By Malay Desai
From: Saigmeister & Walsh, New York
Parle Agro’s mango drink Frooti has revamped its visual identity and unveiled it in a new campaign. While retaining its yellow theme, it has introduced bold, bright colours and a block typeface. Its film uses stop-motion animation and shows miniature figures trying to lift a life-size mango off the ground. When many attempts fail, a figure of a man in a white tee and denims appears and sings what seems to be the campaign’s new jingle, ‘Suckita-Lickita,’ managing to make the mango rise and pour itself into a bottle of Frooti. The ambassador Shah Rukh Khan is later shown picking up the bottle and sipping from it. The campaign has been adapted for social and outdoor media.
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Two summers ago, ParleAgro’sflagship mango drink Frootialongwith new ambassador Shah Rukh Khan trumped the ad battle with a fresh spot that beat even Katrina Kaif’ssultry work for Pepsi’s Slice. Now with the scorching heat already beating down our necks, Frooti has a new agency,bolder colours, the iconic jingle’s paused and the hero is bigger than even SRK.
Changing the visual identity is a risky job, especially if the brand is a much-loved beverage attached with nostalgia. The NY-based graphic design studio has done well though, and if blogs are to be believed, its lead pair was influenced by Mumbai’schaotic ad-scape and decided to break the clutter. It’s easy to suspect a Western hangover(there’s even an elephant and an auto rickshaw in the imagery, what next, a snake-charmer, one might ask)in the campaign but it still works. The simplicity of the bold coloursblends with the very little ‘action’ happening in Frooti’s hoardings and Instagram posts.
The film takes the risk to a higher level by giving SRK negligible screen time but I feel the client (Parle’s CMO Nadia Chauhan,who recently parted ways with Creativeland Asia which had the Frooti account for nine years) is not complaining, as the giant mango hogs all the attention. The mini figurines, deftly animated, give the film a whimsical feel with minimal chaos on the screen. The SRK figure appears last (I only got it on second viewing) and brings in a new, risqué jingle. If all goes well, Nadia and co. will hope the innuendos behind ‘suck it’ and lick it’ will go viral, thanks to the average Indian Whatsapp-usingmale.
The larger communication seems to be ‘the Frooti life,’ as SRK mentions towards the end of the film, and this life involves hula-hooping mangoes, hugging figurines, elephants, hearts, carts, trees and more assorted Indian elements, all around giant mangoes or Frooti packs. As an integrated idea, it seems to have rolled out beautifully across platforms.
Lastly, the typeface on the new packaging, work by design consultancy Pentagram,is the brand’s biggest departure, and for me, the ‘big stamp’ look works. Also, if many consumers are bothered by it, it only means they love the brand.
PS: All that said, my favouriteFrooti campaign remains ‘DigenVerma!’
(To watch this film,feed this link in your browser - bit.ly/ViewTube_30Mar15)
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