Frito-Lay gets Gujarat specific, launches new Kurkure flavour

From : Business Standard



Frito-Lay gets Gujarat specific, launches new Kurkure flavour
Our Regional Bureau / Mumbai/ Ahmedabad March 09, 2006

If you thought the huge appetite of Gujarat was confined to the plethora of restaurants and roadside larries, here is something that might defy it. Last year alone, the state consumed Kurkure worth at least Rs 2 crore. To continue the trend, FritoLay India launched Kurkure Solid Masti’s ‘Masala Twist’ — a Gujarat specific variant, to target the state market. Gujarat accounts for more than 60 per cent of Kurkure sales in the country.


The company on Tuesday launched its new tea time snack Kurkure Solid Masti, which will target elderly people.

"Gujarat is our major market. The state accounts for more than 60 per cent of our Kurkure sales and therefore, we are coming up with a twisty Masala twist. This is a sign of our commitment to the market," Brajesh Bajpai, vice-president marketing (west) told Business Standard.

The company is also coming up with outdoor promotion and marketing campaigns in all the major cities of Gujarat. Further, it will conduct various activities in bid to strengthen its market presence. Bajpai said the company controls about 50 per cent market share in the country's Rs 2,000 crore snacks market. He added that the company has decided to launch Kurkure Solid Masti, after market researched showed customer wanted heavier snacks during tea time.

"Our research showed that 40 per cent of snacks are taken during tea time. Consumers wanted more heavier snacks that could sustain them till dinner, hence we decided to come up with this products. We are especially targeting elderly people as this product is meant for household consumption, " he added.

The company plans to add-up more 10-15 per cent in sale of Kurkure’s volume. Company’s brand ambassador Juhi Chawla will be marketing this product too.

Growing up... on Thums Up and Pepsi's Lehar soda?

From Hindu Business Line

Growing up... on Thums Up and Pepsi's Lehar soda?

Ratna Bhushan

NEW DELHI, May 22

SOFT drinks major Pepsi Foods is taking on arch rival Coca-Cola India's Thums Up taste challenge head on. The in-your-face `Have You grown up to Thums Up?' film now has an equally aggressive retort in the form of Lehar, Pepsi Foods' brand of soda.

While the currently-on-air Thums Up film is about attempting to make Thums Up taste like the rival cola (with blurred voice-over), the Lehar soda film depicts an attempt to convert the soda into Grow Up tonic (an obvious reference to Thums Up).

The Lehar soda commercial does not stop at spoofing with look-alikes of Salman Khan and Sushmita Sen -- Thums Up's celebrity endorsers. The commercial also has a voice over that announces `toofani anda?', in a situation where crow droppings fall into the `tonic' glass. (`Toofani thanda' has been a distinct Thums Up sign off for several decades.)

The message that the new Lehar soda commercial attempts to convey, asserts Mr Brajesh Bajpai, Brand Manager (Lehar Soda), Pepsi Foods, is that Lehar remains the strongest soda in the market. "The idea of the commercial is to build on the platform of strength. It fits with the brand,'' he said. Hence the sign off -- `Lehar soda, strong soda', which incidentally is the same as last year.

Last year too, Pepsi Foods had taken on the `Grow up to Thums Up challenge' theme campaign with Lehar soda, also featuring a Salman look-alike. That was the first time Pepsi had decided to tap the electronic media for its low-profile Lehar soda brand.

Last year's Thums Up blind test challenge television campaign had resulted in Pepsi dragging Coca-Cola India to court for copyright infringement of its `dil maange more' adline. The Lehar soda film, created by agency Hindustan Thompson Associates (HTA), is a 35-seconder and broke on mainline television channels a couple of days back.

According to industry estimates, the organised soda market is worth approximately Rs 200-crore, and Lehar soda is the market leader, followed by Coca-Cola's Kinley soda brand. "Lehar soda is the fastest growing soda brand and it grew by over 15 per cent last year. We expect to generate the same growth this year as well,'' Mr Bajpai said.

Lehar soda is available in 300 ml glass bottles priced between Rs 4-7 depending on the markets the brand is present in, besides 500 ml, 1.5 litre and 2 litre PET bottles.

So will there be a sequel to the Lehar soda ad? "We will take a call in 15 days' time,'' Mr Bajpai said.