Parle Products is on a mission to make ‘Parle Marie’ roll off your tongue

With Naam Toh Suna Hoga, Parle Products reaffirmed its branded-house positioning. A year later, the maker of Parle-G, Hide & Seek and Monaco is extending this strategy through a high-frequency advertising campaign aimed at changing a decades-old consumer habit. It wants Indians to ask not just for a Marie biscuit, but for Parle Marie.“Marie is a generic category. The biscuit is bought by habit, not by name. That is why we are urging consumers to ask for Parle Marie,” says Mayank Shah, vice-president of Parle Products. The biscuit itself dates to 18th-century Britain and is typically consumed with tea. In India, it is sold by a raft of national and regional brands. Leading players include Britannia, ITC, Disha Foods, McVitie’s, and Priya Gold. Parle began producing its version in the 1940s.Read: Parle Products reaffirms ‘Branded House’ stance on the IPL after a seven-year hiatusChanging such a deeply ingrained habit will not be easy. Shah admits it is a slow-burning process, but insists that “somebody has to do it.” The company positions Parle Marie as a biscuit for everyday consumption, which, he argues, makes it all the more important for the brand name to be closely tied to the category.Mayank ShahWorking with Thought Blurb Communications, an advertising agency, Parle Products released a few 25-second commercials in which protagonists are drawn into chaotic scenarios after asking simply for a Marie. Calm is restored only when they utter “Parle Marie.” The ads initially aired on Star Sports HD and SD during the ongoing Indian Premier League, as well as online.When brands want consumers to remember something, repetition is the favoured tactic. Parle Products took this to heart, airing the ads so frequently that it began to grate. Viewers took to social media to complain about the relentless bombardment.View this post on InstagramA post shared by Parle Products (@parleproducts)“Yes, the frequency is high,” admits Shah. “The reason is that during live sports, it is difficult to control how often an ad appears.” He adds that the company has since broadened its targeting parameters, which should reduce the number of times the ad airs on television. Zenith India handles the media buying mandage of Parle Products. In practice, this means the advertisement will now appear across a broader range of language feeds on Star Sports HD and SD. Because of the initial targeting, viewers on those feeds ended up seeing the same ad repeatedly.“The Parle Marie campaign began just four to six days ago. A course correction has been made and the ad’s frequency will come down,” says Shah. He adds that two-thirds of Parle Marie’s sales come from four markets: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Odisha, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.Shah admits the company has allocated a significant portion of its annual marketing budget to the campaign. Its effectiveness will be assessed through brand tracking, a method that monitors brand awareness and perception over time, and will be combined with data from the sales team.It is striking that a company whose Parle-G glucose biscuit is perhaps India’s most popular companion to tea is now setting its sights on the Marie biscuit category. It seems intent on monopolising not just the biscuit tin but tea time itself.

With Naam Toh Suna Hoga , Parle Products reaffirmed its branded-house positioning. A year later, the maker of Parle-G, Hide & Seek and Monaco is extending this strategy through a high-frequency advertising campaign aimed at changing a decades-old consumer habit. It wants Indians to ask not just for a Marie biscuit, but for Parle Marie.

“Marie is a generic category. The biscuit is bought by habit, not by name. That is why we are urging consumers to ask for Parle Marie,” says Mayank Shah, vice-president of Parle Products.

The biscuit itself dates to 18th-century Britain and is typically consumed with tea. In India, it is sold by a raft of national and regional brands. Leading players include Britannia, ITC, Disha Foods, McVitie’s, and Priya Gold.

Parle began producing its version in the 1940s. Read: Parle Products reaffirms ‘Branded House’ stance on the IPL after a seven-year hiatus Changing such a deeply ingrained habit will not be easy. Shah admits it is a slow-burning process, but insists that “somebody has to do it.

” The company positions Parle Marie as a biscuit for everyday consumption, which, he argues, makes it all the more important for the brand name to be closely tied to the category. Working with Thought Blurb Communications, an advertising agency, Parle Products released a few 25-second commercials in which protagonists are drawn into chaotic scenarios after asking simply for a Marie. Calm is restored only when they utter “Parle Marie.

” The ads initially aired on Star Sports HD and SD during the ongoing Indian Premier League, as well as online. When brands want consumers to remember something, repetition is the favoured tactic. Parle Products took this to heart, airing the ads so frequently that it began to grate.

Viewers took to social media to complain about the relentless bombardment. A post shared by Parle Products (@parleproducts) “Yes, the frequency is high,” admits Shah. “The reason is that during live sports, it is difficult to control how often an ad appears.

” He adds that the company has since broadened its targeting parameters, which should reduce the number of times the ad airs on television. Zenith India handles the media buying mandage of Parle Products. In practice, this means the advertisement will now appear across a broader range of language feeds on Star Sports HD and SD.

Because of the initial targeting, viewers on those feeds ended up seeing the same ad repeatedly. “The Parle Marie campaign began just four to six days ago. A course correction has been made and the ad’s frequency will come down,” says Shah.

He adds that two-thirds of Parle Marie’s sales come from four markets: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Odisha, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Shah admits the company has allocated a significant portion of its annual marketing budget to the campaign. Its effectiveness will be assessed through brand tracking, a method that monitors brand awareness and perception over time, and will be combined with data from the sales team.

It is striking that a company whose Parle-G glucose biscuit is perhaps India’s most popular companion to tea is now setting its sights on the Marie biscuit category. It seems intent on monopolising not just the biscuit tin but tea time itself..