The Hindu Business Line : Test of taste

REFRESHING India - that's how Parle Agro, the Mumbai-based beverages company, would like to describe itself through its newly incorporated baseline. With heritage brands such as Frooti and Appy, the company, which made big news having sold off a successful brand such as Thums Up to Coca-Cola, is back to building a new set of beverage brands.

Promises Nadia Chauhan, Director (Marketing), Parle Agro, "There are a lot more beverage brands in the offing which will make their appearance between this and the next year. It will be a mix of mass and premium drinks ranging from natural drinks to milk-based beverages. All the brands are in the pipeline and we are just waiting for the right time to launch them."

And it's not just more beverages which are expected to make a splash. Parle Agro is turning sweet and is eyeing the confectionery market with an indigenous brand which will suit children's psyche and satisfy their palate more than anything else.

"Eventually we would look at getting into the confectionery market. It would be a separate brand and our R&D is already on for entering this category."

However, the company expects to sell its confectionery differently, unlike an average marketer. As Chauhan says, "If you have a normal marketer, he will get into jargon which doesn't apply to this particular category. What you have to do is think like a child and innovate and that's how you can succeed in this category." The communication will be targeted directly at kids and the beverage company has already made distribution inroads while launching its triangular packs in the smaller outlets, which could be used to sell its confectionery brand in future.

With innovation being the key to marketing a confectionery brand, Parle Agro is getting ready to face the challenges in the category. "Confectionery is a fun market where there has to be constant innovation. The child that you are selling to will like you only for a short period and the minute there is something else which catches his attention, he will turn away from your brand. So you need innovators, not necessarily marketers, to sell confectionary."

Besides, Parle Agro has already ventured into the rural markets and the paan bidi shops with its triangular Frooti packs. Starting a second distribution rung at the time of launching Frooti at Rs 2.50 with its triangular packs, these were a new set of distributors which did not sell any of the other SKUs or other brands of the company. With almost 3,000 distributors spread across the country, it has already spread its reach and driving the new products on this chain should not be an issue in future.

Apart from introducing more FMCG products, Parle Agro has also made a foray into the services sector under a separate division within the company. It has diversified into fitness centres under the V3 brand. Its first branch was set up in Juhu nearly a year ago and it is a unique concept as it is a group exercise studio for women only.

Focusing on its largest selling and oldest beverage brand, Frooti, Parle Agro decided to give the brand a new look early this year. Drawing inspiration from its newly introduced company tagline (Refreshing India), Parle Agro has decided to `refresh' the market by appearing in a yellow carton replacing its traditional green.

Frooti did generate interest with its Digen Verma campaign (done by Everest Advertising) a couple of years ago but it did not give the company the desired result. "The campaign did not do as well as it should have. There was a mismatch as the people it targeted were not necessarily the consumers of the brand," says Chauhan.

Having shifted its agency since (to Grey Worldwide this year), its latest Bindaas campaign with a Bollywood feel has been helping the almost two-decade-old brand. As Chauhan claims, "From the recent past, this is the only campaign which has made a difference to the brand in terms of imagery and has revitalised it."

In the past, Appy too has undergone a revamp in its packaging with a total change from white to black. "It was a big decision for us as black is a superstitious colour in our country," says Chauhan. But the brand has been on an upward curve since it changed colour nearly two years ago.

Devoid of any kind of mass media communication, Appy is a brand which relies more on point-of-sale communication methods such as banners and posters. Of late, Appy has also entered the premium beverage market with its new offering, Appy Fizz.

However, Parle Agro has yet to make inroads with its milk-and-fruit-based brand, Njoi. "We are catering to a particular niche with this brand and it is meant for health-conscious people and is to be drunk as a temporary hunger buster," says Chauhan.

Targeting the young urban adult, Njoi has yet to taste success in the beverages market and is poised for an imminent re-launch both in terms of packaging and pricing by its company.

Its mineral water brand, Bailey, enjoys a strong market in the North-East and the West and is looking at alternative ways to gain prominence by making exclusive deals with airlines such as Jet Airways and British Airways. With high trade margins, the brand had been facing certain distribution hurdles in the past with its franchises in the bigger markets such as Mumbai, but now the company has decided to directly distribute and manufacture the brand with a limited number of franchises.

So while Parle Agro as a company continues to focus on its beverages, there are long-term plans to diversify into foods as well. Considering it had tried its hand at launching noodles (Bisca) and Jellies (Jolly jelly), there are plans to re-enter this market.

"Most of these food products were ahead of their time but in the long run we will look at foods," says Chauhan.

But its immediate plan to enter the confectionery market is possibly the next big challenge for the Rs 600-crore beverage company which believes in launching its own brands.

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