MUMBAI: Admitting that its energy drink product was ‘trying too hard to copy Red Bull’, Bisleri International has withdrawn its Urzza brand after three years of testing the waters in the Indian market.
Bisleri International chairman Ramesh Chauhan admitted to the Hindu Businessline that the company did not get the product positioning and marketing right, and has decided to opt out of the Rs2 billion energy drinks segment. Chauhan said that copying Red Bull, the imported brand that has been the leader in the category despite the entry of several domestic players, ‘did not bode well for the product’.
Targeted at upwardly mobile consumers, Urzza was expected to contribute 10 per cent of Bisleri’s Rs10 billion turnover and was being pushed through Bisleri’s distribution network to reach out to 200,000 outlets. The company had planned to extend distribution by another 20 per cent to make sure Urzza reached its target audience.
Bisleri had refrained from using caffeine in the product and had positioned it as a ‘liquid charger’ instead. The company now intends to focus on its carbonated drinks portfolio.
