Has Slice done a Melody?

Now, there is nothing that prevents other brands from using a name as common as ‘Sunil babu.’ But such is the power of common words and the way they are depicted in commercials, that Sunil babu will always be recalled for Asian Paints.

A recent example is this: ‘Kya chal raha hai?’

The daily slice-of-life lines is now perennially associated with deodorant brand Fogg. Another brilliant one is ‘Kiska baja?’. Two simple, generic words. But the brand them first will always get tagged with it: Xiaomi.

Advertising agencies, reckon marketing experts, should avoid creative similarity as seen in the Slice ad. “Such 'creative coincidences’ can be seen as a lack of strong research at the least, and the argument could even be extended to lack of creative integrity by critics,” says N Chandramouli, chief creative officer of Mumbai-based branding and marketing agency TRA Research. 

Vipin Dhyani, founder and chief creative director at Thoughtshop Advertising and Film Productions, the creative agency that has worked on Parle Melody account, is livid. “One should do extensive research of the category before creating anything new, simply for the reason to not repeat what has been done," he says. “There are enough ways of repeating the same thing cleverly, and we have seen many instances in Indian advertising fraternity where strategists are inspired or influenced by existing iconic campaigns.” 

While conceding that the same idea can be borne by two different teams and conceived in two different countries, Dhyani underscores that campaign managers should extensively research past campaigns to remain fresh and palatable to the audience. “Nobody likes clichés,” he adds.

Can Slice grow ‘thick’ and fast?

Going by latest market share data, the mango juice brand doesn’t look to be in the thick of things. While rival Maaza, owned by Coca-Cola, dominates the FSSD (fruit flavoured still drink) market with a 39.7% volume market share in February this year, Slice is a distant third with a paltry 9.2% share, according to Nielsen data. Frooti comes second, with 18.8% share.

When Forbes India reached out, Wunderman Thompson declined to comment on the uncanny similarity to Melody’s campaign.

The campaign, says Sumati Singh, executive creative director at Wunderman Thompson India, was created to launch singularly and specifically, the new, thick, Slice. “The shift in the brand tonality was intentional to make the launch campaign disruptive and different from the earlier Slice world," Singh says. Slice’s earlier campaigns showcased a sensual Katrina Kaif and the tagline ‘aam sutra’.

The idea, Singh lets on, was to get Kaif, who continues to be brand ambassador, to ask the country how the new Slice was so thick, to which consumers and influencers would respond with bizarre and humorous explanations.

PepsiCo too sticks with its ‘thick’ stand. The focus, the India spokesperson said in an email reply, is to offer what the consumers want and at the same time, intrigue them to try the new Slice, rolled out at a Rs 10 price point across India. “We believe these initiatives will further help us grow faster in the market,” the spokesperson added.

Can Slice claim a juicier, thicker market share this summer—a season that has already begun on an ominous note with the Covid-19 outbreak? Well, try karo, khud jaan jao.   ​