Bauli targets snacking occasions with new ad

The campaign has been conceptualised and executed by BBH India.

BBH India has made a campaign for Italian confectionery brand Bauli. The ad tackles the most commonly asked question, “Kya khaaya?” (“what to eat?”).

Normally, this conversation can be overheard at most office cubicles roughly around lunch time, when people are deciding on what to eat. The discussion is likely to be centered on different cuisines, cravings and dietary preferences.

This is the insight that BBH India chose to tap into for this campaign.

Russell Barrett, CCO and CEO of BBH India, argues that this question isn’t specific to mealtimes. People often don’t know what to eat when they’re hungry - which is why many of them open the fridge to figure out what to eat when hunger strikes.

Barrett says that the brief was straightforward and clear - to create awareness about Bauli’s ‘moonfils’ and the confectionery snacking category that the company plays in.

For the uninitiated, Bauli is a company founded in Italy in 1922 and aims to bring the Italian bakery experience to different parts of the world. Bauli currently sells its products in 70 countries, across five continents. Its product range includes croissants (sweet and savoury) and cakes.

“Consumers don’t have a lot of associations with this category and there is tremendous potential for growth. We want Bauli’s moonfils to be a preferred snack.”

Barrett says that the brand’s specific target audience is in the 18-35 age bracket. “As far as the insight for the campaign is concerned, I always say, the best ideas aren’t created, they’re stolen from real life situations and instances. Truth is, when this question is asked, it could derail anything and everything you’re doing, until the answer is found.”

Bauli products are available in retail stores as well as large format stores across India. They are also available on e-commerce platforms like BigBasket, Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit, etc.

Abhinandan Dhoke, MD, Bauli India, agrees that e-commerce and q-commerce are growing distribution channels for the company, but modern retail and brick and mortar stores are still important for the brand’s product distribution.

The current campaign is a 360-degree one and Dhoke informs us that the medium that it plans to concentrate on the most, is television.

“There is a radio contest going on in Big FM in Delhi. There is an out of home activation in Bengaluru and we are also promoting this across social media.”

According to Dhoke, one of the most popular markets for Bauli’s savoury products in India is Karnataka - namely Bengaluru - and Kerala. Its cake products are popular in North and West India.

He also points out that Indians’ earliest introduction to croissants would most probably have been at breakfast buffets at hotels. The company is still in the process of creating and establishing this category in India.

“When it comes to snacking, there are a lot of unorganised players in India, providing savoury snacks, such as ‘samosas’, ‘bhajiyas’ or ‘vada pav’. We already had products in the sweet cream-filled croissant category, so, we decided to expand our product portfolio with savoury snacks.”

When asked about how the flavours were finalised, Dhoke added that cheese’s popularity and prevalence in Indian street food, was one of the deciding factors.