What’s Up With Frooti Fizz?

suburbanwordsmith.com/2018/05/23/whats-up-with-frooti-fizz

The other day I saw an advertisement for the Parle Frooti Fizz, and I was seriously
confused. What is even a Frooti Fizz? Do you mix Appy with Frooti and then some fizz
or just Appy Fizz with a mango? I mean, what are we mixing?

Using pre-established brands to launch a new brand is quite common. But using two
brands to make a new product is quite different. Not in the positive sense believe me.
And Parle has chosen Alia Bhatt as the brand ambassador for Frooti Fizz. Nowadays
every other FMCG -or even Durable- Brand has Alia Bhatt in their marketing campaign.
Frooti Fizz has decided to do the same, which makes no sense. Alia looks as if she
guzzles green tea and hot water all day, not sweet and pulpy mango drinks.

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For those who don’t know what Frooti Fizz is -which I am sure are many- it is a new
extension of Parle’s Frooti brand. Parle has given the legendary and universally loved
Frooti an extra twinge with a spoonful of Carbonic acid, which has inevitably turned it
into a wannabe competitor of Coke and Pepsi. Infact it seems more like a crazy fan of
their successful fizz brand Appy Fizz, than an original creation. The name itself sounds
like the old and universally loved Frooti brand has been forced to wear new and funky
clothes turning it into a hipster that doesn’t preserve its old values and has no idea of
the modern era it’s trying to emulate. After the failure of Grappy Fizz, I think Parle has
made yet another gamble with Frooti Fizz.

What’s the motive here?

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We’ll talk about the apparent cannibalisation later. First of all, let’s talk about Parle
Agro’s motive behind this unprecedented step. Launching Frooti Fizz seems to be an
effort to revive the traditional Frooti brand and make it relevant to the modern society,
especially the youngsters. The 18-25 age group has slowly become the primary target-
segment of a majority of brands today, mainly because of their high propensity to
consume and the tendency to experiment with their buying habits. Parle appears eager
to take advantage of this trend without understanding the pre-requisites required to do
so.

The Soft-Drink Race

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As estimated by Statista, the global soft-drink industry will show steep growth in the
future with the revenue going up by around 33 percent come 2020. Comparing it to the
current revenue standing of $3 billion it seems the soft drink industry is an attractive
arena to extend for FMCG brands. Also according to Livemint, the Indian audience is
predicted to shift from the cola category to juice-based carbonated beverages, owing to
the rising health trend in the country. Parle quite logically seems interested on
capitalising on these trends by gradually shifting its focus from pulp juices category to
the carbonated and semi-carbonated category. Without saying that it directly goes
against their primary brand image, in my opinion Parle has attempted to do something
that many other brands have been trying to do for a long time with limited success.

Banking on the success of its Rs 650 crore brand ‘Appy Fizz’ as a semi-carbonated fruit
drink contender, Parle apparently is confident that the popularity of Appy in the youth
segment combined with the solidified brand image of Frooti can help them in launching
an altogether new product. My only question: Can you integrate two brands that are so
diverse from each other?

Appy Fizz represents the youth, and Frooti the memories of our childhood (especially
the 90s kids). Frooti feels like an old and knowledgeable ancestor of juices. On the other
hand, the effervescent relative of the mango drink represents the funky and multi-
talented generation of the 21st century. Can you really culminate them without any
repercussions?

Should Frooti be killed?

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I believe that the customers of a brand should aspire to be like the brand not the other
way around. This is especially applicable when a brand trying to downplay its utility as
compared to its intangible benefits, just like Coke and Pepsi. In this case, it is imperative
that the customers should change their lifestyle choices to suit the brand rather than the
other way around. If as a brand you try to become like your customers just to increase
your sales or revive a dying brand, you are offering nothing new to the millennials, a
generation which changes their tastes like they change their clothes and partners every
day.

Extending your brand is a good idea but not at the cost of losing your original identity.
To give an example, if a Pharaoh arrives in India should he start calling himself
Shahenshah just to be more popular in the eyes of his Indian subjects. That’s just dumb.
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The strength of a pharaoh remains in the mystery and divinity he possesses. If that
divine entity tries to be more like his subjects, it loses the divinity itself. And that is
what seems to be in the store for the Frooti brand should they go down this path.

Future of Frooti & the Remaining Fizz

Let’s talk about the ‘taste’ of Frooti; the so-called fizz in a mango drink. I believe the
USP of Frooti as a product lies in its dense and extra sugary taste; something which
reminds us of the times we used to quench our childhood thirst with it. The flavour of
the original Frooti drink is not precisely like mango but psychologically similar to it. The
taste buds don’t exactly discriminate between a real mango and a Frooti. Apple, on the
other hand, is inherently a comparatively less viscous and straight-up drink. It makes
sense to add a certain amount of fizz or carbon dioxide to an apple -or even a grape-
drink. But mango? I don’t think so. Ever had mango champagne or mango cider? I
haven’t.

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Even if we forget about the obvious anomaly of its flavour and the subconscious
discomfort it will create in the customer’s mind, the question that remains is whether
the step to rebrand Frooti makes strategic sense. Will the pre-existing loyal audience of
Frooti appreciate this migration towards the Frooti Fizz drink? It may make sense
initially and even produce a great initial response. But will it cause the loyal fan-
following of Frooti to migrate towards Frooti Fizz? I don’t think so. On the contrary, it
may make the brand image of original Frooti fuzzy, hence decreasing the loyal customer
base instead of increasing it. Even if there is a movement from core Frooti drinkers to
the fizz option, it most probably will lead to cannibalization and not a new addition to
the users.

So the introduction of the Frooti Fizz option neither makes aesthetic sense nor strategic.
It is not an intuitive brand extension and certainly not a logical step in this 33-year-old
brand’s journey. Why it has been done by Parle Agro is a mystery left to Management
Hubris. Afterall, some brands have to muck up for others to succeed.

Read More: Marketing to the Indian Customer: Logical Vs Illogical

References:

1. https://www.livemint.com/Consumer/fM8dVVO2c66Pxl9jTQo3KL/Salman-Khan-
replaces-Priyanka-Chopra-as-Parle-Agros-Appy-Fi.html?
utm_source=scroll&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=scroll

2. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/brand-equity/can-frooti-fizz-
reignite-passion-for-the-32-year-old-brand-parle-agro/articleshow/58007144.cms

3. https://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/parle-expands-sparkling-juices-
segment-with-frooti-fizz/story-vFz27UGnvtloONzaZwZipK.html
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4. http://www.campaignindia.in/video/frooti-fizz-will-target-a-more-adult-audience-
nadia-chauhan/435102

5. https://www.livemint.com/Companies/SL67giuU5SzZSqhz3XfqTI/Parle-Agro-
banks-on-aerated-fruit-drinks-to-drive-growth.html

6. https://www.livemint.com/Companies/zukyk1qus3CYp9yJuFc4bL/Parle-to-launch-
Frooti-Fizz-the-first-extension-of-the-bran.html

Categories: Articles, Marketing InsightsTags: Alia Bhatt, Appy Fizz, Blogging, Brand
Image, Branding Insights, Failed Brands, Frooti, frooti controversy, frooti failure, Frooti
Fizz, Frooti Fizz Buy Online, Frooti Fizz Failure, Grappo Fizz Failure, Marketing,
Marketing Communication, Parle, Parle Agro, usp of frooti

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