The Inception
Hector Beverages Pvt Ltd. was founded in 2009, and Paperboat Drinks was launched in the year 2011. Paperboat is the fastest-growing consumer brand in the F&B category. They are the category creators of 'Ethnic Drinks'. They have used traditional Indian drinks to launch a series of products that can take you back in time.
The ready-to-drink market in India is huge as well as confusing with numerous options. Many large players have been ruling the market including Coca-Cola, Pepsi Co, Parle, Dabur, B Natural, etc. Paperboat stood out from the rest by creating its own identity and category. India is a culturally diverse country that has specific food preferences based on the region. While traversing through the country, each city or state is earmarked with a traditional drink special to that region. Paperboat went above and beyond to make sure these traditional drinks are distributed around the country.
One fine afternoon when three friends Neeraj Kakkar, Suhas Misra, and Neeraj Biyani were fighting over the Aam Panna made by Suhas’ mother, the idea of the Paperboat took its shape. And the rest is history.
The Name Says it All
What is the first thing that you visualize when you hear the name Paperboat? We are sure you will end up recalling your childhood memories of making a paper boat in the rainy season and pushing it into the tiny streams and puddles around your house. It was a hedonic pleasure to watch those dainty structures glide through all the hurdles, beat all the other miniature stumbling blocks, and still maintain their structure. Elephant Design, a brand consultancy, coined the name taking inspiration from Jagjit Singh’s famous song “Woh kagaz ki Kashti Who Barish ka Pani”
Branding Strategy
The entire branding exercise was strategically planned and derived keeping the primary goal in mind, i.e., bringing back memories and experiencing them while sipping your favourite traditional drink. Starting with the name of the brand to the end product, every move was planned and well-thought. The tagline of the brand is “Drinks and Memories” and it revolves around the philosophy “Life is Beautiful”. It again justifies the brand name and its agenda of instilling nostalgia.
The tagline is simple, direct, and relatable. Drinks that bring back your memories and refresh your mind with beautiful stories of your childhood. It brings out the innocence of a child and how kids would enjoy their life and simplify everything around them. Their mission and vision were clear and aligned with every marketing and branding strategy.
Their logo is a clear presentation of the name. The fonts are childlike and innocent. The logo elements together define the brand’s personality as Simple and Nostalgic. The grey colour makes it classic, timeless, and mysterious like a child.
Have you ever wondered what is the significance behind the packaging? It is one of its kind, and it starkly stands out owing to its shape, colour, and creativity. One can easily identify and recognize the brand from the troop of drinks standing on the shelf of a retail store. The pear-shaped bottle was inspired by the idea of relishing a whole ripe mango in summer and finding contentment in squeezing out the last drop of the juice.
This packaging had a lot of operational benefits too. It occupied less space in comparison to other tetra packs hence, it could accommodate more number of packs in the space. The rate of damage was very less because of the shape and flexibility. The packets are made up of four layers that preserve the drink and also make it spill-proof. It is not recyclable but leaves 10% lesser carbon footprint as compared to other substitutes like glass bottles, cans, or tetra packs. The impact on the environment is quite lesser.
The packaging is textured like paper, and the designs are very unconventional, heart-warming, and reflect our childhood. It has elements like coloured paper boats, caricatured fruits, and a beautiful message specific to every drink. It takes us back to the good old days when concerns were limited to what games to play, finish the day’s school activity and prepare yourself for the next day. The brand story has been beautifully depicted in the pack. If you have ever missed it, flip the pack upside down, and you will find a clever message on the bottom too.
Go-To-Market Strategy
Paperboat created and followed the ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ to beat the competitors and create a category for itself. Their concept was very unique from the rest of their competitors. Though they were competing in the same category of ready-to-drink products, they made their competition irrelevant. They were successful in creating their own demand and brand loyalist.
They worked out the entire strategy on three pillars –Product, Emotion and Story-telling.
Don’t you like hearing stories or talking about your childhood memories? It is an instinctive human behaviour, when a group of friends gathers together it is inevitable to gossip about back to the good old days when we were kids. Paperboat banked on this impulse and created its entire branding and marketing strategy. Their digital marketing strategy doesn’t highlight the product directly but taps into the nostalgic feeling associated with old memories. It is very unique and quirky. Every creative they post takes you back down memory lane. It sends a strong message with a simple representation.
The approach is very simple yet idiosyncratic. The content is well-planned there is a very smooth transition between the topics they talk about. The tone of the message is very uniform, the colours are very consistent. This is how they established a strong brand identity. We are sure when you come across a Paperboat advertisement on any medium you will recall the brand in a matter of 5-7 seconds. And that is how things worked for them.
The marketing strategy is evoking as well as completely customer-centric, unlike maximum brands that take a product-centric approach. A brand always connects well with its audience when they tell a story and creates relatability with the audience. They have launched multiple campaigns one of them was #FloatABoat which swayed into our hearts and revived the child inside us. Watch this video and refresh your old memories.
The Decade’s Headway
The manufacturing unit is set up in two places, Manesar and Mysuru, that produces 10 Mn pouches per month. The valuation of the company was $120.8 Mn in the year 2019. As per 2018 reports, Paperboat is exported to 10 countries including – America, Britain, France, Canada, Australia, Netherlands, UAE, and Malaysia. The major cities in India that are major consumers of Paperboat are - Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, and Chennai.
Hector Beverages has successfully raised a total of 103.5 Million in 14 funding rounds. Narayan Murthy is one of the investors, and Paperboat proudly boasts about it.
The Wrap
Paperboat – a young, innovative, and agile start-up which has won our hearts and taken us back to our good old school days with its unconventional message and advertisement. It started with two products in 2013 and now they have more than 15 drinks. They have also expanded their product line beyond drinks. They have included various other products like Chikki, Aam papad, protein powder, etc.
They are unstoppable, and their growth chart is pointing upward with each passing year. They maintained consistency in messaging and products throughout their new launches. If this video can’t make you nostalgic then nothing can. Have a look!
This brand has penetrated the minds and hearts of many Indians because it represents childhood sentiments and emotions. It created a milestone for companies who want to venture into retail or launch a specific product in the food and beverage industry. Paperboat has disrupted the market with its products as well as messaging. The brand recall is so strong that people recognize their products from far off. It is a case study that every marketer would love to study and also learn beyond vision.
Paperboat - A category creator of Ethnic Drinks