A TERM PAPER ON:-

BRAND BUILDING- PARLE G

BY:-

ABHISHEK CHAUDHARY MBA SEM-1

DAYAL BAGH EDUCATIONAL INSTIUTE AGRA

CONTENTS

INDEX NO. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

TOPIC Parle G History & Evolution About the Brand Parle Market Segmentation for Parle G Brand Positioning Marketing Strategy SWOT analysis Consumer Behaviour for Parle G Product life cycle of parle G Suggestion to Parle G

PARLE G HISTORY AND EVOLUTION

A package having a cream coloured yellow stripped wrapper with a picture of a chubby baby containing 10- 12 biscuits and you know these are Parle G biscuits. Parle-G or Parle Glucose biscuits are one of the most popular confectionary biscuits in India. Parle G has been a strong household name across India Parle G has become one of the most popular tea time snack. The great taste, high nutrition, and the international quality, have all contributed in making Parle G the largest selling brand of biscuits in India. In the year 1929, a small factory was set up in the suburbs of Mumbai city, to manufacture sweets and toffees. The market that time was dominated by famous international brands that were imported freely. Despite the odds and unequal competition, this company called Parle Products, survived and succeeded, by adhering to high quality and improvising from time to time. The name, "Parle", is derived from the name of the Indian rail station, Vile Parle, where the Parle production factory is based. A decade later, in 1939, Parle Products began manufacturing biscuits, in addition to sweets and toffees. It was called Parle Glucose Biscuits mainly to cue that it was a glucose biscuit. It was manufactured at the Mumbai factory, Vile Parle and sold in units of half and quarter pound packs. Having already established a reputation for quality, the Parle brand name grew in strength with this diversification. Parle Glucose Biscuits was one of the first brands of biscuits to be introduced, which later went on to become a leading name for great taste and quality. By the year 1949, Parle Glucose Biscuits were available not just in Mumbai but also across the state. It was also sold in parts of North India. In the early 50s, over 150 tones of biscuits were produced in the Mumbai factory. Looking at the success of Parle-G, a lot of other me-too brands were introduced in the market. And these brands had names that were similar to Parle Glucose Biscuits so that if not by anything else, the consumer would end up in picking the brand. This forced Parle to change the name from Parle Glucose Biscuits to Parle-G where in the G stood for the main ingredient- glucose.

Over the years Parle has grown to become a multi million-dollar company and a heritage brand with many of the products as market leaders in their category. Apart from the factories in Mumbai and Bangalore Parle also has factories in Bahadurgarh in Haryana, Ahmedabad in Gujarat and Neemrana in Rajasthan, which are the largest biscuit and confectionery plants in the country.

MARKET SEGMENTATION FOR PARLE G

Parle G is consumed by urban as well as rural masses. Parle-G is consumed by all income groups, but is mostly consumed by the lower and middle income groups. It is generally the lower middle, middle and to a certain extent the higher middle class that consume Parle G. The rich class can afford more expensive biscuits and would rather stay away from a product which appeals to the masses. But over all, Parle G is a product liked by everyone and does not cater only to a specific group or part of the whole market. Right now Parle G is positioned towards the kids segment but it is a product that is consumed by people belonging to all age groups.

BRAND POSITIONING

Parle-G enjoys 70% market share in glucose biscuit category followed by Britannia Tiger (1718%) and ITC's Sunfeast (8-9%).The brand is estimated to be worth over Rs 2,000 crore, and contributes more than 50 per cent of the company's turnover (Parle Products is an unlisted company and its executives are not comfortable disclosing exact numbers). Twenty-five crore packets of Parle G are estimated to be sold every month. Last fiscal, Parle had sales of Rs 3,500 crore. All these figures clearly state that Parle G is the No.1 brand of biscuits in India. Parles mantra has always been about repositioning the brand without tweaking the look and feel of the product. Parle-G is mainly positioned in the minds of people as a value for price product and also as a low-priced product. Parle G is also one of the few FMCG brands in the country, whose customers straddle across income segments. But price is not its only USP.

What makes the Parle G brand tick is also that it has been positioned on the health platform (a single pack of biscuit offers 450 calories). The brand meets different needs of customers: taste, calories (energy), nutrition and value-for-money. The messages of the brand that it is a healthy and nutritious biscuit is conveyed in the ads: Its earlier tagline was Parle-G: swadh bhare, shakti bhare. There was a time when Parle G was greatly threatened by Britannia Tiger as the latter gained popualarity in the kids segment by featuring Sachin Tendulkar in its ad campaign. It was then that Parle G repositioned itself and came up with innovative commercials involving young children with a new punchline, G mane Genius, which was an instant hit. G for Genius has been Parle-Gs positioning line since 2004. In 2006-07, the line was changed to Hindustan ki Taakat, to assume a bigger platform as the biscuit that stands for strength (taakat) in and for India. But in early 2008, Parle-G reverted to its G for Genius line.

MARKETING STRATEGY The Parle G marketing philosophy emphasizes catering to the masses. It is a product that is designed to provide nutrition & fun to the common man. Parle G comes under the low price segments. This is based on the parent brand, Parles understanding of the Indian consumer psyche. The value-for-money positioning helps generate large sales volumes for the products. Parle G biscuits along with other Parle sub-brands, have reached even the most remote villages of India.

MARKETING MIX

Product Levels 1) Core benefit- the core benefit of Parle G is to satisfy hunger of the consumer 2) Basic product- in the second level, the basic product is biscuits. 3) Expected product- the consumers expect the product to have a good taste and also give nutrition. 4) Augmented product- Parle G increase a persons energy levels. This is not always expected by the consumers and hence exceeds customers expectations.

Ingredients : Wheat Flour, Sugar, Partially Hydrogenated Edible Vegetable Oils, Invert Syrup*, Leavening Agents [ 503 ( ii ), 500 ( ii ) ], Salt, Milk Solids, Emulsifiers [ 322 or 471 & 481 ( i ) ] and Dough Conditioners [ 223 ]. Contains Added Flavours (Artificial).* (d - Glucose, Levulose)

PACKAGING AND LABELING

Parle G was initially recognized by its iconic white and yellow stripped wax paper wrapper with the baby face on it. Many competitors have tried to sell their lower quality products by copying the packaging, trying to sell their biscuits as Parel-G; Parle-Jee etc. Due to increasing competition Parle G now uses plastic wrappers for its packaging. Parle-G comes in 8 different sizes: 25gms, 44gms, 93.5gms, 231gms, 340.5gms, 462gms, 577.5gms and a 1kg pack just for Rs.30 which is not usually offered by other brands.

Consumers are becoming increasingly health conscious. So keeping in mind the latest trend, it is essential to display the contents of every product. Every packet of Parle G has information about the ingredients used, nutrition facts, mailing & emailing addresses asking for feedback, phone number, packaging date etc. All this along with the brand name and directions are printed in Hindi too so that every member of the target group can comprehend the information provided.

The current Parle G pack guides the user as to how to tear it open. Parle G had never changed the design or logo of the pack.

BRAND EXTENSION

Parle G followed the line extension strategy with the introduction of Parle-G milk Shakti and Parle-G Magix. These were basically created a staste variants for Parle G. Parle G milk Shakti was initially introduced only in south India as the southern markets are
stronghold for the milk biscuit category to give competition to Britannia Milk Bikis which was the predominant brand of biscuits in the south. In 2003, however, it was launched at a national level. At Rs 5 for 100 gm, Milk Shakti was positioned as a biscuit with the goodness of milk and honey. The current brand ambassador for Milk Shakti is M.S. Dhoni. Parle Magix was introduced in 2002 as a premium offering brand with three flavourscoco and cashew. It was an attempt to move the brand upwards in terms of both price and value chain. It was positioned as a premium biscuit brand with the richness of real cocoa and cashews. However the price of one a 75 gm pack was pegged at Rs.5 which

helped Parle G magix to still comes under the economy range and the value-for-money segment.

PRICING STRATEGY

Parle G is a brand that has held its price line at Rs 4 for 25 years now the price was last raised in 1994 by 25 paise. So, its not for nothing that Parle-G is the worlds largest-selling biscuit by volumes. Not that the company didnt try to raise prices to offset the overall hike in costs. Three years ago it did so, but quickly rolled it back after volumes fell sharply and consumers wrote to lodge their protest. Currently the regular 82.5 gm pack costs Rs. 4 We want to cater to the masses and have consciously tried not to increase the price. Parle-G is available for Rs 50 a kg. There are very few food items that are available for Rs 50-60 a kg, says Pravin Kulkarni, General Manager (Marketing), Parle Products. Parle is, of course, not doing it for charity. Soaring input prices meant it opted for reducing the weight of the biscuit than increasing the price first from 100 gm to 92.5 gm in January 2008, and then to 88 gm in January this year in line with other biscuit-makers and FMCG players.

Regular customers would have noticed the number of biscuits in a pack come down from 16 to 15 even as each biscuit became lighter, but they seemed to understand the cost pressures on the firm. The gamble paid off: Parle was able to sustain its volumes. Strict cost control at every point in its supply chain also helped Parle entered into forward contracts with suppliers, outsourced production, increased the number of manufacturing locations to 60 and consolidated buying. Raw material costs account for 60 per cent of the total costs in this segment and packaging costs (plastic films) account for 20-25 per cent of this. Nirmalaya Kumar, professor of marketing at London Business School, feels its a very smart strategy. At this price point, price becomes more important than the weight of the biscuit. Its very interesting and similar to the dollar stores in the US, he says. Parle G has adopted the Market Penetration strategy i.e. low price along with capturing of a large market. Also they focus on low prices and provide good quality products at the same time, which means it uses the value pricing method. This benefits Parle G by having a competitive edge in terms of large market share which is around 40%: both rural and urban presently.

PLACE MIX

The extensive distribution network, built over the years, is a major strength for Parle Products. Parle G is available to consumers, even in the most remote places and in the smallest of villages with a population of just 500.

Channel levels: Parle has nearly 1,500 wholesalers, catering to 4, 25,000 retail outlets directly or indirectly. A two hundred strong dedicated field force services these wholesalers & retailers. Additionally, there are 31 depots and C&F agents supplying goods to the wide distribution network .So it is seen that Parle has 1 level, 2 level & 3 level distribution channels levels. Level 1 Availability to all departmental stores. Level 2 Since its an FMCG product this channel exists for customers scattered throughout the country.

Level 3 Mass consumption & suitable for national & international coverage. For e.g. Parles international operations consist of serving markets in the Middle East, Africa, South America, Sri Lanka, Australia and North America for which the 3 level distribution channel exists.

Channel dynamics: Parle has a multi-channel marketing system since it uses more than two marketing channels to reach all its customer segments.

PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY

The promotional tools used by Parle are Advertising, Sales promotion and Public relations.

ADVERTISING

Parle-G started being advertised in the 80's. It was advertised mainly through press ads. The communication spoke about the basic benefits of energy and nutrition. In 1989, Parle-G released its Dadaji commercial, with the famous tagline swaad bhare shakti bhare, barso se which went on to become one of the most popular commercials for Parle-G. The commercial was run for a period of 6 years. Parle-G grew bigger by the minute. Be it the packs sold, the areas covered or the number of consumers. It became a part of the daily lives of many Indians. It wasn't a biscuit any more. It had become an icon. The first agency, which handled the account was Everest Brand Solutions. Trikaya Grey pitched for the Parle-G account in mid-2006 and has been handling the account since 2007. The next level of communication associated the brand with the positive values of life like honesty sharing and caring. The year 2002 went down as a special year in Parle-G's advertising history. A year that saw the birth of a new ambassador for Parle-G- G man, a super-hero that saves the entire world, especially children from all the evil forces.It was an animate dTv campaign and was an instant hit among children.. It was also supported by print medium through posters and streamers put up at

the retail outlets. A reminder TV commercial was launched for Parle-G where the product is being called Hindustan ki takat. As Parle Gs biggest competitor Brittania Tiger started gaining popualarity in the kids segment, Parle launched the G maane GENIUS campaign. The campaign showed how children who consumed Parle G had a sharp and innovative mind. Mithun Roy, AVP Director Client Servicing, Grey, said, The ad was conceptualized on the fact that Parle-G has always been about fortified nourishment that nurtures an overall development of mind and body and enables mental and/or physical agility. It is about genius kids who demonstrate their genius power by achieving a difficult task or by way of being able to overcome a difficult/ tricky situation. It is typically a combination of physical and mental energy the mental smartness to come up with a plan and the physical energy to execute it. The energy could be in various dimensions like intangible and implied, physical and quantified, instant, etc. The situation/ outcome is usually humorous. Roy further said, The core positioning has always been G for Genius. Its the snack/ biscuit that gives kids and adults alike nutrition and energy, thereby giving them the power to win/ achieve. The latest Parle G ad campaign was the Aamir Khan- Darsheel Safary G for genius ad. On the association of Aamir Khan with Brand Parle-G, Roy said, Aamir is known as the intellectual actor in the film industry. His intellect is reflected in his movies, endorsements and also the social work that he does, thereby making him an apt endorser for Parle-G. Aamirs Supermarket commercial has in essence the G for Genius positioning with a twist Do Genius Ek Taakat, which basically means that every Parle-G kid and adult is a Genius in their own way. In this commercial, both Aamir and Darsheel are the geniuses, who have one common factor of strength Parle-G. Even though Parle G ads have featured celebrities occasionally, most of the Parle-G TV commercials tell us that brand awareness is being done by capturing consumer emotion and not celebrity testimonials unlike its competitors- Brittania and ITC Sunfeat.

SALES PROMOTION

Parle Gs asles promotion activities are targeted towards their sales staff. Every year it holds day fairs at branded venues where games and fun events are organised for the employees of Parle and their families; where Parle products are giveaway prizes.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Parle has done the following for enhancing public relations:

In the year 1997, Parle-G sponsored the tele-serial of the Indian superhero, Shaktimaan that went on to become a huge success. The personality of the superhero matched the overall superb benefits of the brand. Parle extended this association with Shaktimaan and gave away a lot of merchandise of Shaktimaan. The children just could not get enough of Parle-G and Shaktimaan.

In the year 2002, it was decided to bring the brand closer to the child who is a major consumer. A national level promo - `Parle-G Mera Sapna Sach Hoga' was run for a period of 6 months. The promo was all about fulfilling the dreams of children. There were over 5 lakh responses and of that, over 300 dreams were fulfilled. Dreams that were fulfilled ranged from trips to Disneyland at Paris & Singapore; meeting their favorite film star Hrithik Roshan; free ride on a chartered plane; 20 scholarships worth Rs 50,000; a special cricket coaching camp with the Australian cricketer - Ricky Ponting; etc.

Golu Galata contest - In Tamil Nadu, traditionally, women decorate various dolls made of clay during Navaratri celebrations by setting up 7-9 steps. This display is well decorated and friends and relatives are invited to witness the same. Through a detailed research, Parle found that due

to time pressures, this tradition is slowly dying and is getting restricted to a select few households. Thus, to revive the fading event, Parle had introduced the novel promotion called Parle Golu Galata contest in 2005. After the encouraging response and resounding success of the 2005 Golu Galata contest, in 2006 Parle Products Pvt. Ltd took the contest to Chennai, Madurai, Trichy, & Kumbakonam. (Golu means Doll & Galata means Dhammal.) Every year, Parle organises Saraswati Vandana in the state of West Bengal during the festival of Saraswati Puja, inviting schools from all across the state to participate. The event is one of much fanfare and celebration, keeping alive the culture and traditions of ages.

Biscuit Industry major players

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR FOR PARLE-G

In India it is a habit to have biscuits along with chai or tea - Parle G is referred to as "biskut" in rural areas - thus when asked for biskut to a shopkeeper it simply means Parle-G biscuit in rural areas. Understanding consumer behavior is tough. The study of consumer behavior includes the knowledge about the consumer, his buying motives & buying habits. Keeping all this in mind, the factors influencing the buying behaviour of consumers are: Reference Group: People, especially kids are always influenced by the people around them. They are influenced by friends, relatives, family members specially elder siblings, etc. so if they see anyone around them having parle-G biscuit, they too want to eat it. Family: In his case also, if its a usual habit of the family members to have parle-G with tea or coffee, the kids in the growing stage or any new member joining the family for tea will form a similar habit or the later will be offered the same biscuit. Personal Factors The factors whose intensity differs from person to person are together termed as personal factors. They are as follows: Age: Parle-g is consumed maximum by the kids in the age group of 5-10 years i.e. the growing age group. Kids, who have formed the habit of having Parle-G in their early stages of life, continue this practice even after growing up. They continue their consumption of Parle-G even after they grow up. Occupation: The buying behaviour of the consumer is influenced also by the occupation he or she belongs to. In case of Parle-G, the purpose for buying the product varies from a person with a high post in a M.N.C. to a poor laborer. For the executive employee, he may or may not buy the product. He may buy a more expensive or an imported biscuit

brand because he can afford it. Also he may buy it only to be one of the many snacks available to him. On the other hand, a poor laborer would buy a packet of Parle-G simply to satisfy his hunger. For him, it is not matter of choice or luxury, but a necessity because its the easiest & the cheapest he can get. Income: Income of a person decides its core expenditure segment. If a laborer earns a fixed amount & if a biscuit like parle-g which for sure ensures high level glucose content & immediate energy regained, he would defiantly opt to buy a parle biscuit packet & not spend even that minimal amount of Rs.4 on anything else. But since Parle-G is a lowpriced, value for money product a persons income does not really play a role in influencing the purchase of the product. Consumers of all income groups do buy the product.Psychological Factors Consumer Motivation For Parle-G the main & the basic motivation which pulls consumers towards buying it is simply hunger. This is what pulls the consumers towards the purchase of Parle-G. Also, since biscuits are perceived as snacks, when a consumer is drinking tea he or she is motivated to buy Parle-G at that time. Consumer Perception of Parle G- consumers believe Parle-G to be a good quality product which is cheap too. They also perceive it to be a great snack with tea.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF PARLE G

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE OF PARLE G

SUGGESTIONS TO PARLE G

For a brand like Parle G, which has already been crowned as the best selling brand in the biscuit category, it might seem that everything that the brand managers are doing is fine and perfectly adequate. However, it is necessary to understand that Parle G is a heritage brand whose properties have not changes considerably in the past 70 years, since its inception whereas, there has been a 180 degree transformation in the Indian market in these 70 years.

Here are some suggestions that would help Parle G that would help Parle G to maintain its high brand equity. Change the tagline G mane Genius: One of Parle Gs positioning strategies that might back fire is the G mane Genius tagline. The reason why I say this is because a boost of glucose does give you energy, but not intelligence. I suspect one day, when someone throws a stone at this house, the Genius glass might crack. It would be rather safe for Parle G to stick with its initial positioning swaad bhare shakti bhare that correlate with the values of the product i.e. taste and nutrition. Another reason why I think the G mane genius tagline should be changed is because the kids belonging to rural areas, which is a huge market for Parle G, will not really identify with the word genius. A tagline which is more rustic and earthy like Hindustan ki Takat would work better in terms of the whole Indian market. Parle G pyaari yaadein contest: Parle G can start a pyaari yaadein contest wherin people will write in their most memorable Parle G moment and winners will be gifted goodies from Parle G. This will be a way of reinforcing brand loyalty. Now that I have thought of this suggestion, I would like to share my Parle G story. I was in the seventh Standard and I had a terrible fall while I was running down the stairs in school. What I didnt know then was that my ankle had been fractured. I tried to put my injured foot on the ground and the moment I did so I lost my balance and was blacked out by fierce pain. I was made to sit down until my parents came and took me to the hospital. My Headmistress came over to see me at once and along with her she had brought a tiny pack of Parle G containing four biscuits. The moment I had a biscuit, I felt much better and the pain was actually relieved a bit. Now, whenever I think of that painful incident, I always remember of Parle G as a savior who helped me endure that excruciating pain!

Parle G Recipe Contest: Apart from being a delicious chai dip, Parle G is also used by many housewives and mothers as an ingredient for various recipes. My own mother uses a generous number of Parle G biscuits in her famous caramel pudding recipe. To encourage the use of Parle G as a raw material for scrumptious deserts, a Parle G recipe contest can be held where in housewives and mothers whip up a dish using Parle G biscuits and the top

3-5 recipes win exiting goodies from Parle G. The winning recipes can also be printed on the packs for a short period of time.

Product Innovations/ Line extensions: Parle G has a major task at hand to retain its leadership in the near future as income grows in the hinterlands and consumers upgrade and develop new tastes. Following are some product innovations and line extension strategies that might help Parle G to catch up with the fast moving consumers of India and maintain its position as one of the best Indian brands. Parle G sandwich ice cream: Parle G can come up with a sandwich ice cream (a small slab of ice cream between two Parle G biscuits). Usually the ice cream sandwiches which are available in market namely Dinshaw and Pastonjee, offer only vanilla flavor and the biscuit quality is not very good. Parle G can have an advantage over its competitors with its good biscuit quality and it can also offer consumers other flavours apart from vanilla e.g. Chocolate, pista, strawberry, mango, butter scotch etc. By the introduction of a product like this, consumers will not only have Parle G when they want a biscuit but will have Parle g even when they want an ice cream. Parle G Dollars: Parle G Dollars would basically be small round coin sized Parle G biscuits that would come in plastic packets resembling chips packets. This product can be positioned for small children between the age of 2-5 whose mothers would prefer to give them biscuits of smaller size as kids have a habit of throwing away half eaten biscuits. This product can also be positioned for the urban youth who would prefer to pop snacks into their mouth rather than bite into them. Parle G Supremo: There is a section of consumers in the market who as children have grown up on Parle G but now, due to their increased social and economic standing, have developed superior tastes and can afford to buy costlier biscuits. Parle G Supremo will be an upgraded version of the glucose biscuits which would be more like a cookie rather than a small flat biscuit. It can come in a better quality packages or even in plastic containers. The net weight of one cookie can be the approximate weight of about 3-4 Parle G biscuits. Apart from the basic ingredients of Parle G i.e wheat and glucose, it can have added rich ingredients like butter, coconut, various nuts, spices like saffron, cinnamon, elaichi etc.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Parle G HOME PAGE. GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE. GOOGLE SCHOLAR.

Website links : http://seminarprojects.com/s/plc-of-parle-g-pdf http://www.parleproducts.com/brands/parleg/ http://jaykumarparadava14.blogspot.in/2012/09/0-false-18-pt-18-pt-0-0-falsefalse.html