March 1, 2009

NIMBooZ PAANI


Nimboooo Paani...well how many times have u been tempted to take a sip of this thirst super-quencher chilled Lime Juice which might come at Rs.3 or Rs.4 at any railway platform...Yea many! But then thanks to the awareness of hygiene and the habit of that smallest SMKU of mineral water that you've been hooked on to, you CANT have that Nimbu Pani..

Yups, Need Generated captured by no one but PEPSI CO.... Today,1st of March a similar incident happened with me....Dusty streets and scorching heat being at the 'worst best' I really felt like getting that lime n lemony delight... I was at a store which displayed a slew of PEPSI and COKE products squeezed to fit...As I was about to pick up LIMCA, I suddenly see a gray colored lime drink in a PET bottle waving to me from the PEPSI Fridge... Curious, I put back the LIMCA and pick up that 200 ml PET...Whooaa...NPL by PEPSI...

The name sounded weird first NIMBOOZ but then it has an instant connect with the nature of the product... I grab it and go to pay at the counter...Mr.Baniya struggles to find the MRP which shows that I was one of the first customers of this product... Standing below his fan (which felt like a hundred hair dryers tied up together) I sip the NIMBOOZ...hmmm typically lemony and has the same taste as the road side Nimbu Pani...moreover it does quench your thirst... Taking another sip I ask Mr.Baniyaa again, when was it brought, to which he says it was just about an hour ago...Wow I thought, that meant it was launched today...1st of March 2009.

Nimbooz, is an offering with real lemon juice, no fizz, and no artificial flavours..it comes in a pack same as TROPICANA's.From a press release I come to know that it is first launched in North and West followed by a national roll out subsequently. Nimbooz comes in three packaging formats of 200ml returnable glass bottles (RGB), 350ml PET and 200ml Tetra priced at Rs 10, Rs 15 and Rs 10, respectively. So why would someone buy the same Rs.3 thingy at 2-3 times the price?Well simply put, it comes from the house of PEPSI CO where quality is assured so you can drink real lemon juice which is assured of quality...

Browsing more, I came to know that PepsiCo has drawn up an intensive consumer activation campaign to market Nimbooz. The 360 degree marketing communication plan will revolve around building awareness through multi-city launches and road shows, comprehensive 3D activation, leveraging Out-of-Home (OOH) media, radio, press and outdoors. Complimenting the on-ground initiatives is the TV commercial that reflects Nimbooz’s ‘Ekdum Asli Indian’ proposition. The company will also undertake aggressive trial generation and sampling initiatives will also be taken forward across major cities of the country. A special ‘Nimbooz Highway Gadi’ has been created that will visit the four major highways connecting Delhi to Jaipur, Dehradun, Agra to drive trails and consumer education. “The proposition of the Indian refresher perfectly captures the mass appeal of this product and will certainly drive consumer connect,” said Alpana Titus, executive VP (flavours), PepsiCo India said.

Verdict, great product, right time to launch, summer is at the doorsteps and till May, there will be enough mileage that the brand will get...which will certainly result in the impulse buying sessions...Argue about the type of extension (since 7up moves out of the aerated category), but the logical fit is justified!!7 up has always existed with a Lime platform...so go on and try this product...