Product Market Analysis Introduction to the Company – Parle Agro Pvt. Ltd. Parle is a leading Indian Food and Beverage Company, the only Indian transnational giant with the past experience of having successfully launched leading soft drink brands like “Frooti, Apply, N-Joi and Bailley”. Today its brand portfolio consists of No. 1 brands like Frooti along with Apply, N-Joi and Bailley. Parle agro was the first to identify the dormant mango segment in India and launch India’s first national Mango drink – Frooti Mango. Today Frooti has an 85% market in the Fruit Drink segment.
Today, the Parle Group turnover is over Rs. 600 crore with group strength of over 1000 employees, including over 400 professionals. MISSION: “To provide consumers superior, wholesome agro based food and drink bands through which Parle can build a profitable; growth oriented organization. ” It has different products like: 1. Frooti 2. Appy 3. Bailley Aqua 4. N-Joi Introduction to the Product – Frooti Mango – India’s national and most premium fruit was a virtually untapped segment until the year 1985, which saw the launch of Mango Frooti in a trendy convenient tetra-pack.
Mango Frooti is Parle Argo’s flagship brand and India’s leading fruit drink with an 85% market share. Now, Frooti also comes in PET bottle packing. Frooti is like an Indian ambassador and is a hot favorite not only in India but all across the world. Frooti is the first tetra pack fruit juice in India. Launched in 1984, Frooti still holds a dominant position in the Rs300 crore tetra pack fruit juice (TFJ) market. Frooti over these years have carved out a niche for itself in the market. Frooti instantly caught the fancy of Indian consumer with its tetra pack and some smart campaigns. Initially the drink was positioned as a kids drink.
The product was perceived as a healthy fruit drink by the mothers. So within a short span of time, the brand was an alternative to the “unhealthy” colas. The tetra pack had other benefits also. Fruit juice is a perishable product and tetra pack have extended the shelf life of Frooti because tetra packs have 2 layers of paper and a plastic coating that ensured tamper proof and enhanced shelf life. Lured by the success of Frooti, there were a lot of new launches in the TFJ market. Players like Godrej with Jumpin; Kissan etc tried their luck in this market but failed to dislodge Frooti.
Frooti was positioned as a mango drink that is “Fresh-n-juicy” for over 7 years, the company promoted the product using that famous baseline. The product has tried to create excitement in the market through a series of new variants and packing. But in late nineties the brand was facing stagnated sales. The company tried to excite the market with an orange and pineapple variant but both the variant bombed. Then the experiment with packaging came. The YO! Frooti variant came with a slim paper can aimed at the college going youth. Worried by the stagnating sales, Parle tried to reposition the brand to appeal to youth aged between 16-21.
The positioning changed to be more fun based. The package also changed. The old green color of the bottle changed to brighter mango color with lot of graphics added to it. One of the most famous marketing campaigns India has witnessed took place during the repositioning. The campaign is the famous “Digen Verma” campaign. This campaign was considered as one of the most successful teaser campaigns in India. The campaign lasted for 15 days started in February 2001. The campaign was about a faceless person Digen Verma. There were posters and outdoors all across the markets that had messages like “Who is Digen Verma”, “Digen Verma was here” etc.
This created lot of excitement in the market and “Digen Verma” became the most talked about faceless name at that time. It was executed by Everest communication. But the campaign was not followed up and the hype was not translated to long term brand building. Frooti is basically a nectar based drink so it is not 100% fruit juice, it also have some preservatives added to increase the shelf life. Although Frooti did not face much competition in the category it created, competition came from a slightly different category, 100% fruit juices.
Parle saw the emergence of the 100% fruit drink market and launched “Njoy” brand but it did not clicked. Parle could have extended Frooti to this market also . The brand Real from Dabur is the main player in this category. Real effectively positioned itself as a premium healthy drink for adults. Frooti was not able to appeal to adults and was considered as a mango drink while Real is not restricted to any flavor. Frooti also changed its positioning statement from “Fresh-N-juicy” to “Juice Up your life” which has not clicked with the customers.
Although Frooti enjoys a commanding (75%) market share, Frooti is facing stagnation. May be some serious steps should be taken to increase the usage of the product. The launch of PET bottle Frooti is a step in this direction. Recently Frooti also launched a “Green mango” variant just to create some hype in the market. Frooti may have to reposition itself again to appeal to cola drinkers. Marketing Mix Marketing decisions generally fall into the following four controllable categories:- 1. Product 2. Price 3. Place (distribution) 4. Promotion The term “marketing mix” became popularized after Neil H.
Borden published his 1964 article, The Concept of the Marketing Mix. Borden began using the term in his teaching in the late 1940’s after James Culliton had described the marketing manager as a “mixer of ingredients”. The ingredients in Borden’s marketing mix included product planning, pricing, branding, distribution channels, personal selling, advertising, promotions, packaging, display, servicing, physical handling, and fact finding and analysis. E. Jerome McCarthy later grouped these ingredients into the four categories that today are known as the 4 P’s of marketing, Product, price, place and promotion.
These four P’s are the parameters that the marketing manager can control, subject to the internal and external constraints of the marketing environment. The goal is to make decisions that center the four P’s on the customers in the target market in order to create perceived value and generate a positive response. PRODUCT DECISIONS: The term “product” refers to tangible, physical products as well as services. Here are some examples of the product decisions to be made: 1. Brand name 2. Functionality 3. Styling 4. Quality 5. Safety PRODUCT: A product is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a want or need.
India’s first real fruit drink in a Tetra Pak is available in – Frooti Mango, Green Mango. Frooti Mango is from premium Indian Mangoes. Frooti has also been introduced in PET bottle packing. Mango Frooti contains vitamin A which is essential for eye sight, growth and healthy skin. Frooti is a delicious and refreshing ready to serve fruit beverage. Frooti comes in Fruit drink segment of NCSD category (NON-CARBONATED SOFT DRINK). Frooti is available in following quantities: 65 ml (only Tetra pack packaging) 200 ml (only Tetra pack packaging) 250 ml 500 ml (only PET Bottle) 000 ml (only PET Bottle) Hence, we can see that Frooti has got a very large quantity basket. PRICE DECISIONS: Some examples of pricing decisions to be made include: 1. Pricing strategy (skim, penetration, etc) 2. Suggested retail price 3. Volume discounts and wholesale pricing 4. Cash and early payment discounts 5. Seasonal pricing 6. Bundling 7. Price flexibility 8. Price discrimination PRICE: TETRA PACK PACKAGING QUANTITYPRICE (Rs. ) 65 ml 2. 50 200 ml10. 00 250 ml12. 00 PET BOTTLE PACKAGING QUANTITYPRICE (Rs. ) 250 ml10. 00 500 ml18. 00 1000 ml30. 00
In order to maintain its position as a market leader, Frooti is offering its product in different quantities and prices depending upon the consumer requirements, preferences and income-levels. As we can see from the above table, Frooti’s new 65 ml packaging is priced at Rs 2. 50 only; targeting the lower income-group and it has also been introduced in PET bottle packaging as it is more cost-effective as compared to Tetra-pack packaging to become more competitive in the market. DISTRIBUTION (PLACE) DECISIONS: Distribution is about getting the products to the customer. Some examples of distribution decisions include: 1.
Distribution channels 2. Market coverage (inclusive, selective, or exclusive distribution) 3. Specific channel members 4. Inventory management 5. Warehousing 6. Distribution centers 7. Order processing 8. Transportation 9. Reverse logistics PLACE: Frooti is the highest distributed brand in Fruit drink segment with an 85% market share in India. Frooti reaches more than 10 lakh retail outlets through more than 1500 distributors and wholesalers directly and indirectly. This is borne out by Parle Agro winning the Beverage Industry award for the Best Managed Supply Chain 2002 and the Highest Retail Availability in the year 2002.
Frooti’s excellent distribution system has already been proved in our market survey and analysis where 90% of the respondents agreed that Frooti is readily available to them. PROMOTION DECISIONS: In the context of the marketing mix, promotion represents the various aspects of marketing communication, that is, the Communication of information about the product with the goal of generating a positive customer response. Promotion decisions include: 1. Promotional strategy (push, pull, etc) 2. Advertising 3. Personal selling & sales force 4. Sales promotions 5. Public relations & publicity 6. Marketing communications budget
PROMOTION: In a strategic move, Parle Agro Ltd is revamping its marketing plans in a bid to promote its flagship brand ‘Frooti’ in the overcrowded category. In fact, the company has taken a different marketing route by launching a host of new retailing and packaging initiatives to pump up volumes. Three years ago, Parle Agro introduced a mysterious character called ‘Digen Verma’ and created hype around this person through an aggressive outdoor campaign which was quiet a success. Parle Agro had introduced two characters called Froo and Ti on every 200 ml pack of Frooti as part of its retailing initiative.
These two characters are being displayed on the packs of the drink. And through tongue twisters, puzzles and various interactive games, the characters are entertaining the children as well as increasing their knowledge about famous personalities and current affairs. These two characters are very different in nature. While Froo is an affable girl who is good at studies, Ti is a naughty boy who keeps running after Froo to get his home-work done. With this move, the company expects to share various activities of its target audience–kids. Recently, Frooti was introduced in a new tetra pack packaging in 65 ml quantity which is priced at Rs 2. 0 each and Parle is promoting it as “5 KA 2 OFFER”, which means 2 packs for Rs 5. Competitors The main competitors of Frooti are as follows:- 1. Maaza 2. Slice 3. Real 4. Tropicana 5. Jumpin Maaza: Maaza is a Coca-Cola fruit drink brand marketed in India and Bangladesh. It is one of the mail competitors of Frooti. Maaza has a distinct pulpy taste as compared to Frooti and tastes slightly sweeter than Slice. Maaza claims to contain mango pulp of the Alphonso variety, which is known as the “King of Mangoes” in India. Slice: Slice was launched in India in 1993 as a refreshing mango drink.
In 2008, Slice was relaunched with a ‘winning’ product formulation which made the consumer fall in love with its taste. With refreshed pack graphics and clutter breaking advertising, Slice has driven strong appeal within the category. Thus it is a huge threat to Frooti. Real: Real was introduced by Dabur to give competition to Frooti. It introduced different juices in tetra packs. Real is a 100% fruit juice drink. It is available in 14 different flavors. Apparently Real’s Mango juice doesn’t have that many takers. But its other flavors like Orange, Mixed Fruit are more preferred by the people.
Jumpin: Jumpin is a product of Godrej. It is available in four different flavors i. e. Mango, Pineapple, Apple and Mixed Fruit. It is basically catered to the children. It doesn’t posses a huge threat to Frooti as it didn’t work that well in the market. S. W. O. T. ANALYSIS The overall evaluation of a one’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats is called SWOT analysis. STRENGTHS OF FROOTI: 1. Market leader in NCSD category-60% market share. 2. Innovative – First packaged Mango drink in Indian market, first to introduce Tetra pack, PET bottle packaging in NCSD category. 3.
Quick market responder – Introduced 65 ml packaging to cater different segments. 4. Frooti has got a very large quantity basket – available in various quantities like 65 ml, 200 ml, 250 ml, 500 ml and 1 Litre. 5. Efficient distribution network-readily available. 6. Frooti is a health drink – Contains Vitamin A. 7. Frooti has got a strong Brand Equity. WEAKNESSES OF FROOTI: 1. Frooti is not perceived as a health drink. As per our survey majority of our respondent didn’t consider Frooti has a health drink. 2. Frooti has limited variety of flavor – only mango and green mango. 3. “Frooti means mango”, syndrome in the mind of consumers. . Margin given to retailers and distributors is less as compared to its competitors. 5. The main target audience of Frooti is kids. 6. Frooti has no brand ambassador. 7. No brand expansion – Brand equity of Frooti is not utilized properly. OPPORTUNITIES FOR FROOTI: 1. Huge untapped unorganized sector in NCSD category. 2. Huge untapped market in other flavours – Orange, Pineapples, Grape. 3. Growing market share of NCSD category. 4. Demographically, in the coming years around 55% of the population will consist of below 35 years in age, which should be major target market for Frooti. . Increasing health awareness among consumers – As per our survey 88% of the respondents preferred fruit drink to carbonated drink. THREATS FOR FROOTI: 1. Decreasing share in NCSD category – Fruit juice segment consisting of Real and Tropicana is increasing at the rate of 20-25% per annum as compared to sluggish growth in other segment. 2. Presence of huge unorganized market. 3. High consumer preference for flavors other than mango and green mango. 4. Competition with global giants – Coke and Pepsi. Market Survey and Analysis
