If there’s one marketing campaign that has dominated this season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), it is Parle Products’ Marie. The ad films, created by Thought Blurb, capture the everyday scenarios where consumers ask for a packet of Marie biscuits, resulting in complete chaos. The campaign message is clear: Don’t just buy any pack of Marie biscuits, insist on Parle Marie.
The ads seem to have got a barrage of mixed responses from consumers. While some appreciated the humour, many IPL viewers were particularly irked by the frequency of the commercials and social media was flooded with complaints and memes about the campaign.
According to TAM Sports, Parle Products was incidentally the top advertiser at the IPL, accounting for 10% of the advertising volumes in the first 31 matches. The brand has taken note of the viewer complaints and has reduced the frequency of the advertisement during the tournament.
The episode also brought into focus the issue of frequency capping, the foundation of efficient media spending. It limits the number of times the same ad is displayed on TV, CTV or on digital media to a certain consumer. Repeatedly showing the same ads can make ads less interesting; capping their frequency ensures that campaign budgets are not wasted.
So what made Parle go overboard with Marie?
If you look at the`45,000-crore biscuit market, Britannia is the clear leader with approximately 40% market share in 2024, followed by Parle at No 2 position (30% share) and ITC at No 3 (10-12%). When it comes to the Marie segment, companies like Britannia, ITC’s Sunfeast and McVitie’s also have their own versions of the tea-time favourite.
Marie’s popularity is evident in the fact that it accounts for an estimated 25% of biscuit market in India. While exact market shares are unknown for Marie, experts estimate that Britannia is the leader here too with Marie and Marie Gold, though Parle might not be too far behind.
Clearly, it has its eyes on the top spot.
Uphill trek
According to N Chandramouli, CEO of TRA Research, Parle’s ambitions are a bit of a tall order especially in a category like Marie, which is highly indistinctive. “What Parle is attempting is almost akin to building a new category altogether. Most consumers do not have a specific brand preference when purchasing Marie biscuits,” he notes.
The brand would do well to replicate its success with Parle-G’s campaign ‘G maane genius’, which repositioned Parle’s glucose biscuit as a healthy offering for children. “The company needs to reinterpret and build a story around the Marie brand if it is aiming for leadership in the category,” adds Chandramouli.
Ajimon Francis, MD India for Brand Finance, points out that while Britannia has constantly innovated with its Marie range by introducing Marie Gold, Parle has paid scant focus to its Marie offering. “Ads cannot compensate for product deficiency. The company has invested a lot in developing the range of offerings under Hide & Seek, Parle-G and Milano. They need to put their thinking hats on for Marie as well,” he says.
Francis offers the example of category leaders like Bisleri and Maggi, which have innovated with variants, flavours, premiumisation and pack sizes. He is also baffled by the fact that Parle is spending big bucks to own the Marie brand when the cookies segment is emerging as a leading category in the biscuits market.
Over the years, Parle Products has undoubtedly built some great brands with memorable ad campaigns, say experts. Aside from Parle-G, the brand has also built solid brands such as Monaco, 50-50, Krack Jack and Hide & Seek. Naresh Gupta, founder and managing partner, Bang In The Middle recalls that the ‘Baatcheet, Bakbak aur Parle Marie’ campaign executed by Grey India in 2008 also did really well for the Parle Marie brand.
“In a competitive category, brands always have to craft a narrative that consumers recall. The recall should also drive choice, which is the core of brand marketing. The brand must have had an extremely high recall with its latest ads, but that recall will not make consumers choose the brand, it may just do the reverse,” observes Gupta.
Sandeep Ranade, executive vice president and head of quantitative research division at Hansa Research, has a slightly different take on the Parle Marie campaign. He argues that the campaign has managed to create substantial buzz among consumers and marketers by generating a lot of conversations (both positive and negative) on social media. The repetitiveness may have caused a backlash during the IPL, but Ranade believes time will reveal its impact on brand recall, consideration and sales.