Parle Products Limited, a biscuit and confectionary company in India, was lagging behind its nearest competitor in sales in a prominent market in the east - which comprised of the state of West Bengal and its capital Calcutta. In spite of having overall competitive mass media presence (SOV), the brand salience and association was not enough to create an emotional brand connect with the consumers, especially vis-à-vis kids of 8-14 years - the key influencing segment to purchase. The brand was thus lacking in consumer empathy and facing resistance to enter their hearts and homes. Parle’s leading competitor ‘Britannia” on the other hand, had made handsome inroads by making their communication in line with local community (Bengali) ethos. Hence the main communication objectives of Parle was to strike the right chord of the consumers in the right environment, create a permanent bond between the brand and its audience and be accepted as their very own local brand.

Parle Products Limited, a biscuit and confectionary company in India, was lagging behind its nearest competitor in sales in a prominent market in the east - which comprised of the state of West Bengal and its capital Calcutta. In spite of having overall competitive mass media presence (SOV), the brand salience and association was not enough to create an emotional brand connect with the consumers, especially vis-à-vis kids of 8-14 years - the key influencing segment to purchase. The brand was thus lacking in consumer empathy and facing resistance to enter their hearts and homes. Parle’s leading competitor ‘Britannia” on the other hand, had made handsome inroads by making their communication in line with local community (Bengali) ethos. Hence the main communication objectives of Parle was to strike the right chord of the consumers in the right environment, create a permanent bond between the brand and its audience and be accepted as their very own local brand. A consumer study was conducted amongst kids and mothers to understand the finer nuances of the local socio-cultural milieu. The pointers necessarily had to be seen in the gamut of, fun filled social occasion in synergy with the brand promise of Parle, articulated as ‘The World of Happiness’. One such pointer identified as Saraswati Puja, the annual ritual (Puja) of the Goddess of Learning (Saraswati). This eagerly awaited ritual conducted for a day during Jan-Feb is an occasion when the students stay away from their studies to participate in the Puja held in school. The media solution was to leverage this pointer as an event in a subtle manner, to create a permanent platform of interaction between kids and the brands for stronger association. An interschool contest called “Parle Saraswati Vandana” was instituted to award the best Puja conducted in schools, evaluated by a select panel of judges based on idol, ambience, discipline, costumes and overall participation. The prizes in the form of financial assistance for school development were given in an award ceremony. The event kicked off with a Press Briefing followed by launch press ads with support from a local TV channel as a partner. Tailored promo TVCs were run pre-event to generate awareness. The day of the Puja event on 17 Feb 2002, was marked with judges visiting each school with TV crew for assessment, collateral support and brand sampling at venue that was later televised. The awards ceremony held a month later on 15 Mar in a large auditorium saw the winning schools receiving the cheque, trophy and citation from Parle official and the Minister for Education for state followed by a live performance of popular rock bands. The entire award ceremony was later televised on the local channel. An overwhelming number of 109 schools and their 75,000 students was part of the contest. Another 100 schools eager to participate could not be accommodated for crossing the deadlines. The Press briefing, and the award ceremony generated valuable worth of media mileage. Some top Indian corporates went on record to laud the event. The government officials praised and promised support to Parle for future efforts. Appreciation letters poured in from school heads expressing thanks & gratitude and for furthering the association in future. As a result the brands got catapulted high on consumers mind in terms of salience & instant bonding with a positive trigger to sales. The idea was born from within the media team after undertaking a consumer insights study amongst the audience; primary - the kids and secondary – the mothers, by conducting depth interviews and focus group discussions in the market under focus. It was next presented to client in its entirety from the concept to the implementation stages with detailed costs and expected gains from its execution. The media led communication package that got approved for final execution was taken up for creative briefing in consultation with client. In addition the media team also took the initiative to be part of the implementation process including event management, result monitoring and updating client on a regular basis. This idea was presented as a holistic communication solution to the client’s problem and not merely as a media solution with a conventional media plan. The media agency in this case went much beyond the realm of conventional thinking in fashioning and executing the task - hence this submission is special. In context, the idea is outstanding because an established, regular and very popular event among the audience (the religious ritual of worshipping a “Hindu Goddess of Learning”) was very carefully packaged in this case to create a situation for experiential brand communication. The audience thus went back home with the brand world in their minds and a sense of positive bonding. The event for the first time enabled the consumer to recognize the brands as not distant but ‘their very own’ hitherto unachieved through high decibel conventional advertising. This submission is a winner as its idea emanated from consumer insights, remained unidentified and un-leveraged by either direct or indirect competitors so long, for its subtleness of execution and for the very positive results it delivered on short and long-term basis. In the final analysis, the payoff by far exceeded expectations thereby amply justifying the client’s investment.

The idea was born from within the media team after undertaking a consumer insights study amongst the audience; primary - the kids and secondary – the mothers, by conducting depth interviews and focus group discussions in the market under focus. It was next presented to client in its entirety from the concept to the implementation stages with detailed costs and expected gains from its execution. The media led communication package that got approved for final execution was taken up for creative briefing in consultation with client. In addition the media team also took the initiative to be part of the implementation process including event management, result monitoring and updating client on a regular basis.

This idea was presented as a holistic communication solution to the client’s problem and not merely as a media solution with a conventional media plan. The media agency in this case went much beyond the realm of conventional thinking in fashioning and executing the task - hence this submission is special. In context, the idea is outstanding because an established, regular and very popular event among the audience (the religious ritual of worshipping a “Hindu Goddess of Learning”) was very carefully packaged in this case to create a situation for experiential brand communication. The audience thus went back home with the brand world in their minds and a sense of positive bonding. The event for the first time enabled the consumer to recognize the brands as not distant but ‘their very own’ hitherto unachieved through high decibel conventional advertising. This submission is a winner as its idea emanated from consumer insights, remained unidentified and un-leveraged by either direct or indirect competitors so long, for its subtleness of execution and for the very positive results it delivered on short and long-term basis. In the final analysis, the payoff by far exceeded expectations thereby amply justifying the client’s investment.

A consumer study was conducted amongst kids and mothers to understand the finer nuances of the local socio-cultural milieu. The pointers necessarily had to be seen in the gamut of, fun filled social occasion in synergy with the brand promise of Parle, articulated as ‘The World of Happiness’. One such pointer identified as Saraswati Puja, the annual ritual (Puja) of the Goddess of Learning (Saraswati). This eagerly awaited ritual conducted for a day during Jan-Feb is an occasion when the students stay away from their studies to participate in the Puja held in school. The media solution was to leverage this pointer as an event in a subtle manner, to create a permanent platform of interaction between kids and the brands for stronger association. An interschool contest called “Parle Saraswati Vandana” was instituted to award the best Puja conducted in schools, evaluated by a select panel of judges based on idol, ambience, discipline, costumes and overall participation. The prizes in the form of financial assistance for school development were given in an award ceremony. The event kicked off with a Press Briefing followed by launch press ads with support from a local TV channel as a partner. Tailored promo TVCs were run pre-event to generate awareness. The day of the Puja event on 17 Feb 2002, was marked with judges visiting each school with TV crew for assessment, collateral support and brand sampling at venue that was later televised. The awards ceremony held a month later on 15 Mar in a large auditorium saw the winning schools receiving the cheque, trophy and citation from Parle official and the Minister for Education for state followed by a live performance of popular rock bands. The entire award ceremony was later televised on the local channel. An overwhelming number of 109 schools and their 75,000 students was part of the contest. Another 100 schools eager to participate could not be accommodated for crossing the deadlines. The Press briefing, and the award ceremony generated valuable worth of media mileage. Some top Indian corporates went on record to laud the event. The government officials praised and promised support to Parle for future efforts. Appreciation letters poured in from school heads expressing thanks & gratitude and for furthering the association in future. As a result the brands got catapulted high on consumers mind in terms of salience & instant bonding with a positive trigger to sales.

Asha Sharma   Associate Media Director   Zenith Media