Parle Wafers woos the youth of today

The objective in hand for Parle Products was to reposition Parle Wafers to connect it with the youth of today, someone who is stylish and wants to flaunt himself.

Cricket is a religion in India and when it comes to religion, superstitions are bound to be present. It's not a domain of spectators but players too follow certain superstitions to make their team win. Sport personalities like Sachin Tendulkar, Steve Waugh, and Phil Simmons etc. are well known in the cricketing world for their superstitions along with Amitabh Bachchan and some other well known faces. Since today's youth follows these trend setters, Parle took this insight and coined the line "Parle Wafers khaaneka - match jeetaneka, aapka kya hai funda" for the launch of Parle Wafers.

Speaking exclusively to Adgully, B Krishna Rao, Group Product Manager, Parle Products said, "As the tag line says "Parle's Wafers khaaneka - match jeetaneka, aapka kya hai funda", the new communication has tried to bring out the relation between cricket and the superstitious beliefs people have during the matches. With this communication we are positioning Parle's Wafers among youth. We have chosen IPL as a platform, as it is the biggest cricketing event in the country and has changed the way people watch cricket. It attracts not only males, but also has female followers.

The major challenge was to create clutter breaking communication for the consumers and register the new brand identity in their minds. Another challenge is that IPL is a crowded place to advertise, so the communication should stand out in the crowd to grab the consumer's attention.

Rao further added, "We have taken the 360 degree communication approach. We have carried out a Radio activation on superstitions (quirks) during the Cricket (IPL) across 9 IPLcities. The winner of the contest gets a chance to feature in the next Parle's Wafers ad along with their superstition."

In the three TVC's ' Stretch, Slap and Head, Parle has tried to bring out this superstitious phenomenon related to cricket fans

The TVC Stretch shows a guy watching the game and eating Parle Wafers. He has a Parle Wafer and then stretches, as soon as he stretches a four is hit, which gets him all excited and superstitious so every time before a bowl is bowled he quickly eats a wafer and goes back to his stretching.

The TVC Slap shows a young couple watching the match together and eating Parle Wafers. When the boy tries taking a Wafer from the girl's packet, she slaps his hand to stop him from doing that and a wicket falls. The boy gets excited and superstitious, so every time before a ball is bowled he asks the girl to slap his hands so that a wicket falls.

The TVC Head shows a group of friends sitting together and watching the match and eating Parle Wafers. Three friends are sitting on the couch and one friend is sitting on the floor and watching the match. So the friends sitting on the couch put Wafers on the guy who is sitting on the floor, as soon as that happens a 6 is hit. They all get excited and superstitious, so before a ball is bowled they continue putting chips on his head.

Talking about the responses, Rao explained. "The response from the audience is overwhelming so far. In phase 1, we have received more than 4000 fundas of which 9 winners from each city have been shortlisted for the final competition. In the second phase, we have initiated voting for these 9 city winners through a specially created microsite www.parleswaferskafunda.com and we have received more than 8000 votes."

He further said, "Besides TVC and Radio we are also having an on-ground activation in all IPL cities. We will be touching youth hang outs like Cafe Coffee Day to engage consumers directly. Besides, on Zoom TV we are doing vignettes with celebrities (SRK, Aamir, Anushaka, Ranveer Singh, Farhan & Abhishek) sharing their totka's or quirks to make their favourite team win. "

Parle Wafers initially launched as "Musst Chips' April'08 in Maharashtra which then extended nationally in a phased manner saw dwindling sales due to many factors. It was seen that the brand was liked mainly by people (esp. housewives), who only look for more quantity at a lesser price and had no connection with the youth. Parle Products for this particular reason replaced "Musst Chips' with "Parle Wafers' bringing a younger appeal to it.

Parle Wafers comes in six exciting flavours - Tangy Tomato, Cream & Onion, Classic Salted, Masala Masti, Red Chilli Achaar and Aloo Chaat. These chips come in three sizes priced Rs. 5, Rs. 10 and Rs. 20 targeting a wide consumer segment ranging from youth to family groups. | By Janees Antoo [janees(at)adgully.com]