Parle Products, India’s largest manufacturer of biscuits and confectionery for almost 80 years, is now looking at gaining a strong foothold in the branded wafers market, which has established players like Lays.
The recently concluded Indian Premier League Season 4 saw Parle actively promoting its wafers. With Grey Worldwide as its creative agency (with whom Parle has had an over decade long relationship) and Maxus as its media agency, Parle’s communication strategy entails a combination of mass media (TV and radio) and BTL (on ground, mobile and digital activation). The brand has increased its marketing spends by 20 per cent.
When it comes to cricket, fans have different superstitions around it. Take for instance Amitabh Bachchan’s superstition that his team wins if he doesn’t watch that match. Taking this forward, Parle came up with the campaign – ‘Parle’s Wafers khaaneka - match jeetaneka, aapka kya hai funda’, cashing in on the IPL fever.
Elaborating on this further, B Krishna Rao, Group Product Manager, Parle Products, said, “We had a contest on cricketing superstitions during the IPL, wherein through spots and RJ led mentions we asked listeners to tell their ‘Funky Funda No.1’ to make their favourite IPL team win. In the next phase, we got listeners to vote in for the craziest Funky Funda across nine cities via a specially created microsite. The winner of the contest will to get a chance to feature in the next Parle’s Wafer superstition ad along with their superstition.”
The activity met with a positive response both on radio and on online media. On digital media, they did a mobile-cum-on ground activity through which they targeted the youth in Café Coffee Day outlets across the country. As part of the activity, consumers were asked to submit their cricketing superstitions via Bluetooth facility on their mobile phones. The participants got a chance to win gift vouchers for the wackiest ideas submitted.
Given the core youth TG of the brand, digital and mobile activation have become key media for Parle’s communication strategy. Radio is another important medium for them as it addresses the young executives on the move.