36659896-Parle-Products-Marketing-Report--14-2009

Marketing Report: Parle Products Pvt. Ltd.

Marcumens, WeSchool (Bangalore) Page 1 of 16

Parle Products Private Ltd.

Marketing Overview

Submitted By:

Bhumika Vagrecha

Dhruv Joshi

Priya Singh

Sudhish Warrier

Swapnil Mehta

Vrishali Sinha



Table of Contents

ACRONYMS .............................................................................................................................. 3

1. PARLE PRODUCTS COMPANY – AN INTRODUCTION.................................................... 4

2. PRIMARY PRODUCTS AND BUSINESSES ....................................................................... 4

2.1. BISCUITS ........................................................................................................................ 4

2.2. CONFECTIONARIES .......................................................................................................... 4

2.3. SNACKS .......................................................................................................................... 5

2.4. BEVERAGES .................................................................................................................... 5

3. KEY BRANDS, POSITIONING AND MARKET STRATEGIES ............................................ 6

3.1. PARLE-G ........................................................................................................................ 6

3.1.1. Parle-G – Market Positioning and Strategies ........................................................... 6

3.2. MONACO ........................................................................................................................ 7

3.2.1. Monaco – Market Positioning and Strategies .......................................................... 7

3.3. BISLERI .......................................................................................................................... 7

3.3.1. Bisleri – Market Positioning and Strategies ............................................................. 8

4. COMPETITORS AND PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION ....................................................... 8

5. KEY MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS – POST 1995 .................................................... 11

5.1. ADVERTISEMENTS ......................................................................................................... 11

5.1.1. Healthy Products, Iconic Brand Ambassadors ...................................................... 11

5.1.2. Product Metaphor ................................................................................................. 11

5.1.3. Celebrity Endorsing ............................................................................................... 12

5.1.4. Product Association with Audience ....................................................................... 12

5.2. EVENTS AND CAMPAIGNS .............................................................................................. 13

5.2.1. Promotional campaigns - Parle-Gramin Swastha Yojana ...................................... 13



5.2.2. Parle-G Mera Sapna Sach Hoga ........................................................................... 14

5.2.3. Parle-Golu Galata Contest .................................................................................... 14

6. RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................................................................................... 15

6.1. PENETRATE THE MARKET SHARE OF THE UNORGANIZED SECTOR .................................... 15

6.2. INNOVATION AND RURAL MARKET .................................................................................. 15

6.3. DIVERSIFY IN NEW MARKET ........................................................................................... 15

6.4. GOING PUBLIC .............................................................................................................. 16

APPENDIX – A GLIMPSE OF THE PRODUCTS ..................................................................... 16

Acronyms

PVC: Poly Vinyl Chloride

PET: Poly Ethylene Terepthalate

CMU: Contracted Manufacturing Unit

NHRM: National Rural Health Mission



1. Parle Products Company – An Introduction

Parle Products Pvt. Ltd. was founded in 1929 and is based in Mumbai, India. It

manufactures and markets biscuits and confectionaries. It offers several food

products such as a variety of biscuits, confectionary items, and snack products. The

company has a significant market in India, the Middle East, Africa, South East Asia,

the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

2. Primary Products and Businesses

Parle Products Pvt. Ltd‟s main source of revenue is its brand Parle-G, which is a

brand worth around 20 billion (INR), and it contributes more than 50% to the

company‟s total revenue. The confectionery items by Parle fetch around 15% of its

total revenue.

The following are the products offered by Parle based on the market segment.

2.1. Biscuits

The following are biscuit products owned by Parle Products Pvt. Ltd.:

Sr. No. Product Sr. No. Product

1. Parle-G 2. Parle Marie

3. Hide n Seek 4. Kreams

5. Krackjack 6. Milk Shakti

7. Hide & Seek Milano 8. Parle 20-20 Cookies

9. Magix 10. Goldenarcs

11. Digestive Marie 12. Nimkin

13. Monaco 14. Kreams Gold

15. Monaco Jeera 16. Chox

2.2. Confectionaries

The following are confectionary products owned by Parle Products Pvt. Ltd.:


1. Poppins 2. Kismi Toffee




3. Mazelo 4. Kismi Toffee Bar

5. Orange Candy 6. Kismi Gold

7. Xhale 8. Melody

9. 2 in 1 Eclair 10. Mango Bite

11. Golgappa 12. Kaccha Mango Bite

13. Melody Softee 14. Parle Lites

2.3. Snacks

The following are confectionary products owned by Parle Products Pvt. Ltd.:


1. Musst Bites 2. Cheeslings

3. Sixer 4. Jeffs

5. Musst Stix & Musst Chips 6. Sixer Zeera

2.4. Beverages1

The following are beverage products owned by Parle:


1. Frooti 2. Bisleri

3. Grappo and Appy Fizz 4. Saint Juice

5. LMN 6. Bailey

1 All the brands referred in this report, except Bisleri, under the beverage category are

owned by Parle Agro Pvt. Ltd., a company owned by Mr. Prakash Chauhan.

Mr. Ramesh Chauhan, brother of Mr. Prakash Chauhan, heads Parle Products Pvt. Ltd.,

and controls Parle Bisleri Ltd. which manufactures and markets mineral water under the

trade name Bisleri.



3. Key Brands, Positioning and Market Strategies

The following are three key Parle brands in terms of volumes and revenues:

3.1. Parle-G

Over the years, Parle Products Pvt. Ltd. has grown several folds to become a multi-

million company. Its key brand, Parle-G, is one of the leading contributors to its

success. Today, Parle enjoys around 40% share of the total biscuit market and a

15% share of the total confectionary market, in India. The glucose biscuit market in

India is estimated at around Rs. 1500 crores and Parle-G commands about 70% of

the glucose biscuit market. It contributes more than 50% to the total turnover of the

company. Also, according to the US based Bakery Manufacturers Association,

Parle-G has been rated as the largest selling glucose biscuit brand in the whole

world in terms of volumes.

3.1.1. Parle-G – Market Positioning and Strategies

Over a period of years, Parle-G has enjoyed the first mover‟s advantage. The price

consistency and perceived image of the brand have been major contributors to the

consistent performance of Parle-G. In 1994, Parle had increased its price by 25

paise, which they later reversed. In order to compensate with the increasing prices

of the input raw materials, Parle managed to reduce the weight of the biscuit instead

of increasing the price of the product. It also decreased the number of biscuits in a

pack from 16 to 15 to control the costs. Thus, with several modifications in product

input and operations, Parle has managed to sustain competition in the glucose

biscuit market.

Parle-G has penetration into rural as well as urban market in India. However, to

continue as a most favored Indian biscuit brand, it personifies Parle-G as a health

biscuit and associates it with characters reflecting the same. In the year 1997,

Parle-G sponsored a TV serial of the Indian superhero, Shaktimaan that turned out

to be a huge success.

Further, in terms of price, it positions itself as a price effective health biscuit. Parle

manages to sustain the volumes in the biscuit market because of its packaging-



price balance. According to Mr. Pravin Kulkarni, Marketing Manager at Parle, “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.” Being perceived as a low cost health biscuit, it makes Parle-G a

favorite brand among the masses in India, which are mainly based in rural India.

This is a unique standpoint when viewed from its competitor‟s perspective.

3.2. Monaco

Parle launched its Monaco brand in 1939. Monaco today enjoys a market share of

45 per cent by volume in salted biscuit market category. Monaco, along with Krack

Jack and Parle-G strengthens the revenue and volumes of the Parle Company. It

sells in more than 8 countries across the globe and is the largest selling packaged

salted biscuit in India.

3.2.1. Monaco – Market Positioning and Strategies

Parle has always depicted Monaco as a light and crispy biscuit and not just a salty

product. Parle described Monaco with the slogan “crisp light Monaco for lighter

moments,” which it portrayed in its advertisement as well (refer section 5.1.4 for

further details). However, in 2003-04, the positioning of Monaco was elevated from

being physical to metaphorical with a modified slogan “tension kyon leneka Monaco

khaneka.” In the year 2005, the brand was put on a completely different platform

where it spoke about making life interesting by finding humour in the most mundane

activities. The baseline line “life namkeen banaiye” was used to convey message

that „salted‟ biscuits was an exciting category. It also used celebrity such as Amir

Khan to rejuvenate its Monaco brand. The re-launch was made in order to revive

the product as well as compete with Britannia‟s salted biscuit product – Snacks.

3.3. Bisleri

Following acquisition of Italian company – Bisleri (India) Ltd. from Mr. Felice Bisleri,

in 1969, Parle entered into organized mineral water segment. The average growth

rate of Bisleri has been around 40% and it enjoys more than 60% of the market

share in the organized mineral water segment. The packaged drinking water



industry is estimated to be worth 700 crore. Currently, across India, Parle has 11

franchisees and 8 plants across India for Bisleri. Since its entry into the organized

water market segment, Parle has made significant innovations to sustain the

competition. The major change that it brought about was change in the material of

bottling water. Parle switched to PVC bottles from the initial glass bottles that were

used Bisleri (India) Ltd. and continuing with innovation, it introduced PET bottles in

this sector. In 2003, it forayed in the European market. Parle‟s Bisleri faces a stiff

competition from products of MNC‟s such as Kinley (a Coca Cola Product),

Himalayan Mineral Water (a TATA product), Bailey (a Parle Agro Products Pvt.

Ltd.), and several other brands.

3.3.1. Bisleri – Market Positioning and Strategies

Bisleri has turned out to be a household name in the packaged water category. This

is because of the first movers‟ advantage. Earlier it described its packaged water as

“Pure and Safe”, but with other competitors coming into the market, it changed its

position to “Play It Safe” reflecting that it is the best among the existing products. In

a competitive market of packaged water, Parle-Bisleri intends to innovate to sustain

its 60% market share. One such attempt is its foray into flavored water market like

most of its competitors. By this Parle intends to stay in the eyes of its consumer not

just as a mineral water producer. It has also managed to strengthen its market

position by forming a dense network of 2,500 distributors and nearly 6, 00,000 retail

outlets across India.

4. Competitors and Product Differentiation

Britannia and Parle are the major competitors in the biscuit and bakery products

market in India. To add to the competition, ITC diversified into the biscuit industry

with a variety of products. However, major competitors in this sector are Britannia

and Parle. A report published in Business today, dated July 1, 2009, suggest the

following market shares of the companies in the Indian biscuit market.



Based on 4P‟s of marketing, the following chart provides an overview of Parle‟s

strategy. Each of the parameters listed in the following chart are described in further

detail in the subsequent section.

The following table describes a brief overview of Parle‟s strategy in view of its

competitor‟s products:

4P‟s

Price Different products based on pricing segments. For example, Parle-G and Hide &

Seek

Place

Alternative marketing based on target market

Promotion

Mass media communication, traditional events, campaigns,

and celebrity power.

Product

Variations and innovations in the product based on customer preferences. For example, Marie and Digestive

Marie



Description Britannia Parle

Year of Establishment 1896 1929

Nature of business Publicly Listed Company Private Company

No of manufacturing units 5 own units ,40CMU 8 own units ,60 CMU

Ads Major Methods Cricket Events and Players Mainly Celebrity Endorsements

New areas of promotion Environment Health and Wellness

The following are some of the brands of Britannia and Parle which are pitched against

each other.

Category Britannia Parle Differentiation from Parle’s Point of View

Glucose Tiger Parle –G Established brand associated with health and low price

Marie Marie Gold Parle Marie

Introduced Parle Digestive Marie biscuits, which have five times more fibre than the regular Marie. It also offers lower fat and calories than other digestive biscuits

Sweet Salty Snacks

50-50 Krack Jack These products at par with each other and it modified its image as “ek hein bite mein sweet bhi salty bhi.”

Bourbon Bourbon Hide & Seek

Bourbon is an established brand and is perceived as cream biscuit. Parle introduced chocolate biscuits in form of Hide & Seek endorsed by celebrity like Hrithik Roshan

Sweet Biscuits

Nice ------ It offers sweet biscuits in form of Parle-G with glucose but does not offer product based on hard sugar

Multi grain Nutri choice

----- Parle does not have any specific product in this segment to counter Britannia‟s product



5. Key Marketing Communications – Post 1995

For Parle, advertisements, events and campaigns have been major channels of

communication. The following sections describe such channels in greater detail.

5.1. Advertisements

The following are some of themes based on which Parle has been advertising to

market its brand.

5.1.1. Healthy Products, Iconic Brand Ambassadors

Parle has maintained its brand position as a low cost and a healthy product, but in

order to promote several other products it has made several major changes in its

campaign. Referring to section 4, in past few years, like Britannia, Parle approved of

cricket players endorsing its products. Parle‟s MilkShakti faces a competition from

Britannia‟s similar product Milkbikis. The following is a snapshot of an advertisement

in which the Indian cricket team captain – MS Dhoni endorses Parle‟s MilkShakti

biscuits.

5.1.2. Product Metaphor

It also promoted its product by metaphorically claiming its products as a “Genius.” It

also continues to associate its brand with celebrities while asserting its position of

being genius.



5.1.3. Celebrity Endorsing

It continues its association with a celebrity-star like Hrithik Roshan to promote its

premium segment product such as Parle Hide & Seek.

5.1.4. Product Association with Audience

In yet another strategy, it associates its product with famous characters rather than

the celebrity or a cricket player. One of its major achievements was its association

with Shaktimaan, an Indian superhero. It also advertises its products by associating

them with individual traits. For example, when Parle launched their new product (a

first one then) Parle Monaco- Life Namkeen Banaye biscuits, in order to attract the



audience interest they correlated the salty part of the biscuit to an individual‟s

wittiness. Following are some of the snapshots of such advertisements:

With another advertisement on Parle Marie, with the slogan “Baatcheet Bakbak aur

Parle Marie”, it appealed to the family rather than focusing on specific age group,

unlike what it used to do initially for Parle-G.

5.2. Events and Campaigns

5.2.1. Promotional campaigns - Parle-Gramin Swastha Yojana

Parle had launched a new scheme called a “Parle-Gramin Swastha Yojana,” which

was a network of ambulance van visiting rural areas giving basic medical

treatments, educating people on nutrition deficiency problems, and promoting Parle

nutritious products. Using this it penetrated into those areas where direct

penetration using just advertisements was not possible.



5.2.2. Parle-G Mera Sapna Sach Hoga

In 2002, Parle decided to launch “Parle-G Mera Sapna Sach Hoga” contest to stay

as a popular brand among children. This was an initiative taken after its successful

branding with Shaktimaan. The national level promos run for a period of 6 months

which promised free scholarship and free trips to Disneyland at Paris and

Singapore. In past, it had also launched TV serial called Parle Sakhi, mainly

oriented towards the women consumers.

5.2.3. Parle-Golu Galata Contest

This event was specifically focussed in Tamil Nadu where household women

decorate clay dolls. Then the women display the dolls on the specially prepared

kolupadis or steps made of wood and covered with a thick cloth. This was then

displayed to friends and relatives. This tradition was slowly losing its charm, but

Parle saw an opportunity to reach out to the people and organized the contest as a

novel promotion strategy. Thus, it also promotes its products at regional level

through traditional activities.



6. Recommendations

Based on the above mentioned facts, the following are some of the suggestions that

may help Parle Products Pvt. Ltd. to maintain its position as a leading company in

the food and beverage market in India.

6.1. Penetrate the Market Share of the Unorganized Sector

The Indian biscuit industry is divided into the organized sector that has 60% market

share and the unorganized sector that has the rest 40% market share. Parle can

take a pie of the market share of the unorganized sector by tapping rural markets

through several government schemes such as mid day meals. They can also be a

part of NRHM centers. By this, they would be able to improve their visibility in the

rural biscuit market in India.

6.2. Innovation and Rural Market

Innovating new products, especially non-glucose type biscuits, and its test

marketing in the rural market with its existing distribution channel would help them

establish a new market in rural India. This would be similar to replication of their

strategy of innovation following which they launched their product - Hide & Seek

that is a premium segment product mainly focused in the urban or semi-urban

market.

6.3. Diversify in New Market

Today, though Parle has a commanding position in the biscuit industry, the future

may be much more competitive in this industry. This is because of entry of several

new companies into this market. The entry of new product suppliers in the market is

also one of the Porter‟s five forces which can alter the market scenario. Hence,

Parle being an established brand should diversify into different market such as dairy

products like cheese, butter, etc.

The image that it has among the Indian masses is that of a “chai-biskut” providing

company in the rural India. Specifically, in this context, in the urban sector Parle can

create a new image of itself in the confectionary market by catering to high end



customers as well. This can be done by foraying into market of gift packs, or

packages for festive celebrations, which is similar to what Cadbury offers its urban

consumers, i.e. Cadbury Celebrations.

6.4. Going Public

Parle is one of the oldest companies in the biscuit market and except for its glucose

biscuit business, no other product has had a significant impact in the market. In

order to follow an aggressive expansion plan and to foster world class R&D, it may

need funds, which it can easily generate through an IPO because of its brand name.

This can also help them diversify into different related markets. It is important to

note that both of its major competitors, namely, Britannia and ITC are publicly listed

companies that have aggressively pursued advertising and R&D.

Appendix – A Glimpse of the Products

Documents

36659896-Parle-Products-Marketing-Report--14-2009