Relaunch of Frooti-The 'Digen Verma' Campaign

Details

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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"Our aim was to create hype around the product, so we introduced a mysterious character called 'Digen Verma.' As our target audience is the youth segment, we wanted to showcase their rebellious spirit through Digen Verma."

- Ram Sehgal, MD, Everest Integrated Communications.

"Frooti has always been positioned as a drink for kids. Now, we want to position it as a drink for the youth, especially, the college-going teenagers. We therefore went in for 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.'"

- Alka Bhonsle, Management Consultant, Parle Agrochemicals.

Relaunch of Frooti-The 'Digen Verma' Campaign: Who is Digen Verma?

There was no getting away from him. A poster at a bus stop in Chennai asked, "Will Digen Verma be in the next bus?" Or, when watching a movie; there was bound to be an interruption all of a sudden with a handwritten message saying, 'Digen, your car is being towed'. And, outside in the car park, almost all the cars had stickers on them saying, 'Digen Verma was here.' In many commercial places in metros and even far off places like Simla, there were footmarks accompanied by the mysterious words 'Digen Verma was here' pasted. There were rumours galore about 'Digen Verma' and his identity. Some thought it was a campaign for the launch of some new fashion label, while others thought Digen Verma he was a philanthropist.

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 have 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.

The 'Digen Verma' promotion campaign was one of the most interesting and innovative teaser campaigns ever made in India. Designed and executed by Everest Integrated Communications (Everest), it was a series of teaser campaigns launched by Parle Agrochemicals¹ for its mango drink Frooti, which aroused the curiosity of the public, especially teenagers.

The campaign seemed to have been successful in evoking tremendous interest. Everyone was curious to know who Digen Verma was, or whether he was just a fictitious character. "Just wait and watch," said Milind Dhaimade (Dhaimade), Creative Director of Everest, the brain behind this entire campaign.

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1] Parle beverages Ltd. is one of the leading companies of this group. Parle Agro's Frooti has been one of the major successful brands. It has a major market share in the tetrapack fruit drink market. After the success of India's first tetrapack drinks, Frooti and Appy, which were launched in mid 80's, Parle also brought out new product variants.