Iconic Ads: Frooti – Digen Verma

Feb 2001 – Digen Verma was everywhere, in theatres, bus stops, colleges, malls etc. But who was he? India wanted to know. It lasted a fortnight.

This teaser campaign was created by Everest for Frooti, which aroused the curiosity of the people especially teenagers.

In 2000, Frooti had a majority market share of the tetrapak fruit drink market.

However, it was losing the charm. Frooti had been positioned as a kids drink. To expand the market, it was decided to position it for the college-going youth.

The aim was to create hype, especially around the non-conformist nature of the enigma.

Digen was a down-to-earth person, who bunked classes, a sportsman and a popular figure in the college, with whom the teenagers could associate themselves.

The unusual name Digen, was chosen because it sounded familiar. Research showed that the name was accepted in the South too. And Verma, as a surname, is in almost all Indian communities. A fictional character was created to avoid imagery issues if a celebrity was used.

The youth was extremely difficult to crack because of the kiddy drink perception, and the Cola brands had a huge hold, apart from other tetrapak fruit drinks and other beverages. So the relaunch strategy was to remove the kiddy connotation and convince them that Frooti was better than colas.

Milind Dhaimade was the brain behind the campaign and Abhinay Deo shot the films.
Sales increased by 30% after this campaign.

Just like that!