Beverage brand Xotik Frujus has rolled out new packaging for three of its products. The brand has introduced 250 ml cans for Jeeru, Vanilla Float and energy drink Hammer in the market to appeal to millennial customers. Ankita Sehgal, Director, Xotik Frujus Pvt. Ltd talks about repackaging strategy for the company as well as its focus on millennial consumers.
Q] Xotik Frujus recently unveiled new packaging and design for its products including Jeeru. Tell us more about the rebranding and the objective behind the move.
The company started in 2007, but Jeeru came into being about a year and a half later. Thereafter, from being one of our underdogs to becoming our star flagship product, Jeeru has had its own journey. We have recently brought in a younger, more vibrant and fresh appeal into the product for two major reasons. Firstly, while imitation is a great form of flattery, we had to eliminate a lot of the imitation. We could not have multiple products that looked like ours in the market. But another major reason for the rebranding is that through our market research, we discovered that our products were kind of being sidelined by younger consumers. In fact, our research showed us that if we continue with the kind of packaging we had before this, we are soon going to only be targeting audiences around the age of 40 years and above. So an important reason for repackaging was to target younger consumers, especially those under 30 that are drawn to cooler and more interesting presentation.
Q] What else are you doing to target younger consumers? Any campaign plans in the pipeline?
Yes, we have plans for television ads and radio campaigns. We have a lot of ATL plans at this point, which are ready. In fact, they are ready in terms of even production but since the pandemic took over, we understood there’ll be a lot of spillage if we do it at that point. However, now that the market has been picking up and there are less restrictions and more normalcy, we will take maybe a quarter or two to decide when we are rolling this out, but we are well in time and very well prepared to do a full blown ATL campaign.
Q] How important are non-metro markets for your brand? What kind of growth do you see from such markets, especially in the wake of the pandemic?
While we see that there is still a risk of a third wave, we also know that there are potential markets that are not being touched, The non-metros, tier 2 and tier 3 markets are not being touched by the fear of a third wave. Additionally, products like energy drinks have not reached those markets – brands usually go into these markets with colas or regular fruit juices but refrain from launching experimental products. So there is a lot of untapped potential we see in these areas, while we also realise that a third wave or continuation of the pandemic might happen.
Q] Apart from Jeeru, how are your other products performing in the market and which particular product has seen the highest traction since the pandemic struck?
Other than Jeeru, we do this interesting line of fruit drinks in 200 ml sizes specifically targeted at kids at a Rs 10 price point. It is potentially the next in line product that has worked out very well for us. This is also one of the products in our portfolio, other than Jeeru that has done fantastically well for us. We are also looking at cans to drive as much business as we get from Jeeru.
Q] What will some of your key focus areas be, moving forward?
We’re looking at penetrating deeper into geographies right now. We were focused on metros and urban areas but now, we are looking at deeper geographies – semi-rural, semi-urban, rural and are also looking at exports. We’re also considering penetrating what is potentially an 800 million market, with our energy drink cans. There is also a lot of potential in the non-mass and more premium market, and so we have plans to tap these markets with more niche and premium products. We have also expanded into hospitality over the last two years. Like every other business, it took a hit in the pandemic, but we are now only looking upward with our hospitality business.
