G-means- the true taste of India

India is a big country- both by size and by population. Another fact is the vast diversity in terms of people and cultures that are found in India. Every region has their own food and ways and means to cook the same; resulting in a very typical taste. This would just elaborate how difficult it is to have anything single food product that can appeal to the entire Indian palette. Something which can be found in every nook and corner of the country, affordable to every Indian, nutritious and can be rated as the safest food possible.

Humko pata hai G; Sabko pata hai G- it is the modest pack of Parle-G biscuits

In case not known that Parle-G is the single largest selling biscuit in the world by volume. In 2013, Parle-G became India's first domestic FMCG brand to cross the INR 5,000 crore in retail sales. While India is the biggest market for biscuits in the world with 22% of the consumption pie; the United States comes a distant second at 13% with Mexico and China followed.  To put things in perspective, as per 2011 figures, the volume sales of for Parle-G outruns the total biscuit consumption volumes for China. How about that?

Biscuits are not a part of the traditional Indian food plate and have predominantly entered the Indian household by virtue of the British. Though we can say that some savouries like nankhatai or maska khari came into India by virtue of Mughal- Persian influence, tea time snack as a concept is so very English. Today, the cup may be having tea or coffee, but I doubt if anyone in India has yet enjoyed dipping in a Parle-G in it. The familiar package with yellow lines on white, the Parle G girl and Parle written in the red pentagon is possibly the first brand every child in India might recognise. 

It is impressive to know that Parle-G has been in production since 1939 from a factory at Vile Parle in Mumbai and not much seems to have changed since. The biscuit still rolls out from the same facility (along with a dozen more across the country) and almost entire area around the Parle East-West flyover and passing trains on the Western Railway are treated to its sweet aroma.

From the time I have known the biscuit, the only change I have seen is that the pack used to be of wax paper which has now changed to a plastic wrap. But as far as packaging is concerned, I have seen them being served from biscuit tins in my school, my PG roommate having a 800gms pack in the pantry, a `15 pack which is most popular with trekkers and small packs of `5 which is available in most retail and corporate canteen as a snack with tea. In fact, I have even seen a `1 pack with just 4 biscuits which a roadside tea stall offered.

I saw a small interview of Ajay Chauhan, the Executive Director of Parle Products Ltd on a BBC show called Made in India, and some of the things he mentioned about Parle-G which are so very true. This was not their first product and started almost 10 years after the company started. It was simple and packed with energy; the reason why during the WW II, all the Parle-G stock was diverted away from the domestic market to feed the Allied forces fighting across the globe.

Today, it is a mass product which finds it rightful place in the urban as well as rural markets; thanks to its affordable price. This is a conscious decision to ensure the value-for-money proposition never fails. By virtue of more plants to reduce transport costs, operational efficiency and waste reduction, the company ensured the price was constant for almost 10 years. So etched is the brand in the minds of people that it is not unusual that after anyone donates blood; he is first greeted with a beverage and a few Parle-G biscuits as an SOS nutrition replenishment.

Today, the market has many glucose biscuits like Priya Gold, Britannia Tiger, ITC etc. but none have managed to reach the iconic status of Parle-G. In my living memory, the competition has used celebrity endorsements ranging from actors to cricketers to push their sales; but have seen only four sparingly used, campaigns from Parle-G. While one featured Parle-G as the choice of the biscuit for the young and the old, one featured Mukesh Khanna aka Shaktiman. A feature led ad was when the wax packaging changed to plastic wraps which kept moisture away. The last seen was the ‘G- means Genius’ campaign. Even without heavy advertising, 400 Mn Parle-G biscuits are made every day and sold across 6 Mn outlets in various packaging.

While Parle-G is an endearing sight for Indian expat population each time they visit an Indian store in their vicinity, it has appealed even to non-Indians. I had a reference shared of a Japanese businessman carrying a whole bag of Parle-G back home just because it was one of the memories he had working on-site at a project while in India. In the US, a 418 gms pack is sold at 99 cents while a 80 gms snack pack for as low as 15 cents.

Parle-G is truly an iconic brand from India, which has won numerous awards globally for its quality and taste. In my opinion, biscuits many not be of Indian origins; but Parle-G rightfully is the ‘taste of India’ unlike any other. 

The KISS that works...

Advertising and Marketing Communication often is expected to do wonders like we see in fairy tales. It is like the true loves kiss that breaks the evil spell and changes the life for the prince or princess or ogre in a way only imagined. It works much the same way with brands and their consumers. Brands are constantly in the search for those loyal customers who swear by their name and will never defect to competition no matter what. For consumers, from the wide variety of options at hand, is the basic need for the brand to serve its purpose as well as satisfy the need for association at a social level.

Like people, brands have personalities and much alike is also the fact that the less layered and complicated the brand personality; people tend to adapt to it faster are more closely associated. This is the reason why when we plan for the branding or communication for any brand, the governing fact has to be KISS (Keep It Short n Simple). The simplicity is a key here since layers not only distort the message but increase the number of time something has to be conveyed before the right meaning comes through. Shortness- well it is possible at times and most brands do manage to talk about their personality through a phrase and in around 3 words or less.

The basic purpose of branding was to differentiate one from another and somehow each time we talk about branding opportunities or brand manuals; it somehow seems dominated by visual aids.  I will not deny that the moment I think branding, my mind starts working on use of shapes, fonts, colours and trying to figure out a unique arrangement for talking about the brands persona. One possible reason I see is that an organisation needs to have an identity to start with business and the logo becomes the first point of establishing this. Another that shapes and colours are usually easy to identify. But once the brand has reached a level where it looks to hold a unique place in the minds of its consumers, other aspects like catch word phrases or audio mnemonics make more impact.

One problem I see with visual identities is the overcrowding of the space leaving very little scope for anything innovative. Indian or multinational large corporate groups seem to have sided with blue as a colour of choice. GE, Philips, Samsung, AT&T, Infosys, Tata, Ashok Leyland are just a few examples. Close on the heels is red. Coca Cola, 3M, Honeywell, Cannon, Virgin, ESPN, LG, Mahindra are just some who make this space. Not to mention how many use a combination of Red and Blue. So unless you have a yellow like DHL or the brown of UPS; the colour palette is running out fast. For symbols, the ‘H’ can be for Honda or Hyundai; the ‘T’ can be Toyota or Tata. The call is to make a breakthrough at some level.

If we look globally, most companies have picked up on catch phrases. The simplicity being that use of small words can have multiple meanings and endless possibilities to apply across the domain.  For instance Nike- They use the swoosh and ‘N’ as the identity on the shoes, but what the brand will today stand for is - ‘Just do it’. So what would be ‘Impossible is nothing’- the biggest competitor with the 3 stripes or 3 petal flower, Adidas. So why do brands so successful in their visual look for words as a part of its identity? I feel these simple words add in value. As much it works for brands abroad, it works in India as well. Things like ‘Utterly, butterly, delicious’, ‘Fill it, shut it, forget it’, ‘Taste the thunder’, all have a unique association in our minds.

Another sense which has been successful in terms of brand association is sound. Each time we switch on or turn off a Windows based PC, we hear a sound which we are so familiar with. We know what PC has an Intel inside it even on a radio ad. Nokia sound in a unique way; so does Samsung. It works so well that major phone networks in India like Airtel, !dea, DoCoMo all have a unique mnemonic sound to identify itself. Even Britannia and the corporate house like Reliance ADAG have an audio identity.

I guess these are a few brands where I felt it was just small and simple ways where brands have done things to just stand apart and make their presence felt. I’m sure there are many more- but then again; what works in my opinion is the simplicity in messaging to represent the brand in the most unique of ways and cut down the clutter. And more often than not the KISS works.