality drink are very economical. They are available over a range, thus making it very convenient for a consumer of any age to purchase.

Payment methods: direct payment by the consumer at the shop or retail store.

Promotion - Integrated Marketing Communications

Frooti is promoted through various television commercial, banners, hoardings, online etc. Due to these promotions, Frooti has an excellent brand recall. The tagline of Frooti goes hand in hand. If you have to say Mango Frooti out loud, the consumer or even the audience will immediately link it to the fresh and juicy tagline. The product seems incomplete with this tagline.

Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)

Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is an approach to brand communications where the different modes work together to create a seamless experience for the customer and are presented with a similar tone and style that reinforces the brand’s core message. Its goal is to make all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations direct marketing, online communications and social media work together as a unified force, rather than permitting each to work in isolation, which maximizes their cost effectiveness.

An example of this in relation to Frooti would be:

Juicy Mango Surprise Project: This particular campaign had a tremendous impact and went viral with its humorous advertisements. A hidden camera captured people’s reactions to giant sized mangoes rolling down after them. This thus tickled the funny bone of the viewers and helped change their perspective of Frooti being a fun drink.  This project called the Juicy Mango surprise can be involved in the outdoor activities involved in the IMC. There was a lot of word of mouth buzz and viral videos that were circulated. This on ground activity was conducted in 12 metros and mini metros in malls, colleges and other youth hang outs.

Promotion of a brand are divided into two parts ATL and BTL promotions

ATL (Above the line) Promotion: (Television, cinema, radio, print, and Out-of-home to promote brands or convey a specific offer)

Some of Frooti’s famous campaigns are:

Shahrukh Khan Campaign: One of the most successful TV commercials in which they resort to celebrity endorsement for the first time. What makes the ad even more enchanting is the soulful track that holds the film together.

The Digen Verma Campaign: Frooti had always been positioned as a drink for kids. After a few years of establishing their image in the market they wanted to switch sides and position themselves as a drink for the youth. The Company wanted to reposition its product and create hype around it. To do this, they introduced a mysterious character called Digen Verma. Digen Verma they said was a real life, down-to-earth person, who, like any college student likes to bunk classes, is a good sportsman and is a popular figure in the college, with whom the teenagers can actually associate themselves. The enigma called 'Digen Verma' was everywhere, in buses, film halls, colleges, cyber cafes and shopping malls. 'JUST who is Digen Verma?' That's what the nation seemed to be had been wanting to know. In the 15 days that the campaign lasted in (February 2001), Digen Verma seemed to have become the most talked about faceless name in the country.

BTL (Below The Line) Promotion:  BTL sales promotion is an immediate or delayed incentive to purchase, expressed in cash or in kind, and having short duration. It is efficient and cost-effective for targeting a limited and specific group. It uses less conventional methods.

Frooti rarely indulges in such form of promotion.

3 C's and Product Levels

The 3C's Model is a business model, which offers a strategic look at the factors needed for success. It was developed by business and corporate strategist Kenichi Ohmae.

The 3C’s model points out that a strategist should focus on three key factors for success. In the construction of a business strategy, three main players must be taken into account: The Customer, The Competitors and The Company.

Product Levels:

Core Benefit: 

Customer: Thirst

The customer has the core benefit of thirst. This is what initiates the purchase of any product.

Basic Product:

Company: Provides Frooti as a beverage to satiate consumer core benefit.

Expected Product:

Customer: Healthy drink that is tasty and readily available.

Company: Huge sales and successful campaigns. Associate Frooti with the thirst requirement and come into the market at the right time.

Augmented product:

Competition: Maaza does not really add any additional benefits to its drink except the star appeal by using Katrina Kaif. Does more powerful advertising on a higher frequency. The other beverages too trying focusing on the youth thus making it a cluttered market for this target group.

Potential product:

Company: Helps create strategies and plans for future such campaigns. Search for new ways to satisfy the consumers. Target more people than only the youth. Come up with interactive and innovative packaging and campaigns.

Marketing Mix Elements

 Product:

·                 India’s first fruit drink, available in a tetra pack

·                 Made from premium mangoes - India’s king fruit.

·                 Also available in PET bottles - Durable good/ Consumer good.

·                 Contains vitamin A

·                 Comes in the NCSD category

·                 Tasty and healthy

·                 Available in different quantities.

Price:

·                 Ranges from 2.50 to 60 rupees.

·                 Sizes available based on price and requirements.

Place:

·         Highest distributed brand in fruit drink – 85% market share and easily available.

·         10 lakh retail outlets through more than 1500 distributors and retailers – directly or indirectly

·         Best managed supply chain and Highest retail availability – 2002

Promotion:

·         Parle Agro is revamping its marketing plan in order to suit the current market scenario.

·         New retailing and marketing initiatives taken each  year.

·         Digen Verma campaign which involve a mysterious character in order to gain attention.

·         Parle Agre introduced new characters called Froo and Ti on every bottle.

·         Campaigns that target the youth - Say it Sid, Sharukh Khan, Why Grow Up etc.

Life Cycle concepts

The four stages in a Product Life Cycle –

Introduction:  

Frooti, or Mango Frooti is the largest-selling packaged mango drink in India. It was launched in 1985 and is the flagship product of Parle Agro Pvt. Ltd. During its launch, it took the innovative path as it was the only beverage sold in a Tetra Pak pack. This was indeed a new concept for the Indian consumers who were normally used to indispensable bottles. If not only this, Frooti was also considered to be healthy in comparison to the other existing aerated drinks. Thus it became an alternative to the unhealthy colas. The concept of a tetrapack was a huge advantage. People could choose to dispose of their drinks as and when it was done with convenience.

Growth: Frooti was positioned as a mango drink with the tagline "fresh n juicy", for over 7 years. Frooti then started varied packaging depending on the requirements for a particular occasion. During Frootis growth stage several other players launched their drinks in the market however they failed to dislodge Frooti who by then had created a commendable position.  

Maturity: With time, as Frooti entered its second decade, they realised that Frootis perception of it being a drink only for kids had to change. This had to be done in order to increase their consumer base. There was a need for new positioning. The ads and campaigns then were more about making Frooti more relevant to the youth. The Yo Frooti campaign, Digen Verma and the Bindass campaign helped achieve this motive that they had in mind. This is when the packaging of Frooti switched from green to orange to make the product more appealing to the consumer psyche. Frooti at present is still in the mature stage along with its parent company – Parle Agro. 

Decline: Frooti still hasn't reached its declining stage. However it seems to be stagnating. In order to appeal to the huge number of cola drinkers, Frooti may have to position itself.

Frooti is in its maturity stage and so is Parle Agro as its parent company.

Competition and Industry

 Current Industry

At present, mango drinks comprise 70 per cent of the Rs 4,500-crore fruit drink category. With 85% of the current market share, Frooti continues to be the largest brand in Parle Agro’s portfolio with sales turnover of Rs 1,500 crore this fiscal. 

Beverage companies are doing everything to increase the consumer base - from roping in Bollywood biggies to boosting marketing expenditure and adding infrastructure muscle - to stay ahead in the competition. With Coca Cola firmly positioned at the number one spot in the market, the Indian mango drink market with its Maaza brand, its global rival PepsiCo and   local player Parle Agro are competing for the second slot in a market.

What does Frooti do to keep pace?

For its future strategies, Frooti plans to ride on the IPL this season to stand out among MNC brands such as Maaza (Coca Cola) and Slice (Pepsi) in the fruit drink category. Doing so will help increase the brand recall and image. Besides this it will also help its positioning of making it a brand for the youth rather than only children. Frooti aims to reach new segments especially hotels, restaurants and catering. It has enhanced its’ distribution for the same by nearly 30-40%. Besides this it intends to double the number of factories manufacturing the product with the face of their franchisee. It changed its target group based on the changing needs and potential of the target audience. Due to its association with Parle Agro, it has formed a strong position in the mind of its consumers. It is considered to be one of the most trusted brands.   

Consumer decision process elements

The following are the steps that a consumer goes through before purchasing Frooti or any other product in general.

Problem recognition: The Frooti consumer purchases the product due to two factors- internal or external stimulus. When a person buys Frooti to satiate his thirst, he is affected by the internal stimuli for buying. Once this need rises to a threshold level, it becomes a drive. The consumer therefore has to purchase it to fulfil this need. The need can also be produced by external stimuli such as by seeing a friend purchase the product or seeing one of the many amazing ad campaigns of Frooti.

Information search: The problem recognition here is to find a tasty yet healthy non aerated beverage. In order to narrow this down and make his search easier, the consumer searches for beverages within the fruit juice category. This is when the competitors of Frooti try their best to come in the way. They do this by either creating engaging content or coming up with catchy campaigns. For e.g. Maaza uses Katrina Kaif as the brand ambassador so as to inclue her fan following into probable consumers of the product. Frooti parent company name and quality here is what helps it stand out.

Evaluation of alternatives: After a detailed information search, the consumer is well aware of what he wants and requires solving his problem. He will choose among Frooti, Maaza, Slice and the fruit juices based on several factors – personal liking, brand loyalty, brand positioning etc and will choose his alternatives. He will then observe differences, similarities and how each brand out does each other. Factors such as availability, taste, price, promotions etc play a major role in helping them evaluate amongst the various alternatives.

Purchase decision: His decision would be made after considering a host of factors like affordability, goodwill, taste, quality etc. Based on this, the consumer finally purchases the product. This stage is very important, as it affects the post – purchase decision. In case of Frooti this is a plus point due to its availability, health factor, taste and quality of Parle Agro.

Post purchase behaviour: The consumer now gets to contemplate if he has made the right decision. He will evaluate the purchase based on the difference between expected outcome and actual outcome. If Frooti managed to really satisfy what he actually wanted then the consumer might turn into a loyalist and stick with the brand for a sustained period of time. Frooti has managed getting a huge base of brand loyalists due to its several years of brand presence.

Customer Value Construct

Parle Frooti as a product offers the customer a benefit of having the pure taste of mango at any given point in time. It provides the consumer with an economical drink that is easily available. It gives the consumer a feeling of youth and health. Parle Agro as the parent company helps achieve the brand image very easily.

Now you do not have to wait for the summers to quench your thirst or craving for the king of fruits. Indeed Mango Frooti, Fresh and Juicy!

 Total customer benefit is a summation of:

Product Benefit- Product benefit relates to the advantages a customer may derive on consumption of the product. In the case of Frooti it is a non-aerated fruit drink perceived to be healthier than the soft drinks consumed to refresh one self and satisfy the basic need of thirst. It is a rich source of Vitamin A and provides the benefit of having Mango in any season.

Services Benefit: Services offered with the product is the service benefit for that product. For Frooti the contact details of the company, the expiry date, manufacturing date, ingredients used etc could represent the service benefit.’ It provides a summarized brief on the contact details and the ingredients that help assure the consumers of it being a healthy yet tasty drink.

Personnel Benefit: It includes the customer's perception of how useful or approachable the personnel in the system of the product would be to them. Better, knowledgeable and well trained personnel assisting a customer would be great. For Frooti there is no direct personnel benefit.  The product is available on the shelves of various shops and retail stores. Hence in case of Frooti, maybe a good availability and distribution could come under Personnel Benefit.

Image Benefit: The reputation of the brand in the market plays a crucial role in decision making. What the customer thinks of the product and what others think of him consuming the product is important. Frooti as a brand has always tried to evolve with its evolving consumers to be relevant to them at all times. This is what really made Frooti one of the most trusted brands and most preferred brand for a mango drink in India. It comes across as a trendy and cool drink. The‘Fresh n Juicy ‘positioning did wonders for the product.

Total Customer Cost is the summation of the monetary cost, time cost, energy cost, and psychological cost of the product. Past positioning of Frooti came in as a mango drink for school kids. In the second decade there came a need for new positioning. This was to change the perception more relevant to the youth.

Monetary Cost- This includes all kind of the cost paid by the customer to obtain the product. It includes the price of the product, travelling expenses paid by the customer etc. Frooti price ranges from Rs 2.50 to Rs 60 depending on the quantity required for the given occasion. Price of the product is highly economical here according to the quantity. Frooti does not add any additional cost to the consumer due to its easy availability in nearby shops and stores.

Time Cost- Total amount of time invested by customer during the buying process. It also would include the time for which the customer can be influenced by the other product. Time can be in seconds, minutes or hours. The time cost for Frooti is minimal due to its availability in every shop or store. Convincing the customer in case of Frooti can however be a tedious process due to the other completion from the aerated and other drinks.

Energy Cost- Total energy spent by the customer in the buying process. It is not clear that for what purpose the term "Energy" is used. The easy accessibility of Frooti helps save both time and energy in purchasing the product.

Psychological Cost- It is the mental effort made during buying, using and maintaining the product. The psychological cost here comes from the consumers feeling healthy about buying a non-aerated product. Parents consider it to be healthy for their kids, children consider it to be yummy and fun and the youth consider it to be a cool drink associated with Parle Agro as its parent company.

Introduction - Parle Frooti

Mango is India’s national and most premium fruit. Having a mango at that time of the season was a pure delight. However it being a seasonal fruit was a rather disappointing thing to most of the mango lovers. There was no way to indulge into this yummy fruit after the summer season. There were no products related to this segment until the year 1985. This untapped segment of the market thus saw the launch of Mango Frooti. They entered the market in a rather trendy and convenient way. They came up with a convenient packaging that of a tetra-pack. This packaging gradually has changed over time depending. Mango Frooti is Parle Argo’s flagship brand and India’s leading fruit drink with an 85% market share.

Frooti has been the trendsetter all through its 25 years of existence. From being the first in tetrapacks, to being in the PET bottles, Frooti has innovated all along the way. Frooti as a brand has always tried to evolve with its evolving consumers to be relevant to them at all times. This is what makes Frooti one of the most trusted and preferred brands for a mango drink. Frooti commercials oozed fun and exuberance. Past positioning of frooti came in as a really contemporary and youthful mango drink. The second decade required a new positioning strategy. They wanted to change the perception that Frooti is just a drink for kids and wanted to make it more appealing to the youth. Thus we saw a new beginning for the Frooti campaign.