FritoLay plans aggressive campaigns, to add variants to its brands

18 Sep 2007

New Delhi: PepsiCo India''s FritoLay brand is revving up through an array of marketing campaigns and variant launches, with the onset of cooler climes and its flagship cola business taking the seasonal backseat.

According to Deepika Warrier, marketing director, FritoLay division, PepsiCo India, its consumers have received the recent campaign for FritoLay very well. While maintaining the well-entrenched Lay and Kurkure brands, the company plans to highlight Cheetos and Quaker Oats from its stable, with a slew of new campaigns scheduled during the year for the two brands.

Marketing campaigns for Cheetos, the snacks brand for children, and Quaker Oats, the breakfast cereal brand, will be undertaken for enhancing brand recall. Cheetos will additionally get new 3-D packaging, and will see brand icon ''Chester Cheetah'' to lure kids.

Additionally, the company plans to introduce variants for both brands by the end of the year, and is also planning to introduce new brands, some from its global portfolio. Part of the list of probable is global brand Doritos, the company''s tortilla chips brand, which is presently being tested for a possible India launch.

According to the company''s overall strategy to focus on health, FritoLay will also see changes in its current manufacturing methods for its products, such as using rice bran oil, which it says would reduce saturated fat levels by 40 per cent. It will also see nutritional labelling on product packages. New launches too will have to qualify as "health and wellness oriented".

Targeting the wider Indian Diaspora, FritoLay India is in talks with its US arm to commence manufacture of its teatime snack there. Also, with minor region-specific changes, Kurkure is likely to be manufactured in Pakistan and the UK, according to Warrier.