"Who is your Parle-G?"

Parle G's new five-film campaign is part of a Rs30 crore communication plan. This is the first time the team has personified the biscuit.

Parle Products has recently come up with a new campaign #YouAreMyParle-G. The series of five TVCs has been conceptualised by Taproot Dentsu, the creative agency from the stable of Dentsu Aegis Network.

Parle-G's new TVC - Kaka, you are my Parle-G

The new TVCs by Parle-G seem to focus on target segment across age groups. According to industry insiders, Parle-G, that has crossed the Rs 5,000 crore mark in retail sales, is going to spend around Rs 30 crore across TV, print, outdoor and digital advertising in 2018.

Parle-G's new TVC - Dear roomie, you are my Parle-G

We asked Mayank Shah, category head, Parle Products, the reason behind the shift in TG. He says, "As far as the TG is concerned, there is no set TG for Parle-G. Kids are definitely one of the segments we look at, but even if you look at our last communication, that was targeted at parents and was about standing for a particular philosophy of 'if you are looking to raise geniuses, this should be the way you should raise them.' Having said that, Parle-G is a brand that is consumed by everybody and not just kids."

Parle-G's new TVC - My neighbour is my Parle-G

Shah points out that Parle-G's consumption starts as early as a six-month-old infant where the TG would be a mother who pairs Parle-G with milk and goes up to an 80-year-old person who has no teeth, having denture problems and can have Parle-G dipped in tea or milk.

Parle-G's new TVC - Dear sir, you are my Parle-G

"It would be very difficult for me to segment a particular age group because everybody consumes Parle-G like the way people consume dal-chawal and roti. It is not only age but across SEC as well. Anyone sitting at Nariman Point to someone in Dharavi, everybody consumes Parle-G. It is also something that has been consumed by families for generations," he adds.

Parle-G's new TVC - Dear ma'am, you are my Parle-G

Talking about the campaign, Shah says, "In this campaign, we are saying that this is that one brand that has always been there with you throughout your life; you have a bond with it and you can talk about a similar bond in your life with someone else."

Mayank Shah

Pallavi Chakravarti

Parle Products is one of the associate sponsors of this year's Indian Premier League. The five new TVCs are visible only on Star India's sports channels. "We are currently advertising only on IPL. Once the tournament gets over, we will advertise on other channels. We will do print and outdoor ads post 50 per cent of the TV campaign being completed", Shah says.

Pallavi Chakravarti, executive creative director, Taproot Dentsu Mumbai, says in a press release, "Parle-G is a staple, quite like our rice and pulses. It is like that one person everyone has in their life who has always been there, albeit on the sidelines. This campaign is a celebration of relationships that we seldom acknowledge, but without which, life isn't quite the same. It's a message that only a brand as iconic as Parle-G can give. Because when you come to think of it, everyone has eaten one and everyone has a human equivalent, if they just take the time out to think of it."

We asked our experts if Parle-G's strategy of targeting newer TGs is the way forward for the brand and about the idea and execution.

Saji Abraham, executive director, Lowe Lintas, says, "Parle-G seem to be opening up a new frontier and clearly seen to be targeting adults and moving out of the - glucose biscuit is for energy for kids - zone. They seem to have taken a lateral route to doing that; an emotional one rather than a functional one. I suspect the functional might have been harder to pull off because of the sensitivity to sugar nowadays or the fact that it is a basic biscuit when there are many fancier options around."

Saji Abraham

Manish KingerAbraham finds the execution interesting and believes it will generate some conversations but he also finds it a bit forced. "'You are my Parle-G' is not a seamless fit. One will have to really make an effort to say that and ascribe that meaning to Parle-G. A brand integrating into everyday life was once done seamlessly by Amul chocolates when they said Amul chocolate was 'A gift for someone you love'", he adds.

According to Abraham, overall, it's an interesting attempt by Parle-G to target the adult market and remove rationality from being a factor for consumption. "But I feel a more seamless execution and idea would have worked better", he says.

Manish Kinger, creative director, ADK-Fortune, thinks it's a smart strategic move to expand your already existing consumer base. "Paper Boat has shown us how a brand can be built completely by using nostalgia as a language of communication. There's a sizeable audience receptive to this emotion. And if there's a brand that has earned maximum nostalgia currency since its inception, it's Parle-G. I think it's a smart, strategic move to expand your already existing consumer base", he says.

Talking about the idea and execution, he says, "'You are my Parle-G' is a line that unfortunately fails to become an idea in the execution. The execution looks like a film adaptation of a strategy power-point slide. It explains the idea... by explaining it. I found it to be contrived and basic. In a similar space, 'Meri Maggi' worked because of the honesty in the idea and execution. This is nowhere close to that."

According to Kinger, the brand and agency could have paid more attention to the creative execution. "To me, it's an opportunity lost", he says.