Relaunch of Frooti-The 'Digen Verma' Campaign

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Themes: Advertising and Promotion
Period : 2000-2001
Organization : Parle Agro
Pub Date : 2001
Countries : India
Industry : Food, Beverages & Tobacco

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Case Code : MKTG005
Case Length : 5 Pages
Price: Rs. 200;

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Campaign Tale Contd...

The creative team of Parle Agro's advertisement agency, decided that they had to think of something that appealed to the college-going crowd. To do this, they have to figure out where the typical college goers hung out, what their reference points were, and what would grab their attention. The typical college student hung out at the canteen, fed on small talk, and, invariably, his conversation revolved around celebrities and the handful of star students of his college; and it didn't matter that few had actually met the celebrities.

Said Dhaimande: ''So we realised that a lot of socialising and talk always revolved around this one person who someone would know and the rest have only heard about.'' Thus it was decided that the promotion campaign for repositioning Frooti would revolve around a brand ambassador who would be someone the youth could relate to.

This person had to have the following characteristics if he was to have a mass appeal: one, his name had to be ubiquitous enough; two, he had to lead a life that normal consumers could relate to and three, the storyline had to be powerful enough to sustain interest.

The name 'Digen Verma' was chosen because though it was somewhat unusual, it had a familiar ring to it. The name was well received in southern markets like Kerala, according to a test market research. Said Bhonsle, "We were looking for a national identity, and Verma, as a surname, features in almost all Indian communities. On the other hand, Digen as such doesn't mean anything. One could probably interpret it is as Dig-In."

Once the name Digen Verma was chosen, a personality had to be built around it. He had to some sort of a role model whom the others would want to imitate. Over the years the filmstars and cricketers had served as role models to the youth. But Parle Agro, interestingly chose an unknown entity like Digen Verma and not a celebrity like Hrithik Roshan or Sachin Tendulkar to endorse its products. Said Dhaimade, "We want college kids to drink Frooti without any image hassles.

A celebrity's life is always short-lived. Today, he is there, and tomorrow he is not. This idea came from my own experiences in college. The rule is simple. A popular guy can do what the hell he wants, people follow. A freshman has to be very careful of how he behaves. But, most importantly, there are always 'those guys' - legends you've never seen but have heard so much about. The very fact that you haven't seen them makes them larger than life.

That's how the idea of Digen Verma came into my head." Having decided on the brand ambassador, Parle Agro needed a catchy and creative promotional campaign, which could communicate its intended positioning and differentiate it from its competitors, all within a shoestring budget. Parle Agro rolled out an aggressive multi-media advertising campaign created by Everest across the nation.

The campaign included television commercials (TVCs), outdoor media campaign, offline promotions and online advertising campaigns. The first stage of the campaign was spearheaded by an innovative and creative promotional teaser campaign, built around the brand ambassador 'Digen Verma'. This teaser campaign was aimed at stirring up tremendous interest by building hype over the mysterious character 'Digen Verma,' concealing the association with "Frooti'.

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