Sales Management

Sales management is the discipline of maximizing the benefits a company and its customers receive from the efforts of its sales force. 

The ‘Digen Verma'campaign seemed to have been very successful in terms of the interest it generated. For Rs. 30 million spent on it, the customer awareness it was likely to capture for ‘Frooti'seemed quite phenomenal. Though the campaign had been successful in generating interest, some analysts were skeptical about whether a campaign could actually generate sales. A teaser was made to grab the attention of consumer that generated curiosity.
Analysts pointed out that many of those who had watched this campaign, had expressed certain disappointment when they learnt that it was a promotional campaign for Frooti. Some analysts felt that Digen Verma may become larger than the brand, ‘Frooti'; this would defeat the very purpose of the creation. 
Parle Agro and its ad agency however felt that its campaign had been successful in not just evoking interest but also in increasing sales. They just spent Rs 30 million on this campaign, and the sales were up by almost 30 per cent.
No matter what effect the ‘Digen Verma'campaign ultimately would have on ‘Frooti'sales, this campaign was probably one of the most innovative teaser campaigns ever run in India. Although the efficacy of it may be subject to debate, the ‘Digen Verma'campaign would be remembered for its sheer creativity and the unprecedented public interest it generated.

  

Distribution Decision

Distribution

Distribution is the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer using direct or indirect means of intermediaries.

Levels of distribution are of 4 types:

1.Zero level distribution : direct marketing

2.First level distribution  : retailers

3.Second level distribution:wholesalers and retailers

4.Third level distribution: broker, wholesalers, retailers

Distribution channels of Frooti

Frooti adopts first level and second level distribution channels. 

The depot of the company sells its products directly to the retailers and then from retailers it goes to the consumers.This happens only in places where depot of the company is located.

In small towns wholesalers are established by the company.Wholesalers get product from depot of the company and they sale to retailers.From retailers it goes to consumers.

Froori mainly focuses on retailers as its distribution channel. There are around 3,50,000 retailers that helps to serve frooti in its distribution.Since a long time frooti has been following this strategy to reach to its customer. 

Promotions for IMC/ATL/BTL

Promotion of a brand

A promotional plan for a brand can have a wide range of objectives, including: sales increases, new product acceptance, creation of brand equity, positioning, competitive retaliations, or creation of a corporate image,there are three basic objectives of promotion- to present information to consumers as well as others, to increase demand, to differentiate a product.

Promotion of a brand are divided into two parts ATL and BTL promotions

ATL Promotion: ATL advertising uses media such as television, cinema, radio, print, and Out-of-home to promote brands or convey a specific offer.It differs from BTL advertising, which uses unconventional brand-building and promotional strategies.  

Some of Frooti’s famous campaigns are:

Shahrukh Khan Campaign: One of the most successful TV commercials in which they resort to celebrity endorsement for the first time. Shahrukh Khan has been used to promote the product. The film, shot after a game practice, intercuts between Shahrukh gulping Frooti and a bunch of little soccer players yearning for the mango drink.  What makes the ad even more enchanting is the soulful track that holds the film together. 

      

The Digen Verma Campaign: The Company wanted to reposition its product and create hype around it. Hence they introduced a mysterious character called Digen Verma. Frooti had always been positioned as a drink for kids. Now, they wanted to position it as a drink for the youth, especially, the college-going teenagers. They 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. 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.

Screenshots of other Commercials and ATL promotion over the years

       

  

BTL (Below The Line) Promotion:  BTL sales promotion is an immediate or delayed incentive to purchase, expressed in cash or in kind, and having short duration. It is efficient and cost-effective for targeting a limited and specific group. It uses less conventional methods than the usual ATL channels of advertising, typically focusing on direct means of communication, most commonly direct mail and e-mail, often using highly targeted lists of names to maximize response rates.

Frooti rarely indulges in such form of promotion.

Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) 

Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is an approach to brand communications where the different modes work together to create a seamless experience for the customer and are presented with a similar tone and style that reinforces the brand’s core message. Its goal is to make all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations direct marketing, online communications and social media work together as a unified force, rather than permitting each to work in isolation, which maximizes their cost effectiveness. An example of this in relation to Frooti would be:

Juicy Mango Surprise Project:  The campaign captures people’s reaction to giant sized props in the form of mangoes which suddenly appear on the streets, rolling down from above a slope. In most cases, the mangoes seem to be chasing the people on the streets and the video captures their reaction to the charging mango.

Billed as an integrated campaign which involved a live outdoor stunt, on-ground activities, a direct marketing campaign, word of mouth buzz and television spots, besides viral videos, the campaign titled ‘Juicy Mango  Surprise Project’ was repeated across 12 metros and mini metros across the country in malls, schools, colleges and popular youth hang-outs. In the videos, the people who have been played a prank on are greeted by a Frooti undercover agent who will explain the idea behind the stunt and hand them a complementary bottle of Frooti.  

Images of the campaign:

    

Pricing

Pricing of Frooti

During our shopping experience we encounter various brands stacked on the same shelf. While all are marketed as fruit drinks, content-wise these fruit drink brands have a lot of differences. Pricing policy includes pricing strategy, suggested retail price, cash and early payments discount,seasonal pricing,price flexibility.

Pricing policy of frooti: the pricing of frooti is done by keeping in mind its target audience which includes kids, teenagers, youths, adults and also for the low income consumers. Unlike its competitors like Tropicana and Real it doesn't only caters to a niche category of consumers.

Tetra Pack packaging

          Quantity                               Price(Rs)

             65ml                                     2.50

             200ml                                   10.00

             250ml                                   12.00

         PET bottle packaging

          Quantity                               Price(Rs)

             250ml                                   10.00

             500ml                                   18.00

             1000ml                                 35.00

             2000ml                                 60.00    

Payment methods: direct payment by the consumer at the shop or retail store.

Branding and Brand Management

Branding Of Frooti

To create a brand a firm must position itself in the right market segment.Segments are the divisions made in the market according to the type of consumers.Positioning is the act of designing a company's offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the minds of the target market.

The majority of the target group for frooti are the youngsters, school and college students and also kids.

How did frooti build a strong brand?

• 1985 parle agro launches frooti India's first fruit drink in Tetra Pack.
• 2000 Frooti changed its positioning to young adults who would otherwise go to bottled cola drinks.
• 2002 Frooti launched its first ever PET bottles to cater to different occasions and family size.
• 2004 Frooti launched triangular tetra classic pack for Rs 2.50 which helped it to reach the rural market.
• 2011 Frooti revamped its positioning to target young at heart which essentially include all kids, youngsters and adults.

Brand Management

Over the years the brand Frooti has gone through series of re positioning. From the original tagline "Mango frooti, fresh n juicy" to "why grow up".Most of the branding is done through its product promotions and advertisements. The present ad campaigns focus on reaffirming frooti's position in the Indian Market.Managing a brand needs extensive market research,defining product category, defining target audience, knowledge about the competitor etc etc.

Brand positioning done by frooti:

• Catchy and creative promotional campaign,which is capable of differentiating the product.
• Multimedia advertising
• OOH's
• Offline promotions
• Online promotions
• TVC's

examples for some of its promotions are:

Recently frooti relaunched itself with Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador.

  

One example for its OOH advertisements.

Some other examples for its public promotions are game shows like crazy mango fun and mango slam bam bam.

Services and Service Marketing

Services provided by Frooti

1. It is a mango nectar drink made by fresh mango pulp.

2.Available in all seasons.

3.No added preservatives and adulterants.

4.Healthy to drink and good in taste.

5.Has nutritional value.

6.Comes in a very handy and easy to carry tetra pack and PET bottles.

7.Has the ability to adapt to the diverse preferences of consumers across ages.

8.Price of Frooti is affordable thus it caters to large number of segments.

9.Ready to serve fruit beverage.

Above mentioned points are some of the services provided by Frooti to its consumers.

Service Marketing

The service marketing is also called as extended marketing mix and is an integral part of service blueprint design.The service marketing mix assumes the service as the product itself.It consists of 7 P's.They are 

                                                         

Frooti used differential marketing and communication in all forms for product, packaging, brand, place and promotions.

Product: 

Frooti was introduced in tetra packs and also in PET bottles which made it easy to carry and ready to drink fruit nectar. Packaging was changed to new splash graphics which appealed to youth as  well as kids, also the packaging was changed to flip flop packaging which gave it a complete new look. 

Price: 

Tetra Pack packaging

          Quantity                               Price(Rs)

             65ml                                     2.50

             200ml                                   10.00

             250ml                                   12.00

         PET bottle packaging

          Quantity                               Price(Rs)

             250ml                                   10.00

             500ml                                   18.00

             1000ml                                 35.00

             2000ml                                 60.00       

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 stores through more than 1500 distributors and wholesalers directly and indirectly.It is heavily promoted in canteens, movie hall, bus stops, colleges where young people usually hangout and thus created a lot of buzz in the market.

Promotion:

A nation  wide campaign was run to promote Digen Verma which lasted for 15 days and then it  was revealed that Digen Verma was the brand ambassador of frooti.Such campaign covered TVC's , newspaper, OOH, radio jingles,online promotions etc.And few months ago frooti was relaunched with Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador.Frooti with its "The Mango Surprise  Stunt Project" tried involving its consumers for its promotions.Frooti launched an initiative designed to give back to the less fortunate in the society.As a part of CSR initiative.The why grow up campaign conceptualized a game show where the object that the participants must wrestle with is a large toy mango on every occasion. 

            

  

Product Mix

Product mix

 A product mix is the set of all products and items a particular seller offers for sale, a mix of products is offered to cater to different segments.A product mix has certain divisions like width, depth, length and consistency.Width of a product mix is the number of different product lines the company has.Length of a product mix is the total number of items in the mix.Depth of the product mix is the number of variants offered by each product in the line.Consistency of the product mix is how closely related the various product lines are in the end use.

Product Mix of Parle Frooti:

Parle defined its product category as the need satisfying category which quenches the thirst and is fun to drink.The product form was the fruit juice with competitors in the juice category like Tropicana, Jumpin and soft drinks like Pepsi, Coca-Cola and others.
Frooti is one of the product lines of Parle. Frooti is available in 65ml and 200ml Tetra Pack, 250ml, 500ml, 1ltr, 1.5ltr PET and 200ml, 2ltr PET in selective markets.These show the depth of Frooti in the product mix.
Appy Classic another variant of Parle is available in 200ml Tetra Pack. Appy Fizz is available in 300ml, 500ml,1lt Tetra Pack.