Froosh – Borrowing and building ideas from other markets

Guest post by David Nichols, Managing Partner (Global) and Head of Invention.

Updated following feedback from Brendan, CEO of Froosh - thanks Brendan.

And again, following feedback from Ben, at design agency Holmes and Marchant.

I just received a note from someone I worked with a while back letting me know they have now joined a brand called Froosh. You may not be aware of them (I wasn’t’) but they are a funky Scandanavian brand of smoothies. 

They have an irreverent personality, believe in the power of fruit, use friendly, lower case typography and try to be as ethical as possible. They have a manifesto entitled ‘In Fruit We Trust’, which outlines their obsession with fruit and fruitfarms and their power to transform communities in developing countries.

Sound familiar?

If it does, that's because Froosh seem to us to have borrowed some ideas from innocent smoothies, the UK's leading smoothie brand, who we've blogged on many times.

Indeed, as Ben told us in his comment on this post, Froosh just happen to have used a design agency called Pearlfisher who also worked for.... innocent. Prize for balls goes to Pearlfisher for putting with pride both of these competitive brands in their credentials ;-)

Is it wrong to copy some elements of a brand in another market like this?  Or should they be applauded, for taking a winning formula, building on it and applying it to a new market?

I think they should be applauded.  Here’s why:

1.   Borrow with pride

-       There should be no shame in borrowing ideas from competitors in other markets. In fact, this is a well worn marketing strategy. After all, innocent arrived 19 years after the the original funky, friendly fruit drink brand Odwalla was launched in the US, as Froosh CEO Brendan points out in his comment on this post.

2.   Physical availability is king

-       Being where people can buy the product is the first and most important driver of business.  If the ‘first mover’ in a category has not taken up a particular channel or territory, then why not jump in and take the opportunity?

-    Innocent was widely available only in the UK for several years after launch in 1999. Froosh launched in Sweden in 2004, before we think innocent had a major presence there, then expanding to Denmark and Finland. And although innocent is now sold in Denmark and Finland, Froosh's head start has helped them be the market leader in Scandanavia.        

3.   Borrow AND build

-       If possible, its better to borrow and build on an idea, to make it your own, not just copy the idea outright.

-       In the case of Froosh, they have added one functional difference versus innocent– they use glass bottles only, which they claim to be better for the environment and give better shelf life without preservatives.

-        Time will tell whether Froosh can achieve the same success in Scandinavia that Innocent has enjoyed in the UK. They have a huge challenge to do their brand building as well as innocent. What will be the Danish equivalent of the Big Knit promotion or Fruitstock festival?

In conclusion, Froosh's success in being Scandanavia's leading smoothie brand shows how borrowing and building on ideas from other markets can be a great way of building a brand and business.

Comments

[David T.]

Ben, You star. Thanks for pointing the fact that Froosh used the same design agency as innocent!
David T.

[Ben]

I was going to add one rather snide thing.

Brendan is wrong, he and Innocent have one of the biggest 'brand' factors in common.

Pearlfisher, the packaging design agency.

Enough said.

Ben

[David T.]

Brendan, The other David from the brandgym here, David T.

I have already got a few more facts on Froosh and innocent and updated the blog post to reflect this.

Sorry we didn't check our facts better first time round, thanks for taking time to correct us.

If you email me your address to david@thebrandgym.com, a copy of the brandgym book is on its way as a small gesture of thanks for your feedback.
David T.
P.S. Didn't our paths cross many years ago through Tom Allchurch?!

[Daniel Milstein]

That is true,David. As an author and business man, I can relate to how you said, "They have a ‘manifesto’ entitled ‘In Fruit We Trust’, which outlines how they are obsessed with fruit and fruitfarms and believe in their power to transform individual lives and whole communities". I hope more people discover your blog because you really know what you're talking about. Can't wait to read more from you!

[David Nichols]

Brendan - so that we get the facts correct, could you ask someone in your team to let us know: launch dates for Froosh and Innocent in Scandinavia and their current market shares in all 4 markets? Many thanks.
David N

[David Nichols]

Brendan,

First - many thanks for pointing out the obvious error. I should have checked how big Innocent is in Denmark.

I am well aware that Innocent didn't invent smoothies - Odwalla and others in the US were doing cool things with smoothies years before them. My point is actually reinforced by this: that great marketing ideas (like Innocent's and Froosh) don't have to be totally original to succeed. Borrowing ideas is a tried and tested path to success. I am also not suggesting that you 'stole' their slogans or indeed any part of their marketing execution. What I commented on was that you have a very similar proposition and it is clearly one that people really like. And that's a good thing.

Apologies again for the incorrect facts, but I hope my main point still stands: great brands, like Froosh, can build on ideas others have used (Odwalla, Innocent....) and create distinctive market leading success.

Next time I'm in Scandinavia, I know which brand of smoothie I will be buying...Froosh!

David N
Smoothie lover

[Gyte]

I was about to comment that Innocent is indeed pretty big in Denmark. On the other hand physical availability IS very important. It is not so easy to find Froosh in the stores and that is unfortunately the big problem in Denmark with many more interesting brands.

[Brendan Harris]

David, I'm the managing director of Froosh.

I'm afraid you chose the wrong example to illustrate your argument - Froosh is nothing like Innocent.

We are the market leading smoothie brand in the Nordics and we have a unique and distinctive brand - which actually is obvious from the photo in your article.

But let's start with the accusation that we have stolen Innocent's signature slogan.

With all due respect you made that up - we have never used it and never will.

As for "Innocent had not made it to Denmark yet", had you done your homework you would have discovered that Denmark is one of Innocent's strongest markets outside the UK.

Innocent is the market leader in Denmark (we're working on that!) - which I think on its own destroys the centrepiece of your argument.

In fact the only thing we have in common with Innocent is that we are both in the smoothie sector - but that's hardly grounds for accusing us of plagiarism.

After all Innocent didn't invent smoothies. They copied the idea from the US.

Brendan Harris, CEO, Froosh