"Our individual brands have become bigger than brand Parle": Mayank Shah, Parle Products

Parle Product's latest campaign highlights the mother brand over its sub-brands.

Parle Products has launched an integrated campaign, 'Naam toh Suna Hi Hoga', to showcase its portfolio of brands in a manner which links them back to the mother brand, Parle.

Conceptualised by Taproot Dentsu, it highlights the bond that Parle has shared with consumers all these years through four witty ads. The pan India campaign will run extensively during Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017, of which Parle Products is also an associate sponsor.

The ads show instances of people being put in awkward situations for a fault as innocuous as not being aware of the fact that the multiple brands which have been part of their daily lives are from the house of Parle.

We asked Mayank Shah, category head, Parle Products, why it was important to convey this message now. Is it an attempt to move the sub-brands off the shelf or does it serve a larger purpose?

"Parle Products has primarily been a brand-led company in terms of communication, with a number of our brands taking centre stage. Our individual brands have become bigger than the corporate brand, Parle Products. While this approach to communications has worked successfully for us, we now want to give equal weightage to the mother brand," says Shah.

Over the years, Parle Products has grown to over 40 brands across categories including biscuits, confectionery, and snacks (western and Indian). Its research shows that while consumers are familiar with individual brands, they do not recognise them as belonging to Parle. Many consumers are also not aware of the spectrum of brands that Parle has.

Commenting further on the execution, Shah states, "While we talk about our products and the corporate brand in the campaign, we also wanted to highlight the experiences that we bring to our consumers. Whether it is tastes (sweet, salty, nutty, buttery), age groups (products for kids and adults), local and global products and classic/heritage as well as new format brands/products, Parle Products has something for everybody and every moment."

Pallavi Chakravarti, executive creative director, Taproot Dentsu adds, "We've all enjoyed Parle products for as long as we can remember. If the products have always brought a smile to our faces, why shouldn't the ads? With 'Naam Toh Suna Hi Hoga', we've found a light and hopefully memorable way of driving the brand name and equity home. "

The TVCs, produced by Earlyman Films, will be released in twelve languages. The campaign's second leg will be supported extensively by digital.

Parle Products was founded in 1928 by Mohanlal Dayal. It is best known for its biscuit brand, Parle-G, which was declared the world's largest-selling brand of biscuits by Nielsen Survey 2003 (according to the company website). The history of Parle-G goes back to 1938 when the company baked its first biscuit, Parle Gluco. It was rechristened as Parle-G during the early eighties. 'Swad Bhare Shakti Bhare' was the brand's first television commercial launched in 1982.

Some of the company's other popular products include Monaco, KrackJack, Cheeslings, Hide & Seek, Milano, 20-20 and Magix.

As a brand that was set up in the pre-independence era, Parle has had a long journey. Through these ads, it attempts to extend the familiarity and popularity of the parent brand to its lesser known sub-brands.

On what may have prompted this sort of communication, Harish Bijoor, brand guru and founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc. says, "Over the years the brand has spun off into various categories across the consumption pyramid. Today it has about 250 odd SKUs. With the growing brand clutter within the house of Parle itself, it looks as if this campaign is aimed at knitting it all together under the equity of the mother brand. This piece of advertising therefore works if that's the objective."

He believes that the ads, in a careful and sedate but at the same time overt manner, say it clearly that there is more to Parle than what meets the eye. "Parle has shown extreme market aggression in recent years. This piece of advertising becomes yet another clever communication wrap-on out there," he notes.