Ovaltine goes cold for Thai consumers

After establishing itself as a twice-daily drink, Ovaltine is all set to introduce a third drinking occasion for its consumers, with the launch of a new brand, Ovaltine Yen Cold Crunchy.

"Thailand is a warm country, so we do not generally drink hot beverages during the day. This is especially true for children," said Cholakan Visutipitakul, group account director, Y&R Thailand, the agency handling the account.

"This was an opportunity for Ovaltine to go beyond a hot-form beverage."

The new line extension by Ovaltine has both kids and their mothers as its target audience.

"Due to its cold and crunchy nature, as well as its ease of preparation, it is sure to appeal to the younger generation," said Cholakan.

"The challenge is to convince the mums to stock the product at home as a daytime cold drink, and not substitute it with the original Ovaltine tonic food drink."

The 30-second commercial opens with two children consuming Ovaltine and cereal separately at an evening snack time. By chance, the pieces of cereal fall into the drink and the children find a new  'crunchy and chewy' drink. Their mother, having witnessed this, discovers the new 3-in-1 Ovaltine Yen Cold Crunchy, which offers the same nutritional value and is a perfect daytime cold drink.

"The TVC shows how the new product is different from the traditional one and convinces mothers why they should buy it," said Cholakan.

Ovaltine is the market leader of the tonic food drink category, commanding 72 per cent of the four billion baht (US$107 million) market in Thailand.