Kurkure: Twist in the tale

From just one celebrity in its campaigns, the salty snack brand from PepsiCo will now feature a star-studded family. The campaign will kick off on December 15.

Kurkure, the snack food brand from the PepsiCo stable, has announced the launch of a new campaign that will feature a host of new actors; the Kurkure family will now include Kunal Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra, Farida Jalal, Boman Irani, Ramya Krishnan and child actor Shivansh. The modern, eccentric and 'nationally-integrated' family (Krishnan is the South Indian bahu in the noticeably North Indian family) will reiterate the brand philosophy, 'Tedha Hai Par Mera Hai' and its essence, 'Twist on Tradition'.

Each actor portrays a character that denotes Kurkure's varied products. For instance, Jalal plays a social butterfly grandmother, Irani is the elder son and a chhupa rustam, while Krishnan is a perfect daughter-in-law. Then, there is Kapoor, the younger son, who believes he is Bollywood material but is a banker by profession. Chopra acts as Kapoor's wife, who is modern in her outlook but, at the same time, respects traditions. Shivansh acts as Krishnan's son, who constantly binges on Kurkure.

Taking its cue from a great family drama, the first television commercial will introduce the family to the viewers. It will run for three weeks, after which the campaign will feature new products. Interestingly, long-time brand ambassador actor Juhi Chawla will continue to be associated with the brand. Even its website features her image.

Nalin Sood, executive vice-president, foods, PepsiCo India, says that the actors were chosen after careful screening. "Their individual personalities had a major role to play. Each is entertaining and quirky, which is perfect for the brand. Our latest initiative is a never-before innovation to create a mega brand strategy that translates into a mega creative strategy," he adds.

In the context of a home the 'Teda hai..' means family members who accept one another for who they are, despite eccentricities. Sood notes that the new campaign is the brand's biggest since its launch in 1999 in India.

Mythili Chandrasekar, senior vice-president and executive planning director, JWT India, says that rather than repositioning, the new campaign attempts to refresh the brand and expand the perspective beyond the housewife, "The idea is to make the brand more appealing to young and modern consumers and give an aspirational look and feel."

While there is no fundamental change and the brand continues to portray the great Indian family, the execution has changed. The creatives infuse a lot of excitement and fun and showcase new taste stories through each member of the family, address new cohorts (men, women and children) and occupy more consumption occasions, she discloses.

Bobby Pawar, chief creative officer, JWT India, adds that each character has imperfections and quirkiness, but is relatable.

Besides television, the campaign will also utilise radio, print and digital media. However, the brand and the agency did not provide further details on this.

Kurkure's television campaigns have largely featured Juhi Chawla, although in between it has signed on new actors. Kareena Kapoor endorsed its Kurkure Desi Beats range in 2008.

The brand offers five variants in the Core Collet range and two flavours in the Kurkure Solid Masti Twisteez range. It also has Kurkure Monster Paws and Kurkure PuffCorn, with two flavours each, in the puffed snack category.

Safety in numbers?

Harish Bijoor, CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc, says that snack food is a category that sees promiscuous consumer behaviour. "Juhi did a very good job for Kurkure but perhaps the brand wants more. With the new group of actors, the brand talks about wanting to be everything to everybody," Bijoor says.

However, he hopes Kurkure is careful of the risk in this as the campaign will not connect to people individually. "Perhaps, the creative use of stars could avert that. Also, this is a very sitcom approach to branding. Its success will completely depend on how Kurkure is able to develop and stretch the concept," Bijoor adds.

Jagdeep Kapoor, managing director, Samsika Marketing Consultants opines that Kurkure's new move seems to be moving to the next level and at being contemporary. "While Juhi Chawla did a wonderful job and brought the brand to a high level, it seems to be moving from famous personality to a famous family. So, the approach looks to be individual impact vs group impact,"

Kapoor adds.

While Kurkure has continued with the family theme, each member now is a well-known figure, he notes. The change, he says, will give the brand an edge over other local competitors and create great impact.